Ben Folds, Aubrey Plaza, Harry Crane... these are all people who show up in the teaser for Improv Everywhere's documentary. The film is a work in progress, and the troupe has launched a Kickstarter to help raise the $125,000 they need to complete it. That may seem a little steep when you're confronted with lines like "And from there we took our pants off, and the rest is history," but they do have to cover over a decade of pranks. more ›

Back in the spring, a tourist sidewalk lane magically appeared along Fifth Avenue, separating the chaff of idle skyscraper-gazers from the wheat of get-out-of-our-way natives. At first, rumor had it that it was a piece by British invader Banksy, but it was eventually revealed to be an Improv Everywhere prank. But in a new twist today, it seems the British are borrowing the idea to utilize in one of the busiest streets in London. more ›

Did anyone really believe that the Improv Everywhere troupe rode the subway naked? The video was posted on April Fools Day, but it seemed like the NY Times may have fallen for it... they even called the cops! The gullible Grey Lady was told by an NYPD spokesperson that no laws was broken, and they confirm, saying: "We checked, and sure enough, the definition of 'exposure of a person,' a violation under section 245.01 of the state’s penal code" (heh) "states that the law does not apply to any person entertaining or performing in a play, exhibition, show or entertainment." Alas, as we pointed out yesterday, the pranksters were all wearing nude-colored undies. And underwear fetishists (if you even exist) take note: IE head Charlie Todd says an uncensored video will be made available soon. more ›

This past Saturday Improv Everywhere held their sixth MP3 Experiment on Roosevelt Island (just a few days after Charlie Todd's book on the troupe hit stores). There's not much info yet on what exactly went down, but it appears there were inflatable weapons, primary colors, confused residents, synchronized fun and much more (get the mp3 that soundtracked the day here). Katie Sokoler was there to document the whole thing, and IE promises some video in the future. more ›

The last time we talked to Charlie Todd in 2005, he wasn't sure if Ben Folds had ever heard of his prank website Improv Everywhere. A year later, he would find himself invited on stage by Folds in a setup where Charlie would pretend to be Ben in front of a sold out crowd. Improv Everywhere now boasts a YouTube channel with over 100,000 subscribers, its most popular Freeze Mission (originating in Grand Central Station) has been replicated in over 150 cities around the world and this year's No Pants Subway Ride had 1,200 participants in New York alone. more ›

It's that special time of year again when Charlie Todd and a troupe of others that like to de-pants every January go underground for a nice, brisk ride on the subway. As usual, you're all invited (warning: you may be arrested), but if you show up you must not have pants on! They warn, in all caps, that "THIS IS A PARTICIPATORY EVENT. DO NOT SHOW UP UNLESS YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF. THIS INCLUDES NEWS MEDIA." Hear that "new media"? You are not exempt (though there's a possible loophole here in which one could wear skirts, shorts or a dress). more ›

ART: Secrets of Coney Island Creek opens at the Brooklyn Public Library tonight. The exhibit of photographs by photog/author/Coney Island native Charles Denson goes back to the 1960s "when the waterway was at a low point, surrounded by industry and suffering from neglect and pollution. Since then, portions of the creek have been reclaimed, drawing both wildlife and residents to its shores. The photographs in Secrets of Coney Island Creek document those early decades and offer a fascinating and comprehensive portrait of the creek today and its relationship to the Coney Island community." more ›

This past Saturday anyone with a music playing device was invited to The World Financial Center Plaza by the North Cove Yacht Harbor. Potential participants were told to be there by 4pm, to wear a red, blue, yellow, or green t-shirt, to bring a watch with a second hand and a camera if possible, and to download an mp3 from their site. more ›

It's the longest day of the year, so you should be able to fit Shepard Fairey's exhibit and at least one of the following events in. more ›

If we didn't read it in the Washington Square News, we would have guessed that either Dennis Crowley or Charlie Todd was behind this. But it looks like NYU RAs were the ones who created a Connect Four board out of Weinstein Hall's windows so students could play from the outside. It was part of an effort to bring the dorm community together (Floor Wars), even if it made some students cranky.

