Staring contest
A staring contest is a competitive game in which two people stare into each other's eyes and attempt to maintain eye contact for a longer period of time than their opponent. The game ends when one participant intentionally or unintentionally looks away and breaks eye contact. A popular variation of the game exists in which the participants not only attempts to maintain eye contact, but also must resist the urge to blink; creating a physical challenge as well as a psychological one. Most other variations revolve chiefly around either of these two core objectives, with some prohibiting virtually any action but staring (laughing, making a face, winking, nodding, talking, touching, bobbing, etc) and others allowing the aggressive use of these same actions to force an opponent into defeat.
Animals and staring contests
Another popular way to play the game is to compete against household pets or other animals. Animals are generally much more formidable opponents than humans, in either variation of the game. Many animals have multiple, transparent eyelids that allow them to go longer without visibly blinking. Humans also have complex social and cultural meanings associated with eye contact which can weaken a person's ability to stare into someone's or something's eyes for long periods of time. Animals, on the other hand, often perceive a stare simply as a threat or challenge to dominance, strengthening their resolve to maintain eye contact. Cats in particular will engage humans in staring contests, and often win, with frequency and ease. Dogs, however, are notorious for losing. However, keep in mind that staring into the eyes of animals (especially cats and dogs) that are not familiar with you might upset them.
Staring contests in popular culture
A semi-regular sketch on Late Night with Conan O’Brien featured Conan having a staring contest with his sidekick, Andy Richter. The contests would start normally, but then absurd scenes would take place in Andy’s line of sight just over Conan’s shoulder. (For example, a woman with deflatable breasts or Hitler planting a flag on the moon.) The scenes would get increasingly bizarre until Andy either laughed out loud or flinched in horror, breaking eye-contact and losing the contest. During his final show before he moved on to pursue other projects, Andy finally won a contest after people playing Conan’s parents and grandparents appeared in Conan’s line of sight, stripped naked and started making out.
A popular sketch on Saturday Night Live features Will Farrell as a parody of Robert Goulet, having a staring contest with an artificial moose.
A recurring sketch in the first series of comedy show Big Train featured a hand-drawn stare-out competition (the "world stare-out championships") accompanied by commentary, based on a comic book by Paul Hatcher and animated by Chris Shepherd.
Gary Larson of The Far Side fame once drew a panel in which two penguins engaged in a staring contest, wherein one of the penguins said to another, "Bob! Staring contest! Go!"