For our latest mission, 30 Improv Everywhere agents found a random funeral in the obituary section of the newspaper and turned it into the best funeral ever. We picked a man who had very few surviving relatives and then showed up to his funeral to make it truly awesome. Enjoy the video first, and then continue reading for photos and our report.
I knew this would be a very sensitive subject, but I thought that if Improv Everywhere could spread a little joy to the saddest place of all, it would be an amazing feat. The first step was picking the right funeral. It was critical that the funeral would be very sparsely attended. My biggest fear was showing up to do this and finding tons of friends and family already there. I started scanning through the obituaries to find short entries that mentioned very few surviving relatives. I also wanted to pick a graveside service because it would be easier to film and photograph it from a distance. It would be too risky to try to sneak cameras into a funeral home or church.
Organizing with the agentsThe funeral we picked was in Greenwood Cemetery, an enormous plot of land in Brooklyn. (I’m not going to list the name of the deceased to prevent the family from finding this via a Google search, but it was an 87 year old male.) We met in a park a few blocks from the cemetery gate, and I briefed all of the agents, who had arrived dressed for a funeral. I instructed everyone to be as realistic as possible and not to be too over the top. I was very worried that the family would think we were making fun of them, which was the last thing we were trying to do. I told everyone to just act like you would if it had been your grandfather who passed away and behave accordingly.
Agents walking through the cemeteryWe headed over to the cemetery right when the funeral was supposed to begin. We figured it was best to arrive just a few minutes late. The family wouldn’t talk to us if the service was already underway. They would just be silently comforted that lots more people showed up to honor their loved one.
The family before we arrive, only eight peopleOur photographers ran ahead to snap some covert photos of the service before we arrived and to try to get the natural reactions of the family when the IE agents showed up. They tried to be discreet, hiding behind tombstones, trees, and bushes with zoom lenses. Sure enough, there were only eight people and a priest attending the funeral.
A pretty small funeral in need of some helpLuckily there was a huge bush right behind the priest. Agent Nicholson was able to crawl into the bush and take photos head on without anyone seeing him.
Shot through the bushes
Our agents start arriving behind them!
IE Agents approaching
Almost there
Family looking around in wonder
Packed funeral!
Family members started whispering, “Who are these people?”
Agent Adams films covertly from the side of the bushThe family, especially the older couple in the middle, were seriously mourning. They seemed to be focusing on the priest and mostly ignoring us. Still, we had to be as serious as we possibly could. If anyone cracked a smile or giggled we would completely ruin the funeral for the family.
One family member, who looked like he might have been a grandson of the deceased, got up and asked Agent Simmons what was going on and where we came from. He definitely seemed confused, and maybe slightly irritated at first. Agent Simmons just told him we were old friends of the deceased here to pay our respects.
Agents Perveen and Ace$Thugg keeping a great straight face
Agent Lindquist offers a family member a tissue
Agent Yo-Yo lays some flowers on the casket
Agents Wimpy and Cunningham walk to the front with flowersTowards the end of the service, the priest discovered that Agent Nicholson was hiding in the bushes with a camera. I guess cameras are not usually allowed at funerals, because he was not happy. He kept his calm because of the circumstances, but he made it very clear that Agent Nicholson needed to leave immediately.
We found other ways to keep documenting the mission. Agent Spear snapped a few covert shots with his cell phone.
As soon as the service was over, our agents disappeared as quickly as they had arrived. We never broke character and never let the family know that we didn’t actually know the deceased.
Agents quietly leavingThe family members were left clueless as to who we were. They gawked as we walked away. Deep down though, you know they were profoundly moved to learn that their relative had so many friends. One of the family members chased down some of our camera men and tried to get an answer. Agent Adams stuck to his story and told him that he was just a tourist visiting the cemetery (it’s a National Historic Landmark after all!), and that he didn’t know any of the other agents.
It was definitely creepy being in the cemetery, and it did feel weird staging something at a funeral, but ultimately I think everyone had a great time. Obviously the family was sad that someone they loved had passed away, but think how much sadder they would have been if only eight people had been there.
Mission Accomplished.
OTHER RESOURCES:
–Agent Nicholson’s Flickr Set
–Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set
Update:
Read the comments to see people who were fooled. The local CW news was fooled as well. They later filed a copyright claim against us for posting their video of our video to YouTube.
Check out the hilarious outtakes from the mission.
a lot of these pictures are really well done. would love to see some hi res ones.
Awesome mission! Pretty great how you guys keep coming up with better and better ideas for missions every time. Really kept with the spirit of the “Best Ever” series on this one. If I’d have been part of the family I would have appreciated seeing so many people show up for the funeral. Love the idea!
For you to keep finding touching and poignant ways to affect people’s lives is so great. Our city is better for it. Our lives are better for it, even if we never experience it firsthand. Lots of kudos to you!
There are few things sadder than a funeral with only a few people in attendance. Glad to see that the folks at IE could supersize it for them, putting a proper exclamation point on the end of a life.
This is really messed up wow. I would be fuckin pissed and one of you insensitive pricks would have gotten knocked the fuck out 4 sure. I’m an agent btw.
Well then do us a favor, and quit, because you’re obviously too much of a jackass.
haha! very true.
If I was attending a funeral of a family member with only a hand full of people it would be disheartening. But if more people showed up, I would feel better. That the person who passed has many friends in his life. This is a classic stunt. Great job guys. It was not tasteless or disrespectful.
Feel free to do this at my funeral, which hopefully won’t be for a long while.
First! (April 1st that is)
Frankly the BEST April Fool today.
I hope this is an April Fools joke. If not, I am a bit let down by this site for such tasteless and disrespectful actions. A funeral is not the place to take the “we cause scenes” motto.
I completely agree. It was totally out of character for what I thought this site was about. Just cut your losses and take this section of the site down. And almost everyone knows the family was not in on it.
It’s great to see that you’ve found such a wonderfull way to cheer the greiving family. It really is nice of you.
i love the intentions behind this, and i’m all for the “best ever” series. i also think you guys pulled this off with the most class and respect you could have had.
but i think the idea in the first place is borderline… insensitive? the family was obviously more confused than anything. your group had no way to tactfully explain the purpose to them. i hope they were able to laugh it off after their grieving. :-/
Is it that day again?
I don’t know about a funeral, guys. I am a huge supporter of Improv Everywhere. I thoroughly enjoy all the things you guys do. But if you had been outed or if the family ever caught footage of this, I could imagine you’d be pretty busted up pretty bad. I wouldn’t want to see you guys go down like that. But I respect your intentions. Just, maybe stick to the baseball games…
But I loved the HD quality. You are all doing very well for yourselves. I have always wanted to be apart of stuff like what you do and it makes me want to do stuff where I’m at. I especially like you MP3 experiments. To leave your inhibitions at the door and totally trust some mystic voice in a huge group of strangers for a few hours in a day would be a huge positivity booster that I think more people need to indulge in. To have no cares or concerns for this set period of time. I’m sure that would be the most in-expensive vacation that they’ve ever had. Thanx for continuing to inspire people around the globe!
~MDors
please, please tell me this is an april fools thing.
Please.
If not, please disband improveverywhere, you’ve crossed a line and become smug selfcentered and insensitive.
hey… have you guys ever thought of a wedding?? I can’t remember if I saw a video for that or if I just imagined it… I think that would go over with a few less eyebrows being placed at an odd place on people’s faces … just plugging an idea, I guess…
This has got to be an April fool’s joke :)
Of course it’s an April fool. Come on people how gullible can you be? I thought it was hilarious. I love the fact we are supposed to believe that nobody spotted the guy in the bushes with a camera the size of a car. :-)
you guys are awesome, keep up the good work!
I read the entry and came here to voice my disquiet about this scene. Then I read some of the comments and remembered what day it was today.
Well played.
I love IE, but you guys really crossed the line here. Someone DIED and you think that’s the perfect time to pull a prank?
Knowing IE we’ll never know if it really IS an April Fools joke. :\
Its a nice thought even if this may be April 1st thing. Its rare to have a graveside service. If this is legit, then I say its an adorable thought and if its not, then maybe we should think about how we show respect to the departed
jono> Not everyone is as gullible as it initially appears. (Check the first letter of each sentence in my post at the top of the comments.)
Brilliant, Timothy!
I agree with HBret that a funeral is not the best place to stage an act. I would much prefer having 8 people at my funeral who truly respected and mourned for me rather than random guests who didn’t even know who I was trying to “cause a scene”. Sorry to say, I think this one went overboard.
Wow, well done. I love April Fools that seem completely probable if outlandish.
Well done.
My jaw was dropped in horror.
Great prank guys. excellent job convincing yourselves that the family felt better.
I think it would be great to get a number of agents to pretend they are doctors and take over an emergency room. You would get some great pictures, and make a lot of people really happy that so many strangers helped save their life. Boy would that make a scene!
How about sticking to food courts, Abercrombie, and escalators without invading the sanctity of humanity’s unfortunate side?
This is definitely an April Fools joke. I thought it was staged from the get go before I even realized it was April Fools Day. What sealed the deal for me though was the family member at the end putting his hand on the lens. No way that actually happens like that.
I think you guys are, quite frankly, dicks.
First of all, your absurd justification that the family would feel better with so many in attendance is flawed when it’s quite obvious that you jackasses had no connection to the deceased, that there was some prick in the bushes with a camera, and that you all showed up out of nowhere at the same time. This isn’t making them feel better, it’s making them feel confused and annoyed during a funeral service for their loved one.
On the other hand if this isn’t real and is just an April Fools prank and there was no actual funeral, congratulations on a good prank.
If you actually did this, fuck you.
Even knowing it was April Fools day and thinking it was really insensitive thing to do I was still sucked in. Maybe it would be nice to make someone’s day by having extra mourners and I fell for it.
But having re-gone through it there are loads of flaws. No hole in the ground (though there is a cffin contrary to what someone has commented), there would be men in black there to lower the coffin surely. And who chose to bury someone next toa very large bush that can conveniently hold a camera. Picking something out of a pape doesnt tell you where the plot is does it.
Nicely set up guys, I was mildly appalled at first but got sucked in so well done.
I was disgusted at this one… then I read the comments and realised what day it is today :)
Well done on a good prank!
So funny all the idiots on here who actually believe you did this and are having a go at you. Nice joke and quite convincingly done. After all the grief you got over something so harmless as Ted’s Birthday there is no way IE would actually carry this out for real.
i am think how to make people belive an alive man is dead in his funeral,that will be funnier
HAHAHAHA!!! Oh I was all indignant!! How *could* they!? Nicely played IE!
isn’t it going to far to mess with a mans funeral?
I’m not really sure why.. but the grieving “family” looked like agents to me to begin with. Still… it took me till I came here to comment about how it may not have been in the best taste before I noticed what day it was today.
Damn i was writing a real peeved of reply about respect – then realised today is April fools – I have been gotten 3 times today….
Its past midday here though so i aint the fool… lol…
Good one!
I thought this was a little messed up. There was no background check on the grandfather and the family. It could be the family wanted to stay reclusive. They also probably thought that you guys were thinking this is a big joke especially with the camera guy there and who wouldn’t be able to see a guy pull out his camera phone right in front of them. they probably ignored you to be nice but, I think they would’ve thought that this was horrifying. A funeral is a conclusion for a family and it’s a private moment. Getting distracted by people they don’t know and discovering a camera man probably didn’t help. Also a funeral isn’t suppose to get a little happier. It’s suppose to give people time to mourn for their love ones and again it’s a conclusion or a final goodbye for them.
You had me right up until the end! Bravo.
I didn’t even think it could be a joke until I read the comments, then it all clicked, very well done :)
For anyone who’s not convinced this is an April Fool’s joke, look at the casket. It’s some old prop casket and there’s no grave underneath it.
Kudos IE. =]
You guys certainly don’t need to lug around big cameras anymore, judging by the stealth and ability of those to be able to take clandestine photos with their cell phones. I could hardly tell he was doing that!
You should’ve had a guy dress up like the deceased with zombie makeup and have him jump out of the bushes shouting “BOOGIE BOOGIE BOOGIE!” Icing on the cake.
Happy First!
YEEEAAHH the best April Fool today XD
Very VERY good April Fools!!!
Knew I could count on you guys to start the day off right :)
Whatever happened to that web site redesign you guys did last year? And I thought you were changing your name to HIPP?
Congratulations, this is the first April Fool’s prank in YEARS that actually had me fooled. Right up until the end. I was gaping in horror through most of it. Very well done. :)
And complete lol at the people who commented that this was a thoughtful and poignant mission. Oh my god. xD
Kudos to the first few comments who actually managed to maintain the illusion for a bit. Shame on anyone who would think IE would do something like this.
Well played! Happy April Fool’s Day!
O.o I hope this is a joke.
Well done guys… you really had me for a minute there.
Nice Work. April Fool’s indeed.
simply brilliant!
my mother passed away a couple of years ago and the funeral was very small … not sure how i would have felt, i think it would have made me smile and we’d have invited you back to the house for some food, of course.
I hope this whole thing is a joke…
Wow really!? I’m glad I read someone elses post and saw that they brought up maybe it’s an April Fools joke. It BETTER be an April Fools joke cuz funerals are nothing to mess around with. I lost my mom 3 months ago and if you would have done this at my mom’s funeral I would have flipped!!! Not funny….not even a little. I don’t even think its a funny April Fools joke. Its just down rigth sick and disturbing.
As a family member of the deceased, I find your prank to be outrageous and in poor taste. My father deserved better than this. Were it not for a luncheon date I had made months ago, I would have been there to run you out of the cemetery myself! You louts could have at least stayed behind to dig the grave! You’ll be hearing from my attorney with a bill for the backhoe.
Hope this was a joke. HAHA! April Fools. Please let it be a joke. And don’t even consider something like it in the future.
I typed out a long explanation before I realized what a brilliant April Fools joke this is. IE – you are unbelievable. I love you. And because I am a good sport, here is my original post…
This mission was done in poor taste and I absolutely do not think it is funny or creative in any way. What was accomplished by this mission? The only results were confused family members of the deceased who were in mourning and a camera man being discovered in the bushes who was immediately told to leave.
I hate to say it but I was really looking forward to watching a new mission and now I am going to unsubscribe. I cannot support a group who sinks this low.
Hoping this is an April Fool’s Joke.
Improv Everywhere usually pulls stunts to make people feel good, not to play jokes on grieving people, secretly videotaping their mourning and mocking them.
This is rude, insensitive, and not funny I hope this is April Fool’s joke as well or I will no longer be a fan of your group.