“It was definitely not good that they came and woke me up just to hang up things in my window,” CAS freshman Michael Bliss said of the RAs preparation for the event. more ›

-- ...and attention outer-borough residents, Gawker has a message for you: "Unless you're on the big island, you don't count for shit." Oh, don't get so mad-- they've been saying that for years. more ›

Charlie Todd and his ImprovEverywhere agents invaded the 23rd Street Best Buy with eighty people dressed in employee uniforms-- blue shirts and khaki pants. Hilarity ensued. Check out a bunch of other clips at Vimeo, or read the full acount at Charlie's site. more ›

Charlie Todd wrote in to say that the last of the people arrested in January's No Pants 2006 subway ride had her case dismissed yesterday. Apparently "Agent Omega" overslept the court date last month, so it took a little longer for her to get cleared. Charlie scanned in the dismissal order-- it contains some amusing judicial prose: more ›

View this clip on Vimeo more ›

View this clip on Vimeo more ›

Last weekend, Charlie Todd and his intrepid band of pantsless improv agents were met with fierce NYPD resistence at the 59th Street 4/5/6 station. The dust has finally begun to settle, and Charlie has posted the video of the event, along with a long wrapup with literally dozens of panty pictures. He also discusses the arrests: more ›

Whoa-- busy Sunday night! Yesterday we told you about Charlie Todd's No Pants 2006 Subway Ride-- one of his more famous ImprovEverywhere projects. The plan for today was to ride from Brooklyn Bridge to 125th Street on the 6, and then turn around and come back down. Sadly, the fuzz busted the event up and nabbed six of Charlie's agents at 59th Street! Presta Cottage Industries has the details: more ›

Charlie Todd and his merry band of ImprovEverywhere pranksters are famous around these parts-- we've been fans for a couple of years (check out the interview we did with him back in August.) If you've never participated in one of the ImprovEverywhere events, tomorrow is your big chance-- for the fifth year in a row, dozens of improv fans will be hitting the 6 train-- WITHOUT PANTS: more ›

New York magazine brings the funny this week with a cover story about Conan O'Brien as well as some other NYC-comedy features. The Conan story delves into his "unsuave" persona and the possibilities of bringing his style to the rest of America when he takes over the Tonight Show (he says, "I’m open to going to L.A. Mostly because it won’t be my choice."). Gothamist highly recommends you read it, but we have pulled out his thought about the city:

"New York is a social experiment—the results aren’t in yet, it may not have worked, they took way too many people with a large disparity of wealth, stacked them on top of each other, and sprinkled bagels over the whole thing. Contrast breeds comedy, and the more extreme the contrast, the better the comedy."

Next Monday night, the Upright Citizen's Brigade gets the first installment of Paid Programming, possibly the first comedy show to dedicate each show to an infomercial product. The inaugural product is the Restform Highrise Airbed, "a bed so durable it can be used by both a grizzly bear and a professional wrestler," and the show will be filled with "amazing demonstrations, hilarious clips from the infomercial itself, and real prank calls made to the infomercial's order line." Yes, we're taking this information straight from Paid Programming's own blog, which has MP3s of prank calls, too. The show starts at 8PM and tickets are $5. more ›

Found on Craigslist at the UCB Theatre, Thursday at 8pm - $5 more ›

There are so many internet and technology conferences in New York City every year, but there's only one that Gothamist has ever really enjoyed: Mark Hurst's Good Experience Live. It's been going on since 2003, and each year showcases an incredibly eclectic bunch of designers, scientists, technologists, artists, and weirdos. This year, Gothamist got to be part of the fun- we led a tour of Penn Station and Grand Central, comparing and constrasting the architecture and customer experience at each one (conclusion: Penn Station sucks, Grand Central is hella cool!) more ›