Mp3 Experiment Eight – Thanks!

Photo by Arin Sang-urai

A huge thanks to everyone who came out to The Mp3 Experiment Eight today! Please use the comments section of this page to describe your personal experience and link to any photos you took.

Here are the photos from our official photographers:

– Agent Chad Nicholson’s photos
– Agent Brian Fountain’s photos
– Agent Ari Scott’s photos
– Agent David Bledsoe’s photos
– Agent Arin Sang-urai’s photos (rooftop photos!)
– Agent Ilya Chigirev’s photos

It will be a few weeks before we have any video to show, but stay tuned. You can subscribe to our YouTube Channel to be the first to know when it is released. As always, all of today’s music was created by our composer Tyler Walker. Check out his site and buy his awesome album! This event was produced in partnership with the River to River Festival.

To find out about future Improv Everywhere events like this, be sure to sign up for our New York Agents Mailing List, like us on Facebook, and follow us on twitter.

Photo by Brian Fountain

UPDATE: Video is up!

Full report here.

Comments

  1. I was there!Despite that I live in Mesa, Arizona, I D/L the MP3 and waited patiently all day for 5:30 to arrive.
    I did the ceremonial Bow, Handshake and Slow Dance!
    I followed the birds in my bedroom, crashing into walls.
    I imagined being in the arm tunnel and first contact.
    I danced, I laughed, silly walked, I high-fived the air. It’s as though I was there.
    I yelled goodbye
    What a BLAST!!
    THANK YOU …. IMPROV EVERYWHERE!!!! ®

  2. This was GREAT! I’ve been a subscriber for a few years and this was my first mission! I the North side (white shirts) with a mullet type of haircut (if anyone remembers me). During the mask section, I used a scuba mask & snorkel.

    There wasn’t many by standers to give a “high five” or to say hello… Probably because this experiment was more during the night. Which was good because we had a rave party and used all types of lights for games…

    I’ll sure be doing this again if I’m available!

    • Haha…I’m thinking, how could someone think that someone would remember them in that huge crowd…? BUT…I was right next to you! LOL! I rember the scuba mask =)

  3. My daughter who is 9 is a HUGE fan of you guys says it was AWESOME… we are long time fans and it was the first time we’ve ever participated. I brought BOTH my kids with me, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any pictures but we had a GREAT time. We look forward to participating again!!!!

  4. Had alot of fun! It would’ve been nice if there were more bystanders around to amuse, but still had a great time anyway.

    It was really a sight to see a massive amount of people with white shirt all heading toward the starting point (the pier.) It was fun interacting with people as well – and anything that involves lightsaber fights and glowsticks is alright in my book.

    It’s great to have a group dedicated to bringing humor and fun out of nowhere. Bravo! I will be greeting people by crossing my legs and raising the roof for some time to come.

  6. The celebration of lights was a fantastic idea, my dad and I had a great time!
    However, as being of the south tribe, we and a few others who meet at the battery park next to the Staten Island Ferry had quite a walk to make and ended up missing half of the games.
    But it was worth all the looks and friends we made along the way and when we reached the neutral ground, the 1996 rave party was just starting to swing!
    Thank you so much, can’t wait to see what’s happening next year!

    • It sucks that u guys missed some of the games. The info page showed you where you had to be and I think you guys were well off cause the starting point for the south tribe was not far. As long as you guys had fun it’s all that matters.

  8. This was my first mp3 experiment and it was a lot of fun! I wish we had more time to walk over to meet the black team though, I really wanted to try the human bridge but I was near the end. Nonetheless, it was so crazy and fun. My favorite parts were the flashlight freeze tag and the dance like you’re at a rave in 1996! haha, and all the glowsticks flying omg, that would look great on video.

  10. I officially wish I could get away with wearing a Darth Vader mask around New York City every day of my life. I would settle for a day where I could admire everyone’s masks! (Oh wait, that’s Halloween.) Absolutely loved the range. From home-made to the Phantom of the Opera to various superheroes.

    I was a member of the North tribe. It was my…third proper Improv Everywhere mission. This was definitely one of the prettiest. Glowy things make the world a better place. I sincerely apologize for being so disrespectful while greeting members of the South tribe. My habit of sporadically bursting into laughter while bowing, shaking hands, and slow dancing was unintentional.

  11. It was amazing! I loved the looks on people’s faces as the mass of black shirts gathered and gave them high fives. The festival of lights was awesome, with glow sticks being
    thrown into the air and camera flashes going off at every moment.
    The Lightsaber fights were hilarious, and I loved the ceremonial dancing and bowing. The shadow puppets were a great idea too, though I ran out of ideas after dog and eagle.
    I was so sad when my first MP3 Experiment came to a close. I can’t wait until next year!

