UPTOWN — The hosts of a Chicago-based comedy podcast have created a card game that works to get groups talking about things other than “the pandemic or the weather.”
Paula Skaggs and Josh Linden are the creators of “Being Earnest: A Very Sincere Podcast,” where the two comedians often discuss zany hypothetical situations.
The podcast’s premise also works well as a conversation starter — so Skaggs and Linden devised a card game that seeks to get people talking.
The game is called “No Wrong Answers: Non-Burning Questions to Kick Off Conversations.” It is available at Foursided locations in the city or through the podcast website. “No Wrong Answers” sells for $25.
Each card presents a hypothetical situation and asks players how they would respond: Which cereal mascot would be the best kisser? In a heist, what role would you play?
The idea is to lift people from the daily doldrums of the pandemic and get them talking about something — literally anything — else, Skaggs said.
“We’re all going stir crazy lately and talking about the same things,” said Skaggs, who lives in Uptown. “We thought about launching a card game and said this would be a great time to do it.”
Skaggs and Linden met doing improv comedy and launched the podcast in 2015. The idea for the card game came to them last year, during the height of the coronavirus lockdown.
The duo sold 300 of the card games through pre-order and had a waiting list, Skaggs said. Then the game got picked up by Foursided, a popular framing and gifts store with locations in Andersonville and Lakeview.
The game has been popular with teachers, hairstylists and people trying to date during the pandemic, Linden said, and it can be an easy icebreaker during awkward Zoom meetings or virtual hangouts.
“When we were so separated, we asked: what are ways to stimulate conversations in ways that are vulnerable or real,” said Linden, who lives in Lincoln Square. “We thought this would be a fun and nice thing during what is obviously a trying time.”
The duo use the term “game” loosely to describe No Wrong Answers. If a winner must be picked, players can chose who had the best answer to the prompt, and the person with the highest number of best answers wins, Linden said.
“The winner is whoever is having a conversation that’s not about the pandemic,” Linden said. “The intention is, use it as needed.”
For more information on No Wrong Answers, click here.
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