Something about our games: "Just a minute" and "The two-word tango"

If you are a regular listener of In Contact!, you must definitely be familiar with two of our sections (which are in fact two of our favourite ones!), Just a Minute and The Two-Word Tango. But were did these ideas come from?

Just a Minute is originally a BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) radio comedy show that started in 1967. It was created by Ian Messiter, who is always aknowledged in the original show even after he passed away, and since its first emission it's always been hosted by Nicholas Parsons, who is a famous English TV presenter and comedian (right, he's hosted the show for 50 years). The mission of contestants in this game is to talk about a given topic (usually a very funny or odd one) for a minute without repeating words - apart from the ones given in the topic -, without deviating from the topic, from reality or from the right use of the language, and without pausing or hesitating. For any of the contestants commiting any of these faults, they will be challenged and give a point to their clever contenders. Something amazing about the original show is that it's been running for so many years, yet it is one of the funniest radio comedy shows - also because of the wit of the guests in the show. Here you have a bit of what Just a Minute is about, in a special TV edition:

Wow, speaking for a minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation... That's no small order! Anyway it's so much fun and, for English learners, it can be a very amusing way to improve your speaking abilities, including your fluency and your use of vocabulary and grammar. Definitely this game is a favourite one of the In Contact! team! And if you've ever wondered what the opening theme of the game is, it's The Minute Waltz by Frédéric Chopin, which has become iconical from the game.

Let's talk about The Two-Word Tango now. Our game has been adapted from the one in the Dick & Dom in da Bungalow show, which was a CBBC entertainment television series for children and which was broadcast from 2002 to 2006. In this show, the two presenters had very crazy games and challenges, including the Two-Word Tango in which contestants had to follow the tune of the music and, in the blank spaces, they had to say sets of two words. No brainer, right? Well, actually it's not that easy, mainly when the pace of the music gets faster and faster...

Years later, radio host Chris Moyles decided to adapt this game in the Celebrity Two-Word Tango: in this, contestants had to tell names of celebrities, films, characters and other things according to the given topic. For sure it was much more challenging:

Isn't it fun? Well, this is a perfect game to challenge yourself and test your vocabulary whilst having fun with classmates or friends!

Do you know any other game that we can start playing in our show? And would you like to participate in any of these games? Leave us your comment and help us with more ideas for our programme!