APRIL FOOLS!
Enough said. IE isn’t THAT disrespectful.
Wonder why you never see an actual coffin? Or how a camera the size of a car is hiding in the bushes? Or all the mismatching fold up chairs?
Come on guys… chin up. This is funny. It’s on us this time. :P
LOL! I think the best part about your april fool’s gag is your written commentary:
“I think everyone had a great time. Obviously the family was sad that someone they loved had passed away, but think how much sadder they would have been if only eight people had been there.
Mission Accomplished”
HAHAHA! Hilarious!
People: This was only POSTED on April 1st. You can see by the lighting that (assuming it was done in the western hemisphere) this was actually done before today – like, yesterday at least. Thus, it was’t even done in the month of April so it’s no joke.
Best funeral ever? Best April Fool’s joke ever. I suspected it the whole time, but once you had the pictures of the “covert cell phone pictures” I started laughing. Well done.
This is sick… you guys went to far.
I too just learned of this through Facebook. And though the feelings I have about IE are still complex and embryonic at this point, the overwhelming reaction my boyfriend and I had watching the episode was “Where do these people get off?†After reading about the pranks/missions on this site and trying to understand more of what IE is about, my overwhelming reaction is now “Where do these douchebags get off?â€
I think every high school/junior college has that group of kids who thinks it’s their responsibility to show people what banal, robotic lives they’re leading by shaking things up, being wacky, being weird, doing something unexpected, defying convention, and generally being enormous pains in the ass with no regard for those around them. All this serves to communicate is that these dicks-in-my-face have so little regard for my intelligence that they honestly believe that without their intervention, I would be unable to provide variety in my own life. This enormous condescension on their part only makes me hate the living balls out of them.
The support that IE receives on this site basically seems to all boil down to, “They’ll thank us in the end, and if they don’t, they’re way to SQUARE, man.†Is it square wanting to see a friend’s band perform instead of being hijacked by drama-school kids’ impromptu “group orgasm”? Does IE not trust me to “Look up more†if I feel like looking up more?
Facebook introduced me to the pranks of IE and left me with this impression: a group of comedy-club washouts who think they are more clever and in touch with what’s really important in life led by an unapologetic smirking tard in a off-colour blue sweater (although it looks more purple from the photo). For the love of God and all that is holy, we have enough douchebaggery in this city without you forming clubs to celebrate it. This comment being one example of such douchebaggery.
Nice mission. I almost didn’t get the joke, but then I started looking at the pictures…and it became rather clear. Nice April Fool’s, IE!
No… this is a little too much I think:
I think you should let people mourn withouth making a ‘stunt/joke’ of it…
fuk u u peec uv shaeit uno dat ta ded dont u u dont fuk wit tha ded
I’m apalled! This is the most tasteless thing you guys have done since you replaced your web site with the 1998 design exactly one year ago today. IE has truly gone downhille.
This must be an april fools or you guys have lost one of your big fans…. Funerals just arent funny.Simple.
You got me…
you guys went to east 5th street park!i wish i could’ve seen you guys!
This is great, guys. My biggest fear in life is having a small funeral after I die, and I’d like to think someday twenty or so random strangers might show up at my grave and support my family.
Great work guys, this is truly a mission with a heart.
HA….Brilliant. Happy April Fools-Ever
Awesome mission! Great idea! Can’t wait to see how many imitators this launches. There gonna be Best Funerals Ever all over the world! Could be like a Mentos commercial too or something.
The funeral is a good choice for April Fool’s; it could *almost* be a real IE mission. The post and video don’t do much to give away the joke — I wish they became increasingly unbelievable and/or obvious. Only the people who realize that this is a joke are going to enjoy the prank. The people who get fooled will just go away mad.
a close friend of mine died recently, and I know that about 20 people that his family never met will show up at his funeral. This mission really made me smile. Good job guys.
Really big fan of your work, but this one lets me down. I’m thinking this is an April Fool’s joke, and I’m hoping that’s the case. I surely wouldn’t want this to happen at a funeral for one of my loved ones. Others have commented with the opposite feelings, which are also valid. Either way, you can’t have known which way the family in question would be feeling, and the risk would have been insensitive, foolish, and wrong.
Even if this is an April Fool’s joke, I don’t think it’s a very tasteful one. Funerals, for the most part, are not funny.
Still a fan, but hoping you’ll not do something like this again, joke or no joke.
I have one issue with this mission… why is Agent Linder carrying an umbrella?! What the hell is wrong with him? IT’S NOT RAINING.
Just had another look at the pictures, and I’m fairly sure this is an April Fool’s joke. Not very funny, just sort of awkward and tasteless. Disappointed.
People are so gullible. Happy April Fool’s!
Oh my gosh. When I first saw this I was horrified! I just kept thinking about this poor family who inevitably will read about this and get upset that their loved ones death is basically the brunt of a crewl online prank. Nothing about this was funny.
Until I realized what day it was.
Now I’m sincerely hoping this is an April Fool’s like everyone’s guessing. So I can still love you guys. =) If it is, you got me goood!
you guys should calm down a bit, this is obviously an april fools joke no need to get all mad.
for the minuscule chance this was legit, they would have at least posted this on a day other than april first
so therefore chill out
Brilliant.. one of the first april fools jokes that got me. I was about to leave an indignant post and had already sent the link to my husband in a huff… you guys rock!
What a great way to say goodbye to a loved one!
Remembering how the freeze craze swept the globe after Frozen Grand Central, I can’t wait to see what others do with Best Funeral Ever!
I visited the site today specifically to see what hijinks you guys would get up to on April Fools. The best part every year is seeing the outraged comments from people who don’t get it! Happy April Fools, and great “mission”, guys!
god, I was really offended until I realized what day it is! hilarious. as an actual even this would be a pathetic attempt at getting press, but as an April fools joke it is ace!
I love you guys and all of your missions, but this crosses a line. You all should really be ashamed of yourselves.
April Fool! (Right? God, I hope so!)
You guys got me, Happy April fools day.
Whoa! Like ALL of the commenters took this seriously! Awesome!
I wasn’t too fond of this at first, actually I thought it was quite cruel. But then I remembered what day it is. Keep up the good work you guys!
Ya’ll are silly kids. Aprilly Fools!
You got me for about 4 seconds, before I realised it was a prank, well done :D
I love how there was a cameraman standing right in front of the ceremony with no-one noticing. Also, the picture quality is a lot higher than usual, perhaps not as much discretion was required?
Really, the people I am worried about are those who thought this was a great mission!
I really hope this is a joke.
the crappy theatrical coffin and mis-matched folding chairs should be your first clue- this is a brilliant April Fool’s joke. For the best April Fool’s joke ever, go to YouTube and search for ‘BBC, Spaghetti Trees.’
lol. i was kinda confused about it too. great april fools day prank. this could have been legit.
Interesting idea, but in the end, it had too much potential to be cruel. I think it could work if a family member was in on it and thought it would be appropriate for that person/family.
Brilliant April Fool’s Day prank! BRILLIANT! I totally fell for it. LOLOLOL
I agree with Chris, especially with the cameras so close. I know you had good intentions but come on. It definitaly crossed the line.
Having just recently lost a family member, I was shocked and horrified at the lengths to which IE would go… and then I read some of the comments, and immediately felt like a big goob.
While there’s still a part of me that imagines there *are* people out there who would do something like this, I have to hope that you’re not that kind of people.
Happy April Fool’s, guys. Well played. :)
First of all, I think this is totally fake. The shots are all studied andteh look of it all seems much too prepared as for it to be truth.
Anyway, both if it is prepared or if it isn’t, I’m unsuscribing myself from the newsletter, and my opinion on IE has changed VERY MUCH after seeing this.
The childish stupid mask trying to make us believe that it has been done “for the family, to cheer them up” etc, as oposed to the true meaning of it, which is: “let’s have fun over them people” is absolutely absurd and wrong BIG TIME.
Fuck off Improv-kindergarden-Everywhere. Grow up.
It was my grandfathers funeral. Not funny.
This is a pretty elaborate April Fools. My hat’s off to you. Well Done IE.
I can’t believe people don’t realize this is a joke!
Oh man, you got me. Happy April Fools you fuckheads.
It’s a joke. Come on..
At first I got angry. Then I saw the date XD
BEST April Fool’s joke EVER! You TOTALLY had me going! I couldn’t believe it at first, but I did.. then I started reading the comments. Didn’t think I’d be fooled today.
This is low, low, center-of the earth low. You guys have done some great pranks, but this is just plain fucked-up. I would have been horribly offended to have a group of pranksters show up at my grandparent’s funeral, and then, worse yet, post it online for their – and their fan club’s – entertainment. Insensitive and self-serving.
TOTALLY fooled me.
That’s the second time for me today
That coffin looks like the one we used at my high school’s production of Dracula. Which is to say, it’s not very convincing.
Any of the commenters who believed this was legit, please contact me. I can give you a great deal on owning the Brooklyn Bridge, or perhaps some swampland in Florida.
I dunno guys, I think you may have gone too far this time. A funeral is not something I would consider a proper venue for Improv Everywhere’s antics. If that were the funeral of one of my loved ones, i dont think i would find the humor. Dont do this again.
This is a great April Fool’s joke. I was totally got!! I was all like, “Maaan, they crossed the line! That ain’t cool!” hahahahaha! Great job!!
I must say, well done. You had me believing that this was an actual funeral. I actually got misty eyed thinking that you went to pay your respects to a complete stranger. It wasn’t until I started to read the comments, that I realized it was an April Fool’s prank. Well done.
Love the concept of the group, but i think this one has gone a little too far… if it was my relative’s funeral, i would fell very disrespected
Do none of you people mark your calendars to check this site on this day every year? You should. You will get less heartburn that way. Funny video.
LOL, well done IE, you’ve just lost half your readers who don’t check the date, but fantastic job anyway. Do people really not get the overt laughing as the agents were told the mission indicates that it’s made up? If not that, then how about the guy hiding in the bush behind the priest?
Anyone who quits this site because they didn’t check the date or the pictures even just skim through the comments is too dumb to be allowed access to sites of this quality anyway.
And the people who say this isn’t funny are just annoyed they didn’t get the gag straight away.
Brilliant, well done. Perhaps would have liked to see a Ted’s Birthday-esque discussion of how they knew the deceased, but it’s still the Best Funeral Ever!
THIS SUCKS
JK!
april fools
I saw the subject to the email and laughed for a good 5 minutes.
Some of the comments just made it better. (Though I do hope they realize their errors!)
not amused.
Oh man, you almost got me. I was getting so pissed. But, the one picture of the guy taking a photo with his camera phone clued me in. :D I now feel kinda stupid because I was looking around earlier today for websites that did April Fool’s Day stuff.
BHarmz, you are an idiot and your logic is flawed.
in order to POST this on april fools, it would have HAD to have been done previous to today.
the whole thing was a fake, it’s not like they were pranking the funeral, they were pranking US, so it doesn’t matter when it was filmed or set up, so long as on this day people were fooled.
Haha wow…I was really disgusted with you guys until I realized what day it was. :P
I went to the funeral of a dear friend a few weeks back, so if this were real I wouldn’t have seen any humor in it.
It’s an April Fool’s Day joke. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the casket is a plain black wooden box; it’s not a traditional casket. To be sure, a very few people, myself included, would like to be buried in a plain wooden box rather than some fancy ass polished brass and mahogany coffin.
But more importantly, graves are dug before the funeral, and ground cover cloth is laid around the open grave. You can see from the pictures that there probably is no open grave. Also, the cemetery would have provided folding chairs, so they would have matched. This looks the Agents brought their own chairs.
Very cleverly done, but the devil is in the details.
Hilarious. Absolutely awesome. Well done, great prank.
“People: This was only POSTED on April 1st. You can see by the lighting that (assuming it was done in the western hemisphere) this was actually done before today – like, yesterday at least. Thus, it was’t even done in the month of April so it’s no joke.”
I think it is hilarious that some people (like above, if they were serious) realize it is an April 1st joke, but still think that the family is real and grieving.
Even if this was an April fool joke – _entirely_ staged for an April Fool’s joke – it’s offensive.
How is this any different than those evil demon-spawn showing up at military funerals and protesting homosexuality and blaming the soldier for their own death? Same thing to me.
If it is real, I can’t imagine ANYTHING that Improv Everywhere could ever do that I would find interesting or funny.
Even as an April Fool’s joke – you’ve lost my support for an shockingly inappropriate sense of what is funny – even on April Fool’s Day…
This is horrible. I find it disrespectful
OMG, you guys got me too! I watched the whole video in horror thinking it was real which would be in such bad taste… and then I looked up and saw the posting date is April 1st- April Fool’s, lol, that’s a pretty damn good April fool’s joke! Phew!
That family looked just a little bit comforted that you came out in force to support them! I wish I’d been able to help add my support and love to the healing aura you all created. What a beautiful, beautiful mission!
*Gasp* I so got taken. Thank goodness for the comments or I’d have this sick feeling in my stomach all day or until someone less gullible than me told me it was an April Fools Prank.
I, too, hope this is an April Fool’s joke. I love IE, but this to me was too insensitive. I tried to have an open mind about it, but there are some comments on this explanation of the mission are troublesome:
– agents “keeping a great straight face”
– agents obviously taking pictures of the family with their cellphones
– “ultimately I think everyone had a great time”
-etc.
These comments, to me, don’t indicate that it was simply a respectful way to “help” the family grieve.
You say “think how much sadder they would have been if only eight people had been there” – but I say, what if they wanted it that way? I think a line has been crossed.
Heehee. So good as an April Fools event. I love the indignation of commenters at top. People need to lighten up a bit before railing into folks. Yeesh.
I must say you got me! I was schocked that IE would do something at a funeral, but after reading the comments and watching the video a second time I realized it was an April Fools Day prank.
I really hope this is an April Fool’s joke. Because this is absurdly insensitive.
funny joke. kinda freaked by the people who said they’d like this at their relatives’ funeral o_O … why would anyone want this ever?
The continued, stubborn refusal of some people to read a few comments and catch on to the meta-prank or maybe even refusal to admit their indignance is unfounded even when faced with the fact that it’s an April Fool’s joke is rather revealing. Oh, humans!
Well played, IE!!
Look at the date of the post people.
I’m dumb. You got me.
I also hope this is April Fool’s… this is bizarre and not amusing in the slightest. If someone did this to a funeral of one of my loved ones I would call the cops.
For an encore: you guys should totally crash an autopsy!! You could go in as med-students under the premise of finding the perfect cadaver! It’d be HIL-AR-I-OUS!
