Mp3 Experiment Four – Thanks For Participating!

Thanks to the hundreds of people who participated today! We hope you had as much fun as we did! We’ll be combing through the photos and video over the next few days and hope to have a mission report filed by the end of the week. In the meantime, if you were there today you can file your own report by leaving a comment on this post. Let us know how your individual experience was. If you upload your photos to flickr, tag them “mp3experimentfour” and “improveverywhere.” Feel free to post links to your photos here as well. Don’t miss Agent Nicholson and Agent Fountain‘s sets.

And if you want to continue worshiping Steve, why not pick up our new “Praise Steve” tee over at Neighborhoodies? It’s available in all sorts of colors, styles, and sizes.

Praise Steve Tee

Comments

  4. That was SO much fun! 36 minutes was not enough. Can’t wait for the next one.

    Charlie Todd: What where the park rangers talking to you about after the event. Two of them looked very annoyed or confused.

  6. Liza: I was pretending that I wasn’t apart of it (despite my bright blue shirt) and just chatting the park ranger up. He didn’t have anything too interesting to say, other than the group should have had a permit. Somehow I don’t think we would have been approved. :)

  7. This mission was amazing. I’m still smiling. The fun was about 4% “Yay, we’re in on the joke”, and 96% “Look how many dorks live in NYC (or elsewhere!), getting kicks out of high-fiving strangers.” You can’t help liking all the other participants. I don’t know, but I think a worldwide mp3 experiment would go a long way towards world peace. “Israelis, find a Palestinian and give them a high five!”

    The music was awesome, by the way. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. You rock!

  11. I had an absolutely amazing time!! The guy with the red shirt, book and backpack who said he though his watch was slow and asked me (girl with green shirt, short curly hair, and psp) for the time about an hour and 15 minutes before the exeriment… you are adorable! Sorry I didn’t say much more, I was too excited about the experiment.

    Here are my pictures-
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/77577767@N00/sets/72157601530829020/

    – Agent Kaye

  13. Another one well done guys! I missed mp3Experiment 3 but i did not pass up on 4! It was truly an amazing experience not only inside the event but a few blocks away from it as well! You know why? Some of us arrived pretty late and I was standing on the corner waiting for the street light to turn red…but next to me were people in red, blue, and yellow shirts with earphones in their ears. If they did anything what i did and started their MP3 at exactly 4 but was hurrying to the event than surely..these are our people. We randomly glanced at each other..and i turned to her one more time..and we both laughed and smiled and KNEW we had to get to this event immediately. So we were running down the blocks going through the park passing a line of bicyclers. And finally I got to the park and I saw a bunch of heads bobbing up and down over a hedge. And i knew “it’s everyone skipping for the german!” So i started to skip through the park and jumped down a few stairs and randomly joined the crowed. It’s amazing how people could pour in from different directions like that.

    Honestly it felt really short and wish it was longer. Also I think you guys have had the best idea of having everyone sync watches like that so just in case people are late we can still catch up with what’s going on. And honestly I can’t wait to see what we all looked like as a bullseye ::rubs chin::

    Another mission awesomely done Charlie Todd and Co.!

  14. that was awesome, guys! this was the first one i had the chance to be a part of, and it was sooooo much fun.

    i think the only problem with it was that there were way, way too many people for the Twister… i couldn’t even get near the “board”.

    my favorite part was high-fiving random strangers. well, and the elation of watching this huge crowd converge out of nowhere at the beginning!

    36 minutes seemed woefully short.

    i can’t wait to see the pictures!

  15. This was my first mission and it was awesome!! I only wish it went longer. It was just so cool and I can’t wait to see more pics and video!! Thanks guys!!

  17. Hey everyone, this MP3 Experiment was my first mission ever, and I had a complete blast! From the very start when everyone stood up in unison, I knew that this was gonna be a lot of fun. Hopping and jumping after the German was hilarious, and Twister was a great time. Walking through the park, I was thumbs-uping and high=fiving total strangers, and it was hard NOT to be smiling the whole time. I remember there was a bicyclist in front of me who seemed to get completely swept up in our German-led parade! I noticed him later sharing an iPod with another member of the Experiment! Priceless! And when Steve asked us all to rollerblade, I noticed a few people ON rollerblades doing just that.
    Once we reached the park and started taking photos the real fun began. Trying to team up with someone to match colors was ingenius! And once the human dartboard started, I think I had the most fun of all. I was in a green shirt, which meant that I had to go into the tight middle all while thinking, “Shouldn’t red be in the middle?” My thoughts were eventually answered when the reds and greens had to switch places. Looking up, there were people in the adjacent apartment buildings looking down on us, and I hope there were a few Agents on the rooftops to snap some ariel shots! Freeze tag was great, as planting the yellows in between everyone and then making them “it” was smart! After a few rounds of tag, I was pretty tired, so I was happy to let Steve have his brother take over and let us lie down and relax.
    Before I knew it, 36 minutes had passed in flash and I was walking away amongst a mass of yellow, red, blue, and green. Congrats to everyone for such a successful mission, a big thanks to Agent Todd for putting everything together, and a huge thank you to Steve!

