Thanks to the over 2,000 people who participated in today’s mission in Brooklyn. If you were there, please leave an Agent Report in the comments. I know there are thousands of funny stories waiting to be told. Also leave links to any photos you might have taken. We will be posting photos from our official photographers later today, and we hope to have our video up in a week or so.
Agent Nicholson’s Photos
Agent Sokoler’s Photos
For those of you who were not there– we passed out over 2,000 “invisible dog” leashes and had everyone go for a nice Sunday walk in Brooklyn. If you were anywhere within a one mile radius of the Bergen St. stop in Cobble Hill today, you would have seen all types of folks very seriously walking their very silly dogs.
The invisible dog toy was invented in the 1970s in the Brooklyn factory that served as our meeting point today. No Longer Empty and The Invisible Dog art space were nice enough to loan us the vintage dogs for an afternoon of fun.
Thanks again to everyone who participated!
Thanks for another great IE experience. As with others, our stories varied greatly with the question asked. If they asked, “where did we get those?” we tell them about the North Shore Rescue Shelter. If they asked, “what is that?” we would tell them it was a schnoodle – half schnauzer, half poodle. Isn’t it cute. If they asked, “why are there so many people with those?” we would agree with them about just how many people were out walking their dogs this afternoon. Freaky, isn’t it?
We did overhear a fellow agent spilling the beans. The reaction from the muggle was, “You mean to tell me there are two thousand people in my neighborhood right now f***ing with my mind?” Pretty fun stuff.
I spent most of the time carrying a small white bag with about ten acorns and some dirt. By holding it away from my body a bit it was pretty convincing.
The kids, though, were the most fun. They’d never seen these things before, and were totally into it. They’re always a lot more fun to goof with than the adults, aren’t they?
See you next time.
Me and Noddy wandered far enough where nobody had seen any of his friends, one group of girls wanted to hold the leash for a minute… then the conversation went something like this…
Girl: Um, how old are you?
Me: Turning 20 this novemeber
*look of suprise*
Girl: Huh.. really now… do you have any friends?
*which i mentally translated to “did you escape from somewhere?”
Me: Yeah, in fact one of them is walking her cocker spaniel down that way, I’m going to see her.
Girl: reallllllly… Okay then, have a good walk, be safe, happy early birthday.
A pair of sweet ladies were rather insistent on finding out what gimmick it was for…and of course there was the inevitable…”oh so YOU can see him, okay then…”, they were on the verge of getting angry why i wouldn’t tell them.
Thank you for whoever was on the next corner patiently explaining, he was doing it cause the dog needed exercise, that answer coupled with noddy running in the opposite direction stopped the glares somewhat.
Was stopped a couple of times, asked what breed, what’s his name etc, finally me and noddy sat at a bench with trophy and his owner.We met a whole bunch of dog owners, invisible and other wise, someone was even kind enough to leave a bowl of water for the poor thirsty dogs.
All in all not such a bad walk….wish me and noddy had had something to eat before though.
LOL your comments to the Event are hillarious.. thanks for making my night :) Can’t wait for the video ! xD
About 10 mins into the prank, my sister who was visiting from Richmond, Va, my friend and I were walking Rodrigo, Brooklyn and Oso along Smith when an old man in a gold car started swerving all over the road. His driver’s side window was down and he was screaming “Dogs, dogs, dogs! They are everywhere ahhhhhh. What’s with the dogs!” And continued down Smith ranting and raving…. Immediately I knew this was going to be a great afternoon and it was. So many smiles from strangers. What a happy day!
I WAS THERE, he had the ugliest face, i was still in line, it pissed me off, i was like why the hell is this guy here yelling this out like if it’s some kind of terrorist threat… i just wished he would shut up and stopped being so dramatic..
My friend and I were stopped by 2 cops who wanted to see some ID because we didn’t pick up after our pomeranians. We explained that we forgot our baggies, and they let us off the hook with a warning. Phew.
My friend Max and I had a nice conversation with a lady:
-Lady: Oh guys what are you doing? I heard there are rumors of aliens landing.
-We: What? Why are you thinking that aliens landed in Brooklyn?
-Lady: Because I think they mesmerized you so now you guys are thinking you are taking a real dog for a walk.
