Talk:Zoom Schwartz Profigliano

History
This posting offers a correction to the "History" section. Zoom Schwartz Profigliano was very popular among City of Syracuse lifeguards dating at least as far back as the early 1970s. The guards from whom I learned the game (in 1975) had been playing it for several years. Most of them (and all the best players) were Syracuse University swimmers and alums (men and women), and it was obvious to me that the game had been passed down from earlier SU swimming graduates. The game quickly spread in popularity among the 150 or so City guards (and their friends and relations) during the mid-to-late 1970s and early 1980s. Rousing games of Zoom Schwartz were a staple of guard parties (and there were lots of them) for many summers. Although I have no evidence that the game was invented at Syracuse (and I'm not suggesting that it was), it certainly was played here -- often, and well. I can say for certain that the game did not originate at MIT, at least not in the mid- to late 1970s.

The game we played involved a 3-word vocabulary – "Zoom" to initiate or redirect the "conversation," and "Schwartz" or "Profigliano" to reply. "Schwartz" required the speaker to look at the person to whom the reply is directed when speaking; "Profigliano" required the speaker NOT to look at the person to whom the reply is directed. Failure to respond immediately (no 5 second rule here), or incorrect pronunciation (a "splivage") was a foul. The simplicity of the rules made head fakes and other deceptive moves critical to success in the game, and led to long and entertaining rallies. I suspect, though, that the addition of 4th or 5th commands (as in the Southern California or Wisconsin rules) would have been all kinds of fun also!

Incidentally, while ski-bumming in Aspen in 1980-81, I met a guy from Connecticut who knew the game as "Zoom Schwartz BONfigliano." Same rules as noted above. Flip5 19:43, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

I also met Zoom & Schwartz in 1975, among trainee pilots at RAF College Cranwell. In our game the 3rd word was Flikadeano (Flik-ae-dee-aah-no) but the rules were as above. Again, the resident experts had been practicing for some years. 80.176.133.228 21:54, 9 March 2007 (UTC)Qolin, 9 Mar 2007.

You're not alone. I came across it in 1974 at Flinders University in South Australia. Since at that time the game was already fully-developed there and at (at least) several other places around the world, a much earlier origin is implied. Or perhaps I just infer an earlier origin... Ossipewsk 04:18, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Who is Steve Carr?
Two anonymous editors have claimed the game was invented by "Steve Carr". One says it was "invented in the early 70s by Steve Carr of Oakleigh." If that's true, great! But we really, really need some sort of citation before we start attributing the game to a specific person. Absent that citation, I'm going to keep deleting it. — Alan De Smet | Talk 04:18, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

The Syracuse variant of ZSP is still current in parts of Ohio. Interestingly, we (swimmers all) learned the game from a 1970's Syracuse alum with no connections to swimming himself. This variant of the game also includes an elaborate opening "incantation" that must be delivered perfectly at the beginning of each round. Maybe I'll write up an entry. With the terms defined entirely differently, it might be relevant.

I used to play this while attending West Point as a drinking game. The first time I played was in 1972. The variation was the three command version, "Zoom, Schwartz, Pfigliano". Instructions were "You can't Zoom a Zoomer (direction goes to where one is looking), no laughing Schwartz's (direction goes to where one is looking), and Pfigliano must look away (returns direction to sender). No finger pointing allowed (must 'point' with elbows).  Let's have a social drink...Begin...Zoom"  Time limit was up to the "director" and was measured in fractions of a second. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.35.158.139 (talk) 03:57, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Bunny bunny bunny!
In my past dabbling with ComedySportz, there was a warmup game called "bunny bunny bunny". It goes like this:
 * Group gets into a circle. "It" starts chanting "bunny bunny bunny..." while flapping bunny ears over his head (ref carmeldansen videos).  Person on It's left flaps the left hand.  Person on It's right flaps the right hand.  After six or so reps of "bunny", a final "bunny" is spoken and It points to someone else in the circle.  The new It starts the "bunny bunny bunny" chanting again and so on.  This was frequently mixed with zoom-schwartz-profigliano.  There was also another word used: "beep".  This passed It to the right or left depending on which way you turn your head.

Does anyone else remember any of this? Frotz (talk) 07:40, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * I've seen that game, which I'd count as distinct from ZSP. Bunny Bunny Bunny is closer to Hi-Yah.  The phrase "Hi-Yah" is passed around the circle.  A receiving triplet says "Hi-Yah" once, then the center player says "Hi-Yah" and passes by pointing to someone else with hands pressed flat against each other (like in prayer or a double "karate chop").  When a triplet receives the hi-yah, each player puts his or her hands together; the center player raises their arms above their head while the two on the sides "chop" the center player's stomach (if they make contact, it should be done soflty).  Hi-Yah is much more fast-paced than Bunny Bunny Bunny.  Other similar games include Big Booty, Prince of Whales, and the classic Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar.
 * Kanenas (talk) 23:58, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

The profane
My favorite variant replaces the words... but not the rules.