    Peace!

  18. A fantastic experience all around. Can we get some information about the stellar music? Sitting on the steps, listening to the opening sequence and looking at the water was idyllic.

    My friend and I were excited to see Charlie Todd walking by looking busy around 3:45. It seemed like the whole area was filling up with only people wearing red, yellow, blue and green, and it was hard to find a place to sit away from everyone else. Catching a few people’s eyes as they walked by, it was pretty easy to tell the agents from the civilians, but I think we kept up the charade very well until starting time.

    I ending up being about a minute behind somehow, so I missed some of the beginning trying to catch up. I finally got it mostly figured out during Twister and then really caught up while following the German tourist.

    The civilians loved the thumbs-up, smiling, high-fives and so forth. A little boy at the pool tables we passed while following the German tourist was particularly excited and received many high-fives. There was also a runner who went by us grinning and laughing with her hand out to give high-fives.

    Most people in the park were interested and not too perturbed, I think. I had to laugh when we were departing at the end, because a bunch of girls sunbathing (some with bikinis undone) were visibly annoyed. There was also a guy describing a flash mob to his friend, who was confused about what he had just witnessed. He was saying, “There’s no one in charge – people just appear and disappear.” Of course, we know that Steve was in charge.

    My cell phone pictures are not so great so I’m not posting them. Thanks to everyone who set this up. I’m looking forward to the next mission.

  19. My first mission and I was not disappointed. I managed to have a grin on my face the entire 36 minutes.

    Next time, can you make it last longer? 8 hours or so would be good. It could start in the morning. Steve could instruct me to have breakfast and brush my teeth. Good times for all.

  20. This was the most fun i have ever had. I came in with my brother and dad. I tried to bring some more recruits, but was unsuccessful. But they all seemed jealous once i told them. It was amazing from skiping to the German Tourist to high fiving complete strangers. The experiment was fun, but what really brought it together was the oblivious faces of the passer bys. I have watched other experiments and i was sooooo happy to finally be a part of one. I can not wait for the next event, more or less the mp3 experiment next year. I will be uploading my pics later once i get them on to my computer.

    Thanks so much to Improv Everywhere for organizing this event. It was awesome!

    Praise Steve!!!

  22. Just because the mp3 experiment only happens once/year, we should still praise Steve everyday for all that he has given us. Today’s sermon was jam packed with fun!! The experiment brings piles of smiles for miles and miles. It feels so good to see people of all different primary colors come together under one dartboard.

    The mp3 experiment is one of my favorite things about NYC. I always leave with such a good feeling. I’ll never miss it. I love the mp3 experiment and everything it stands for. I would love to see it turned into a book, a feature film, a breakfast cereal and a church. Praise Steve!!!!

  23. This was a fantastic introduction to the high weirdness that can go on in this town. You’ve definitely influenced my decision to potentially move here.

  24. Thanks guys! My twin friends were with me and we had a great time. That was so clever.

    I was wondering about the German tourist after it ended. I tried searching for him- but he probably took off his German outifit when we were “relaxing”. Did he ever find where he was looking for?

    Skipping after the German tourist was envigorating. I looked around and in every direction I saw multi-colored shirts. I heard many people who were saying “I know something is about to happen– what is this?” and of course, the shirtless guys drinking in the park reacted to the throng of people by screaming, “Party!”.

    Some people were very creative with their shirt choices. I was expecting plain t-shirts, but– it seems I underestimated New York City. The people who showed up were real New Yorkers (or super-cool tourists). I was also surprised at how many children there were.

    What surprised me most was that some people didn’t seem to notice 500 people pretending to walk dogs. There were people throwing footballs back and forth… they looked unaware.

    All things considered, my first mission was the highlight of my summer. The day couldn’t have been more beautiful– When’s the next mission?

  25. My first mission, and I had a blast! I thought thirty-six minutes was going to drag forever, but it went by in an instant! I excitedly look forward to the next event!

