Mad Libs

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Mad Libs (from lat. "ad libitum" - as you wish) is a word game where one player prompts another for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story; these word substitutions have a humorous effect when the resulting story is then read aloud. The game is especially popular with American children and is frequently played as a party game or as a pastime. Mad Libs was invented in the 1950s by Leonard Stern and Roger Price, who published the first editions themselves. Mad Libs books are still published by Price Stern Sloan, an imprint of Penguin Group, cofounded by Roger Price and Leonard Stern.

Mad Libs consist of a book that has a short story on each page, but with many of the key words replaced with blanks. Beneath each blank is specified a lexical or other category, such as noun, verb, place, or a part of the body. One player asks the other players, in turn, to contribute some word for the specified type for each blank. Finally, the completed story is read aloud. Since none of the contributors knows what context their word will be used in, the result is usually comic, surreal and somewhat nonsensical.

For example, a Mad Lib might initially look like this:

"One day, ________________ ______________ to New York to see the _________."

^{(name of person) (past-tense verb) (noun)}

After completing the Mad Lib, it might read:

"One day, Bob Gilldoff Jumped to New York to see the orange."

Several imitations of Mad Libs have been created, most of them on the Internet. Imitation Mad Libs are sometimes used in educational settings to help teach the parts of speech.

1 Mad Libs in Pop Culture
2 Books
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Mad Libs in Pop Culture

The Drawn Together episode "Captain Girl" features a villain called the Mad Libber who is based on Batman's foe The Riddler. He leaves clues in the form of Mad Libs, but since the heroes end up filling in every blank with the word "penis", they have a difficult time catching him.

In the Simpsons episode "Barting Over", while the family is cleaning out the garage, Lisa finds a book with the ability to summon Satan. But before she finishes the phrase of the book to summon him, she discards the book for a Mad Libs booklet.

In the Seinfeld episode "The Frogger", Jerry, being asked about his last date, says: "She's a sentence finisher. It's like dating Mad Libs."

In the Friends episode "The One With the Kips", Joey hides things in Monica's bedroom, including a Mad Libs book. Phoebe takes the game from him. During the ending credits we see the group playing Mad Libs. Phoebe uses only the word "Phoebe" to fill the blanks, which Monica says doesn't "count" as 'good' Mad Libs. In the episode "The One With the Jam", Phoebe dates her sister Ursula's stalker, who at one point shows Phoebe the items he carries with him while he's stalking and explains their uses. At one point he pulls out a Mad Libs book and says, "They're just for fun."

In My Name Is Earl we see Randy and Earl's ex-girlfriend Jessie playing Mad Libs. Randy fills the blanks with "butt".

On an episode of Reno 911!, Officer Weigel engages traffic offenders in traffic school in a game of Mad Libs.

In Family Guy Stewie plays Mad Libs based on the fairy tale Cinderella.

In the 2nd season of The O.C., Lindsay offers to play Mad Libs with Caleb while he is recovering from his heart attack; Caleb makes several jokes about Ryan's inability to play along.

In episode 7 of The Knights of Prosperity, Mad Libs are mentioned

In the 2004 film "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" Vince Vaugh's character says "If you need me I'll be in my office doing Mad Libs."

In "That 70's Show" episode 707, Fez says "I was just shamppoing this foxy girl Danniel and the next thing I know we're making out in the shampoo closet" to which Hyde replies "That doesn't sound real man that sounds like a Mad Lib"

[edit] Books

The Original Mad Libs 1 (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-0055-9
Cool Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-7660-1
Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-7441-2
Worst Case Scenario Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-0298-5
Napoleon Dynamite Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-2011-8
Goofy Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-0059-1
Vacation Fun Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-1921-7
Off-The-Wall Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-0108-3
Mama's Got A Brand New (Diaper) Bag! (Adult Mad Libs) - ISBN 1-59609-202-5
Dysfunctional Family Therapy (Mad Libs) - ISBN 1-59609-181-9
Once Upon A Mad Libs Junior (Mad Libs Junior) - ISBN 0-8431-0768-5
Mad Libs 40th Anniversary Edition (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-7823-X
Super Silly Mad Libs Junior (Mad Libs Junior) - ISBN 0-8431-0758-8
Sports Star Mad Libs Junior (Mad Libs Junior) - ISBN 0-8431-0770-7
School Rules! Mad Libs Junior (Mad Libs Junior) - ISBN 0-8431-0853-3
Bachlorette Bash (Mad Libs) - ISBN 1-59609-178-9
Animals, Animals, Animals! Mad Libs Junior (Mad Libs Junior) - ISBN 0-8431-0951-3
Keepers and Losers Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 1-59609-150-9
Mad Libs from Outer Space (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-8431-2443-1
Camp Daze Mad Libs (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0843122390
Mad Libs for President (Mad Libs) - ISBN 0-439-69679-8
Scooby-Doo Halloween Mad Libs Hanna-Barbera