Mornington Crescent

Mornington Crescent

British humor can be pretty thick stuff at times, but boy can it can pay off.

For example, Mornington Crescent is an improvisational game featured in the BBC Radio 4 comedy panel show I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, a series which satirizes panel games. The game consists of each panelist in turn announcing a landmark or street, most often a tube station on the London Underground system. The apparent aim is to be the first to announce “Mornington Crescent“, a station on the Northern line. Interspersed with the turns is humorous discussion among the panelists and host regarding the rules and legality of each move, as well as the strategy the panelists are using. Despite appearances, however, there are no rules to the game, and both the naming of stations and the specification of “rules” are based on stream-of-consciousness association and improvisation. Thus the game is intentionally incomprehensible.

 

It also appears to be an inspiration to the Mitchell and Webb series game NumberWang:

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