Gothamist: ImprovEverywhere Punks the Strand

Open your eyes!

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:43:45 -0500

and why were all the books near the prank BLACK!!! It's freakin' black history month "pranksters"!

Jen

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:41:02 -0500

Do the people hating on this "prank" for the way it unfairly targets those poor, poor Strand workers realize the idea was suggested by a Strand employee? Also, they don't make you check your bags to make *your* life easier, they check them so that you won't use them to steal their books. Not criticizing that logic, just pointing out that it's not a *service* they provide.

America

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 12:14:10 -0500

how dare you "pranksters"... do you know the affliction books have gone through for thousands of years, and for you and your legions of warthog haters to come up with a "prank" that pokes fun at those poor defenseless books, well that is just not right. Did you know that during the salem witch trials some of these books where burned... huh "Prankers"... take your unamed army and do something good with your time... Why dont you fight with our troops in Iraq, fight for the freedom that is written about in these sweet, non violent, sexy, sexy, loving books. Then, and only then you can show me a life altering improv experiance... You should be ashamed... all of you... anyone of you who helped this "prank" out... I hope your children grow up to be illetrate.

milo

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:50:53 -0500

It is too bad that you can't focus this teamwork and energy into doing something that actually helps people or improves their lives.

Rob

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 11:40:07 -0500

Of course, Gothamist plays this up with their normal James Lipton reverential style. Improv Everywhere could take a collective dump on a pensioner's rug and they would hype it to no end. Remember their description of 9/11 WTC photos as "beautiful”? Granted some of Improv Everywhere’s bits are clever, but this isn’t even funny. Call this for what it is...an asinine prank at the expense of one of the city's true institutions, the Strand bookstore. Why wouldn't a manager get upset? They're screwing with his business. A bookstore is supposed to be a refuge and from what I understand they’re not an easy business to turn a profit in. It just rings - pun intended - stupid. The constant din of cell phones is that everyone is forced to deal with 24/7 is annoying. A “symphony” of them is just more so. What's next, a symphony at the Met, St. Patrick's Cathedral, or a hospital? In all honesty, why not target some truly corporate place? Or better yet, they should get out of their comfort zone and try the same thing up in the South Bronx, Harlem, or East New York. Aren't they Improv Everywhere? The sad thing is that we'll have scads of footage from these precious hipsters – they’re preparing a DVD - and relatively little of the important NYC stuff, i.e. early graffiti and hip hop, 1970s East Village punk and new wave bands, and the Paradise Garage scene.

stranded

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:59:25 -0500

Moe- I don't think it was racist or classist or malicious or illegal, and I never said so. But it was damned stupid and unclever. And it was a prank, and every prank needs a target, and the targets of the prank were those two bag-check workers - not the public at large. Seriously, what was the point? To humiliate the workers? (Judging from the video clips of their faces, that was at least part of it.) To prove that cellphones going off in bags are annoying? To protest having to check bags at bookstores (which Strand has been doing for years and years)? Or cleverness for cleverness' sake? (In which case, you need to be a lot more clever, and a lot more funny). It was pointless, yet was being presented as ingeniously clever. That was my beef.

smitty

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:57:01 -0500

the people who are complaining have never worked in retail. it is such a boring, monotonous job that it is a joy to have SOMETHING interesting going on besides putting bags in a cubby or hitting "enter" on the register for the thousandth time.

Moe Golden

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 01:14:46 -0500

Come on anonymous haters directly above this post. I don't think this is really a case of sticking it to anyone. just a wacky little experiment. you can't possibly be such humorless blowhards as to take the whole privilege white people angle here. you don't have to think it's hilarious or even particularly clever, but i just don't see the point in taking the whole "racist/classist" angle. not when nothing was done maliciously. as long as it wasn't a sound of a ticking bomb, no one gets hurt anyway, or no law is broken. that said, i don't like having to check my bags anywhere. the only good thing about it is you're less likely to be clipped by someone else's in the aisles there.

The Man

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 19:36:26 -0500

Oh happy day. These guys really outdid themselves this time! Sticking it to that ornery clerk that takes their bags so they don't have to deal with it. Count one for the legion of white privilidged idiots with cell phones for sticking it to that gray haired black asshole! Great job Biff and Muffy! Thank god mommy and daddy paid the cell phone bill this month.

Suzie Q.

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 19:34:27 -0500

stranded - i'm in your boat. We're probably the only ones rowing it, however.

zincink

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 17:10:00 -0500

Next stop..how about a grand central station..so you can get an echo effect..

stranded

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:58:19 -0500

Damn security guards and bag-check workers. Always taking your bags while they sit on their asses raking in minimum wage. That'll show them! And those stupid book-readers browsing around Strand quietly. Heh. Let them try to read their stupid books with all that noise around them! Really, who knew cell phones could be annoying before this prank? Geniuses, the lot of 'em.

sellfone

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:41:24 -0500

I always hate it when people move here yet still keep their old "845" numbers. They probably still have their old, outdated ID, too.

Papercutninja

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:21:51 -0500

I love the Strand. AND i love this prank! Hilarious!

Silly Panda

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:56:18 -0500

This is one of my favorite ones they've done.. ahh.. another reason I love people in this city

Picasso

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:19:24 -0500

WOW! Congrats! Truly a magnificient accomplishment. The look on that bag checkers face was absolutely priceless! A feature film should be made out of these innovative and remarkable feats. Kudos to all the people that spent countless minutes of their lives conjuring up such a ruse! I mean really bravo, BRAVO!

DrunkAtNYU

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 13:03:53 -0500

Hah, funny idea. I wish they could have snuck the camera into the strand better and maybe picked up some more sound though. Overall bravo though

MissPinkKate

Tue, 21 Feb 2006 12:53:34 -0500

Ahhhh, no video on the front page, please! Can you just post a link, instead?