Improv Everywhere will be profiled on the radio program This American Life this weekend. Click the link below for more about the show and to find your local station. The episode will be archived on their site in Real Audio format next week.
This American Life (Real Media)
NPR’s This American Life is one of my favorite ways to spend an hour on Saturday mornings. The Mind Games segment was no exception. What an interesting vision Improv Everywhere has! Especially enjoyed hearing about the Best Gig Ever mission and the mixed band reaction that followed. Any way you would consider spreading the joy but keeping the mission a secret? Hit and run happiness sans the inevitable reality hangover. Keep up the excellent missions!
I heard your story on This American Life. Fantastic. Anything that brings unexpected enchantment is a beautiful thing. I’d love to find myself in IE’s world someday. Nice Job!
slc,ut
Heard you on TAL…it was so ridiculous, I had to listen. Sort of like Comedy Central meets “The Game”…bizzare idea..nice going with it anyway.
If they did not get the reality hangover, then they would just be living in a dream. I guess that it would only be that one aspect of their life that would be in the dream, but it still seems like the truth is better than a lie in the long run.
As for the band, I would say that their popularity must have soared (well, they said they were interviewed in some rock mag and something else), so just the recognition that they got from being the butt of the joke was enough to make it worth their whiles. I was curious as to why you (Improv Everywhere people) left the concert right away? I mean, if you were playing the role of fans, they would hang out and meet the band, not just quit when the music stops.
Also, for Chris, knowing that it was just a joke would have been quite a weight off of his mind, since he was fretting about “the real Ted” walking in every 5 minutes. Not to mention the $300 he did not spend because it was Ted’s. So I think knowing that it’s a joke afterwards is the best for all.
W00T for massive random freakouts!
My kids and I think your outstanding ,and creative, very funny and we are inspired here in Seattle to think up some missions ourselves….
the problem is that it is artificial and playing with emotion.
A big ego buster!
Overall, fun for those participating but upsetting for those who are suckered!
BLOODY HILARIOUS!
Best thing ever.
pants thing on subway … funny. Starbucks thing … funny (no victims). Band scam and poor Chris/Ted, not funny.
Some of your improv is groovy, bringing enchantment to a dreary, domesticated world (Mobius, Pantless Subway). Sometimes your improv is exploitative, using people as a means to an end, and not respecting their dignity and autonomy (Tom’s Birthday, Ghosts of P-whatever). You should be sensitive to this, and not let the power of notoriety and a zaney counter-culture God complex go to your head.
I heard TAL last night….this is the first I’ve heard of you guys – keep up the good work!
just listened to the TAL piece, both the band incident and the chris/ted thing was cruel. you don’t know what sort of background or baggage people have and to blatantly mock strangers like that is really insensitive, not to mention being terribly egocentric: as long as you’re having a blast it’t ok right?
This American Life is one of my favorite shows on the radio. They have a great way of presenting a story so that you can really connect with it. Thank you. Your story really contibuted to me.
Improv is funny. Most pranks are funny. Mind games that exploit a person’s vulnerabilities, take advantage of their awkwardness and then congratulate yourself for it is just plain cruel. Stick to the stuff where everyone can look back and laugh and your adventures will make me smile, rather than shake my head in awe at your incredibly ignorant insensitivity.
Because on TAL on NPR, I’ll be waiting for your DVD and more stuff! Along with most the people I know, now. Made my day.
I was driving to work today listening to TAL and got so intrigued with the story about Iprov Everywhere, especially the mission you did involving the band, that I sat in the parking garage for half an hour listening to the radio and couldn’t pry myself away to go to work. All I can say is that what you do is so cool that it made my day just to hear about it. Magic and wonder for random strangers!? I guess humans can be pretty cool sometimes.
My daughter witnessed a person jumping from the 10th floor of Bobst Library at NYU on her first day of work, in the beginning of her freshman year.
She saw him writhing on the floor after a load thud. She is suffering badly from post traumatic stress disorder.
You might not see the relationship here but I think this,”What if you involved someone like her or like the jumper in your mind f— game? How might that tragically affect them?”
Please, I beg you, be careful when you f— with people’s minds; you have no idea about the fragile vulnerability of humankind.
signed,
a mom, teacher, kind, loving person.
Isn’t it interesting how seriously some people need to take themselves? I say congratulations on bringing a smile to peoples’ faces even if there is confusion on the faces of others. Life is too short and ultimately too ridiculous not to try and laugh at it. I would much prefer to have the bizarre event on the subway to relay to my friends than the doldrums of just another day. I’m tempted to move to NYC if only to be one of your agents.
BULLY!
Strange. Last night I met this woman but could not remember where I knew her from and she had the same feeling. Listening to TAL and about IMPROV it hit me instantly. I met her briefly some years ago. She was the friend of a woman a dated. Come back Angela!
You guys are cool.
I just heard about you guys on “This American Life.” I loved the Mobius mission and the subway guys with no pants, but I was disturbed by the birthday party for Todd. I think it is wonderful to get everyone in Starbucks talking to each other, and the guys in Ghost of Pasha could talk to each other and try to process their mutual freaky experience, but Todd/Chis had no one to talk to. He was isolated and felt crazy. I don’t think you should have missions focused on just one person like that again. People who have a bizarre experience need to be able to process and have support from someone else who has had the same experiece.
Linda