  26. My first mission ever… it was wonderful! Definitely worth the $20 worth of train tickets and an hour of getting lost in the downtown subway system. Still, we were there an hour early and it was fun sorting out our fellow geeks from the average New Yorkers that happened to be clad in technicolor t-shirts. The best part by far was watching the reactions of all the bystanders. Especially when it came to high-fiving and giving thumbs up to all the strangers.

    There was something beautiful about it all. I can’t put it all into words. But I was walking on air for the rest of the day. I’m stoked for the next one.

  27. didn’t Steve remind anyone of the dude from Saw?

    I was just waiting for the mp3 to say something like “I want to play a game. In the pancreas of one of the red-shirted individuals is an antidote to a poison you all have been exposed to by visiting the website. Each of you have been given a drinking straw. Let the game begin.”

  29. TRUE STORY: While we were supposed to be taking pictures of various whatnot, this guy comes up to me with his camera phone and asks if I will be in a picture with him. Not wanting to interrupt the spirit of the experiment, I smiled and he holds up his phone and snaps a shot. As he takes it, I realize that a) I’m wearing a yellow shirt and there was nothing in the instructions about taking pictures with someone with a yellow shirt or anything like that b) he wasn’t wearing earbuds and wasn’t even a participant in the experiment. Just as I realize this, he grabs me and kisses me and wanders off, I can only guess, to do it all over again to someone else. The end.

  32. How fantastic a time did everybody have? This was my first time and I know I was five kinds of giddy when we had to skip in a massive throng that reminded me of a scene from “300”, but significantly more colorful.
    I agree that the entire experience was absolutely beautiful; the setting, the concept, the weather. It was a perfect day for something like this. Felt so.. communal. Like Woodstock.

    The only bad part of my day was when I got up from my Twister position and snapped the cord of my earphones. I’d been twisting so bad that I didn’t see it was coiled around my leg something fierce. Oh noes.. Luckily, I came with my friends and I half-headed it with one of them.

    I can’t wait till the next one!! Steve rules QUITE hard. Had me laughing the entire time. Kinda reminded me of the King of all Cosmos from Katamari Damacy..

    Thanks to everyone for making it feel so free and fun– All hail Steve!

  34. Blog entry with some photos (been up for 2 days so probably full of spelling/grammar errors): http://www.mysilentscreams.com/2007/08/everybody-improvise.php

    I came down from NH- took about 5 hours each way. My two friends that were supposed to join flaked out yesterday so it was just me. Was 10 hours of lonely transport worth a 36 minute IE experience????

    HELL YEAH! That was the most fun I’ve had all year- probably the top 3 in my life. It was my first but if you keep doing these (and any others) I’ll be sure to participate. In the future I hope for a longer one with more strange stranger interaction and perhaps smaller, more manageable groups (like how MP3 III started out).

    I met Christen and her friends and good friend’s daughter- you were all really cool and I hope we all run into each other again (literally) in future missions!

    -Jim

  35. Great fun.

    It was cool to see Charlie Todd walking around just as casually as everyone else before the event. Also I kept running into him during the event which was cool.

    Can’t wait for the the full report.

    BTW. anyone else walk back down to ground zero? I headed back down there after the mission. It was right when the Deustche Bank building caught fire, which ended up growing to be a 7 alarm fire, with 2 casualties. It’ll be front page on tomorrow’s newsday.

  37. My daughter and I had a blast playing in our first improv experiment. The twister game was amazing, especially for Madcat, who was one of the winners. She just moved to NYC last month, so it was extra special to have her see (and help) New Yorkers having fun and making people laugh and smile. She’s also having a lot of fun trying to find herself in everybody else’s posted pics.

    The relaxation bit reminded us of the Mugatu brainwashing of Derek Zoolander in Zoolander.

    We had a family photographer taking shots from afar. Pics from all three of our cameras are at the link.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/58223401@N00/sets/72157601541700729/

    We can’t wait to play again.

  38. My first mission, and a fabulous first time out! I got to the plaza around 3, and I was standing around waiting for a friend to meet up with me. I noticed the plaza begin to fill up with lots of people that looked like they could possibly be part of the mission. About a half hour after I got there, someone in a yellow shirt approached me and we started talking – without ever mentioning we were both taking part in the experiment, we both just knew. 10 minutes later I saw a friend from grad school, along with her boyfriend, who are the ones who introduced me to improv everywhere. And 5 minutes before it started, my friend that I was waiting for arrived. At that point the plaza was filled with people!

    Highlights for me:
    – Guys on bikes riding through the plaza, one says “Last time I was here there was NOBODY here! It’s so crowded today!”
    – High fives!
    – The confused and amused looks on the faces of those we walked by.
    – After the event was over, walking back to the subway, the group of people I was walking with ended up passing another group of people from the mission, we all knew by how we were dressed. High fives there too!