(Seriously, I’m dying laughing at all the pissed off comments above! Awesome work.)
Even better is the indignation of people even AFTER hundreds of posts pointing out this as an April Fools thing. Clearly people (in the broadest sense) have ISSUES! Funny stuff – no – let’s get mad and write some flaming comments against Improv Everywhere. Yeah – let’s lynch them right after we get the folks from AIG and GM – yeah – you’re next IE – watch out! Yeesh.
LOL. I cant figure out which was funnier. The tongue in cheek video, or the horrified comments from people who didn’t get that it was a joke. Bloody Hilarious!
-Spidey
Even as an April Fool joke, this is incredibly poor taste. Not sure why you though it would be funny, even today.
you got me :)
Nice one.
While I am a HUGE fan of IE.. I am thoroughly disgusted with this mission. The family was grieving and they HAD to know that something was going on, you can see at the end of the video the angry grandson asking the guy with the camera what the heck he was doing. I think you invaded their privacy and made a spectacle out of something that is important and dear to them.
Boo hiss at this mission.
I lost some respect for you guys today.
I can only hope this is an april fools joke and this was staged and you “family” was all in on it from the start.
Hee!
“They tried to be discreet, hiding behind tombstones, trees, and bushes with zoom lenses.”
That line still has me laughing!
My hats off to yall on a great April Fool’s Day joke. The best ones suck people in, and boy you guys completely fooled so many. The music in the video made me crack up.
And a happy April Fools day to you too! :D
This is messed up, even as a staged April Fool’s Day joke. You need to grow up and learn what the lines of decency are.
I was a fan of you guys for years. Not anymore.
People! Holy crap, THERE WAS NO FAMILY. The entire thing was staged. There is no body in the coffin, no grieving family, NO MISSION AT ALL. The pictures and video were set up to prank you, the reader. GET A CLUE.
Oi, I’m way too worked up over this.
Okay, I was kinda ticked off, I have to admit. And then I saw the “covert cell phone pic snapping” photo and sheepishly realised what day it is.
That said, I think this prank falls pretty flat, even if it’s on us, and you could’ve done better.
guys, come on, do you seriously believe anyone (including agent todd) would participate in anything this risky and disrespectful. IE was founded on the premise of being funny without causing harm or distress, not to mention, if this was real it would be the breaking news story on every single news channel on the planet. Well done IE, and for those who believe this was a real mission and are defending it, shame on you, its a damn funeral not a joke and all IE agents have better judgement then that
That’s a wicked April 1st joke.. else it would be so mess up!
lol
:)
You TOTALLY got me!! I got the email and thought, hmm, that’s pretty soon for a new mission right after the last one. But I completely watched and read believing every word until someone called April Fool’s in the comments!
So bad. so good.
Good work, agents.
Well if it is a brilliant April Fool’s joke that IE pulled on us, their fans, then yes they would have to have done this before April 1st. That way they could edit it and having everything posted by this morning. It makes sense and lines up with all the other proof when you think about it.
It better be a April Fool’s prank on the fans of IE. If not, I don’t know what to think.
I am assuming this is an April Fools Joke… If not it was very hurtful and disrespectful. A big dissapointment. If it is and April Fools Joke… then good job.
I used to be a fan of IE, but this is too far. You guys have lost my respect completely.
Aww man, I TOTALLY forgot it was April Fools for a second. You definitely have the best prank I’ve seen so far.
I was thinking, oh no they didn’t just crash someone’s funeral!!
You got me. I usually watch the video after reading about it. I should have watched it first.
If you still think it is even possibly real, watch the video. If you still think it is real, there isn’t much to say. You just want to be offended.
I LLOOVVEE you guys and when I read this, I was shocked. started the video and the music made me tilt my head, you know how dogs go to the side when they’re confused? but the rest of the details … oh, I so bought it. at the end I thought I’ve got to say something … maybe I’ll tell them privately … gee, what did everyone else say? ahhh, relief! Great Joke!! oh man, this would have been so bad if it had been real.
Awwww, that was totally sweet of you guys. You must have made that dude’s family feel very special. Good job, IE. Keep up the good work!!!
This is one of the most thoughtfull missions IE has ever done. You really brighten people’s day Charlie Todd… keep up the good, heart-felt work.
Boy, talk about jumping the shark! That’s really such a sad excuse for a “mission.”
Okay, I’m a bit slow. And the joke is totally…on me!!!
People suck at realizing when it’s april fools.
I was totally sucked in…and HORRIFIED. I was planning my indignant response, shocked by the supportive comments, stunned by the blatant, grinning, cell phone photographer. You have entirely robbed me of my moment of indignation and superior morality! I hate you all! No way now that I would EVER invite you to MY funeral. Over my dead body!
Excellent! The best jokes are the ones that cause just a touch of controversy. The “shots from the bushes” were very funny.
Gee. I felt really shitty about this one but you can’t refuse a direct order can you? Then I remembered how funny death can be:
Good bye whoever.
Ah yes, Graham Chapman’s memorial service. It is better to be remembered with more laughs than tears. His sense of humor regarding death was a bit edgy though…
This is f-ed up guys.
An interesting idea. Does anyone find this disrespectful? I’m on the fence. I don’t think I would want strangers at the funeral of my dearly departed pretending they were friends.
April Fools!?! I can’t believe I fell for it -AGAIN! I have been a fan long enough that I should have known right away that this was a joke but it took me a long time! I was going to leave a post expressing my extreme disappointment with this “mission” when I realized it was April 1st. Next year I will NOT be fooled! Ha!
I hope this is an April Fools joke. I can’t imagine that you all would do something this insensitive. If this is not a joke, I’ve really lost respect for you.
I’ll admit that I was believing it at first. When my brother kicked the bucket last year, I knew I wanted as many people as possible to attend. So, I wasn’t exactly disturbed by many more people comforting the family. But, hey, there’s nothing like putting FUN back in funeral, right?!
The one clue that should give it away to everyone is that the narrative and video don’t match up. There is never a moment when the priest asks the camera man to stop in the video, only at the end, the ‘family member’ approaches the person who “films covertly from the side of a bush!”
Well done for 4/1!
You had me too. But I agree the video was to good to be true. I’d vote for second thoughts on this one not because it offended the family–which was fake–but because it seems to have offended so many IE fans. Yeah we’re gullible but we don’t want to be hurt either.
I was recently at the funeral of a 90 yr old woman, atended by only maybe a dozen or twenty folks. Even one outsider would have been noticed! And this was the sister of an Oscar winning celebrity. Having only a few attendees is not always such a bad thing.
I’m still a fan however. Food Court Musical is my favorite!
I believe it had to have been completely staged and posted as an April fools joke. Nice work!
i was horrified when i read the purpose of this mission, and uncomfortable watching the video. it’s a really sensitive area. i can’t tell if i’d be really angry or think it was funny if you guys did this at one of my family member’s funeral. maybe a little of both. mostly, i think it would be really distracting in a not so pleasant way. pants off in the subway is more fun for everyone, and doesn’t have such potential for jeopardizing people’s real lives and causing them bad feelings. who cares if only 8 people show up to a funeral? maybe that’s the way they wanted it. i’ve been to funerals / wakes where only a select people were invited to the graveside service – for a reason.
This is, hands down, the most disrespectful mission ever accomplished. You are making a mockery of the family’s grieving. Who decides that it would be a good idea to crash a funeral? I am ashamed to think that I was actually a fan of yours.
i feel like such an idiot for writing that last bit. april fools. OK. very very funny. very funny. right on like always…! thanks for the continued community laughs at noone’s expense! bring it on.
Yeah, why would you leave the family member that puts his hand in the camera as an unanswered question here?
I might have not realized it was an April Fool’s Joke if you didn’t show a shot of the bald guy putting his hand in the camera and then show pretend like everything was A-Ok while not even mentioning it in the write-up.
So yeah, at least you had me for a little bit though. I was saying, “Their pranks are always good-natured to the extreme. What the hell is going on here?”
It’s April 1, so I’m taking this with a grain of salt :D
That said, this would have been an awesome mission if it really happened! Obviously you couldn’t ACTUALLY do this, but if this happened at MY grandma’s funeral, I’d be thrilled.
This is tasteless, and not funny at all. This is such a deep, emotional time for this family, and you all come in and make a farse of it. The cameraman being nabbed from the bushes definitely causes harm. You should really take this prank down from the site, and I am not proud to be a part of this organization.
I absolutely love that people are defending this “mission.” Fantastic. I also love all the people who are saying it’s still not funny even as an April Fool’s joke–you guys are just mad because you totally bought it. Ha!
I fell for it hook, line, and sinker!! LOL I was PISSED OFF!! Then realized it was April 1st. Me clueless!! ;-)
Guys, I don’t think you’re thinking of the real problem with these mission. How bad are the relatives gonna feel the next time they have a funeral and only 6 people show up? They’ll get really freaked out, and probably have to tell Ira Glass about it.
All I can say is I want you guys at my funeral. I’ll email you the date and time.
So I know this was all very well-intentioned and at the core of mission improvable is a desire to spread joy to others but…a funeral? this was a private ceremony for a small family and I almost feel as if you (unintentionally) made a mockery of this man’s death. His life, even. Imagine if this were your funeral…would you want thirty strangers who didn’t know anything about you to come and videotape your funeral while struggling to keep straight faces? I don’t know, something feels off to me about this mission. I am a huge fan of this group, don’t get me wrong, I’m just not sure this was really the best way of showing your appreciation for humanity.
Oh you agents ;)
Happy Prank Day, to the ones who deserve it most!
<3Lori*
Next time don’t forget to bring the funeral cake.
haha okay anddd yeah i just bothered to read the other comments. my bad. happy april fools.
sheesh
dude, you totally had me there. (and it’s hard to fool a fool… it’s my birthday. for reals, no foolin’) Good one, IE!!!
If real, you guys are totally stupid. Funerals are not about how many people show up — it’s a personal time for each individual to think about the passing of someone they know. Thus, “adding a fake crowd” only serves as a distraction to those who are there.
If it’s a joke, I don’t see how something that would be totally offensive and stupid if it were real suddenly becomes funny just because it’s a joke. To take it to an extreme, you might as well have done a “Best Holocaust Ever” or “Best Gang Rape Ever”…
I love the people that are seriously upset by this JOKE. I just hope that there aren’t too many people actually going to stop enjoying IE because they don’t own a calendar.
i am a huge fan of improv everywhere, but this is not something i enjoyed. The sentiment was there, you were trying to make this small family of the deceased feel like you were friends paying respects, but it wasnt alright with me, im not sure if its just the simple insensitivity, or that it involved too many people and you needed to keep it subtler, but this was not good in any way. especially if you think the family enjoyed themselves, i can guarantee you that they knew all of the agents werent there genuinely
Man, you guys got me. I wasn’t disgusted but I was vaguely uncomfortable with this mission, in a “Gee… this… seems wrong” type of way. Even the ‘covert’ cell phone photo didn’t clue me in – I thought ‘wtf! That is NOT covert!’
Now that I realize it, I am baffled by the ‘even if this IS an April Fool’s joke, it’s really poor taste and I hate you guys and I’m never coming back’ responses. Are THOSE April Fool’s responses? Because otherwise, that is a really absurd stance to take. Yeah, funerals aren’t funny*, but since there was no actual funeral… o_O
* Except Graham Chapman’s funeral. Youtube has it.
I still love you guys! I was almost upset at the thought that there was a mission and I wasn’t in on it! IE rocks, don’t listen to the haters.
okay, you totally fucking got me on that one, good job
Very nice guys – you SO got me. It wasn’t until I scrolled down to the comments that I realized what day it was…as always – well played ladies and gentlemen, well played.
You rocked my face off with this one <3
You totally and completely had me with this…AWESOME April Fools Day Post. I love the effort you guys went to make this look real too. What dedication!
I am keeping my fingers crossed for “Best Abortion Ever!”
It was all so beautifully subtle, and then the photo of the person snapping a cell phone pic just cracked me up. Someone had a lovely dry wit in putting this together so well.
I only hope that many of the negative comments are themselves April Fool’s jokes, because I hate to believe so many people could lash out that way without stopping to think about it, and without viewing the other comments first.
Happy April Fools! Da Ha!
I love you guys and normally I think everything you do is hysterical. Honestly though I think this is in the worst possible taste. If I was a family member I would have gone nuts over a prank like this, probably would have gotten security for the cemetery to find out what was going on.
People are mourning and no matter if it is one person or 100, they should be left alone to grieve, not be made the butt of a joke. I am really disappointed in you guys.
People in youtube are idiots. Look at the Calendar and see what day it is.
OMG I never would have thought that people who know about Improv Everywhere could be so gullible.
It’s the last photo that gives it away, IMO. That pose with the camera would never go unnoticed and someone would have been decked if it was for real.
But the real joke here is in the comments, I think. Lots of people jumping straight to the comment box without thinking, because really, shouldn’t it be obvious that IE wouldn’t actually do this kind of thing for reals and true?
There’s a note of pride-sore vitriol coming through here and there too — seriously, if you got sucked in, there’s no need to get bent out of shape. Most people do get done once or twice on April 1. So much stuff comes in, things are going to fly under the radar. I dished a nice one out today myself, but I also got done, too. I’m not sore; it’s all part of being a good sport.
Sure, this particular prank isn’t necessarily in pristine taste. I wasn’t roffling myself either. But I do think I missed the memo that said all April 1 jokes had to be inherently comical. I was always under the impression that the intention was to trick someone into thinking or believing something that wasn’t true by creating a believable scenario. Genuine humour is the thing that separates a good prank from just a prank.
Taste and humour aside, in the end someone, somewhere, is going to find even a brilliant or harmless prank “just. not. funny. >:|”, no matter how carefully the joker may step around those collective sensitivities of ours. Because some of us only have a sense of humour when the joke isn’t on us, unfortunately.
tl;dr: It’s pretty apparent this one’s a fakie. No, it wasn’t in particularly good taste, nor was it amazingly hillarious, but no one said it had to be. If you got sucked in, you weren’t the only one. Shake your head; sigh or chuckle; move on.
something smelled fishy while i was watching this UNTIL i realized it was april 1st. hardy har har har
Got me. Damn it.
This can be taken a lot of ways and definitely took some guts to do. Death is a touchy subject (I want a wake at my funeral. Drinks and a bottle of something warmth-inducing in my casket but that’s just me).
To be honest, I wouldn’t do the camera bit at all. Seems a bit capitalistic on loss, y’know? That could be the major problem people have with this.
