Knife game

The knife game, pinfinger, nerve, bishop, knife fingies, five finger fillet (FFF), or chicken is a game wherein, placing the palm of one's hand down on a table with fingers apart, using a knife (such as a pocket or pen knife), or other sharp object, one attempt to stab back and forth between one's fingers, trying not to hit one's fingers. The game is intentionally dangerous, exposing players to the risk of injury and scarring, and, before antibiotics, an incision or penetration risked sepsis and death. A foldable blade carries the additional danger that, "as the faster you go, the more likely the blade will fold back in on itself trapping the finger of your stabbing hand."[1] It may be played much more safely by using another object, such as the eraser side of a pencil or a marker with its cap on. In European culture it is traditionally considered a boys' game.[2] However, its focus on motor coordination and dexterity is comparable to clapping games.[2]

Knife game (representation of motion)

Order of "stabbing"
Simple order for playing the knife game
More complex order for playing the knife game
Even more complex order for playing the knife game

The order in which the spaces between the fingers are stabbed varies. In the following examples, the space numbered 1 is to the outside of the thumb, with numbering then proceeding to the space between the thumb and index finger and so forth.

The most popular version is to simply stab all the spaces in order, starting from behind the thumb to after the little finger, and back again ("In its simplest form, one would simply move as fast as one dared backwards and forwards."[2]):

 1-2-3-4-5-6-5-4-3-2 (repeat).

A more complex order is also common ("Those with stronger nerves could stab according to a sequence"[2]):

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-1-5-1-4-1-3-1-2 (repeats until the end of the song)

or a more complex order:

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5-6-4-6-3-6-2-6 (etc.)

or an even more complex order:

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6-2-1-2-3-2-4-2-5-2-6-3-1-3-2-3-4-3-5-3-6-4-1-4-2-4-3-4-5-4-6-5-1-5-2-5-3-5-4-5-6-6-1-6-2-6-3-6-4-6-5

In Australia, the following order is used.

 1-2-1-3-1-4-1-5-1-6 (repeat)

Roman Polanski's first feature Knife in the Water (1962) may be the first film to show the game; a young hitchhiker plays the game on the deck of a sailboat.[3]

The movie Aliens (1986) features a scene with a android member of the crew, Bishop, who plays the "knife game" with another member of the crew.[4][1]

In Season 1, episode 6 of the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010) features a young WWI veteran, Jimmy Darmody, playing "Five Finger Fillet," and requesting the young Al Capone to join in.[5]

In the Sierra On-Line game Manhunter: New York (1988), one sequence requires winning the knife game in a Brooklyn bar in order to continue the winning plot.[6]

It also appears as a minigame called "Wee Hand" in the 2007 video game Jackass: The Game, though here set to a one minute timer.[7]

Knife.Hand.Chop.Bot (2007), by the Svoltcore group, is an "interactive installation that plays with the recipient's concern about [his or her] own physical integrity."[8]

In the King of the Hill episode "Death and Texas," an inmate tells Peggy that the "stab a knife around your fingers" game is fun, but he doesn't believe it has a name. Peggy suggests "Stabscotch."

The knife game also appears as an unnamed gambling minigame in a popular video game released by Bethesda Softworks and id Software in 2011 called Rage (video game).

It appears under the title "Five Finger Fillet" as a playable minigame in both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2.

In Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, Puss plays the game with a party-goer at his fiesta; using his rapier instead of a knife, he straddles the weapon like a pogo stick and hops between the man's fingers. Other party-goers then take turns stabbing at Puss while he lies on his back on a spinning roulette wheel.

Knife game song

On August 31, 2011, a YouTube video entitled "The Knife Game Song" created by songwriter Rusty Cage was released.[9][10] Several internet users uploaded videos of themselves singing the song while playing the knife game.[11] A new version of the song with additional lyrics entitled 'The New Knife Game Song' was later released on March 29, 2013.[12]

The viral popularity of the song inspired an episode of the game show Unschlagbar, in which contestants were required to stab a knife between their fingers as many times as possible in thirty seconds without harming themselves. Rusty Cage, who traveled from America in order to compete, was crowned the winner and awarded €50.000 in prize money.[13]

In 2017, Rusty Cage released a video detailing his side of the story on the knife game.[14] He uploaded his final knife game song entitled 'The Final Knife Game Song' on April 29, 2017.[15] In January 2019, Rusty made many of his Knife Game videos private to prevent his Youtube channel from receiving strikes and potentially being terminated. He subsequently transferred many of his videos to a BitChute account for preservation. Re-uploads of the songs continue to proliferate on YouTube from other users.

See also

References
  1. Wilson, Richard (2013). Those Were the Days ... My Arse!: 101 Old Fashioned Activities NOT to Do With Your Kids, unpaginated. Pavilion. ISBN 9781909396319.
  2. Webb, Simon (2011). 1960s East End Childhood, unpaginated. History. ISBN 9780752478395. "I cannot recall any of these games which did not ultimately end in bloodshed."
  3. Pfeifer, Moritz. "For the Virtue of a Knife Roman Polanski's Knife in the Water (Nóż w wodzie, 1962)". Retrieved 9 January 2023. This conflict foregrounds perhaps the film's most well-known scene: the knife game between the anonymous hitchhiker and his "opponent", Andrzej, where they alternately stab a knife quickly between the out-stretched fingers of the other's hand.
  4. Heller, Dana Alice; ed. (1997). Cross-Purposes, p.102. Indiana University. ISBN 9780253210845. One of, "the film's fears," is, "penetration." "Bishop's...knife game with the boys in the mess room evokes obvious s/m parallels."
  5. "Boardwalk Empire". HBO. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
  6. "Computer Game Violence", STart (magazine), September 1989.
  7. StumpedGamer (October 10, 2008). Jackass The Game - PS2 - 24 - Eps 4 - Wee Hand. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. YouTube.com.
  8. Kwastek, Katja (2013). Aesthetics of Interaction in Digital Art, p.86. ISBN 9780262019323.
  9. "'Knife Song': Hanna Ellingseter, Norwegian Girl, Sings The Most Dangerous Song Ever (VIDEO [removed])". Huffington Post. March 4, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  10. Rusty Cage (Aug 31, 2011). The Knife Game Song. YouTube.com.
  11. Yetta Gibson (March 6, 2013). "Dangerous Internet trend: 'Knife Game Song'". AZ Family. Archived from the original on April 17, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2013.
  12. Rusty Cage (March 29, 2013). The NEW Knife Game Song!. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. YouTube.com.
  13. "Unschlagbar: Rusty Cage gewinnt 50.000 Euro" [Unbeatable: Rusty Cage wins 50,000 euros]. RTL.de (in German). July 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 12, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  14. Rusty Cage (April 8, 2017). The FULL STORY behind EVERY Knife Game Song. YouTube.com.
  15. Rusty Cage (April 29, 2017). The FINAL Knife Game Song. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. YouTube.com.
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