    I can’t wait to see the finished mission report on this. And I can’t wait to participate in another mission!

  39. *magical*- that’s the only way I can describe what it was like. Am I alone on that? It was like a natural high the entire time.

    Hey Agent BlueLeopard! That was me in yellow! I need an agent alias now- how about “Agent LameAlias”?

  40. My friends at I were really, really late because we ended up waiting for a friend to meet up with us in Queens forever. We started listening on the train at 4 o’clock regardless, and went along with the mp3 as well as we could. Once we got to Chambers, we ran our asses off and had missed the Twister part and had to run and ask people which direction the group had headed. Bystanders were eager to help us along with our quest, which was cute. We finally caught up with everyone right as you were reaching the field. After that, all was gravy. This was a really fun mission and it was hilarious to sit down afterwards and observe the pissed off and perplexed park rangers, especially when they were talking to Agent Todd (who of course was pretending not to have any clue what was going on, haha!).

  41. By the way, the music was 100% original this year (in the past we’ve also used pop songs.) Tyler Walker composed all of it. He also played the German Tourist (but keep in mind the German Tourist is in no way affiliated with the Mp3 Experiment.)

    In case you didn’t know, those were our guys on top of the roof of the tallest apartment building. The dartboard looks amazing in time lapse video! I’ll be putting everything online this week.

    Keep posting reports! It’s fun to hear it from everyone’s perspective. There were 826 of us, according to Agent Nicholson’s count from his rooftop photos.

  42. I don’t suppose you guys are thinking of starting a “flickr group?” I’d say an official pool might be easier than just scanning tags.

  44. This was my first mission. It was well worth the trip up from Philly even if my friends and gf couldn’t make it up. Regardless, I had a great time thanks for the awesome afternoon.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/9025850@N02/sets/72157601535750962/

    I loved everyones face who watched us pass by. They looked so utterly bewildered. Just the thought of what went through their minds made me smile and laugh to myself.

  46. Thank you…Thank you..

    Our 2nd mission, and the Massari gang had a blast, all 7 us! When our children were little, my husband and I ran around in the park laughing and enjoying playground excitement with them. They’re all grown…and for a while, we missed that. Thanks to Agent Todd, his gang and this awesome mission, 2 GREATFUL PARENTS got to run around with they’re now adult children once again. How we savor those moments.

    We appreciate what you do…Keep up the great work.

    Can’t thank you enough

    Mamma Massari

  47. Seriously awesome event! Well conceived, well planned, well executed, and simply gleeful. My first IE event – I’ll definitely be at more!

    I’m almost sorry to hear that the music was original – I want to remember those first 2 minutes of thrilling anticipation perfectly. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE post the tracks for download!

    Thank you to everyone who was there!

  48. Charlie – what are your thoughts on the fact that over 800 people took time (and in the case of some, more than some small travel effort) out of their weekend and did exactly as an unknown voice from above told them to?

    I, for one, loved the event, and I believe many others did too – but surely there’s some sort of emotional reaction at being able to post an article the site and change people’s lives?

    Some have written that bystanders have used words such as “cult” and “a following” – is IE growing to those dimensions?

  49. This was my first IE experiment, and of course I had a blast. I went with my brother who also had an awesome time.

    My favorite part was when we gave thumbs up and high fives. The strangers had such a mix of bewilderment and happiness as we gave them their high fives. Especially one little kid who no doubt had a crazy story to tell once he got back to school. It was quite funny when the entire crowd mistook one yellow-shirt-and-hat-wearing agent for the German tourist and he had to convince everyone that it wasn’t him. Must’ve been intimidating to have a crowd of 800 people skipping at you.

    Half the fun now is looking through the pictures and trying to spot myself and my brother. The flickr pictures by Chad make for a great game of “Where’s CapeKid?”

    Like a lot of the other agents I thought it went by so fast. But I suppose time does fly when you are having fun.

  52. Yes, please! The music was awesome (I wanted to dance to the music when it first played but no one else did so I chickened out, I was bobbing to Tomahawk beforehand though)! If I had known the German Tourist created the music I would have come up to him and said thank you afterwards.

    Viel danke, nothing to do with the experiment German Tourist (love the shirt)!

    Thanks again guys, it was great. I have not had so much fun in so long. I live nearby NYC so if you ever need some extra people for a “small” prank I’m on call, well… on the weekends or after work. My birthday is on Halloween and I’m turning 30 so if you pull the Haunted Subway car prank again, please let me participate. I hate birthday parties and this would be a great alternative.