However, if you were offering comfort and support, then I supoose it’s all right.
Great April Fools! You could come and do this at my funeral any time ;)
Yeah the “family” just didn’t look like a family at all, no resemblance, plus the bald guy had the look of an actor about him.
Please tell me you’re going to post a “ha ha, just kidding” notice later, or you’re going to accidentally lose much of your support. These comments are hilarious, though.
Great prank guys! I heard about a reunion of holocaust survivors in Dachau next month which could use some cheering up. Perhaps a best holocaust reunion ever?
I can’t think of a more excellent way to tweak righteous indignation out of calender-challenged individuals!
To those commenters who say that even if the whole thing was staged for April Fool’s they would not appreciate the joke, you really are just so mad that you fell for it.
If you can’t take that the April Fool’s joke is the fact that IE would simply NOT do such a thing ever, then you shouldn’t be with IE.
This wasn’t funny.
For the love of God, tell me this is an April Fool’s joke on us. Because this in completely fucked. Totally out of bounds. And not even a little funny. Tell me this is an April Fool’s joke. Please.
I have to admit, I totally fell for it. I read through it, completely forgetting the day, and was horrified. It was in poor taste and I was going to voice my concern. Then I started reading the comments.
Well played, Improv Everywhere. Well played.
holy shit you got me. and i thought to myself, i can’t fucking believe they are doing this to this poor family.
it is a really nice thought to make a small gathering a big gathering, but still haha. wow.
I think it’s hysterical that so many people are commenting in outrage!
Evidence of your APRIL FOOL’s SUCCESS!!!!
Love it love it… That’s one thing I like about Improv Everywhere (above all other “prank” type shows)… you dont make people into assholes. You dont make people angry or feel bad, or want to punch you, you’re just *funny* and weird.
Stay that way. Dont ever sink to “Boiling Points”.
I have to say, the best part is the clueless scolding of half these comment.
YOU HAVE CROSSED A LINE! THIS WILL NOT STAND, MAN.
I think my favorite part of this prank is the sheer number of outraged comments by people who’ve forgotten the date.
This idea made me cry. Two weeks ago, we held a service for my uncle who passed away. He never married, never had kids and lived in Hawaii. At the funeral was me plus three family members. One friend of his joined us, along with three of my friends. My friends on Twitter sent a beautiful bouquet.
If 30 additional people would have joined us, even from or especially from IE, my uncle would have loved it because he loved theatre. I hoped and prayed all of my friends would have been able to be there so that my family could see how loved my uncle really was out here. None of his friends from his apartment could make it, so we held a separate gathering for them.
It would have been very cool if you could have learned more about the deceased in this in time for the funeral. One of my friends never met my uncle, but did a great deal of research ahead of time about him and spent the entire day with us (and, for the record, he was concerned about my family being cool with him being there, so he stood behind some bushes and took photos. He continued taking photos all day and uploaded them to Flickr so my family on the mainland could see what the day was like for us. The photos are so touching and beautiful.)
One tiny thing, if you do this again, have people stagger in during the hour ahead of the service … having everyone arrive en masse looked a little suspicious. Going in one or two people at a time would lend credence to how people go to funerals.
Mahalo nui!!
That was bullshit, Not funny in the slightest. You guys are getting lazy with your work. Why don’t you do something that takes some thought and effort rather then relying on shock value.
I’m an idiot, ha ha.
Well done, well done!
Good on ya!
hope it’s an april fools joke and if it is, it’s AWESOME! otherwise, you guys are a bit sick. :D
Congratulations go to IE for finally weeding out its stupider supporters!
Man! I totally fell for it!
Good one =)
I realise this is an April Fool’s joke, but it is still in very poor taste. I have lost some respect for IE today.
If this is real: pretty fucked up
If this is an april fool: lame joke…
WOW … well done, Agents! Well done!
As much as I LOVED the idea of people showing up to honor the newly deceased by not letting their passing go unremarked and unnoticed (save by a scant few), I too viewed this mission with more than a tinge of unease about how the family in question would react.
And then I remembered it was April 1st.
Bravo, Improv Everywhere!!!
I fell for it. You guys rock!
I realize this is a prank on us for April Fool’s, but I really didn’t find it to be very funny. Before I realized it was a joke, I was HORRIFIED that you guys would do this- after I made the connection, I just felt annoyed, and a little betrayed! Though it’s a little easier to swallow now that I know you didn’t ACTUALLY crash someone’s funeral with thirty insensitive agents, I don’t even know how you could think it’s a funny prank! :(
Sorry, but I’m having a hard time applauding an April Fool that made me question IE’s intentions to this extent. I really wanted to enjoy it, but it was just wrong any way you slice it.
Oh man. People on the internets are SO gullible :D
That said, I damn well want something like this at my funeral.
Thanks for making me go WTF and then giving me a huge laugh. Just what I needed during my break from a hectic work day!
I market to the funeral industry, so I’m a miniscule of an authority. Well Done!! I have buried quite a few friends that would have LOVED to have this happen at their funeral.
Some people have a great sense of humor. Too bad they’re usually the ones heading for that hole in the ground.
Keep the luv alive!!!
Oh yeah, forgot to mention, I know this was april fools and all, but my friends would really have loved this. Feel free to do it at mine.
This was a terrible idea.
The assumption that more people at a funeral means a better funeral? This is a grieving, not a Walmart.
A moment of grief is shared by people who *knew* the person.
You guys have done great work in the past, but this time two big thumbs down alas.
LOL Great one, IE!
Funny thing is, I almost completely fell for it and I was about to get ticked (because that’s crossing lines), but then I realized what day it was today…
Nicely done XD
First, I’ll go on the assumption that this wasn’t actually done at a real funeral since IE isn’t that evil.
But the thing is as one of the previous comments pointed out, it was clearly done before AFD. So, from that POV, it’s not even improv because it was staged. You could say that everything IE does is staged but if my memory serves, IE has never done a mission where the venue itself was staged, the venue has always been the improv part which made the missions so great.
Ah wait! It’s an April fools joke and i’ve just been pranked?
You got me.
Are only Caucasians allowed into this organization? This looks like a spin off of Stuff White People Like.
So this is a joke? I really hope so – that grandson did NOT look like he appreciated it at all. I’ve talked to my brother before about how many people would show up to our father’s funeral, and we worry that it would be small. But a small group of people who truly cared about him and understood how amazing he is would be better than a group of strangers who don’t know him or his story. I would feel made fun of, no matter what the intention. Please, please, please say this is a joke – I love Improv Everywhere! I don’t want to think you guys are disgusting.
I knew something wasn’t ok with this one. First they looked like agents, the chairs were too different one from another, the BIG bush right in front, with a guy snapping some pictures right in front of them, and the fact that they didn’t hear or see the guys around taking some pictures.
April fools!
the funeral “mission” was in extremely poor taste.
I have two things to say.
1. To those of you making fun of people who don’t realize this is an April Fool’s joke, why are you shocked? You pretend that IE wouldn’t do something like this, but half of IE’s pranks are acting like dicks, embarrassing or confusing people minding their own business, and ruining events that they weren’t invited to. Is it really much of a leap to think that they’d do this? Not really.
2. To those of you who think it is real and also justified, what the fuck? You’re even bigger idiots than IE and you’re completely delusional and out of your mind.
What are you doing on this website if you think IE are dicks?
You didn’t really do anything? You brought 30 more people to a funeral and just stood there watching. Alright, you were a little bit late and you went a bit early, but come on? You could have done a much better job.
It just seemed a little bit “crappy” compared to your other videos.
(P.S i posted this on the youtube video too)
It would have been more believable if the over-the-shoulder shot was eliminated.
Nice try tho 8)
I kept watching, hoping there was some joke that I wasn’t getting, because I couldn’t believe you guys would do something this insensitive. Clearly, there was. Touché, IE. You got me.
Even if this is an April Fool’s joke, it’s very insensitive. My parents recently passed away, and this prank just made me remember how irritated I was at all of the near-strangers at the funeral who hadn’t taken the time to get to know them when they were alive.
There are better April Fool’s jokes to pull.
Sorry, but this was in poor form, no matter how somber and respectful the agents were. When you write “Deep down though, you know they were profoundly moved to learn that their relative had so many friends”, it’s just wishful thinking on your part. It’s clear from the reaction of the actual family members that it just caused confusion and suspicion.
I am normally a fan of your pranks but I thought that this was tastless. I hope it is an April Fools Joke; otherwise you totally disrespected the family of the deceased.
Darn, I totally fell for it until I read the comments. I was about to be all “Dude… not cool.” I had my suspicions, though, since I noticed a slightly fake laugh during one of the video edits.
But, alas, I was totally fooled. Good job, IE.
– Agent Oscar
I just realized this “mission” was an April fools. That would explain the fine camera work. Kudos, ya bastids!
This April fools joke (on us) is hilarious!!
so funny to see so many people think it was a real funeral!
sweet.
I’m just gonna assume this is an April Fools joke. cause otherwise this is really messed up. as someone who recently lost a friend and a family member I really would consider this one of the most disgusting things someone could do for a good time.
I had to watch it twice to get a clue. Cute guys, ya got me. The laugh track-like responses to the t-up should have tipped me off. :)
you got me… you totally got me! i am a fool :) i was all like…. damn, they did not do this… good one.
Bagpipes. Where were the bagpipes?
“I don’t see how something suddenly becomes funny just because it’s a joke.” AH HA HA HA HA HA!!
Even if this is an april fools bit (which I do get why it is funny) it is pretty crappy to pull it off in a real cemetary. all of those stones you are walking by do represent some fmaily loved one.
OH well can;t win them all, – keep up the good work
Horror gave way to understanding once I read the comments….IE got me. Great prank….
I also found Winston McGrain’s comment above very interesting: “Are only Caucasians allowed into this organization? This looks like a spin off of Stuff White People Like.” I get no sense that IE discriminates in any way. Anyone who wants to act the fool may do so… I think its more a reflection of continued self-segregation in our society. I see it quite clearly here in Atlanta – it’s comical and sad how culturally divided this place is. Maybe IE could think of a way to prank that too…
lol…joke’s on the viewers :)
Oh PLEASE, people. I knew from the time I saw the subject heading that this was an April Fool’s Day prank. How meta of you, IE. Kisses.
I don’t think this was the best idea i usually have fun seen what you guys are up to but messing with the death is something that should not be allowed. a funeral is something sacred and this family was trying to say their final good bye to this person. what is the best funeral ever? no one wants to be the one death! i dont know it seems like a bad idea i hope the family did get so mad and still were able to say their good byes peacefully
Weather or not this is a joke, I find it very interesting.
My mom passed away just over a year ago (April 7) and there were a LOT of people at her funeral. Many people I had no idea who they were. Many of them were people she worked with. Many were friends from previous jobs and of course many other friends.
I have also been to a funeral of a man where there was only 3 people attending. None of them were family. They were employees of the hotel that I worked for (I couldn’t attend because I happened to be working at time of the funeral) If the employees did not attend, there would have been no one there to honor him. He was a man that used to come to the hotel about every six weeks and stay for a few days. He wrote a check every time, and they always cleared. The address on his checks was an abandoned church in another town. He died at the hotel. The hotel tried to locate any family members in the town from the church address. An announcement was placed in the local paper and still no one “claimed” him. How sad… It was super nice that the hotel employees could go.
If it were me, as long as they were quiet and didn’t cause a scene, what harm is there in others honoring a funeral of someone you don’t know. Also… if the family meant it to be a private ceremony, it would have said so in the paper, and not given a time or anything. (that is the way my local paper is. “The family will have a private ceremony at a later time”)
Just my two cents…
I’ve changed my mind and decided that my favorite comments are from people who believe IE did this mission and can’t completely figure out if they have a problem with it.
OMG! I’ve just read the best prank ever! (yeah yeah, giant comment, shame on me, whatever)
Seriously, the whole page so far. The greatness and originality of this one is that, differently from all others, the whole attention is pointed towards our incredibly diverse commentaries, since WE are the actual public now.
I couldn’t watch the video yet beacause youtube is blocked where I work, but still…
THE BEST PRANK EVER! I LURVS YOU GUYS!!!
When I first read the title I thought “Oh no, they didn’t. They couldn’t!”. And, in fact, I gawked for a while on the idea. Insensitive indeed. Shame on me. =P I also thought it was too soon for a new mission, after “Subway Art Gallery Opening”. But then I saw you posted it today. Not on March 31, but on April 1. Then I thought of the possibility: playing a prank on us, fellow pranksters and IE fans. AND IT WAS BRILLIANT! But I wasn’t yet sure.
Minutes after, as I read through the report, already having forgotten April Fools (shor memory ^^), I got just amazed. First, at the idea of finding the right funeral on the first attempt by just looking on the newspaper (not impossible, I guess, but still weird). And then, I saw the amazing HD quality pictures, which in no way were improvised shots and felt quite strange. Also, the angles from which they were taken got me thinking how would the relatives and the priest not notice the cameraman and photographer, even from a distance. The cemetery seems to have a quite open view from all sides.
The first pictures of relatives and priest already shouted !!!AGENTS!!! right on my face, I can’t figure why. Probably the HD. Then, 30 people arrive from just nowhere all at once, unlike IE would probably have planned, making the scene even more obvious (and kinda comic).
And then things start getting ever more obvious, as we see Agent Nicholson could be moreless clearly seen through the bushes the whole time. I lol’d so much at the cell phone photo pic (how can anyone ever think it is an actual IE prank after that? XD).
I think it was an excelent opportunity to see different reactions. Some of us, believing in it, found it horrifying and offending, while others found it nice of IE to give “support” to the family (if not all of the comments were ironic). Amongst those who realised the prank, some found it a good April Fools (falling in it or not) and others didn’t like it that much. or found it unpleasant and of bad taste (opinions, everybody has one, it’s only natural). And probably there were even those who have already unsubscribed, even being aware it was just an April Fools joke. O_o I guess IE will be losing a few viewers now, sadly. Appearently, we can never foresee one’s reactions…
Personally, I found a great prank for two facts. 1) The core idea of pranking on the Internet audience only, who are actually waiting to see others pranked. 2) The way the agents played it all, half believable half obviously fake, what led me to think this is absurdly impressive (stressing “absurd”). At first, it was really hilarious, but now I’m more like impressed with the conept. I think how awkward it would be if real, and then I realize IE would never do such, but I insist in thinking if it was real… i just can’t explain the fun I had in it. (still having while reading next “SHAME ON U, JERKS!” comments)
Highlights:
– Agent Spear “covertly” taking photos with cell phone
– Agent Linder (that his name?) carrying an umbrella in a shiny sunny day (thanks for pointing that, Miss Scott)
– Agent Nicholson behind the bushes
– The crappy coffin I’m still trying to find in the pictures
BTW, is Ari Scott (www.ariscott.com) the relative beside the bald one in gray coat? Or do they just look alike?