Zoom == F&^k Schwartz == S&^t Profigliano == "Eat me"

Usually, this version is done as loudly as possible. Great fun. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 146.115.113.144 (talk) 01:30, 2 March 2008 (UTC)

Oberlin Rules Circa 1984
1. No pointing. Digits are for eating. I mean, not eating. There is NO cannabalism at Oberlin College. Point = Drink.

2. A round only begins after a successful preamble: "The name of this game is Zoom, Schwartz, Profigliano (and all words currently in use in order). Zoom (or Zoom-equivalent word if in use)." Any stumbling, mumbling, uhs, ums, mispronounciations, etc, are considered an foul = Drink.

3. Any word said by any player during an active round (after successful preamble) is considered play and is judged accordingly.

4. No cannabalism.

5. The words, their movements and their meanings are as follow and introduced to play in this order after the initial three:

Zoom - look at recipient - introduction

Schwartz - look at recipient - reply

Profigliano - look NOT at recipient - reply

Boink - look at "lap" - reply

Belvedere - look up - introduction to player on left

Meep Meep - n/a - end

Quaffle - n/a - repeat

Hedge - n/a - introduction to player on right

Wembley - look at recipient - forced introduction to previous player, await instructions

Xavier - look at recipient - forced introduction to previous player, speak now

Flesh - n/a - reply, next statement is in metalanguage where any reply = a legal schwartz

F***ologist - n/a - all players say "when you said f-ologist, my woman heard you! (various additions permissible)"

Volvo - look at recipient - forced introduction to three-way conversation with speaker and previous speaker, await instructions

Adolph - look at recipient - forced introduction to three-way conversation with speaker and previous speaker, speak now

Counter - look at recipient - reply with next number, begins with 1

Chan - n/a - may be said after the 3rd consecutive repetition of any word by the same player, ends play because a Chan is a foul = Drink. (Example: Zoom. Quaffle. Zoom. Quaffle. Zoom. Quaffle. Chan.)

Alexander - n/a - introduction to second player to the left

Bobby - n/a - introduction to second player to the right

This variation was developed at T-House, an off-campus residence. Many people played and contributed to the game's development, but four habitual players known as The Council acted as a rules-setting body, determining through vigorous research the appropriate interpretation of the language above.

Speck22 (talk) 20:49, 16 April 2008 (UTC)

Indiana University School of Music
I recall playing a version of this game with folks from the Opera department around 1990. I learned it from a Bass named Dan Judge, who came to us from Oberlin, and what I remember coincides with the rules given above.

I don't know the proper forum to do it, but it might prove useful to try and backtrack the game via the various individuals who we first learned it from, and so on and so on, documenting the process along the way.

Suggestions? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.65.33.143 (talk) 20:13, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Wikification
Um, citations for a drinking game?

Speck22 (talk) —Preceding undated comment was added at 23:48, 20 October 2008 (UTC).

Mispronunciation rule
Kind of funny to see that some penalize mispronunciation. From my experience with how poeple butcher Italian names, especially those with -GLI-, I guarantee you that more than 95% of Americans will pronounce "Profigliano" incorrectly. 174.21.3.114 (talk) 04:45, 14 March 2010 (UTC)

You might as well throw that one out, since some Italian-Americans technically misprounounce their OWN last names, same as some German-Americans do. It varies by region, and isn't even consistent between brothers in the same family. We had two brothers last name spelled Uebelhor from Jasper, Indiana. One pronounced it by correct German pronunciation, and the other pronounced it "Youbellur" like most folks around the area. The Italian-American commedian Mike Birbiglia (aka "Birbigs") pronounces it with the hard "g." BTW, when I was in college at Purdue, it was either "figliano' or "BUFigliano" both hard "G." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.234.11.132 (talk) 13:42, 11 September 2010 (UTC)

Wills Hall, University of Bristol
I well recall this game being frequently (and loudly) played in the Junior Common Room of Wills Hall at the University of Bristol between 1984 and 1986.

It was then known as Zoom schwartz figliano and had a dozen or more additional commands and rules, which had been added by the participants over time to commemorate various events, infamous previous game participants and even politicians of the day. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Whodoyouthinkiam (talk • contribs) 23:28, 21 April 2012 (UTC)

University of Maryland circa 1985
I learned this in off-campus housing at UofM about 1985. It was simply called Zoom. Zoom, schwartz and profigliano used the way described in the main page, but turbo and boink were used. Turbo a head fake sending it to the person on your left, boink to the right. We got so good, we'd play a game called Thumper Zoom Viking which was a mix of all three games at the same time. The person active could switch games at will. Ohleary (talk) 19:50, 10 February 2013 (UTC)

Difficulty of referencing sources
If we are going to start deleting edits because they are unsourced, we may as well delete the entire article. How do you provide a reference for personal experiences? 108.20.74.240 (talk) 17:02, 29 December 2013 (UTC) J. Conti, 29 December 2013, 17:02 UTC


 * You don't. Original research is disallowed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.49.176.208 (talk) 00:00, 7 May 2017 (UTC)

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