Results tagged “improveverywhere”

The latest Improv Everywhere mission brought the troupe to the Best Yet grocery store in Astoria, Queens to end fruit segregation... in musical form!

Last week 2,000 invisible animal lovers came together in Cobble Hill to talk to walk their invisible dogs and simultaneously confuse onlookers. Now there's video so you can fully experience the reaction of the neighborhood locals:

       

Yesterday the Improv Everywhere gang took 2,000 dogs for a walk in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn. Invisible dogs, that is. You remember those old invisible dog toys, right? Turns out the circa-1970s toy was manufactured in a Brooklyn factory, which now contains the Invisible Dog art space! The space loaned the pranksters the vintage dog leashes for their afternoon of good clean fun; and if you want one yourself they still seem to be for sale online. More photos from Katie Sokoler, here.

Those pranksters at Improv Everywhere took their shenanigans underground and set up a photo studio in a subway car yesterday. They told everyone they had to take their portraits for the annual subway yearbook. Oh New York, so gullible sometimes.

So they already crashed a (fake) funeral, and now they've gone and crashed the nuptials of two young New Yorkers in love. A couple had just finished tying the knot at the City Clerk’s Office in Manhattan when they were greeted by Improv Everywhere's Charlie Todd, and here's what happened:

       

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.

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.

Every year the Improv Everywhere crew executes some prank to make fools of us all on this day, but the one they put together this year at Greenwood Cemetery serves as an example of an April Fools' Day joke done well (because so often these things go horribly wrong). They announce: "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."

The latest Improv Everywhere stunt unfolded recently on the 23rd Street E and C line subway platform: a pop-up art gallery with placards attached to everyday items, magically transforming them into priceless works of art. The trash can, for example, was titled Repository and described as a "clearly ironic reinterpretation" that "plays on the tropes of idealism in opposition to expediency." There was also a bar (stocked with non-alcoholic drinks), a cellist, and even a coat rack. Fancy!

So the Improv Everywhere folks shot their No Pants Ride in HD...but then uploaded it to YouTube (insert sad trumpet noise here). You know the drill: 1200+ pantless people ride four separate subway lines, shocking (and not shocking) New Yorkers and tourists alike.

            

Over 1200 folks showed up for the 8th annual No Pants Ride yesterday. The group split up and took over four separate train lines, where they terrified children, delighted perverts, shocked prudes, and brought some humor underground. If you think the troupe was warm, however, check out the photos—those pants didn't come on above ground, in the freezing snowy weather! Did you spot the knickerless masses yesterday?

Over the weekend the Improv Everywhere troupe was back for another MP3 Experiment extravaganza, this time taking place on Governor's Island. They estimate around "1.5 jabillion" were in attendance, and promise some video in the coming weeks. What we do know: the MP3 included both music and instructions (listen), a bear (or Furry) was in attendance, and balloons were somehow involved. Were you there?

The MP3 Experiment is back for its 5th consecutive year. Rain or shine, it's going down in NYC this Saturday, and here's what you need to do: download the New York MP3 from the website, put it on your portable music playing device (you are even invited to kick it old school by burning the MP3 onto a CD and listen via a Discman), do not listen to the MP3 until Saturday (confession: we totally listened), wear a t-shirt in an Improv Everywhere-approved color (red, blue, yellow or green), bring an umbrella and uninflated balloon, head to Governor's Island, and press "play" at the correct time. Phew, that's it. The visual outcome will likely be a bit more dramatic this year if umbrellas are involved--especially if a bird's eye view time lapse is being done again.

The latest happening from the pranksters at Improv Everywhere – masters at getting weird looks from people as they plug in big desktop computers at Starbucks, flood Abercrombie & Fitch with shirtless average Joes, and (the best) freeze in Grand Central – is all about twins. Organizers recruited nine sets of identical twins in matching outfits to ride the 6 train uptown, sit across from each other and mirror each other's gestures. It's not The Shining, but bemused looks ensue.