  12. After following Improv Everywhere for a few years now, this was my first participation in an event and it was pretty freakin’ fun! I came with a bunch of friends, but got separated from them during the journey to the Neutral Zone to meet those neat ol’ black-shirts, but thanks to the MP3, I didn’t have much problem having fun with strangers.

    It was also pretty awesome how many people recognized the outfit/mask I was wearing. I was wearing a pair of black dress pants, a white long-sleeved buttoned shirt, a red tie, and a BLU Spy mask! Was fun hearing Team Fortress 2 fans scream out “BLU SPY!” as they saw me. (And just to make it clear, I was dressed as a RED Spy [minus the suit because of the heat] disguised as a BLU Spy.)

    What a great day. Can’t wait for next year.

  13. Awesome time as always. We completely failed to keep the tribes separated for a little while but eventually got things back in order. Thanks to those who put it together, for those who helped clean up and were generally cool, and to everyone who came out!

    -Pete the surgeon

  14. It was great! I loved the part when we had to high-five a nonparticipant, but there was only one. Basically, everyone mobbed the guy with green shirt, asking for high fives. The 1996 dance was beautiful with all the glow sticks.

    Oh, and the flash wave was awesome. It would look great on camera.

  15. One of the better experiments, I enjoyed it immensely!
    Looking forward to the video and photos very much.

  16. Did you all see the people hanging off of rooftops to get a better look at us??? I had an amazing time! Can’t wait for the photos! SOUTH SIDE!!! xD

  17. This was my first mp3 experiment and boy, was it brilliant!! Love the 1996 rave, love the camera flash wave, and the light saber flashlight fight. I did wish there were more bystanders so I couldve high fived more people and see the confused but amused looks on their faces. Haha. Next time make it in a very busy area!! But the glow sticks and camera flash wave mustve looked gorgeous!! Had an AMAZING time!! One I wont ever forget! Cannot wait until next year. This is my new christmas. :-D

  18. I LOVED this experiment! It was my first experiment and I had lots of fun. I can’t wait to see the video! I was on the white shirts team, and I had the best time; especially before the experiment began and we were walking around giving little winks to the other participants we could find. My dad came with me and my friend, in a dark blue shirt and he was mobbed with high fives, being the only non-participant for awhile.
    I did kinda get stuck, it was hard to get the tribes to mingle, there were only a few black shirts around me, and I had to do some of the cermonial handshakes with some of my own tribe! I loved the lightsaber fight, I got killed and fell to my death on the field. After the experiment too, some guy in a boombox ran around leading people. We made a makeshift dance circle and I ended up trading glowsticks with a guy who came up to me and asked if I wanted his pink for my blue. We ran around following the boombox guy in a huge conga line for awhile, and I noticed the security for the buildings getting pretty edgy seeing all of us! I felt bad for some of the non-participants caught in our mob; they must have been so confused!
    It was a great time though, and I can’t wait for next year!!!!

  19. This is my 4th Improv Everywhere mission, 2nd MP3 experiment. My train stopped at EXACTLY 8:30 on Chambers street, but I was able to follow along anyway and got to the best bits of the experiment in the park. EPIC NIGHT!!! Met a lovely couple who came down from Philadelphia!! Hope everyone had a fun time!! My favorite parts were running in fast forward and walking as if we were on hot coal!! I don’t usually get tired easily, but I did during those 2 activities!! Also, the rave was epic!! I had a wonderful time, next year I’m in!!!

  20. This was my first time doing the Mp3 experiment and I had a blast. I guess I must have started the clip early cause when it told us to jump I was the only one that jumped, then after 30-40 seconds everyone else did it. it was pretty embarrassing but w/e. LOL I wish there were more non-participants to give high fives to though. I also liked the look on the people faces when we passed the basketball courts. Best parts were the light saber fight, flash wave and the 1996 rave. Thanks ImproveEverywhere for making this one of the best days ever. I’ll be back again next year, don’t you worry.

