Improv Everywhere

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Improv Everywhere (IE) is an unorthodox comedy group based in New York City, formed in 2001 by Charlie Todd. Its slogan is "We Cause Scenes," which the group lives up to by executing non-demeaning pranks in public places. The events ("missions") organized by the group are often considered flash mobs, but the group's website insists that they have nothing to do with flash mobbing and that IE was created years before flash mobbing gained popularity.

While some missions are executed by long-time members of IE, many missions are open to the public. IE has organized and carried out over 50 missions, from synchronized swimming in a park fountain to repeating a short sequence of events in a Starbucks café every five minutes for an hour to flooding a Best Buy store with members dressed exactly like the staff. All share a certain modus operandi: The missions are benevolent, aiming to give the observers ("civilians") a laugh and an experience. Members ("agents") play their roles entirely straight, not breaking character or betraying that they are acting. Civilians are not made the butts of the jokes intentionally, but there have been incidents of pranks going awry (e.g. "Best Gig Ever").

The group's most famous stunt is the annual No Pants event, which involves a large number of people riding a subway in the attire described, all claiming to have forgotten their pants by accident. The situation is solved by the lucky appearance of a pants vendor. This and several other missions have received national media attention. This event created controversy on 22 January 2006, when the New York City Police Department arrested eight members of the group while on the subway. According to the group, over 160 people participated in the city-wide event. The eight unlucky ones were riding the 6 train and were taken into custody and issued summonses for disorderly conduct. After appearing in court, these charges were dismissed.

Another more complex mission, done on 21 May 2005 involved the IE team staging a fake U2 street concert on a rooftop in New York hours before the real U2 were scheduled to perform at Madison Square Garden. The team was successful in that they were able to draw an enormous crowd, most of which thought that the people on the rooftop were actually U2. However, just like at the filming of the band's Where the Streets Have No Name video in 1987, the police eventually shut the performance down, but not before IE was able to exhaust their four-song repertoire and get most of the way through an encore repeat of "Vertigo". The mission ended on a high note, with the crowd (even those who had realized that this was a prank) shouting "one more song!," and then "let them play!" when the police officers arrived.

Todd was interviewed on an episode of This American Life on NPR in 2005. While touching briefly on the "No Pants" and "The Moebius" stunts, the show focused on "Best Gig Ever" and "Ted's Birthday", and how they created unintended reactions, both good ("Best Gig Ever") and bad ("Ted's Birthday").

1 Mission list and synopses
- 1.1 2001
2 See also
3 External links

[edit] Mission list and synopses

[edit] 2001

Parallelogram - June 1. Three agents pose as an inept street-performance cover band near the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill.
Ben Folds' Last Night in Town - August 2-3. After a throwaway comment that Agent Todd (Charlie) bore a passing resemblance to singer Ben Folds, he proceeds to act as such in a New York City bar, with the help of the friend who made the comment, acting as a fan. Later, he avoided a sales pitch from a street vendor selling presumably bootleg wristwatches. Brandon and Charlie then picked up a friend from Grand Central Station and all three reprise the Ben Folds act. In this instance, Brandon acts more belligerent, first insisting "Ben" buy him a drink, then becoming indignant when accused of stealing his wallet. After "Ben" slips his wallet to the third friend to plant on Brandon and later reveal it, Brandon and the friend are kicked out of the bar. Five years later, on August 3, 2006, he attempted to call Kristen, one of the girls whom Ben met; during the buildup to the call (which resulted in a cancelled phone number), Charlie cited this as "the start of Improv Everywhere." [1]
The Amazing Mime - September 5. Agents Blumenthal and Todd, waiting for a flight back to Chapel Hill, started a "mime by request" performance in Times Square. With Todd as the mime and Blumenthal as his barker, he pantomimed a variety of actions and impersonations, including a bagel shop worker, "the color red", Michael Jackson, and WWE superstars The Rock and Chris Jericho, before being disbanded by NYPD officers because they needed a permit to perform.
New Cheerios - September 22. A trio of agents set up a taste-test booth in Central Park, ostensibly demonstrating a new recipe of "Cheerios" cereal (similar to the differences between Coca-Cola and New Coke), albeit with all samples coming from a regular box of Cheerios. Although the agents' suggestions - that New Cheerios contained "more vitamins and less aftertaste" than the regular brand - seemed to sway the taste testers, a Park Ranger comes to the table, again stopping the scene for lack of permit.
The Shark! - September 28. A shark (Agent Arnold, in costume) attacked the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. After escaping from interrogation and heading to nearby storefronts, he returned to campus and was taken down by an Agent.
The Safety Shark - September 29. The Shark returns (now played by Agent Todd), raising awareness for drunk driving. Other agents "recognized" him, quickly attacking him before again ripping his costume head off.
The Caricaturist - October 6. Agent Lovejoy enters Central Park as a caricaturist advertising ridiculously low prices. Agent Todd is the customer who insists on a refund (of a more reasonable price) when Lovejoy's incompetence is revealed. A problem arises when the owners of a nearby cafe insist that Lovejoy's chair is not to be borrowed, while Todd (who put a deposit on the chair in the first place) is stuck in character and unable to straighten the situation out.
The Subway Series - October 7. A series of scenes take place on the NYC subway system.
- The Long Lost Brother: Two passengers (Lovejoy and Todd) find out that the latter, adopted at birth, and the former were brothers. The reunion turns sour when they find out that the brothers are Jewish by birth, but the adopted brother was raised Baptist.
- The Shoes: Agents Todd and Keech get into an heated argument after Keech (playing a New York University (NYU) student) demonstrates a problem figuring out his stop. After a long pause, the two make up and inexplicably trade their shoes and get off at the next stop.
- The Jacket: On a different car, Todd and Keech compliment each other on their clothes (Keech's jacket and Todd's shirt), and switch them, deciding to let the other keep the clothing free of charge. After they offer to switch pants, Todd is left in only his boxer shorts and Keech's jacket when Keech suddenly decides the switch will not work, "humiliating" Todd.
Parallelogram in NY - October 19. The first Improv Everywhere scene is brought to New York City for a reunion in Union Square.
The Ministry of Knife and Fork - October 30. Agent Todd sees a man proselytizing an odd, vaguely Christianity-inspired message. Expecting to meet Lovejoy, Todd decides to act as a lost soul, looking for direction and finding it in this man's disjointed message. After the man gives Todd a knife and fork and tells him to stay put, Lovejoy arrives, improvising with Todd by attempting to convert him to Scientology. When the original man returns, he calls for Todd to follow him; the two eventually share a coffee while the preacher talks about the bride he is awaiting.
The Revenge of General Mills - November 1. Ostensibly as revenge for the "New Cheerios" event, Agent Todd takes a contract from his staffing agency for a promotional event for General Mills and is "attacked" by the product mascots there.
Subway Series Redux - December 17.
- The V Train Players: Todd and Lovejoy act as promoters of the New York MTA's new "V" Train subway line, singing an overly-peppy song and playing games with the passengers for novelty subway cards.
- The Cell Phone: Todd enters the front car of the single above-ground train; Lovejoy enters the second car. The two start a cell-phone conversation, in which Lovejoy was kicked out of his significant other's home and Todd offered his house as a place to stay. The two were overjoyed when they realized they were on the same train.