(View it larger on YouTube)
Song by Anthony King and Scott Brown (Gutenberg! The Musical!)
For their latest mission, seven undercover IE agents staged a spontaneous musical during lunch at the Trump Tower atrium. The mission was filmed for a segment on The Today Show and includes a cameo from Ann Curry. Their report: I Love Lunch! The Musical
(View it larger on YouTube)
Song by Anthony King and Scott Brown (Gutenberg! The Musical!)
For Improv Everywhere’s latest mission, six undercover actors burst into song in a grocery store in Queens. Three minutes and lots of silly choreography later, they returned to their roles as shoppers and stock boys. The mission was filmed with hidden robotic, lipstick, and wearable cameras. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with their full report: Grocery Store Musical
A brand new Improv Everywhere mission hit the interwebz today:
For our latest mission, we 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. Most people were happy to pose for us, and the resulting photos show just how diverse New York subway riders can be.
Improv Everywhere‘s book comes out today! Causing a Scene, Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere is available in bookstores all over North America. The book comes out in Australia on May 28. You can also order it online at Amazon.
Causing a Scene is the behind-the-scenes story of Improv Everywhere, with an in-depth look at some of the group’s most successful pranks over the past eight years. It’s written by Improv Everywhere founder Charlie Todd and Improv Everywhere senior agent Alex Scordelis, and contains many awesome photos by Chad Nicholson.
If you live in the New York City area, come by tomorrow (5/20) afternoon at 12:30 to the Bryant Park Word for Word writers series to watch Edward R. Murrow interview Charlie Todd about the book, and get your copy signed by the authors.
Also for New Yorkers: Improv Everywhere’s newest Mp3 Experiment is Saturday! Check their site for details.
In case you didn’t hear, the Improv Everywhere funeral prank was a hoax for April Fool’s Day. The family members were all actors who were friends of the group. Today they released a video of outtakes from the shoot. The craziest thing about all of this is that the local news covered it as a real event, not even bothering to get a source other than a YouTube video posted by a prank group on April Fool’s Day. Ridiculous!
(Watch in HD on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams / music by Tyler Walker
For their latest mission, 30 Improv Everywhere agents found a random funeral in the obituary section of the newspaper and turned it into the best funeral ever. They picked a man who had very few surviving relatives and then showed up to his funeral to make it truly awesome.
More info and photos: Best Funeral Ever
UPDATE: Of course, this was fake.
50 Improv Everywhere agents created an art gallery opening on the 23rd Street subway platform in Manhattan. They put up 30 placards next to objects in the space (pipes, electrical boxes, signs, advertisements), transforming them into works of art. The gallery included a bar, a coat rack, and a cellist.
The mission took place this past fall, but this morning a couple of Improv Everywhere agents put up fresh copies of the placards in the station (uptown platform for the C/E at 23rd Street). If you live in New York, go check it out before the MTA removes them.
(YouTube link)
edited by Matt Adams / song by Tyler Walker
Head to Improv Everywhere to see the full report with tons of photos: High Five Escalator
HD video won’t play? Watch on it on YouTube.
edited by Matt Adams / song by Tyler Walker
On Saturday, January 10th, 2009 nearly 2,500 people took off their pants on subways in 22 cities around the world. In New York’s 8th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride, Improv Everywhere had over 1,200 participants, spread out over four subway lines. Check out the IE site for tons of photos, including one photo from each of the regional rides around the world.