  21. This was my first Mp3 Experiment…Awesome time! Can’t wait to see the pics of the light show and the camera flash “wave”! I almost wish I was a bystander…must have been fantastic to watch. Also, was one of the first to the neutral zone (Go White!), and helped make the “tunnel”…that was SO cool…loved whooting at everyone as the ran through!
    Great job Improv Everywhere! I’ll be back next year for sure! =)
    ~Michele

  22. Shout out to all of the Kathryn/Katherine/Catherines that got to be “it” in flashlight tag. That made my night!

  25. Thanks again for another great MP3 experiment. I caught Charlie Todd out there taking photos. Hopefully you guys got one of me this year! It’s my fifth, but I brought 1 person for his second, and 2 virgins! They both loved it and will most likely be joining us again next year! I had my first MP3-Snazu this year as my MP3 cut off about 5 minutes early. We just stepped to the sidelines and got some cool photos of the crowd and the sea of sparkling lights! It was an awesome sight! Thanks again Charlie, Improv Everywhere, and the 3000+(?) people who showed up tonight!

  26. Hey guys, black shirt Darth Vader mask with raving orange glowsticks here.
    So yea, all of the above were awesome, don’t wanna repeat what others said. I certainly do hope that I didn’t hit too many people while swinging those glowsticks around X:
    Also, I KNEW THE SONGS AT THE END! I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO LISTENS TO THIS STUFF
    Linkin Park – A Place for my Head (well of course a lot of people know this, but not the following two)
    The Flashbulb – Autumn Insomnia Session
    Boxcutter – Silver Birch Solstice

      • It’s okay, fellow Darth Vader. Last year, my iPod went to shuffle at the end, and I was all WOW HOW COOL, I LOVE BIG BAD VOODOO DADDY’S COVER OF “MR. HEATMISER” during clean-up before I figured out what was going on.

        The universe is probably saved by the fact that we didn’t cross paths during the event. We’d have destroyed the space-time continuum or something.

      • My ipod played Nyancat after this and i thought it was a part of the end, so i was like, “THIS IS MY RINGTONE!” and everyone just looked at me, until I figured out what happened.

  27. This was my 2nd Mp3 Experiment, the last one being my first, and I enjoyed it immensely. I was part of the black shirts (SOUTH SIDEEEE!) and it was awesome interacting with the northerners. My favorite parts of this year’s experiment were by far when we pretended to walk like we were fast-forwarded, astronauts and rabbits, the light-limbo, the 96 rave, and the masked dancing. I was the guy with the Zach Galifianakis mask if anyone remembers me and/or took a picture with me. If anyone has a picture of me send it to me via email please! :D

    alviz95@gmail.com

  28. Thanks for coming everybody. And thanks for being awesome and cool.

    More photos on the way soon, and a video in a couple of weeks.

  29. Thanks for a wonder- and colorful experience. I’m visiting friends in NY for a long weekend (I’m from Switzerland) which took me to the Experiment at the pier; something I’ll never forget. Thanks for the awesome 1996 rave party!

  30. Omg – this was AMAZING!!! This was my very first Improv Everywhere mission ever, and it was GREAT!!! I actually live in Westchester and was late because my metro-north train ran really late (we got stuck), so I only got to do half the mission. But I still had a really great time and it was even MORE of a rush when I finally found you guys (thank god there’s not a lot of grassy fields!! lol) – saw a huge mass of black shirts and white shirts and flashlights and immediately thought, “MY PEOPLE!” So I subtly and calmly walked into the crowd – so as not to alert any bystanders – and joined in flashlight limbo. BRILLIANT!!!

    I agree with whoever said above that glowy things make the world a better place. Fantastic idea to have a ‘celebration of lights’ night mission – BRILLIANT! I loved the tag, loved the flashlight limbo, loved the rave lol, loved seeing everyone’s masks, and LOVED the glowsticks! I think the lightsaber battle was my favorite part. Let’s have more of that!! :-D

    I also completely loved the beginning part even though I missed it – I was listening on my way there so my MP3 could still be synced with everyone else’s. Especially the bowing and the weird walking – walk like a mummy! walk like you’re walking on coals! LOL – and I burst out laughing just on my own, on the street when Mark The Omnipotent Voice From Above (lolol) said to laugh. So I drew some extra weird looks aside from the main event, lol.

    The bowing thing was BRILLIANT. Did that on my way there too. ;-)

    The only thing: can we make it longer next time? An hour was NOT enough time for so much fun. Maybe a special two-hour one? I would TOTALLY be up for that. Or even just an hour and a half. So many of us were still ready to party on and on and on. :-D!! can’t WAIT till next year!! WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! IMPROV EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  31. It was my first mission. LOVED IT! and I’m a Michael… loved playing tag! Of course mom got frozen and couldn’t keep up….. But I made lots of friends, and found mom. Can’t wait till next year. This was an awesome night!!

