Digital Video: Agents Todd, Kula, Shafer, Slocum, Reeves, Adams, Lanoie, Gross
Digital Photography: Agents Nicholson, Pallas
A few years back we executed a mission that involved repeating time. Ever since then I’ve wanted to try something that stopped or slowed down time. How would people react if they found themselves surrounded by people moving forward at a different rate or time (or not moving at all)? I decided the Home Depot on 23rd Street in Manhattan was the perfect place to try this out for two reasons. 1) The assonance in “Slo-Mo Home Depot” sounds funny. 2) The mere existence of a Home Depot, an enormous behemoth of a store, on our tiny island is hilarious. It also helped that the store is located on the exact same block as the Best Buy we invaded earlier this year.
Continue reading ‘Slo-Mo Home Depot’
Agent Wimpy informed me back in June that he was going to be a contestant on the syndicated, Meredith Vieira-hosted “Who Wants to be a Millionaire”. Wimpy has been involved with several of our missions, most significantly as dead playwright Anton Chekov giving a reading at Barnes and Noble back in 2004.
Agent Wimpy as Chekov
Wimpy thought his appearance on the show would be the perfect stage for an Improv Everywhere mission. He could invite up to 3 “companions” (the show’s term for “friends in the audience”) who would be mic’d and given the opportunity to speak on camera. We wanted to come up with something ridiculous for his companions, but we had to be careful, as it was not a live broadcast. If the producers figured out that we were up to something, they could easily cut us out. Keeping with the spirit of Improv Everywhere, we wanted to give the show a great story, the perfect human-interest segment for their contestant. Also keeping with the spirit of IE, the story would be completely false.
Continue reading ‘Millionaire’
Sound Design: Agent Walker
Characters: Agents Ace$Thugg, Becket, Dippold, Kula, Walker
Producers: Agents Arnheiter, Cavin, Fountain, Kinney, Shelktone
DV Cams: Agents EMartin, Reeves, Adams, Lanoie, Gross
Digital Photography: Agents Nicholson, Rainswept, Pallas, Mirka, Moore, Schneekloth
Utility Agents: Agents Tuculescu, Kendall, Vonk, Chadwick, MacNeil
Costumes: Agent Zeigler
Graphic Design: Agent Howell
The third installment of our Mp3 Experiment series was the biggest and wildest yet with over 600 participants. If you’re unfamiliar with how The Mp3 Experiment works, check out The Mp3 Experiment and The Mp3 Experiment 2.0. Like the previous installments, the basic premise involved participants downloading an Mp3 from our site, transferring it to their portable player and then showing up at the event ready to press play simultaneously with others.
Continue reading ‘The Mp3 Experiment III’
DV Cams: Agents Shafer, EMartin, Reeves, Carlson
Digital Photography: Agents Nicholson, Todd
Mission Inspired By: Agent Slavinsky
The idea for this mission was submitted by a stranger via email. Agent Slavinsky wrote in to suggest I get either a large group of people in blue polo shirts and khakis to enter a Best Buy or a group in red polo shirts and khakis to enter a Target. Wearing clothing almost identical to the store’s uniform, the agents would not claim to work at the store but would be friendly and helpful if anyone had a question. There aren’t any Targets in Manhattan, so I decided to go with the two-story Best Buy on 23rd Street.
Continue reading ‘Best Buy’
DV Cam: Agent Kula
Digital Photography: Agents Kula, Sidtis, Todd
Every year comedy bigwigs gather in Aspen, Colorado for HBO’s US Comedy Arts Festival. Organizers curate a lineup of some of the best comedy in the country and industry types flock to Aspen to see what’s hot. This year, I was lucky enough to be invited to attend. In addition to being a part of a stage show where I presented videos of classic Improv Everywhere missions, I was given the task of causing new scenes on the streets of Aspen during the festival. Agent Kula was brought along to collaborate, and a few other IE Agents and friends were also in town for the festival and able to aid the cause.
Continue reading ‘Aspen’