Oh, and I’m wondering. Will they reaveal that the prank was a prank tomorrow, or just let it be??? Cuz, well, many many people are already getting wrong ideas.
Dudes, you TOTALLY had me with this one!
BEAUTIFUL April Fools gag!!
Hoping this is an April Fools joke. If they saw the camera and didn’t know any of those people, I doubt it cheered them up at all. It seems distasteful, maybe disrespectful. The family is probably left rather confused and irritated, not happier.
Gabriel- GREAT post
on some of the other comments:
Wow. some people need to CHILL OUT!! The people who are offended need to relax. If this was a real mission, it was approached with an intention of respect…so take it for that.
AHA! Another great April Fool’s joke from IE to freak out all the supporters…subtlety is splendid :D
While I think (and rather hope) that this is an AFD joke, I bet if you did that in real life, they would think the deceased was CIA or something :P
That was wickedly funny! Excellent prank, guys. Especially seeing how many people freaked out over it. Which is of course the mark of a successful prank.
I should have known it was an April Fool’s joke! Greenwood a Jewish Cemetary lolz
To those who still say it’s not funny:
1) It’s a satire of the group’s previous jokes and the accusations of tastelessness they’ve received (despite proving beneficial to all involved at the time). Huge crowd at a concert? Cool! Free drinks and $250 in gift vouchers in exchange for pretending to be someone else? How can that be bad? And yet…
Perhaps the gag works better if you’ve been keeping up to date with the activities, if not check out the Ted’s Birthday and Best Gig Ever missions to see the sort of responses they’re parodying.
2) It’s black comedy. While it’s not to everyone’s tastes, there’s no denying it’s popular.
3) Don’t feel bitter about not getting the gag. If you are, then just be grateful you weren’t around for Spaghetti trees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_tree , or you might have thrown your TV set out the window.
What the hell is wrong with you people who think this is real and that it was an alright thing to do? You think it would be alright for a bunch of jackasses to show up at a funeral, confusing and irritating the family, just for the sake of some abstract improv comedy website? You might want to reconsider your sense of morality, because if you think that something like this is acceptable in the real world you are a fucking douchebag.
With that said, it’s obviously an april fools prank. I’m just astounded that there are some people who don’t get it’s a joke and also think that it would be an alright thing to do. How naive do you have to be to think family members would be happy about thirty random people showing up confusing everyone and disrupting a funeral? You ridiculous nutcases.
Isn’t it a real funeral?? If it is, that’s amazing. LOL…
Did not fall for this… …There was no coffin! Just a box, notice you never saw 100% the coffin
I second everything Gabriel said :D
Perfectly put :)
This is absolutely a prank, and here is why:
1. There is no funeral director present. All funerals have a funeral director from the attending mortuary present.
2. All graveside services have a pre-dug GRAVE (duh) which creates a corresponding large pile of DIRT (usually covered with a large piece of astro-turf.
and last… I’ll go out on a limb with this one… but I sinccerely think that no grave would be placed so close to a large hedge. The roots could become a problem.
You got us all… and the people that are upset by the idea of the prank are the same ones would come after you with a butcher knife if you taped the sprayer on the sink on and then asked them to get you a drink of water.
TOTALLY. GOT. ME. I was freaking out the entire way through until I got to the picture of Agent Spear’s “covert phone shot” which was so off the mark of IE’s usual level of dedication to the mission… and it was confirmed in comments. Great prank.
I watched it with a sense of, “I don’t see the humor in this” and then realized it was April 1st. You guys totally got me.
Happy April Fool’s Day. This was funny….in hindsight.
Okay, is this for real? I would appreciate it if IE was a tad more considerate. I feel that this is mocking the legitimacy of the funeral and making a muck of the family’s emotional tides during it. IE can be funny sometimes, but it would be nice if the missions were more influential and had a purpose rather than publicity. The idea is random people coming together and doing something great, not just to attract attention. But I do understand the organization cannot simply become a community service one.
This is really fucked up you guys. I love improv everywhere but I think funerals are really one place where you do not deserve to be. It’s not an appropriate venue for comedy.
Those poor people. They looked violated from start to finish.
For the first time ever I am actually ashamed to be associated with IE. That woman with the tissue was farkin crass.
Go crash a fellow agents funeral but this prank is sick.
Thought it was real until I heard that you guys kept taking pictures after the priest asked you to stop.
People might be insensitive enough to assume this would go ok, but I doubt anyone would keep it up after getting “caught”.
I really hope this is an April Fools joke. This is SO messed up and distasteful. Those people were confused and probably were irritated that a whole group of random people showed up late to their loved ones funeral. And if anyone somehow finds out about it here on the website with pictures of themselves, etc, IE could be looking at a lawsuit on their hands.
Everything else IE has done has brought me to tears in laughter, but this is simply abhorrent.
How is this a funny prank? This is one of the cruelest, most disrespectful and crass things I have ever heard of! How dare these people invade a private funeral like that? Even if there are not many mourners present, at least they are sincere. You made a mockery of the family’s grief, and made a mockery of the deceased’s life!
My grandmother’s funeral was less than two weeks ago, and I don’t think I will ever recover from the grief I experienced that day. It would have been worse if there were strangers present for it, trying to be funny. The thought of strangers “crashing” a funeral makes me sick. You should be ashamed of yourselves!
>> “I’m not going to list the name of the deceased to prevent the family from finding this via a Google search,”
There’s a nifty little CSS trick i use on my site to keep the searchbots from picking up my email address that you couls similarly use to keep Googlebot from picking up the name:
span.codedirection {
unicode-bidi:bidi-override;
direction: rtl; }
ereH emaN ecalP
Where you replace “ereH emaN ecalP” wito whatever code you don’t want the spiders and bot to find.
Just a thought.
~KM
OMG. OK. Just watched the video. April Fools!
Nearly as good as Björk announcing that she has accepted the position as the new lead for Led Zeppelin
http://www.bjork.com/news/?id=899;year=2009;rss#news
personally I think all funerals have a bit of IE in them.
Oh, and if this whole thing was a prank, and never really happened, you are still sick insensitive fucks. You still make me sick. Nothing about funerals is funny…and I usually have a great sense of humor. Either way, you people are sadistic jerks, and when a loved one of yours dies I hope someone puts a Whoopie cushion on your seat.
I knew this was an April Fools prank. Good one though!
With this one you managed to even make your own support community be the unwitting audience!
AWESOME!
And it only worked because it was so professionally done. Kudos!
IE just came out with a mission last week… with the subway art gallery… its April 1st… Chill out people! They would never publish to that close
I’m such a sucker.
I can’t believe I fell for this.
Note how you can only see the top of the coffin? No hole. No coffin hoist. I shoulda known it was a bit too insensitive.
Doh! I take it all back. I am no longer ashamed to be associated with IE.
Happy April Fools!
Yeah, dude died in a hang gliding accident. What an idiot! Hahahahaha! Aaaahhh, I’m hang gliding, honey take a good picture. I’m dead! Hahahaha! What a freak! Hahahah!
WOW frankly the best april fools i have seen today… google mail was funny but this was amazing!! Thank you!!
A great April Fools joke, guys.
(*Hopes this is an April Fools* If it is…Well done!
I just looked at the “covert” cell phone snapping pic. Not very ninja like.;D
I knew I could rely on you guys for a great April Fool’s Joke, as always! And I hope all the people who were “offended” above are also pulling a prank, otherwise, I am sad for the future of mankind!
Also when the rabbi at the end of the service said in the name of the father, son and holy ghost…. this would definitely never happen at a “jewish” funeral.
I really love Improv everywhere, but I’m sorry to say they took this too far, death/funerals should not be turned into a prank to “have fun” at.
April Fool’s Day prank. There’s no hole in the ground, the family didn’t seem natural, and the whole thing seemed kind of off.
Definitely an April Fools Joke…there is no hole in the ground with the “crane” machine thing that lowers the coffin into the ground…I was upset at first but after re-watching it I realized it was an APRIL FOOLS JOKE…nice job, got me!
Happy April fools! I know you guys have more sense than to disrupt a mourning family. I was upset at first, but then realized the day and all the lucky circumstances surrounding this mission (a casket sitting with no plot dug, the ceremony taking place facing a GIANT bush, a little too convenient, don’t you think?), and found it humorous.
Thanks for everything you guys do, and for mission “April Fools.” Can’t wait for the next MP3 experiment, last year was a blast!
Assuming this is real and not staged…If this was my loved one, why would I like to be supported by a whole group of people who were never part of my or the deceased community? There is an intimacy at a funeral that cannot be invaded…and if so, it is disresepctful, even if they are very good actors. I hope it is a hoax.
April fools prank….?
Clever, clever. You had me going for a bit. Watching through a second time and pouring over the resource Flickr albums you left, there are some tell-tale signs of this being a prank.
1) It’s April 1st. The improv is us, on the website.
2) The camera used is ridiculously huge, normally IE is awesome at having covert cameras. And the ‘covert cellphone pics’ are just over-the-top ridiculous, obviously they would be spotted doing this.
3) http://www.flickr.com/photos/katesokoler/3404053146/in/set-72157616120501381/ This photo in particular doesn’t have the regular grave-site obscured like in the rest of the photos. The coffin is sitting on bare ground, and there is no headstone. Not to mention you cannot have a grave site next to large vegetation, the roots would invade the grave and eventually erode the site.
4) This mission does not appear in the list of missions. It’s just a news update from today. This isn’t a regular report page.
The way the family members react is a little bit… silly. If this were real, there’d be outrage.
Instead, the outrage is on this website… which is precisely what I can imagine you were trying to do.
Happy April Fool’s! Good job.
you guys are so full of crap.
Way hey, to all of those preaching insensitivity, consider the playful side of the event. Although the actors (family members) were first rate, and got you going, it was the ultimate prank on IE followers. It actually cheered me up cause I couldn’t think of something for today and I am a BIG prankster. At first, as outlandish as it sounded, I felt the quality was a litttttle too high for the guys. I think the only thing missing was the ‘after glow’ of a high five. Good to see Wimpy getting yet more face time on camera.
I always felt no one would laugh at my funeral. Therefore, mine will be New Orleans style. Somber on the way in, Dixieland on the way out!
Besides, Don’t be surprised if sometime, somewhere, someplace when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says, smile! You’re on Candid Camera!
Hahahaha, this was great.
I laughed pretty hard – I have to admit that I totally thought it was real at first and I was really indignant and kindof angry – and then I read the comments and I was like “OH WOW I’M STUPID.”
:D
Happy April Fools! <3
music by Tyler Walker
Great peppy ben folds stylistic march to the coffin advance music with retreat!
B R A V O Tyler!
WOW!
I confess I believed this April Fools until I read the comments!
Dhuuu!
It was only a matter of time before you pranked the visitors of your website. My only free is that you might take this mission down after tomorrow. Please leave it up. It’s genius!
I love the ppictures, but i think having this prank was a bit too much
What? NO cartoonish cry? Oh boo hoo hoo .. .. … .. …. …
So, I knew this was an April Fool’s joke before I even read it. There are certain web sites that I anticipate seeing April Fool’s jokes from every year: Google, YouTube, ThinkGeek, Improv Everywhere, etc. I’ve been looking forward to this joke all March!
Great job guys!
My question is if all the negative responses are actually part of the joke (especially the ones that say they’re leaving IE even IF this is a joke).
I can sort of understand being pissed off at this if you didn’t know it was a joke. But really, getting that pissed over an April Fool’s joke? That’s absurd.
(and hilarious…)
I think this page won the internet today.
I love the comments from people who know that today is April Fools Day but are still not sure if it’s a prank. What’s wrong with some people? I figured it out from the headline alone. It was rather obvious, but then again, I’ve had my April Fools antennae up all day.
Seriously though, I don’t want to EVER see a disclaimer added to tell people that this is a joke. I hope these comments keep going on forever.
Hahaha. April Fools!
And for all the people that know it wasn’t real and call it insensitive, that was the idea. The joke was pretending to do a really tastless prank, and then watch the non-calendar-users get upset about it. The joke was how tastless it was :p
Darn it, I’d decided early in the day that i wasn’t going to believe any remotely out of the ordinary things and yet this got me… applause! great one.
I’m only posting here because my reaction was kinda different from everyone else’s!
My good feelings for IE and own pollyannaism (and lack of attention) made me think they were going to go celebrate the life of someone who had NO family. I was like, that will be kinda interesting. And kinda nice. Like doing comedy in hospitals and retirement homes. I didn’t really think it through.
But then I was immediately disappointed when the pre-mission video had that horrible big laughter cutaways. I was like, ugh, clunky editing, what are they doing? This is corny. They are making themselves look like jerks. And then I guess I was still believing it to the end because I was thinking it was a little too self-important, dramatically overdone and failed to do what _I_ thought would have been cool, and I wondered if the heart had been in the right place. I was processing it and about to go to see if anyone else was ambivalent, I was like, oh, right. Got me!
But I feel weird that I might have been the only one whose first reaction was, oh, that will be nice!
Also, it is curious (and perhaps heartwarming) that everyone immediately wants to tell/warn everyone else that something is fake! But next time someone invites you in on a joke, try to keep it going! It’s more fun!
Frankly, I’m appalled at how many people on IE actually believed this. And you call yourselves pranksters ;)
I’m especially perturbed that some people have gone out of their way to actually write an enormous post outlining their new-found hatred toward IE. Specifically, I’m talking about the huge post by Michael, who is either a girl (strange name choice) or gay (sorry, your god doesn’t approve of you. Better stop preaching your religion then.)
A+. I had a feeling this was a joke the second I saw the headline but having the photographer hiding in the bushes really sealed it. Still incredibly hilarious. Good job!
You can’t honestly think they would stoop this low to crashing a funeral. This is a great April Fool’s day joke just because of the responses so many people here have had. I applaud IE just for making it so believable, but that camera was pretty huge and they got much better shots here than they do in in some of their other pranks.
Like everyone else, I was reading this mission report with a sense of horror before I read the other comments and realized that, yeah, today is April 1st. =P You tricked me!
Though reading some of these comments–specifically the ones from the people who have realized that this is a prank but are still going to leave IE–has made me lost my faith in humanity a little bit.