    Going to stop rambling,
    Thanks!

  53. Best part of the event:

    When I was being pulled along by my invisible dog and a fellow black citizen pointed me out and said to his friends, “There’s a sistah!” Then he yelled at me, “Hey sistah, what the hell is going on?”

    I couldn’t answer, of course, because my invisible dog was very eager to continue with his walk.

  54. Amazing time guys… thank you. I have to say that getting there was part of the experiment as well. Of course the A, C, and E trains were acting screwed up and i was looking around the platform waiting for an A that would never come and spotting all the people who i thought were headed to the Experiment. About 10 minutes before 4 i saw a girl go up to a group of 3 others and ask if they wanted to get a cab. I took their cue and grabbed one right behind them and cursed the construction and the traffic the whole way down. I started my MP3 in the back of the cab though and remained in sync, arriving just after the skipping and in time for some Twister (which i kicked ass at).

    Thanks very much for doing this and I can’t wait to help out in future events. I’ve always thought you guys were doing something special, but it’s not until you’ve participated in an event that you realize how fantastic it really is.

    I’ll be throwing a write up of this on my blog in the next day or two.

  55. For those of you who participated for the first time yesterday, make sure you’re on our New York mailing list if you’re not already. For some missions it’s the only way to find out about them:

    http://www.improveverywhere.com/email-lists/

    By popular demand, we’ve uploaded an mp3 of just the opening song, composed by Tyler Walker:

    http://www.sendspace.com/file/7azdug

    We’ve also uploaded a “lite” version of the whole mp3, as we’ve done in years past. Basically it’s an edited down version that just runs through most of Steve’s instructions without the music breaks:

    http://www.sendspace.com/file/2mkggj

  56. Thanks so much Improv Everywhere! I came with two friends and we had a fantastic time. I’ve been wanting to participate for quite awhile now but this is the first mission I’ve been able to do. It was just so much fun–definitely one of my best afternoons in NYC. My photo set is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/suzannet/sets/72157601541373609/

    My favorite part: the very old lady grinning madly as she high-fived hundreds of agents.

  57. Saturday was probably the most fun I’ve had since I moved to NYC almost a year ago and the MP3 Experiment 4 was a big part of that.

    I was sitting with another participant and I could see a lot of other possible participants in the cove. I said to her “Sheesh, looks like a Twister board out here.” Lo and behold, Steve was shining down on me. I ended up being an Individual Grand Champion at pavement twister.

    As we were walking to the field, I couldn’t see the beginning of the crowd. I thought I may have been at the end. I turned around and saw hundreds of people walking the path, jogging along the buildings to catch up, and jumping over small guardrails. It was incredible to see so many people involved.

    Freeze tag was so fun. A friend of mine in a red shirt were frozen next to each other. We got to unfreeze, then he tagged me immediately. Then I got to unfreeze when the blues were it and Charlie got me despite my best effort to run away.

    I’ve spent a lot of today looking through the Flickr photos trying to spot myself in crowd photos. It’s like Steve has given us a giant “Where’s Waldo” to play afterwards.

    I can’t wait for the next.

  59. i was late as usual and so were all my friends. We started up our players at 4:00 inbetween journal square and the WTC path stations and just went along with the instructions, standing up from our subway seats and trying to point at buildings and clouds through the windows! lol.

  60. A friend of mine came down from Boston, and we took Metro North in from Connecticut. On the train, we ran into a friend from high school who mentioned a bizarre family who’d been waiting on the tracks at Fairfield – all in red.

    We got to the plaza around 3:30 and tried to ignore the gathering of people with cameras, though we did feel a bit in the presence of celebrity when we spotted Agents Kula and Todd. I commented that the guy in the Hawaiian shirt seemed a bit out-of place. We sat in the grass for a while, watching a two-year-old agent play with a kickass ball.

    The anticipation built as we started the track and waited for an omnipotent voice from above. From the time we stood and waved to each other until we finally gathered on the giant Twister mat, I couldn’t breathe I was laughing so hard. I thought I might pass out as I was skipping over to the German tourist.

    It was a blast marching down the sidewalk, watching people watch back. I can’t imagine what it sounded like without music going. My thumbs-ups and high-fives were pretty successful (culminating in one from the German tourist himself!).

    The human dart board had me cracking up, especially waiting for the yellow darts to come diving into us. As we were assembling, I spotted some people (agents?) on a rooftop and began waving. Soon enough, they were getting waved at by the entire group.