  32. This is my 4th MP3 Experiment and they just keep getting better and better!! I brought several ‘virgins’ this year and they are hooked!

    Thank you Improv, River to River, the residents of River Terrace and World Financial Center!!! Thanks to the Agents who stuck around for clean up duty.

    I’m so happy I wasn’t the only one who forgot a camera and decided to buy a one-time use one. It’ll be interesting to develop them and see what I got! Flashlight limbo? That’ll be a camping trip classic! And it never ceases to amaze me the creativity of fellow Agents…some masks were awesome!!! I cannot wait to see what’s in store next year.

    @Charlie – were there any Agent(s) taking pictures/video from NJ side Hudson? It must have been beautiful…wonder what the condo owners on the other side were thinking!?!

  35. Best Night of My Life since I went to DisneyWorld in The 4th Grade!! After having an Awesome time in battery park w/ the other tribes..(BLACK SHIRTS RULE!!) Someone had a Suitcase Boombox Ipod dock thingy, lol idk what it was but thats how it looked, anywhoo a whole bunch of agents was following him to the train station..including my group…and we had a wicked rave party on the streets and in the R train until 14th street. We were dancing and singing along w/ the music and all in all it really made this a really good night for me. I saw alot of people taking videos and pics so I wonder if those’ll be on youtube anytime soon 8D Thanks For The Fun Agent Todd *salutes*

  36. I joined four other white shirts in a big slow dance. We all joined elbow-hands and tried to sway to the music but it’s hard with five people who are each hearing different music. We were supposed to partner up and dance as couples, but all the black shirts were paired up already. So, we improvised!

  37. This is my second time attending an Mp3 experiment and I enjoyed this event a lot! Before the event started, we walked by lady with her kids and she asked me that if there was something going on, and why were a lot people wearing white tees. I answered her with the classic response: I don’t know, it was just coincidence that we happen to be wearing the same color tee. With a smile of course. She was so confused but happy at the same time. lol

  38. I biked in after work. I had a lot of time to kill so I surveyed the total area. Sorry Charlie I was the guy on the bike who went “HAA!” Just seeing you there planing everything out this those parks dept. folks just made me too excited. I was a white shirt so I grabbed a dirty water dog and headed out onto the pier. Sunset was Amazing! All the time the pier was filling with white shirts, just before showtime it was crazy!! There was a solid line of white from Rockefeller park to the pier, WOW!! I’m gonna guesstimate 8,000 total showed up. Thanks for the memories!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/28346433@N00/sets/72157627095225675/

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1ITqDMCDDs

  40. I had such an amazing time, it was so so much fun, but a lot of us black shirts were confused, when we googled battery park, we were sent over by castle clinton, which resulted in a 20 minute walk to the neutral zone -_-, so we missed everything from the arm tunnel to a little bit after the lightsaber fight, there had to be over a hundred of us that started in the wrong place….damn you google maps! anyway, we got to be there for the light up things and glow sticks and whatnot so all in all it was an incredible experience! thanks IE

    • I can’t figure out how you guys made that mistake. There was a map showing your starting zone on the site, and at no point did we ever say anything about Battery Park. I guess people don’t know the difference between Battery Park and Battery Park City. But there was a Google Map on the download page! You shouldn’t have had to Google anything.

      • hah i know, it wasnt your guys fault! i said there were a lot of confused people ..it was definitely our bad hahaha

  41. We were going to participate but didn’t have time to get supplies. So we came and watched, and got about a million high fives. :D It was cool.

  42. omggg!! it was my first time, and it was soo funn!! ^^
    i laughed at a few people who wore a bag as a mask xDD

  43. I had a lot of fun, but I messed up at the beginning. Me and my group started at the same time and we all were early by about 15-30 seconds. It was kinda embarrassing when we jumped up before everyone and ppl just stared xDDD that was hilariouss

  44. This was my first experiment and it was GREAT.

    My mom was there as a non-participant and she loved it! She said she had gotten high-fives till her hand hurt.

    I kinda wish that we didn’t look all alike (all black or white) because everyone knew we were together, and it ruined the suprise element. I like how we did it at night but then there was not as much non-participants. :(

    I AM COMING NEXT YEAR FOR SURE THOUGH

  45. What fun! I worried a little in the days before that people were doing the “go white shirts” “black shirts rule” thing and I was so happy that the experiment was all about befriending and celebrating with the other tribe. I was amazed by how quickly we organized the tunnels and wish we could do more with that idea. Can’t wait for next time!

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