C’mon people, the joke is about IE doing something utterly tasteless like this, NOT about how funny it’d be to crash a funeral. (As if THAT could ever be funny.) And if you still can’t see the humor in this, then I have to agree with some of the commenters that I’m glad to see you go.
As soon as I saw the title, I immediately knew that it was going to be a parody of your “Best Game Ever” and “Best Gig Ever” missions – you had me laughing the whole way through! I appreciate the subtlety of it all. Thanks for an awesome April Fools’ mission :D
Judging by some of the above comments, I’d say:
Mission accomplished!
Was the mission the april fool, or the people who seemed to take it seriously?
I wasn’t initially sure if this was a prank or not, since IE has acted like this in the past. Ted’s Birthday was one of the most intrusive and obnoxious things I’ve ever read about, and they had no qualms about it. It isn’t that much of a stretch to imagine these people pulling something like this.
I’m glad though that it turned out to be an April Fools joke.
I posted this link on facebook and made some people pretty upset. That said, I agree with a point made earlier–that april fools day jokes don’t necessarily have to be funny, they just have to trick people. This prank is much more interesting than funny. It’s dark humor. Joke’s on us.
I love your work. You guys are awesome but this was a dick move. Not cool those people were hurting and you guys made the bald dude even more upset. Not cool.
I will still be a fan im just not a fan of this stunt.
I got “got” too! Didn’t realize it til reading the comments. It’s still disturbing even though it was a prank, guess my mind hasn’t adjusted to it yet. Not funny, but creative and well pulled off.
Did you wonder why there were only 8 people?
I was supposed to go to this funeral, but my grandpa was such an asshole I refused to go. I had I know you were planning this mission, I would’ve asked you guys to bring sign like “He got what he had coming” and “he’s in hell now, burning” and “god hates fags”.
I guess it from the title in my email, but I love it. I think I will include funeral crashers as a requirement in my will.
not the right place to do that at. Good intentions but you did not “honor” the deceased in any way, more like mocked.
The responses to this event make it a great prank.
I was totally pissed off at first and then I remembered it was April First…
I can’t believe you guys would show up at a funeral without pants.
I sure hope this is a fake April Fool’s stunt.
I like how everyone is always so offended by you being so nice to random people.
Improv scenes almost always bring their A game when thinking of the best scenarios to cause. This time however I was shocked at first, and ultimately disappointed after the tastelessness of it all. It felt like the mission was trying too hard.
I don’t care if this was or was not an April Fool’s joke. It touched a sad piece of my heart and I don’t think it was a very appropriate setting. There was nothing funny about this even if it was all set up. Especially everyone laughing when Todd revealed the plan, I don’t see the least bit humor in that.
I think IE should think things through a little better in the future.
“not the right place to do that at. Good intentions but you did not “honor†the deceased in any way, more like mocked.”
—exactly my feelings as well.
I am a huge fan of improv everywhere so I was excited to see this new video of thiers…at first…
…then I realized what a horribly rude prank to do to a family in mourning. This isn’t even a prank. Its not funny. It does not make the people involved enjoy it afterward. It is simply rude. Did improv everywhere care to wonder what the family might be going through. Maybe there was so little of them attending because of how close they all were.
Overall I think this was a giant step back for Improv Everywhere. It was an invasion of privacy with the subject of the “prank.” I am sorry that they had their, lack of better words, sad day, posted all over the internet so that the world can view it as a joke.
You guys made the 10 o’ clock news on CW 11. I thought it was a good idea, even though the family was confused, they eventually would laugh it off and have it be memorable moment in their lives for a usually somber day.
Oh I get it….April Fools day.
Man you got me!
But be forwarned….Improv Everywhere…don’t ever do this for real!!! Fans would kill you.
Man, now THAT was a good prank. :)
Ha I just realized it was a joke! Either way good video.
For anyone who has more teeth than brain cells:
The family was quite obviously a bunch of improv agents too. Any speculation that IE would do this to a real funeral is idiotic.
Oh, and april fools, fools.
Love improv everywhere… This one.. NOT SO MUCH..
REALLY HOPE THIS an April Fools joke…
i certainly hope this is an april fool’s prank on us all…
Oh, well done! I can’t believe so many people are missing the joke, here. I knew what this was about as soon as I saw the title “Best Funeral Ever”, and laughed like crazy through the whole description.
Even though the idea is so over the top, the log and photos are just perfect. The whole thing is oddly convincing – or at least as convincing as the “Best Funeral Ever” mission could possibly seem. Great self-parody!
I’ll say a few things.
First, yes, I thought it was real.
Second, yes, I understand it was an April Fools prank.
Third, I’m still offended. There are some lines you shouldn’t cross. IE is supposed to be unoffensive. Sure, the people who have been around for a while might know that you pull April Fools pranks. But those of us who have just discovered IE don’t know that. And there are lots of people who just don’t celebrate April Fools day. And don’t want to.
Did it “fool” me? Yes. Was it appropriate, tasteful, or funny? NOT IN THE LEAST.
You lost a lot of the respect you’d gained from me. I don’t know that you’ll ever get it back.
My condolences to all of those who can’t get over the fact they were duped. As I was watching the video I wondered “How did they get that close with a camera during a funeral?” Then I read the comments…Wow. What an excellent, funny and deliberately disturbing joke played on all of us! Kudos….
I just finished watching the news report, and CW 11 think its real! Sure got us all fooled.
Oh man. PIX News just ran a story on this. They left out the fact that it was a joke…
…I think you may have April Fooled their fact checker!
http://www.wpix.com/landing/?Improv-Group-Crashes-Funeral-as-Part-of-=1&blockID=255809&feedID=1404
Nice job, guys! I am rolling!
harold and maude got nothin on you all.
wow. truly real life stuff
not cool
This has to be an April fools gig. Has to. If not, you guys have some serious perspective loss issues. otherwise, what a subtle joke this is!
If its an April Fools joke, its not funny. If its real, its a terrible idea. I don’t like this idea either way.
I’m smiling now that I realize it was a prank. You had me going for a minute there.
you guys are so fucked up…oh wait.
What gives it away is that the gravestone/the coffin is artistically hidden behind another gravestone, or a branch, or a person, in every shot.
and also, the cell phone thing. definitely would have been slapped. and the shot from through the bush is ridiculous.
I have to admit that I fell for the joke even though my April 1 antennae have been up all day. This one and almost for the firefox extensions for IE 8.1. And the thing is I did notice most of the giveaways.
However, my reaction was not that horrified, as in my experience when I pulled pranks I’d inevitably cause people to get mad at me, and I could see how it would be possible for you guys to have made an error in judgment.
Especially since I have found a number of your pranks tasteless such as the no-pants and some of the others, while still enjoying them by exercising my suspension of disbelief. If I would always fault people for not always meeting the highest standards, I wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything.
In any case, I enjoyed reading all the comments.
I actually *did* go to a funeral today (no joke) – and I still think this was funny.
(And for people who didn’t catch on, ahem: they’re in front of a bush instead of an open grave with a mound of earth next to it…)
i was pissed at first, thanks a lot! I always get had at least once.
According to all these comments, there is obviously nothing more unfunny than death.
I’m not really sure what I feel about this prank. You got me, yeah, and it was tasteless, yes. Those are given.
Humor always has two sides, though. I wonder how this will actually affect your following.
i’m glad this is an april fool’s joke.
ALL YOU PEOPLE WHO CONGRATULATED IMPROV EVERYWHERE FOR THIS MISSION ARE FUCKED UP. grow a heart, please! :)
Really, people? Really?
It’s a joke, you fools. Check the date: it’s April 1st. Improv does this Every. Single. Year. The joke is on YOU.
Improv guys: bravo, maestros! Once again, you’ve fooled them all. And once again, you affirm my conviction that you just can’t fix stupid.
it may have been a joke, but in poor taste. seriously, why?
I get that this is an April Fool’s prank, but still, ick. Not very funny.
Not funny.. even as an April Fools Joke. That is not a comment about the suitability of mocking a funeral.. it was just lame.
IE is better than this.
Brilliant. You had me up until the “cellphone shot”. I, also, was thinking “Noooo, they surely wouldn’t do that”. Of course, it’s aldready April 2 where I am (NZ) but still very funny, especially the responses. And thanks to the agent who posted the link to the Graham Chapman funeral.
If ‘Real’? ‘Poor taste’, depending on whether the family wanted a ‘private’ ceremony or not.
Coming from me to say ‘poor taste’, it is REALLY in poor taste.
Being April Fool’s Day, it is difficult to believe it to be ‘real’.
I hope it wasn’t.
For this to be done for an actual(if this was not real) funeral, more research should be done.
For my funeral, though. Please do this, but before leaving, have 1 person explain it to whoever has shown up!
Thanks in advance!—Well in advance, I hope!
My uncle’s funeral was ironically today. I do not think, even with the best intentions and things planned thoroughly, that this is something that should be done. I would not take part in this nor would I suggest it be a regular thing.
My family was in so much pain today, even just my aunt and two cousins was so overwhelming for all my family to bare witness to.
It doesn’t take more than one person in mourning to make a funeral, and I don’t know if this really helps or just adds confusion to go with the pain of losing a loved one. I read my uncles obituary and you may have chosen him (because of how he died), but the church was packed and our own family had to park illegally just to attend.
I would consider other avenues that don’t involve such private acts such as grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one. I am a big fan of many of your other ideas even so.
Awesome, very awesome! One of the better April Fools I have seen today!
David Sarnoff once said “We must not demean life by standing in awe of death.”
So laugh away! Well done!
Yeah, this one is not funny. Even as an April fools joke it’s not funny. I doubt I’ll be back on this site again. Sure, give me three months to get over myself and I’ll be back, but still, c’mon guys. You could do much better!!!
Okay, I see now it was a joke, but even so joking about such things is just not funny in my opinion. Attend a funeral of a loved one and that’s all you’ll need to see why even fooling people about doing such a thing isn’t that great of a prank even.
Had it been real I know my family would have kicked every last one out and forgotten their tears for pure anger.
Hoping for a better joke next year.
Sorry guys, I usually love your work.
But this one, even if you tried to do it respectfully, even if this was for real and not some kind of April Fool’s thing, this was really in poor taste. You missed the mark.
The best way you could honor the deceased and his family is to remove this “mission” immediately.
I really hope this is an April Fools joke. Love that you care but I’m really worried that the family may find out about this and be pretty upset.
April Fools Day here in the Central time zone ends in a few minutes, and I spent the last hour reading the setup and hundreds of comments & then watched the video. The outrageousness, the outrage, those who philosophize, those who chastise, those who get it and those who don’t….the whole package. What a prank! If I die laughing, it’s all your fault.
It’s clearly an April Fool, but it’s still the worst performance IE has ever given. Pull up your socks.
Good Work
The best part of this gag is you have found something that splits public opinion roughly 50/50.
The reply’s have been amusing to read.
Personally I have never really missed family or friends when they die because there death is something i have no control over. So I love the ‘mission’. That being said I know mine is not a very common view of death so i recognize my self as a minority.
I was sitting there for a while going, “umm… I think you guys may have gone a little far…” And then I was like, “aww wait…”
I’m the dummy!
You guys are awesomerificool! I look forward to falling for your prank next year. =)
I agree with a lot of the posters here in that I would love this to happen to my funeral in reality, not as an April Fool’s prank. Life is far too short to take things so seriously and spend so much time in grieving. I don’t like taking things so seriously in life and I could only wish that someone (or all of you) would help me go out with a bang at my funeral when I can’t get up and tell people to stop being so down. I do agree this would have been in bad taste as a real improv but a fantastic idea none-the-less.
I had a feeling it was an April fools thing, thank god it was. I think it’s more horrifying that there were some people who thought that this would’ve been a good prank.
I can understand people thinking this is real. Most of IE’s pranks are harmless fun, but they have shown themselves to be capable of intrusive and obnoxious behavior in the past, most notably in the harassment they conducted at “Ted’s Birthday”.
The most disturbing thing is the comments from people who think it was real and also believed it was actually a good thing to do. I seriously wonder what kind of bizarre mental condition these people have where they think it would be acceptable to show up to a funeral, annoying and confusing the family of the deceased, just to carry out some amusement for a website audience.
I didn’t watch the video until reading the mission (I was fooled!) and then the comments. After hearing the terrible outrage that people poured on this mission, the video was absolutely hilarious, so obviously fake and staged that no-one could possibly believe it was real.
ok… def fooled! Haha! That was great. I had some ‘how did they get away with that’ moments but I shrugged them off b.c of my worry of something happening, like the news report that could really shut down something as fun and care-free as what you do. I’m glad to see you have good taste! Way to take a great day to a new level!
Extremely Bashful,
~MDors
I think there has to be some part of you that acknowledges that they knew something was up and they weren’t extremely impressed by it. The fact everybody showed up together was silly… the fact everybody showed up LATE was tactless. I’m a little surprised you’re finding this mission a success. I think most of your missions are praise-worthy but this is one I will fail to appreciate.
I just read the part about it being fake. It’s not April Fools day anymore… but you definitely got me. Wow. Sorry.
This was a messed up mission! Cry on cue? It’s just wrong to make fun of someone elses loved one like that! I loved watching your acts and stuff but this took it to a whole new level! I’m completely disapointed! Me and my husband wont be watching anymore of your stunts!
FOOL:
1: a person lacking in judgment or prudence
2 a: a retainer formerly kept in great households to provide casual entertainment and commonly dressed in motley with cap, bells, and bauble b: one who is victimized or made to appear foolish : dupe
3 a: a harmlessly deranged person or one lacking in common powers of understanding b: one with a marked propensity or fondness for something
4: a cold dessert of pureed fruit mixed with whipped cream or custard
wdf! this couldn’t be more of a fake
Thank goodness this was a fake… I remember listening to This American Life about “Best Birthday Ever” and how it made the person feel insecure… This could have been considerably worse!
Aaah these guys had me going. Thank God it’s just a joke.
Some people still don’t get it. The joke is on US, the audience, not the “grieving family”. There was NO grieving family.
I’m reading this on April 2nd after the explanations went up so I didn’t get to “enjoy” the warm glow of self-righteous outrage over the prank itself, but I’m certainly amused that a TV station’s reporters were so lazy they just stole the YouTube video and didn’t bother to verify anything.
Happy April-Fool’s-prank-analysis-Day.
Yesterday, when i first glanced at this… I had mixed emotions… technically i viewed it after midnight so it was today.. but the april fools part did not click in.