    My favorite part was watching the group of tipsy 20-somethings who really embraced the mayhem surrounding their beach blanket. They insisted on more high-fives and even participated in freeze tag. There’s a hilarious photo on flickr of them standing among hundreds of bodies laying on the grass.

    All-in-all, this was a very happy first experience with Improv Everywhere. After reading for two years without being able to participate, I’m glad I finally got a chance. Hopefully there will be more opportunities before No Pants 2008!

    Thanks everyone for an awesome day!

  61. This was mt first event, and may there be plenty more!

    We were running a few minutes late thanks to the A,C,E issues over the weekend, and started the track a few blocks away. We ran into the plaza just as everyone started standing up, only to walk into groups of people not involved with the experiment staring at all the people perched at their benches with an abslutely priceless look on their faces….. my favourite was a very elderly gentleman riding his bike through the throngs of people walking to the park and hi fiving the masses walking by.

    Thank you for putting this together , and giving tough New Yorkers something to smile about!

  63. I cannot even begin to describe how much of an awesome time I had! This was my first improv everywhere mission and it was an absolute blast! I had a huge grin on my face for the rest of the day and couldn’t stop telling people about how fabulous it was. Can’t wait for the next event!!!

  65. http://www.flickr.com/photos/ladyklack/sets/72157601556629409

    This was my first time participating in a mission. My friend Jenna and I came in from CT for this, and we had the time of our lives! At first we thought we weren’t going to make it on time, and we actually had to start our mp3 players while we were still a couple of blocks away. It couldn’t have worked out better though, we got to the marina and sat down just as the first song was ending.

    Jenna ended up being on of the twister winners (only because she edged my foot off of a tile grrr)

    After we walked over to the park and started taking pictures, some guy (who was not part of the experiment) asked me to take a picture of him and Jenna. (I guess she’s the cute one, lol)

    Loved the game of tag, and soooo glad I didn’t wear a red shirt. In blue I was able to mill around the outside of the target, which also made it easier to get away for the game of tag.

    All in all, it was a fantastic day!

  68. Like many others here, this was my first mission with Improv Everywhere, and I have to say it was very, very awesome, if far too short. I came in by myself from Staten Island and made it to the World Financial Center just in time. In the 2 minutes or so I was waiting, it was fun to just look around and guess who else was in on the experiment. Judging from the large amount of smirks from people in brightly colored shirts sitting next to me doing the same thing, I guessed that there were a huge amount of us. And I was right-wow, 826! That’s just crazy!

    There were several memorable moments of this experiment. It was especially touching for me that this experiment was in the plaza and the park next door because I went to the high school nearby and I have very, very fond memories of hanging out in the park with my friends after school on nice days. In fact, totally by random there were about 10 people I knew and it was great to connect with them again. Also memorable was following the wrong German tourist (not affiliated with the Mp3 Experience), and the poor guy trying to convince all of us that he wasn’t the guy we were looking for. Whoops! The Twister was amazing, as well as the games of freeze tag and making the human dartboard.

    But by far the best moments were the ones that involved the people NOT in the experiment, encouraging strangers to smile and wave and give high fives to a bunch of bright red/blue/green/yellow-shirted people listening to their mp3 players. I mean, to them we must have looked insane, but they still participated and shared in the experience, an experience that we ourselves were sharing with people we had never met. There was something about having such communal moments with both friends and complete strangers that just made me incredibly happy, especially as I leave NY on Tuesday to go back to school in the personal bubble-world of LA. An A mission, guys!!

  69. I was just an onlooker, but it looked like a lot of fun, and freeze tag looked amazing.

    I live nearby and early on Sunday, while out jogging, I stopped and spoke to some Battery Park ranger types. I feigned curiosity in Saturday’s event, and one of the rangers said “Oh yeah, I heard about that – I think it was some sort of protest or somethin”….

    (tee hee)

  71. This looks like tons of fun. :) Next year I might be in NY in time for an MP3 experiment- I’ll see if I’ll be able to join.

  72. This was my first mission and it was such a blast! Right afterwards, some rangers came up to me and said…”uh…are you guys brainwashed or something?”. Awesome.

  74. Had an awesome time! I was almost late, I was still in the car trying to find a parking garage at 4pm and had to run to make it to the harbor area, thank god for those few minutes of music at the beginning I was able to be there for the start. And thanks SO MUCH to the Blue Shirt who helped me find my place in the MP3 when my iPod randomly reset in the middle of freeze tag! Haven’t set up my photos on flickr yet, but here’s a link to Picas:

    http://picasaweb.google.com/vonmc42/ImprovEverywhereMP3Experiment4

  75. *Apolgies about the super long entry, it was late and I didn’t think about how long it was at the time, I’ve edited it down to something much smaller*

    I’ve been waiting for this mission, this was my third, I did the most recent No Pants and Redheads Only mission, but this mission was the one I was most looking forward to. I almost missed it due to not being told about the N running on the R and W lines. I was so late I didn’t even stop to gawk at horrible looking high rise fire that was going on.