-We: But that’s what we are doing. Just taking ours dogs for a walk.
-Lady: So it’s true! They actually mesmerized you! I think someone is calling the police soon.
-We: But we are just walking our dogs.
-Lady: I know. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for the great afternoon, IE!
Lots of people loved to meet my dog Boots and my friend’s dog Alexander. Big hit with the little kids! We even had a van stop and the parents explained to their children that our dogs were invisible, but real. New York Post took our picture after she asked where our dogs were from (the pet store of course!). We had A LOT of people ask us what was going on, “well, just a nice stroll with our dogs, we just got them so we wanted to show them Brooklyn!” This was an awesome idea, it was a total blast and we got some really great looks from people. Lots of tourists took pictures of us on the Brooklyn Bridge. Great job with this, it was hilarious! But I did get rather attached to my dog and miss him already…
I took my little sister, who’s first mission was the most recent MP3 Experiment at Roosevelt Island, and my younger brother, which it was his first mission.
We had a blast while our dogs were getting rambunctious, sniffing other dogs behinds, climbing up benches and looking in store windows. My dog (Locke) had the bad habit of chasing after the pretty female dogs and their owners.
People would ask what this was for, and I’d say “It was just such a nice afternoon out so I figured I’d take Locke out for a nice long walk.” Or where I got it from, I’d say I got it as a gift for Christmas. When they said “no, the leash!” I’d say “oh I just picked that up at a Petsmart or Petco or something… I think there’s a pet store down the street if you need one.”
Silly people… I mean, you can find leashes at super markets these days. Why were they so confused?
Anyway, I have pictures of my day up on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018616&id=138701072
If you guys can’t reach the pictures (if they’re private for some reason), let me know and I will upload them to Picasa (I may do that anyway)
Later!
Agent AC
Put up the pics on Picasa too:
http://picasaweb.google.com/requieminadream/ImprovEverywhereInvisibleDogWalking
Put up a video of Charlie Todd laying down the premise for today’s event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYtXKuI3p9o
We ran into a real dog, who barked at my invisible dog, and freaked out and ran away. We also encountered ‘invisible security’ and the challenge of cleaning up invisible poop all over the floor of Macy’s. Which was amazing.
Oh, one more….lol!
This one guy actually fed my dog some of the pizza he was eating! And he said he didn’t have any water for my dog but he could give it some liquor! haha
This other woman we came across was having fun with it but was so curious and was cracking up, yelling/talking to me from across the street. We then asked her where a dog park was and she pointed us in the right direction!
Also had many people petting my dog!
favorite moments include the guy in cvs who told me which aisle was the pet aisle without me asking and the little kids who joined right in and played with my puppy. also stopped to deal with a blister on my foot and a man asked me what was going on. i explained i had new shoes and had a blister. he continued on with no…i mean with the dog. i said i thought he was being well behaved for a puppy. he asked why so many folks had the same one and i explained that standard poodles are a fairly common breed. he shook his head and then decided to pet my dog.
oh and of course, the sign on the doggie daycare place was the best: “if you do not have a real live dog – do not ring our bell!” i emailed the photo to one of the agents…hopefully he’ll put it up later.
Whenever someone asked “What are you doing that for?”, I’d respond “His exercise.”
you wonder why people think you’re a smug asshole?
One guy pulled his car over in the middle of traffic to ask my friend and I where we got “that”. His car came very close to my friends “dog” and he played it off beautifully. He starts screaming “No! you hit my dog! Oh my god!” He lays the leesh down as if the dog was hit and kneels down petting it. The driver just laughed and drove off, so he mimes picking up the dog in his arms and carrying it off. There were so many agents around walking their dogs and people walking, taking pictures, laughing. It was awesome!
The best reactions were definitely from the kids.
Little girl to another girl: Ahh! There’s another fake dog! One more fake dog and I swear I’m telling daddy!
Two teenagers: I’m going to follow these people and see where they got those leashes.
A guy on Atlantic Av: What is this for? What day is it today?
Me: It’s Sunday.
This afternoon in a nutshell:
Person: What are you doing?
Us: Walking our dogs.
Person: Why?
Us: Because it’s Sunday and they haven’t been out all week.
Person: Where did you get them?
Us: The dogs?
