Practice Kiss

Pablo: It's weird, kissing each other so you can practice... I would do it because you're my friend. Even to try without being drunk. But it's easier to go over there and just do it.

Bruno: But you would do it. It's easy for me to convince you, isn't it? You must really like me... I'm just joking.

— Plan B

The Practice Kiss is what happens when two people who are not in a relationship decide to try kissing each other, ostensibly for non-romantic reasons. Commonly, this is shown to happen between characters who are teenagers, with at least one of them being inexperienced in kissing or romance in general.

If neither party has ever experienced a First Kiss and are suffering angst about the possibility of making fools of themselves while doing so, one may suggest a Practice Kiss so that they can more easily impress their current or future significant others. Alternatively, they may just want to see what kissing feels like. While it may not be the kissers' original intent, doing so may be the spark that causes one or both of the characters to develop feelings for the other. If one of the kissers does have previous experience, the other will usually be shown to be quite flustered after the fact.

The Practice Kiss can also be used as a ploy when one character is secretly in love with the other, but just Cannot Spit It Out. This may be done as a means to make the other character notice them romantically, or simply so that they may experience their True Love's Kiss at least once before letting go of the object of their affection. While this provides an easy source of sexual tension between the pair, the plan can backfire if they are caught in the act... especially if the person being kissed is already in another relationship.

If both participants are of the same sex, it can also be a prime source of Ho Yay. This can be done solely for the benefit of the show's fans, or to serve as the moment one or both of the characters starts to realize that they are not straight.

Note that this is distinct from the Test Kiss, which is when potential lovers try kissing each other to see if there is a romantic spark between them. They can overlap, however, as what may be a Practice Kiss to one of the characters may secretly be a Test Kiss for another.

Compare Kissing Warm-Up, where a character practices by kissing an inanimate object.

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Examples:

Anime & Manga

• In the CLANNAD OVA "Another World: Kyou chapter", Kyou offers a practice kiss to Tomoya, who she is secretly in love with, but who at that time is dating her twin sister, Ryou. She pulls back at the last second before they actually kiss, but not before they are seen by some of their classmates.
• Sekai from School Days uses this as a ruse to make Makoto fall for her, having grown jealous of Makoto's relationship with Kotonoha (who Sekai actually helped get together). It works... a little too well.
• Ushio and Sumika do this early in Whispered Words, with Ushio wearing a mask so that it doesn't count.
• Love Hina devotes an entire chapter to this where Shinobu is wondering about this and Su constructs a kissing robot for practice... which then went crazy and kissed Motoko.
• Ken Akamatsu recycles the kissing robot in Negima! Magister Negi Magi. Haruna creates a kissing dummy for the girls who are contemplating Pactio. It goes crazy as well, but this time it has a 23.5 centimeter tongue. The girls decide never to speak of it again.
• In Neon Genesis Evangelion, Asuka attempts this with Shinji. It goes well until she starts pinching his nose.
• In the ecchi manga Hen, Yoshida, who is secretly in love with her female friend Azumi, proposes a "practice kiss" to train for the film they're shooting together.
• Peach Girl. Toji has never actually kissed a girl before and when Sae finds out she suggests he practice on her so he'll be prepared for the real thing with Momo. Now Toji can be a bit...dense sometimes and because of this he agrees,thinking that Sae is only trying to help him with Momo. This later comes back to bite him when Sae's manipulations eventually lead him to belive that Momo is a liar and has been cheating on him with Kairi, Momo angerly points out that only an idiot would believe it was okay to go around kissing other girls to practice kissing the girl he supposed to like(It didn't exactly help that Momo had witnessed the so called practice kiss either). This leads to the couple breaking up for the first time.
• My Love Story!! Takeo asks this of Suna, his best friend, since the pillow wasn't working. He ends up using plastic wrap to segregate them, but Suna is terrified as the enormous Takeo looms over him. Hilariously, Suna ends up traumatized by the ordeal
• Hetalia: Axis Powers's Buen San Valentino strips, where a clueless Germany, coming to terms with his budding feelings for Italy, attempts to practice sex with his and Italy's Big Brother Mentor Austria, so he'd know what to do with a guy. Played for Laughs, of course.

Fan Works

• Advice and Trust had a purely platonic example when Rei used Kensuke as a guinea pig for social experimentation (which also extended to things like hugs and showing off her underwear). This would later lead to Kensuke becoming a Chick Magnet due to Rei deliberately asking for a kiss in front of other girls.
• In Promstuck, John gets drunk and kisses Karkat to practice for when they get girlfriends. It's one of the many times he reveals his hidden feelings for Karkat by making advances on him, despite insisting he's "not a homosexual" and doesn't like him.
• In The Snorkackic Trio, Andromeda says that when she was 13, she kissed her cousin Sirius out of curiosity about what kissing a boy was like. Sirius, who is present when she says this, has no comment on the matter, at least not on-page.

Film

• Not only does the main character in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging get one with a character dubbed "Saliva Boy", but so does one of her friends (who ends up falling in love with him).
• Attenberg opens with Marina doing this with her best friend Bella.
• Cruel Intentions In a girl-girl example, this is proposed by Manipulative Bitch Kathryn to the innocent Cecile, who is worried about making a fool of herself when kissing her boyfriend for the first time. Afterward the "kissee", Cecile is left breathless, and unconsciously leans forward for more as Kathryn pulls away.