    Favorite Things
    – Mistaking one of the other agents for the german, didn’t realize he was the wrong one till he started shaking his head and pointing at his lack of moustache
    – Waving to everyone, giving thumbs up, and smiling; it was fantastic and the music was so awesome, I want to walk to that music everyday.
    – Giving some woman standing to the side a double high-five, that was awesome.
    – Getting tagged into the funniest positions during freeze tag.
    – Laying in the field relaxing, the most comfortable I’ve ever been, the wind felt fantastic.

    Also thanks to Omar who asked if anyone wanted to get something to drink. I made a whole group of new friends and it was great talking about all the experiments. I also included photos of our afterparty group in the set.

    Thanks Charlie and Steve!

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexerde/sets/72157601533813176/

  77. I took a picture of the German Tourist and saw that he had …. (dumm dumm dumm!!) something in his ear!

    Now… I know he wasn’t part of the event, and he may have just had a hearing aid,…. BUT! He could be a SPY! (or… have bad hearing)

    OR BOTH!

  79. Aside from being ten minuets late, the mission went pretty smooth for me and my group. It was an amazing time, and i hope to join the rest of you in many more missions to come.

    Ps. I enjoyed the photos, hope to see more, i don’t have many but I’ll try and get them up ASAP.

    ~Agent J.

  81. My photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/unwieldylocutions/sets/72157601561597202/

    Mission Report:

    I got to the North Cove way earlier than I expected. I got there at about 2:30, actually. I saw only one person whom I thought might be a participant. I made some phone calls and sat down to read. Helpless in my eager anticipation, I interrupted my reading and looked up at least once every five minutes. It was rather amazing to look up and see how many people had come and sat since the last time I stole a glance. For the last half-hour before the Experiment was to begin, I was too excited to focus long enough to read, so I did a few sketches to pass the time. By then, rows and rows of folks in the four colors were sitting all around. There were a couple groups of likely participants walking around, perchance trying to find a seat. One such group eventually just sat themselves on the ground in the middle of the plaza. As the last preceeding moments before Go Time approached, I eagerly checked my watch and looked for other people checking their watches and likewise readying their players.

    Patrick Stewart never fails to amuse, and the music was highly enjoyable. I gladly complied with Steve’s directions when they came, curious to see all the others do the same. It was intriguing and fun seeing other people breathe in and out at the exact same time I did, like a great, playful secret. I can only imagine what the diners in the cafes though when hundreds of colorfully-clad people stood nigh-simultaneously in the plaza.

    I was momentarily stunned while waving to everyone. I had been there when almost all of them had shown up, but seeing them all standing and waving was awe-inspiring. The directions were happily met by everyone I saw. It was rather enjoyable to hear a hundred people around me break out laughing at once during some of Steve’s speech.

    At the greeting of other colors, I shook hands with a man in a blue Team Awesome shirt for which I proffered a high five. He saw my red “Why the long face, Emo Horse?” shirt and readily took me up on it. I got out on the second Twister spin. I was barely on the board, anyway, and thus dutifully removed myself to the side to cheer on the stalwart remaining players.

    In the exodus from the plaza to the park, I half-heard through my gigantic headphones the half-bewildered, half-disgruntled exclaimed inquiry of one of the cafe employees who, it seemed, wanted to know either what was happening or who had dared mastermind and/or perpetrate this act. I already had passed him when I figured we’d be out of his hair soon enough.

    Fond of the thumbs up and high five as I am, I welcomed those instructions. I was already grinning like an idiot, so smiling at strangers was happening long before commanded. The Team Awesome guy and I exchanged a big smile, as well. There were some people really going for it with their dog-walking. I was a passable dog-walker, but darned if I wasn’t a good rollerblader.

    Being a red-shirt (who lived!), I let out an amused groan with a massive group of other people as I heard that I had to change places with the green-shirts. The groan turned to laughter pretty quickly when I got to the center and found two guys sunbathing on towels in our bull’s-eye.

    Freeze tag with my loaded backpack was quite a work out. There were a couple Yellows at the bull’s-eye; so, when they were announced It, I tried to sneak away from the center by crawling on the ground. It didn’t work, and I was quickly tagged. I did manage to evade capture on one round, though.

