The Twenty-Third Triennial Conference Games Playing with competition at an academic conference

Abstract

Introduction: Making Friends Contestant 1: I’m not here to make friends. Contestant 2: I ain’t gonna make one friend. Contestant 3: I’m just here to win. I’m not here to make friends! Host: Okay. No. You’re here to make friends. ‘Making Friends’ is the name of this show. [Title Card: ‘Making Friends’] (Comedy Central, 2014, 0:02) In the fake reality TV show in this Kroll Show sketch, the contestants are incapable of not competing with each other. They have bought so completely into the logic of game shows that their default position is to compete, even when the host tells them explicitly not to. The humour here stems from the idea that people really do see competition in this way; we all know someone who frames everything in competitive terms, and who would