Heads Up · hosted table by table

Heads Up, at every table.

Charades, played with a phone on your forehead. I bring my phone to every table in the room, each table gets sixty seconds and a score, and the top two tables go head to head in front of everyone until there is a winner. No screen, no stage and nothing for your guests to download.

Check availability See how it plays

The charades app made famous by Ellen DeGeneres, hosted for a whole room.

Kevin Durham holding a phone to a guest’s forehead during a game of Heads Up at a black-tie dinner
A real table, mid round

Have a go: sixty seconds

Score 060
Ready?

On the night the person holding the phone cannot see this. Everyone else at the table can.

0on the clock for every table
0phone, and it is mine
0tables in the final
0screens, apps or set-up needed

How a round plays

How Heads Up plays, table by table.

One phone, every table, and a final in front of the room. Here is how a game runs from the first table to the winner.

  1. I bring the phone to your table

    I come to you. One guest holds my phone up to their forehead with the screen facing the table, so everyone can read the word except the person holding it.

    1
    A guest holding a phone to her forehead during Heads Up, the word showing on the screen

  2. Sixty seconds of shouting

    The table describes it, acts it out, sings it, anything short of saying the word. Guess it and the phone tilts down for a point. Stuck? Tilt up to pass and the next word appears. It gets loud quickly.

    2

  3. Every table gets a score

    Then I move to the next table, and the next, until the whole room has played. Every table ends up with a score, so every table knows exactly who they have to beat.

    3

  4. The top two go head to head

    The two highest-scoring tables play again, this time in front of the whole room, with everyone else picking a side. One more minute each, and we have a winner.

    4

Chosen for your room

The words change with the crowd.

The app has more than a hundred themed decks, so the game a room of graduates plays is not the game a table of directors plays. I pick the decks before the night, and change them on the night if a different crowd turns up.

For a young, loud room

Fast decks with plenty to act out. The sillier the clue, the better the table does, and the noise carries the rest of the room with it.

For a mixed-age dinner

Decks everyone at the table has a chance with, so the youngest guest and the chairman are equally useful and equally competitive.

For your company

The app lets me build a deck of my own, so a round drawn from your products, your people and your year is possible. Ask me when you enquire.

Why it works

A whole room playing, with nothing on stage.

Nobody is left watching

The guesser is one person. Everyone else at the table is giving the clues, so the whole table is in it from the first word.

No screen, no stage, no set-up

It runs on the phone in my hand. It works in a room with no screen, between courses, with the lights up and the plates still on the table.

I come to the tables

Guests do not have to volunteer or walk to the front to be part of it. The game arrives at their table and takes a minute.

It finishes with a final

Because every table has a score, the room has a reason to care who wins. The last two tables play it out in front of everyone.

In the running order

Where Heads Up fits in the night.

Where it sits in the night

Between courses, or between awards. I have used it to break a long run of trophy presentations into smaller chunks, so the room plays, then applauds, then plays again.

How long

A minute a table, plus the walk between them, and a two-table final at the end. Tell me how many tables you have and I will tell you how long to allow.

Pairs well with

It is the perfect warm-up for a big-screen game later on: Family Fortunes or the Quiz Show with the same tables as teams. See how I mix games and awards.

All sixteen games

Sixteen games. One host. One screen.

Five rounds the whole room plays on their phones, nine big-screen games with teams at the board, and two that need no screen at all: a phone on a forehead, and a coin. The screen games are all my own software, run from one screen, so I can switch format the moment the room needs a lift. Tap any game to see exactly how it plays.

Almost all of these can be played as a show, at the tables or on the app, and the questions are written around your company before the night. Not sure which mix suits your event? Tell me the room and I will suggest a running order.

What clients say

5.0 from 29 reviews
Kevin recently hosted a company corporate event and proved to be the consummate professional throughout the evening. He has the unique ability to read a room and keep everyone happy.
Faerch Group, Google review
Kevin hosted our staff conference event this year which was fantastic. He brought an energy and enthusiasm with him and played a really important part in getting people engaged in the day.
Golding Homes, Google review
Thank you Kevin for hosting our Christmas party in December 2025. The team had an amazing time. We really liked the intertwining of awards and the game. Everyone had a brilliant time and Kevin was fantastic.
Christmas awards party, Client

Good to know

Heads Up FAQs.

What is Heads Up?

Heads Up is a charades-style guessing game played on a phone, made famous by Ellen DeGeneres on her television show. One player holds the phone to their forehead so they cannot see the word on the screen. Everyone else gives clues, and the player has sixty seconds to guess as many as they can. Tilt the phone down for a correct answer, tilt it up to pass.

How do you play Heads Up with a whole room?

I take it to every table. Each table plays one sixty-second round on my phone and gets a score. When the whole room has played, the two highest-scoring tables play each other in front of everyone, and the room gets down to a single winning table.

Do our guests need to download the app?

No. The whole game is played on my phone, which I bring to each table. Nobody needs to download anything, scan a code or connect to the Wi-Fi.

Do you need a screen or a stage?

No. It is one of only two games I host that need no screen at all, which makes it ideal for rooms without one, and for the gaps between courses. If there is a screen in the room, the table scores can go up on a leaderboard so everyone can see who is ahead.

Is it the same as charades?

It is charades with the rules loosened. In most decks you can talk, describe, sing and act, and the only thing you cannot do is say the word. That makes it faster and louder than traditional charades, and much easier for a table that has only just met.

Can the words be about our company?

I choose the decks to suit the room, and the app has more than a hundred of them. It also lets me build a custom deck, so a round built around your company is possible. Tell me what you have in mind when you enquire.

Is it suitable for a work crowd?

Yes. I pick the decks, so the words are right for the room, and I host every round myself. It is quick, warm and silly in the right way, and nobody has to do anything they would be embarrassed by on Monday.

What does it cost?

Heads Up is usually one part of a hosted evening rather than a booking by itself. Fees are quoted individually for the date, the venue, the numbers and what else I am hosting. Send me the details and I will come back with a quote.

Heads Up! is a third-party app and its name belongs to its owners. I am an independent event host who plays it with my guests, and I am not affiliated with the makers of the app.

Enquiries

Put Heads Up on your tables.

Tell me the date, the venue, how many tables and what else is in the running order. I will confirm availability, suggest where it fits and send a quote.

hello@eventhost.info  ·  07596 851647