Mad Libs
Mad Libs (a play on ad lib, from Latin ad libitum - as you wish) is a phrasal template 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 1953 by Leonard Stern and Roger Price, who published the first Mad Libs book themselves in 1958. Mad Libs books are still published by Price Stern Sloan, an imprint of Penguin Group, cofounded by Price and Stern.
Format
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, but without revealing the context for that word. Finally, the completed story is read aloud. The result is usually comic, surreal and somewhat nonsensical.
For example, a Mad Lib might initially look like this:
"One day, ________________ went to New York and _________________ a ______."
name of person past-tense verb noun
After completing the Mad Lib, it might read:
"One day, Joe Bloggs went to New York and fried a bicycle."
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.
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 MadLibs) - 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
- Night of the Living Mad Libs (Mad Lbs)-ISBN 0-590-48468-0
- 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
- The Powerpuff Girls Mad Libs - ISBN 0-8431-7738-1
- Family Guy Mad Libs
- American Dad Mad Libs
- Mad Libs on the Road
- Operation(TM) Mad Libs - ISBN 0-8431-2090-8