Person: No, the leashes.
Us: At the store. Would you like to pet them?
Person: The dogs?
Us: Yes, the dogs.
Person: But…there’s nothing there.
Us: How dare you. (Walks away)
Person to friend: Do you think they’re crazy?
I had so much fun, and Corky (a 3 year old Yorkie mutt) had a blast exploring Brooklyn. Plenty of fun encounters, and a few cars that just pulled over to ask “what’s going on?” and a few more to ask where they could get one, too. (”I adopted him – he’s from the shelter.”) Some fun exchanges:
I was walking by a place of religious service, and it had just been let out. A group of old guys were on the steps. Corky the Yorkie-mutt had just stopped to sniff a tree nearby.
Old Guy 1 – Lady! Hey lady!
Me – Hi there! What’s up?
OG1 – What…what is this?
Me – He’s a dog. His name’s Corky.
OG1 – But I mean…what IS this?
Me – A dog. I got him at the shelter.
OG1 to OG2 – It’s a dog. Do you see it?
(OG2 shakes head.)
Me – He’s very friendly. (pats near Corky’s head)
OG1 to me – Do YOU see it?
Me – Of course. He’s right here. He’s black and brown. (wiggles leash a little)
OG1 is taken aback – He’s…he’s moving.
OG1 to kid who walked up – The dog is moving.
Me – I think he likes you.
OG1 – Can I touch him?
Me – Sure. He’s friendly.
(OG1 bends down.)
OG1 – I…I don’t feel him.
OG1 to group – Do you see the dog?
(Everyone in group is either bewildered and giggling or shaking their heads.)
Me – Maybe he’s shy.
*****
Another guy was talking on the phone with his dog on the leash. Corky walked up and started sniffing around. Guy on phone says “And now another invisible dog is sniffing my dog’s butt.” (Never thought I’d hear that in my life.)
*****
There was a cat in front of one of the houses, and he came up to Corky to get acquainted. Here’s a picture:
http://twitpic.com/jetsr
*****
A lady I walked by said “This is good idea! Everyone in neighborhood has dog! Now people get dog and you don’t need to pick up after dog. Very good idea!”
*****
A guy stopped at a stop light rolled down his window and said “I had one of those when I was a kid.”
*****
Thanks for the fun afternoon outing!
We took Jetsam and Flotsam (twin Shih-Tzus) on several adventures during their time with us, including touring an actual pet store, a visit to an Italian Ice stand, trips through two separate parks (both of which unfortunately had “no dog” policies – but Jetsam got a drink from the water fountain anyway), and a shopping excursion through the local Target and Payless Shoes.
The Target employees had great reactions, as did several people who stopped their vehicles to lean out the window and ask us about our dogs. On the walk back from Target to the warehouse, we encountered one man who, after petting both dogs, adamantly tried to tell us that one of them was actually a cat.
Overall, we had a wonderful time exploring the neighborhood and talking to its residents. Thanks for a thoroughly entertaining afternoon.
I met Hope Davis whilst walking with the invisible dog, and told her she was awesome in God of Carnage, and she went ‘Thanks! Can my kids pet your dog?’ and then they all did. Pretty awesome.
Not an agent, but live on Smith Street and hence saw dozens of you today. Some of you were fantastic, like the first woman I saw, who realistically and dramatically pulled her aggressive dog away from and me scolded it. A couple of women asking Boite en Provence if they could sit at the window seat with the dogs was cute.
But after that? Maybe it got boring for the dog walkers? I saw so many people not paying attention to what space or weight their dogs would have, not doing anything but walking and chatting with other dogwalkers, paying no more mind to their dog than they would to an umbrella or other lifeless dangling object. I walked through two dogs, annihilating both and must have knocked several others over with my grocery bag, but the owners didn’t even notice. So, after the initial visual effect, it was a little bland, especially since there were dozens of dogs on Court and Smith Street — I hope other parts of Brooklyn got as much love.
best interaction for me was when Squash and I were walking by a four-year-old and her mom. The little girl asked her mom “what is that?” I responded quickly, “It’s a chihuahua!” As her mother started laughing, she just stared me down with an evil look to make sure I knew she wasn’t amused. That was my only negative reaction the whole day. What a great time!