I had mixed emotions… one being that i thought it was nice that you were there to let them know that there were more people that cared for the deceased (even though you did not know him, you still showed you cared)… But then i had this bad aftertaste that it was kind of tacky.
When I awoke this morning i thought I would come and see what others had thought and came only to discover that it was all an april fools joke.. that was even put on the news (demonstrating that many news agencies lack credibility in their research) I was gotten.
I still think IE is great and always creative attempting new things that might make us think outside the box or just give us a laugh.
Keep up the Good work IE. Wish I could join ya.
Tom
Oh, GOSH!
That is THE BEST!!!
I didn’t buy it for a minute — but I AM SO AMUSED at the comments and the hullabaloo that has happened as a result.
SOOOOO FUNNY!!!!
Pls everyone settle down. april fool. its not a real funeral. its all a joke. The original eight are all part of the improv….glad to have taken you all for a ride..
Do you really think any one, anywhere in the world would do some thing so utterly classless.
Oh, come on, you easily offended people. Suicide Jumper? That wasn’t tasteless? Yeah, it was – and FUNNY. The Interweb phenomenon of mass offense and indignation over something that doesn’t even affect you…well, it just provides more humor for the rest of us. Bonus.
OMG this was great i feel for it!!!!
I do have to congrats you, IE. You guys were the ONLY ones who were able to fool me yesterday. ^-^;;
This Youtube clip was posted on Current.com
OH GOD. i’m SO glad this was a joke. whew.
I have to say, you had me! Love it!
I am so very upset at what your guys have done. My mom died 2 years ago, and there were only 5 people that cam besides my brother and I. A funeral is for family and friends no one else. This shows quite a bit of disrespect for the deceased. I will never go to your site again. It was helping me with losing my mom to dementia, post pardum stress disorder, strokes and in the end a massive heart attache. Thank you for bringing back me seeing my dead moms face in the emergency room. I did not see the video but read what you did.
After reading about this, my body went into overload because I have Tourette Syndrome. Stress brings on my shaking and this made me really shake to where I had a very hard time breathing. I had to call 911. I almost stopped breathing because of you inconsiderate assholes. You should be ashamed of yourselves and arrested. Someone posted to go into the hospital, please don’t do that that would be risking someones lives. If you do and someone dies, I hope they put you all away. The people that are doing these stunts.
I forgot to add to my original post. I am the one with Tourettes. Even though this wa an April Fools joke, a funeral is not the place. Respwct the passed on and the family whether 1 or 50 family and friends are there. BAd move guys. Think next time. I am getting all my family and friends to not go to this site anymore. This site was helping me with losing my mom but no more. I gues to get through this I will have to wait till winter to go ice skating to get through this. Jokes like this site was great no friggin more.
Of course you were fully aware before filming this prank that it would get mixed reactions. I don’t find it in bad taste because that’s the point, pranking a funeral is bad taste. If anything you guys re-enforced that point.
Some people still don’t understand the April Fool’s joke is on US, the web audience, not the family of the deceased. Do you get it yet? There was no funeral! The “family” were actors!
As for those complaining that even as a joke it was tasteless and not funny: you’re just pissed you were fooled. The point of April Fools jokes isn’t being tastefully funny, it’s fooling people, and on that this prank was a rousing success. If you want amusement, check out the responses by the people who were fooled (including a news station!)
Lighten up! Happy April Fools!
AWESOME! LOL
Tami — You need to lighten up!! It was a J-O-K-E!!!
Great job guys! I enjoyed reading about it!
Great joke. I was really PO’d when I saw it the other day, and had to check back to make sure it wasn’t some terrible joke (saw it on IAB, so there weren’t any comments about it being one) and found out that, yes, I was fooled.
However, I think the parts that are the funniest are:
1. The outraged comments (usually following a dozen or so people congratulating you on a great prank on us)
2. The people who thought it was real and rocked (really, though, I hope those people were just kidding…)
3. The news outlets. They really made this. Really, is news -that- poorly checked when you can get a 10 PM spot for an unchecked, mostly outed gag?
In other words, great job :)
I’m reposting a quote I read far above by a guy name Michael, because it’s the best explanation I’ve ever seen for the inherent flaw in the IE project:
“I think every high school/junior college has that group of kids who thinks it’s their responsibility to show people what banal, robotic lives they’re leading by shaking things up, being wacky, being weird, doing something unexpected, defying convention, and generally being enormous pains in the ass with no regard for those around them. All this serves to communicate is that these dicks-in-my-face have so little regard for my intelligence that they honestly believe that without their intervention, I would be unable to provide variety in my own life. This enormous condescension on their part only makes me hate the living balls out of them.
The support that IE receives on this site basically seems to all boil down to, “They’ll thank us in the end, and if they don’t, they’re way to SQUARE, man.†Is it square wanting to see a friend’s band perform instead of being hijacked by drama-school kids’ impromptu “group orgasm� Does IE not trust me to “Look up more†if I feel like looking up more?
Facebook introduced me to the pranks of IE and left me with this impression: a group of comedy-club washouts who think they are more clever and in touch with what’s really important in life led by an unapologetic smirking tard in a off-colour blue sweater (although it looks more purple from the photo). For the love of God and all that is holy, we have enough douchebaggery in this city without you forming clubs to celebrate it. This comment being one example of such douchebaggery.”
Very very well said. This sort of thing is undeniable when looking at examples such as Ted’s Birthday and Best Gig Ever. The absolute arrogance of those who participated in these pranks is truly astounding. I wouldn’t agree that this truth applies to pranks like the Slow Mo Home Depot or Best Buy pranks, but it definitely applies to some of them. IE, for future pranks, ask yourself a question:
“If I do this, will I be acting like a douchebag?”
If the answer is yes, cancel the prank. If the answer is no, go ahead with it. IE would be far more respectable if you’d followed this question in the past.
Well Done Guys.
Initially I thought this was pushing the boundary a little, but after watching the video it looked like you guys pulled it off.
I didn’t think for a second that this was an April Fools Gag.
You got me hook, line and sinker!!
Love the site!
D!
Look at all the trolls!
I was mildly disquieted by the mission until I found out it was a prank. But then I was greatly disturbed by the comments of the outraged people who choose to voice their indignation in such a crass manner. Getting on their high horses and pointing fingers at IE and so forth. In the words of Bob Marley, “…but before you start pointing fingers, make sure your hands are clean.”
It was a prank. A black comedy prank (I think). Stop waving the superior morality flag around. I didn’t think IE had to apologize, especially when they gave clues as to the true nature of the mission.
P.S – If those comment were April Fool’s joke, then you got me good.
OMG, IE told you it’s a joke, but some of you still think there really was a funeral?????
BAHAHAHAHAHA! Stop… stop… my side hurts. That’s great!
Listen up ya nooobs. There was NO funeral. The whole thing was fake. No funeral. No family. Just actors and a fake coffin. WHY? To play on joke on us, the fans. It’s funny. They do this every year. If you’ve been around longer than a MySpace a minute, you’d know that.
Old IE fans: Anybody remember the April 1st joke when they told us that they had to change the name of IE because some jazz group was threatening to sue them? We laughed and laughed. Because it was FUNNY. That was funny and this is funny.
Good times.
But now… all you nooooobs just suck the life out of it. But this is what happens when the general public tries to exercise their collective IQ of 4.
I liked it better when IE was a local NY secret. But then again, I am getting a huge kick out of the histrionic gasbags out there. I had no idea there were so many of you!
BBL. Gotta go refill my popcorn.
For those who insist on sucking the life out of this: go back to MySpace and watching network primetime television. Obviously, IE’s humor is over your head.
“IE’s humor is over your head.”
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, come on man. Like IE or not, there’s nothing sophisticated about what they do. There’s nothing subtle or intellectual. They’re just simple pranks. Faking a funeral prank is just a decent April Fool’s joke, it’s not some kind of genius multi-layered bit of comedy gold. It’s a simple trick. Get off your high horse and stop pretending IE is some kind of high-brow art project. I’m not even that against IE, except for that Ted’s Birthday thing, I find a lot of their shenanigans amusing, but please for the love of God stop pretending something complex is going on. There’s nothing to “get”. There’s nothing to “go over your head”. Get over yourself.
Well played, good sirs (And Ma’ams)! I bet the CW is going to have a very intresting story to run tonight!
hilarious!! If I lived in NYC I would definetely apply to be an agent. love the idea, concept and production! I cant’ stop laughing at how creative and crazy the missions are… gets better everytime. any agent positions available in Brazil??? lotsa IE fans down here!
I think you guys had the best of intentions, but the family seemed confused and really annoyed. They probably thought it was really disrespectful, and considering that they actually knew the person who died, they most likely knew that he/she didn’t have many friends and knew you guys were just playing a prank.
I think you guys should come up with ideas that wouldn’t be viewed as disrespectful to anyone.
Okay nevermind my last post, I hadn’t realized it was all fake. You definitely tricked a lot of people.
I have to say I’m really glad it was all fake because otherwise it seriously would have been offensive.
I am surprised at how many people still don’t understand that the family was all just actors and that the April fool joke is on us the viewers who thinks that the prank was a real mission. No actual family was actually disrespected.
Part of Improve Everywhere is to cause reactions from people. This one was set up to cause reactions from us the viewers on the net. Well done on that part. I think out of all the April fool tricks on the net, this is one of the few that actually fooled people and is apparently still fooling people even after all the comments and warnings telling people that the whole thing was faked.
I just love reading all the moronic comments made by stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupid people who do not have the brains to comprehend that this is IMPROV! This country is truly screwed if these morons are our future! Long live Improv!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They should be bottomless, like the one on the subway!
*thumbs up for fooling even some IE agents on the net* I would have thought they’d expect something from IE on April Fool’s Day, but so many people were still taken in. It kind of makes me sad. They should know that IE agents in general wouldn’t stoop so low and pull something like this for real.
IFonEarth, it’s not really surprising when you consider the obnoxious pranks like “ted’s birthday”. It’s good it turned out to be an April Fools prank, but given the past behavior of IE it’s understandable people would think they’d do this for real.
Loved it.
Its great that once in a while you can play a prank on your viewers. All the indignant people on here just make it better :P
I also love that the news even got fooled.
All in all, much better than my fake-hickies April Fools joke XD
Are those agent Adams rents in the center?
You guys absolutely had me fooled – awesome!!
To all you assholes that bashed my comment, it said they looked in the paper for a small family funeral with the real family. Also fuck you all my brother died last night he commited suicide. I hope all of you burn in hell for bashing my comment
This was fantastic. I honestly despise April Fool’s jokes in general, but this one was perfect and I adored it. I was quizzical but not convinced until I watched the video and there was just something about it that made me realize you were pranking us. Very, very well done. Bravo! I loved it! Improv Everywhere just goes up and up in my estimation.
Beautifully done.
Wow, from all the April Fool’s pranks, this one really did fool me!!! I’m sorry I actually thought that you guys could do something like this. I was a bit upset, even. Well done IE, very well done:)
And the most hilarious part was to see people commenting with anger without even bothering to read the ones before them, clearly stating that the whole thing never happened.
CW 11 is trying to play it off as if it was their April Fool’s joke on IE by reporting as if they actually believed it…
http://weblogs.wpix.com/news/jimwatkins/2009/04/the_april_fools_funeral_who_re.html
Wow,
Tami is stupid.
oh. wow. i love you.
tami, you still don’t get it, what the video says is fake too. There was no family.
Also “I hope you all burn in hell for bashing my comment” doesn’t give you much moral integrity to criticize others for being “unpolite”.
tami, you are pretty dumb.
The family were FAKE. You’ve been HAD. Sorry if you’ve had a crap life, but this was a joke from the outset with no victims and no source of attack but IE’s own missions.
“After reading about this, my body went into overload because I have Tourette Syndrome. Stress brings on my shaking and this made me really shake to where I had a very hard time breathing. I had to call 911. I almost stopped breathing because of you inconsiderate assholes. You should be ashamed of yourselves and arrested. Someone posted to go into the hospital, please don’t do that that would be risking someones lives. If you do and someone dies, I hope they put you all away. The people that are doing these stunts.”
I burst out laughing at this. Maybe I shouldn’t, but your implication of attempted murder is ludicrous. An episode of The Goodies 30 years ago caused a man to die laughing (he had a weak heart, and after 25 minutes of continuous laughter his heart gave out), but that’s hardly their fault for doing their job to the best of their ability. So have IE. They cause scenes, which they did, but online (and in the news). And if you’d paid more attention maybe you wouldn’t have gotten so worked up. I once cut myself while making a sandwich and watching The West Wing. Maybe I should sue Aaron Sorkin.
tami, i recall that you posted
“I will never go to your site again”
at 2:00 on april 2, but you posted again at 9:03 on April 3
tami,
it appears that you have Online Video Leave-a-Reply Tourette’s. i’ve encountered many people with that affliction lately.
perhaps it is time to examine why you allow random improvisational prank groups and online comment board posters to have such intense control over your emotional life. maybe you should stay away from both until you have this figured out.
just a thought.
Look assholes I know now it was a joke. It was not the right joke even though the family was fake and there was no funeral. My mom died a very painful death 2 years ago and my brother just commited suicide. This just brought back me seeing my moms dead body in the emergency room. They were supposed to make sure her eyes were closed. I had to see them open. How would al of you like this for a joke someone saying your loved one died a horrific death putting you through crap and then saying April fools or someonw saying your child died or was kidnapped making you worry so much and then them saying april fools. I am just saying they made a mistake by choosing to fake a funeral. Some people that lost a loved one this makes it harder for them especially me. I didnt want to remember seeing my moms dead body with her eyes open. Thanks improv everywhetre for bringing that all back. I’m only being mean because all of you have hutrt me tremendously by you bashing me My brother commited suicide. Thanks alot.
Oh my god if you don’t like IE then don’t waste your time posting a comment? And if it would really think that an April fools day joke would hurt you this badly why would you click a link that says “Best Funeral Ever”? Of course it’s going to involve joking around about funerals and dead people what else would it be about? unicorns and butterflies? Nobody should take this crap personally I’m pretty sure IE wasn’t trying to hurt anybody.
tami……seriously move on every one knos someone that died and im sorry you love your mom and brother but dont be such a bitch as to try andmake these ppl feel bad for an april fools day the prank wasnt aimed at ne one or made to hurt ne one so shut the fuck up my god there are so many whiny pricks in this world i understand ppl being upset if there too stupid to realise that this is a joke but you kno its a joke so why are you still talking shit IE is hillarious they win cause they fooled you all ……… IE rules and the bitchers should go shove there computers up there asses b4 leaving stupid comments
I didn’t have time to watch this for a few days, so by the time I got here it already had dsiclaimers of “April Fools!” But when I first saw the title in my Youtube subscription box, I was unsettled. I didn’t catch on that it was an April Fools joke, but I did say to myself, “Something’s up. They wouldn’t seriously do that.”
