When I was in high school, I was in show choir, where I used to get to sing and dance to my little heart's content. Somehow, though, that wasn't enough singing or dancing, so my friends and I would pretend we lived in a magical place called 'musical land' where it was normal to spontaneously burst into song and dance at any random moment—at the library, the cafeteria, or just wandering around campus. — Read the rest
Ten years ago, Charlie Todd premiered the feature-length documentary about how his merry band of pranksters, Improv Everywhere, came to be. For the first time, it's available to watch online. I was at that SXSW premiere, loved the film, and think you will too. — Read the rest
…We created a custom-built set that allowed random New Yorkers to instantly deliver a card and light up someone's holiday. Participants were surprised as Christmas lights lit up the plaza and their message was displayed on a 30-foot wide screen above.
Charlie from Improv Everywhere writes, "What happens when you leave a megaphone on the street with the simple instructions: 'Declare Your Love?' 2016 has been a rough year. It felt like time to dust off our old podium."
The fun-loving stunters of Improv Everywhere staged a fabulous stunt in New York City's Bryant Park: they set up a crowd of "grads" in caps and gowns with a stage and a podium, then sent the "dean" out into the park to beg randos to step in and serve as emergency commencement speakers, filling in for a last-minute cancellation.
What happens when the founder of Improv Everywhere marries his girlfriend, another Improv Everywhere provocateur? See above. Congrats, Charlie Todd and Cody Lindquist! "Pro Wrestler Wedding"
Our latest project has a bit of "maker" flair to it, and I thought you'd enjoy. We custom-built a lectern with a megaphone holster and then placed it in public places around New York. We put a placard on it that read, "Say Something Nice."
[Video Link] Charlie Todd says: "3,500 people downloaded the same mp3 from our website and pressed play simultaneously along the Hudson River in Lower Manhattan. What resulted was a massive silent party with glow sticks, camera flashes, and flashlights." — Read the rest
[Video Link] Charlie Todd says: "For our latest mission, a musical breaks out at the GEL Conference in New York. A speaker is suddenly interrupted by a man who refuses to turn off his cell phone." — Read the rest
The 10th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place on Sunday, January 9, 2011, with 3,500 participants in New York City and thousands more in 50 cities across the world. The event is organized by Improv Everywhere, and involves participants who strip down to their underwear as they go about their normal routine. — Read the rest
Several hundred merry pranksters of Improv Everywhere descended on Coney Island/Brighton Beach dressed in black tie. Founder Charlie Todd says, "We covered a mile-long stretch of beach with a diverse group of people of all ages (from babies to sixty-somethings) laying out, playing games, and swimming in the ocean, all in formal wear. — Read the rest
Charlie Todd says: "For our latest mission, Agent Lathan pretended to get lost during a Knicks game. Throughout the second half he kept appearing further and further away from his assigned seat with a confused look on his face." After a while, a bunch of people started calling out to Rob. — Read the rest
[W]e installed a photography studio on a random subway car. We claimed that the MTA had hired us to take photos of every single person who rides the subway and that we'd be producing a yearbook at the end of the year.
Improv Everywhere is the joyful performance art troupe that pulls playful large scale pranks designed to surprise and delight unwitting public audiences. They're the ones behind the frozen people in Grand Central Station, the No Pants! subway ride, the Food Court Musical, the 80 fake uniformed Best Buy employees, the Starbuck's time loop, the McDonald's bathroom attendant prank, and others. — Read the rest
The pranksters of Improv Everywhere recently staged their annual No Pants! Subway Ride. More than 2,000 people around the world took off their trousers and rode the trains. From the New York City mission report:
All of the train lines converged on Union Square at the end of the mission, which means that within a short stretch of time 1,200 pantless people passed through the station's exit turnstiles.