• In The Duchess, Bess and Georgiana do a little more than just kiss, but it's ostensibly all in service of preparing Georgiana for her wedding night.
• This is used in John Tucker Must Die. Two of the eponymous character's girlfriends (the main character and a supporting character) practice kissing together after the main character admits the she has never kissed anyone.
• In My Girl, Vada and Thomas practiced kissing on the back of their hands first before going for the actual kiss.
• In Plan B, Bruno claims to Pablo that he needs practice for a casting role that requires him to kiss another guy and Pablo acquiesces after some protesting. (They had kissed before, but it was when they were drunk and these kisses had been extremely brief.) Their kiss lasts a tad longer than needed, leading to a long moment of awkward silence before they both act as if that kiss wasn't anything important.
• Skipped Parts: Awkward teen Sam is (reluctantly) on a with a girl at the movies when she asks for a kiss (a peck on the lips). Sam however sees it as a chance to practice his mom's and various books advice on the girl leading to a rather passionate kiss... until she bites his tongue. She scolds him... first.
• In the John Hughes film Some Kind of Wonderful, Keith is convinced by his best friend, the tomboy Watts (who's secretly in love with him), that he should kiss her for practice before he goes out with the ever-popular Amanda Jones.
• The Wedding Singer - Robbie and Julia (who's engaged to another) practice how Julia should kiss her soon-to-be husband, with the appropriate amount of "church tongue". Needless to say, the kiss is extremely passionate.
• In We're the Millers, which is about a group pretending to a family, Kenny is taught to kiss by his "sister", Casey... and his "mother" Rose, too. Oh, and his "father", David, watches.

Literature

• In A Brother's Price, Cullen Moorland cheerfully admits to have tried out kissing with his cousin the Princess Lylia, but says that because they were raised together it was like kissing a sister, and he expects it would be different with someone else. As he puts it, "I'm sure kissing your sister wouldn't be the same." Amusingly, he says this to the brother of the women he's married to by the end of the book.
• In Fingersmith, the way that Maud seduces Sue is asking for advice about kissing and lovemaking and involving her in a Practice Kiss that turns out not so innocent.
• In Privilege of the Sword, Artemisia is briefly mentioned to have practiced kissing with a female friend. (Her sexuality isn't really explored, but in that universe the default setting seems to be bisexual, so make of it what you will.)

Live Action TV

• In The Borgias Lucrezia who is about to be married asks Giulia Farnese to teach her how to kiss.
• In Boston Legal, Denise gives Brad one of these to try to find out why all his ex-girlfriends have called him the worst kisser in the world.
• In Chuck, Chuck Bartowski and Sarah Walker share one of these as a demonstration of his seduction skills in the aptly-named "Chuck Versus the Seduction."
• In Dance Academy Tara practices kissing Sammy with Kat coaching them along (after practice-kissing a stuffed animal).
• In the iCarly episode iKiss Freddy confesses that he's never had his first kiss, and is ridiculed for it. He talks to Sam about it, and (even though they usually can't stand each other) they end up kissing, just to get it over with, and declare not to tell anyone. This ends up being a plot point several episodes later.
• In Friends, Joey had an audition for a role where he had to kiss a guy, so he tried to talk Ross or Chandler into kissing him to help him get used to it. Ross eventually did it but by then Joey had already had the audition and failed to get the part.
  • There's a variation in an alternative reality episode, when Chandler offers to have practice sex with fat Monica (who is a virgin) so she'll be prepared for her boyfriend. He then falls in love with her and they get together.
• In Kyle XY, Kyle and Jessi's Electric Kiss has to be the best kiss on the show, unless you count their other kiss where they blow out a lightbulb. Seriously, all Kyle is trying to do is practice saving his girlfriend's life beforehand so he doesn't fry her brain when he sends high voltage into her skull, but we can hear his heartbeat speed up. Not just an innocent kiss. Awkward when his girlfriend walks in.

Theatre

• A Chorus Line talks about this in the Coming of Age Story montage:
  Judy: Anyway, I remember practicing kissing with Leslie. She was my best girl friend. Did any of you ever practice kissing with another girl... (Sings) So that when the time came you'd know how to? (Listens, then speaks) No?... Oh, my God.
  (After a moment)
  Kristine: Judy?
  Judy: Did you, girl?
  Kristine: Yeah... but just a couple of times.
  Sheila: Oh, count me in.
  Judy: Thank God!

Video Games

• The Sims Medieval: In the quest "The Mirthful Love Doctor", the Physician Sim can agree to help a romantically inexperienced Sim learn how to kiss (among other things.)

Webcomics

• El Goonish Shive puckers up with a couple examples of its own:
  • The trope is mentioned in this strip as part of an Imagine Spot.
  • Another example here, when Sarah considers what Tedd (who is shapechanged to look like Grace) might think goes on in women's restrooms.
• Eerie Cuties: Layla agreed to give Brooke a kissing lesson, in exchange for some of her blood, but her mom walked in on them the first time they were about to try it. The next day at school, Layla kept her word..
• Emily to Ash in Misfile, as Emily is trying to work out if she's gay or not. She doesn't get enough information under the circumstances.
• Ménage à 3: Gary, who's never kissed a girl, ask his (Camp Gay) roommate Dillon (who's secretly in love with him) to help. Dillon does so by cosplaying as Gary's favorite porn star to help him get over his gender.

Western Animation

• In the Family Guy episode "Hannah Banana", Meg asks Chris if he wants to "practice kissing again".
• The Recess episode "The Experiment" centers around the kids' curiosity with this new, strange concept they've heard of called kissing, and they decide the only way to truly see what it's like is by having two of them kiss. The two girls and four boys draw straws, and the lot falls to T.J. and Spinelli.

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