Brilliant prank, guys.
To Tami:
I realize how hurt you are, and I am sincerely sorry for what happened to your mother and brother. But the fact is, there will be reminders of such things everywhere. I know it isn’t easy, but you can’t be mad at everyone and everything that reminds you of that. Unless you intend to lock yourself in your room and never talk to anyone, you will come across things that make you think of your family’s death. I’m sorry, and hope you make it through this rough time okay.
I admit, you got me.
tami… great april fools joke!!!! you actually had people going!!! good one!
Improv Everywhere, you may have lost a couple hundred fans, maybe more.
But, all of those fans that you’ve lost were complete idiots without any trace of a sense of humor.
Congratulations, your remaining millons of fans are people with brains and senses of humor!
Pity, the idiots will probably return to the site and realize that this was staged. Then you’ll just have to come up with another way to get rid of them.
To TECHCOMM who said great April fools joke!!! you actually had people going!!! good one. I didnt do any April fools joke my brother did commit suidce you want me to send you his dead body and his slit wrist and the blood you asshole. Also I can send you my moms obituary to proove I’m telling the truth. If the tables were turned and you guys were me and I was you, and read your post exactly what I wroyte I would not have bashed you all. I will pray that you all dont go to hell in the end because that is where all you are heading bashing me after losing a mom and brother a few days ago to suicide. I am fucking telling the truth..
APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am just playing with you all. Ha! Gotcha!
The huge bush was just so conveniently placed! lol this is just saying that this mission was MEANT to happen.
Tami is a troll:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll
“Please do not feed the trolls”.
Haven’t you heard? If you don’t attend other people’s funerals, they won’t attend yours!
Someone fuckin put my name and put April fools!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was just playing with you all. HA! gotcha!
This was not me. I did not pull any april fools joke. I am not a liar. My brother and mother did die. You all will go to hell in the end. I am praying uyou all die tomorrow so improv everywhere can have a reaL funeral for you. I hope when the devil takes you all it is a very painful death. You all have hurt me and you all will pay for it. Gid will not want hurtful people like all of you in heaven. Fuck you all. And as for improv everywhere I also hope you pay for what you did. I fuckin hate you all and I wish one of your family dies a painful death like my mom and brother did. Fuck you assholes bitches and pricks.. I mean everything I said it is no april fools joke.
loved it, it was hillarious, it actually got me for a second, then i saw the guy taking photos with his phone. I wish there were people who did this stuff in my area of Australia.
To tami, if your brother dying hurts you this much, please don´t comment on this site again, it just makes people write comments that will upset you more. and if you are remembering your mother in that way, don´t, instead try and remember her in a good way, like how happy she looked when you gave her a good school report or something. also, on a medical note, if your tourette´s makes you shake that badly isn´t there medication you could be taking to calm it?
again, imorov everywhere great job, you had me fooled!
Looks like we could all use a little drama ‘therapy’ now and then. JOLT!
I understand being upset if this was real! But I don’t understand all the people who continue to be mad that it was an April Fools prank! It may make you squirm but how is this bad if the entire thing was staged!?
Group hug everyone. I think there are some tightly wound folks out there in need of one!
Tami:
You are not the only person who has lost a loved one in this world. People die. My best friend committed suicide and it completely blindsided me. I’m sure some of the people leaving comments have lost a loved one maybe even to suicide. Who knows, maybe some of the agents who participated in this lost a loved one. In fact, I guarantee there are people who are worse off than you. Please don’t come back and leave your negative (even threatening) comments again.
Seriously people… stop feeding the troll. The only way to make it go away is to outright ignore it, and pretend any posts by said troll do not exist. There is ZERO that you can post that will stop the trolling… just ignoring it. That’s it.
I’m really pissed at the guy who was complaining about IE as a whole, calling you guys a bunch of comedy-club washouts or whatever. It seems like you have waaaaay better senses of humor than him. He was complaining that he doesn’t need you guys to add variety in his life, and is apparently pissed at you guys for doing so.
Well I’m pissed at him for being such an asshole. If he doesn’t want you to add variety to his life and thinks he’s better off without it, why is he looking around the site in the first place? Some people find it funny. I find it funny. He has no right to be angry at you all just because he doesn’t find it funny.
Keep up the good work guys. I saw this ex post facto so I saw that it was an April Fools joke, but didn’t get how until checking out this page (I saw the outtakes first). Sorry about all the crap you’ve been getting but you had to have seen it coming, except maybe the comments AFTER you informed everyone that it was just a joke. Well, those don’t really make sense anyway.
There’s a whole lot of stuff on the internet that could make someone angry and set off their Tourrettes (I effing have Tourrettes too so they need to shut it) and if it has that effect on someone then they shouldn’t watch it. It’s not like you just put up a traumatic visual that completely shocked everyone. My parents are going to die. People I know are going to die. Some maybe horribly. It’s not your faults. I wouldn’t have liked it if it’d been a real funeral, but I trust you guys to stay within bounds.
Keep up the good work. Cuz you guys do good work here.
*Claps~
I think it’s funny that in an ironic twist, the actual internet viewers are the ones that were targeted this time, instead of the people you always secretly record in public. I think it’s hilarious. Well done!:)
This was not funny at all. A funeral is as much about respecting the living kin as “honoring the dead”. This was their moment to say goodbye… and you all ruined that forever. I’m very dissapointed.
Ryan:
You do know this entire thing was fake, right?
tami rules
What a colossal waste of time. Get a life!
Actually Tami, my dog was hit by a subway so I find their Subway Art Gallery EXTREMELY offensive. It’s compounded by the fact we were on our way to an art gallery. Bastards. I also lost an aunt to a band’s third gig. And Uncle Ted died on his birthday. Plus my cousin Rob! was looking up when an Anton Chekhov impersonator committing suicide landed on him from a great height (well, 1 foot actually). The police would have gotten there sooner but they were all stood still in Grand Central Station for some unknown reason. Personally I wish grizzly death upon everyone even viewing this webpage.
We all lose people. It’s the way of life, “the small print you get on your birth certificate”. And if you are going to take to heart every light bit of comedy involving death or funerals (and there’s a hell of a lot out there) then you are going to spend your life permanently depressed. If they had checked you out, realised your tragedies, and targetted this at you, then I could understand you being pissed off. As it was, they weren’t aiming it at you but at themselves.
And if we can’t try and cope with death, the ONLY certainty throughout the entirity of life, then we might as well give up on laughter.
Love, light, and peace.
well said Joolz, very well said.
Sorry, not a good joke. Mourning, as did the half a dozen friends and relatives of the deceased who showed up, is a private thing. Clowns and others should not interfere.
wow, some nice photography there!!
nice idea too :)
The funniest comment is the guy who tried to disprove the fact that it was a fake funeral by saying it must have been filmed the day before and therefore not on April 1st and therefore NOT a joke…..Come on! the coffin is thin plywood in the shape of an old movie prop and it’s sitting on the ground with no hole!!!! In other peoples defense though, I saw the post about the “Best Funeral(April Fool’s joke) Ever” first, so I went into it knowing it was a joke….still….sheesh!
If I’m reading Michael’s post correctly, he might have the most genius post of this whole thing.
Michael of the douchebags, you had me going there. That was funny.
It’s nice that you want a family to feel supported, but come on. 1. This is cheap. Letting them think their relative was a member of some bizarre secret society (that’s what a flash mob at a funeral would seem like), plus 2. Funerals are supposed to be emotionally intimate affairs.
This is cruel.
I can not believe people have still been commenting 2 weeks on about how ~cruel~ this was :|
Joke. Some of you guys need a definition, obviously.
Dont really think you can call taht a prank, it was kinda touching that they met up. I makes the people at funeral think that somebody really cared about the decreased. AND GIVE THEM A WT!? sign in the face when they see the camera.
Hilarious comments are hilarious. I especially enjoy the people saying “even if this is a joke it’s not funny.”
Good one joolz,
The family members were seem irritated….. I love all your videos but I don’t really enjoy this idea.
Sheesh, guys, do you REALLY think that IE would stoop so low to actually DO something like this? Of course not! Of course it was a prank! If ya think about it, most of the time, IE plays April Fool’s pranks on the unsuspecting public; this time, they played one on their own agents!
Anyway, guys, great one! (If it had been real, that would have been a different matter…..)
OMG !!
Cummon people its a prank it was meant for you guyz not for the family , btw there was no family they were all agents !
great work IE and plzz people if you dont like it then dont comment on it !
hahahahhhahaahahaahha!!!!!! nyahahahahaahahahaahah!!! that was funny. cooooooolllllll……:-)
“fuk u u peec uv shaeit uno dat ta ded dont u u dont fuk wit tha ded”
Haha what?! Oivay
Ha, that was absolutely hilarious.
What I loved the most was reading the comments of those who actually believed this.
Well done! <3
i well done feel free to do this at my furenal
not disrepectfull atol ( to me anyway)
dont know how the family would feel but i wouldnt care
well done
pull a “best ever” in glasgow scotland
OMG I THOUGHT IT WAS REAL!
i was thinking; “wow how could they do this,
its a funeral for crying out loud.”
and then i read that it was fake
This was great, you are free to do this at my funeral also. I LOVE IT!
If you thought this was real, I implore you to consider suicide to try to purify our gene pool.
This we hysterical. And to the people who didn’t realize this was a joke….wow.
My dad died 6 months ago, and when I watched this, I thought, “Man, I wish my dad could watch this video, he loved internet crap like this.”
thanks IE <3
o.o I’m amazed you guys were able to take so much abuse from this. I mean, geez, some of these comments are just cruel. Still, it was funnier KNOWING it was a joke than NOT knowing it was a joke ^^;
this is kinda messed dude. like the cameras and the family probably thought u guys were just pretending to know the guy and disrespecting him.. im pretty sure the family did not look at the mission the same way u guys did
oh shit nvm lol. what was the point if it was fake
I sit here in amazement reading the absolutely asinine comments from so many morons that are posting here. Why are people so incredibly STUPID anymore? If this is any indication on how morally bankrupt our educational system is in this country then were are screwed as a nation! Someone needs to check the light bulbs in your brains since far too many of you here don’t seem to have it screwed in all the way. It’s IMPROV you stupid low class morons!
OMFG, I can’t believe how many people fell for these, geez!. I think it was great.
A new IE fan!
Hahaha! You got me goooood!
nice one, LOL
That would have been really screwed up if this were real. LOL
You know, conceptually, I’m okay with a total stranger paying respect to the dead. People pay respect to dead soldiers they didn’t know personally, why not for another human being? He may not have been a soldier or a great artist or anything special really, but he still lived the same life on the same earth as us. That means SOMETHING, doesn’t it?
But when some self absorbed improv group uses it to feel good and smug about themselves, that’s when I have a problem with it.
BUT THAT’S NOT YOU! Because this was an April Fool’s joke. And it was AWESOME. The best ones are the ones that actually fool people, after all!
I found your other stuff really uplifting and enjoyable. I am sad to realize that you don’t seem to have the insight and civility to sense that this could be deeply offensive to some people, even if you meant it to be a joke.
I know it was intended as a ‘joke’, but to me the exercise showed indifference to the probability that at least some people would experience distress and sadness when they observed this intrusion on their concept of a very sad, and presumably private moment. Humor often attacks authority and institutions and when effective, the result is to trivialize and humiliate. I assume the promoters did not think this through, which would be understandable in an impulsive teenager. Otherwise I conclude they were uncaring. Their exercise shows a lack of civil respect for those who have different views of the ceremony of burial.
Wow. That gotta be the most awesome thing i ever saw xD I love that the local news station didnt even bother checking up on the story what-so-ever :p Great work ;)
Glad to see you didn’t break up, sing or anything that would have been really disrespectful—–you really did nothing wrong
I would totally would have wanted an funeral like, Why because it is nice to feel like people care. And I rather have family or friends not mourn too much over me, but the fun time and stuff, not think that only “eight people” shows up, some people thing like. I think it would have been better if you guys started to come at different time, it would have totally look realist and more respectful, but i understand that it would have been hard to come up with excuse to say something to the people mourning if they ask anyone why they were really there…
Sorry i meant to say “some people think like that”
Amazing to see that people still fall for it months later. =P
You know, it’s very typical for many people to get offended over something they do not understand in the slightest bit. Improv’s intentions were good. People die all the time….death happens! All living things eventually die. Hasn’t anyone noticed that older folks on their death beds would rather laugh one last time instead of feel consumed by the depressed state everyone around them is in? Have a heart; no one cares to view negativity on this site.
Ditto to Nick Klaus. When I die I want people laughing not crying, rather, it doesn’t have to be fake. GO AHEAD. Maybe in my will I can ask a group to do a musical lol. That’d be annoying to compose I’m sure.
See, this is a prank. The other stuff you do are not pranks. Anyone can see that. Hay, since you are all about bringing joy to the world (versus promoting your acting career or something), I have a great idea for a mission. Have a bunch of agents get jobs in Ob/GYN offices so that they can find women who are verified not to be on birth control. These should homely women who would never be able to get a hot guy on their own. Then recruit a group of wicked-handsome male agents attempt to date these women. The goal would be for the agents to impregnate as many of the women as possible on the first date and then to mysteriously disappear forever. It would be so romantic. Plus it would be giving the gift of excellent genes to these poor plane-Janes. You could post hidden video of the whole mission. No one is going to mind seeing a bit of lovin’ on your site – it could boost user hits! You could call it the “Best one night stand ever!” or the “Best unwanted pregnancy ever!” As Charlie said on This American Life, “is it cruel to give somebody the best day of their life just because they’ll never have a day like that again? You know, I don’t think so.”
That was low. That isn’t even funny. Next time get there on time dumbasses!
Does anyone wonder if the newscast reporting this was a prank itself? Those newscasters knew what day it was too. Perhaps they were just furthering the spoof?
i didn’t think this one was funny, if it was a family member of mine .. SMh i don’t know how i would of felt
Jajajaja !! Ok i get it Now !!!!
<—- April fooled !!!
HAHAHA sooo i read the description. and then forgot that the ENTIRE thing was acted out. and kind was weirded out. and then remembered and laughed really really hard.
Thanks for making life (and even death) a little more amusing.