    When we got turned over to Mark–the quasiomnipotent, recovering alcoholic, half-brother of Steve–his funny relaxation speech was accompanied by a wonderful breeze which cooled me delighfully and which very much seemed heaven-sent (thanks, Steve and Mark).

    Leaving the park, one of the non-participating men asked with keen interest in his voice and awe in his eye who set it all up. I and another participant chimed, “Improv Everywhere,” and I think the man went to take note. I heard some of the participants talking to another. Apparently all friends, several turned to the one and offered profuse thanks for having them take part. The Experiment proved a very worthy excuse to visit New York. I listened to the track again while waiting for my flight at JFK. I grinned and laughed and bobbed my head almost all the way through.

    Mission objective: have an absolute blast?
    Mission accomplished.

  82. This was my first mission. I had mad luck catching an IE mission visiting from Sweden spending only one week in NYC. The mood was sparking just before the event started. The stranger in the green shirt probably said it best: “It’s kind of like Fight Club, no one is talking about it but everyone is nodding to each other and acknowledging each other.” On sunday night me and my fellow swedes went to the Upright Citizens Brigade theater and caught the amazingly funny late Assskat 3000, which I only found out about through IE and Charlie’s webpage. The Assskat was some hilarious shit as well, apart from the mockery of swedes as a people who spoke with something of a Belgian accent and went fishing with their bare hands. In fact we swedes have have been using fishing poles and nets since the mid-80s.

    Thank you Steve(Charlie)!

    ‘I just did the dew!’

  83. I thanked the wrong German tourist. I never knew there was a second. Thanks to the one who did do the music and was a part of the experiment.

    Note to self: Don’t post comments half asleep.

  84. The experiment was interesting. I was approached by several people asking, “Do you know what’s going on? Is everyone on some kind of podcast or something?” I just smiled and nodded.

    En route to finding the German tourist the second time at the big grassy area, an old guy sitting by himself at the bench remarked, “Thanks for ruining my afternoon you assholes!!” Hahaha… Grumpy old man.

    It was my first experiment and will certainly be at the next one. I saw the pictures taken from the building and the human dartboard looks amazing. I didn’t realize how many people were there.

    Here’s mine:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/8870015@N06/sets/72157601570047421/

  85. this was my 1st mission. i had an amazing time.
    what else can i say besides “thank you for existing”!!!!!

  86. I think the best part of the experiment for me was knowing that I had so much in common with all of these “strangers”. Shaking hands with everyone in the plaza, it was as if we were all saying to each other “hey, the fact that we’re both here means there’s a good chance we’d be friends in the real world.”

    Improv Everywhere has always embodied a real joie de vive, and the participants of this experiment truly plugged in to that energy.

    As for the event itself, cheers to awesome production of the mp3… it all sounded very professional, with seamless integration of great music and steve’s (praised be he) instructions.

    Thanks to everyone who made this happen, and to everyone who participated.

  87. The crazy weekend train schedule made myself and several others have to start the mp3 a few blocks away. It was pretty funny to see dozens of folks wearing colored shirts and iPods flat-out sprinting to get to the location. I also was amused by the rush towards the wrong guy at first when told to find the German tourist. I have to say, though, the guy DID have a German looking hat on.

  90. hey kate- great photos!

    sandy- I know which old man you are talking about- very poor sport huh? everyone was so nice to him and he was a total crab apple. i like to think that after we were out of sight he got a real big grin out of it- he just didn’t want to show it :-) i think it was good for him

    in regards to the cult comments- when we all lied down in unison at the end the only thing i could think of was everyone around thinking we just had some kool aide… i got a morbid giggle out of that

  91. Kate,
    Your photos are magnificent! Really enjoyed them.

    I can’t thank you enough for taking those 3 pictures of the Massari gang!!!

    We’re in the 4th and 5th rows of pix down from the top, standing on the ledge.

    How embarrassing. None of us were doing too well with the geography portion of the mission.

    “No wait…I think Nicaragua is this way…No wait, its that way”…”Umm, maybe” ..”Just point somewhere”.

    Thank you again

  93. Whoever the guy in red was, the one who kept telling everyone to “Mobilize! D:

  94. My comment was cut off. Perhaps because of the colon?

    The rest went like this:

  95. Whoever the guy in red was, the one who kept telling everyone to “Mobilize!”, you are hilarious =]

    Anyway. It was fun! =D Like many others, I wish it had lasted longer.

  98. hey any way i can just get the praise steve image from the tshrit and not pay for the tshrit? please?

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