Grand Central Terminal will now feature its own Wi-Fi Internet access to those waiting in the Station Masters Office, one of the few places one is still allowed to sit down at the terminal without being told to get up and move along. The new wireless service will allow as many as 60 users online at a time and should prove an invaluable amenity for commuters to check or send off emails before and after getting off trains. The Station Masters Office is restricted to ticket-holding passengers.

There's currently a long line forming outside of the Apple store on 5th Avenue...but not everyone in it seems to know why they are there. Engadget reports that "the group is more than 60-deep, though most people seem confused about what they're waiting for, while some believe they're actually camping out for a 3G iPhone."

Improv Everywhere was at it again recently. Three agents represented this time around, bringing IE's latest mission to Starbucks, where they managed to confuse fellow patrons by bringing in their old, clunky desktop computers (complete with WIndows 95!). The trio hooked up their time machines and got to work, one even able to surf the World Wide Web. For those who didn't think Starbucks had set up a computer lab as a service to their customers, it was a baffling scene.

Improv Everywhere was back recently causing a commotion (or more appropriately: a standstill) at Grand Central. For this prank the troupe had 207 "agents" in place that all froze on cue for five minutes. (We'd love to see this go down in Times Square.) The below footage shows the latest stunt:

Yesterday was No Pants Day 2008, the 7th Annual Improv Everywhere event that includes hundreds of people riding the subway with no pants on. According to IE's initial report, yesterday's event drew 900 participants, requiring that the group split up onto three different lines--the 6, the R, and the 2 trains, which they rode from downtown Manhattan to Union Square.

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).

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a bank robbery on Richmond Ave. on Staten Island, an injured corrections officer at Rikers Island in the Bronx, and a gas leak on East 68th St. in Manhattan.
• Chris Booker, the NY radio DJ boyfriend of Philly news personality Alycia Lane who allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer after calling her a dyke, says that she's being singled out because "[she's] a babe." Or it's because she allegedly punched a female NYPD police officer in the face after calling her a dyke.
• The Observer directs the politically inclined to Iowa Caucus-watching parties around town.

Clearly Abercrombie & Fitch was setting itself up to be the subject of the latest Improv Everywhere prank when it had a shirtless male model greet customers at its Fifth Avenue store. IE recruited 111 men of various body types to take off their shirts while at the store, much to the amusement of customers.

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.

Improv Everywhere was at it again recently. Their latest mission? Protesting Wendy's "racist logo" with over 50 redheads, numerous protest signs and some catchy chants on hand. ”Biggie Size Bigotry!, Value Menu Us! and Where’s Our Beef? In Your Logo!” are some of our faves.

The 22nd Annual April Fools' Day Parade is today. Did you go? We hope not, because this is a long running joke itself. During its 15th year the press was fooled and showed up to find no parade. From the Museum of Hoaxes:

It's radio-free NYPD when it comes to the subways. In a totally reassuring article about the state of NYPD security, technology, and how money is spent, the NY Times reports that police refuse to use a new $140 million radio system in the subways because it doesn't work very well. The MTA put a new radio system in because police stationed underground were never able to communicate with police aboveground. Truckloads of money later, there is a new radio system, but there's so much interference, "it sounds as if you're talking through a glass of water," according to a NYC Transit engineer.

Yesterday afternoon, over 200 people convened on a 6 train to participate in Improv Everywhere's No Pants! Subway Ride. Unlike last year's ride which resulted in arrests, yesterday's event seemed to go swimmingly: The Daily News reports that other panted riders were shocked and amused.

If you ever wondered how it would feel asking the MTA to pay for your pants, after they been ruined by an LIRR or Metro-North seat, wonder no more! The NY Times investigates the pants-chewing armrests on commuter trains on the M7 train cars. The armrests are "made of a rubbery material that seems to grab onto fabric and not let go" and love to attack when passengers sit down.

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.

Continue reading "NYU Dorm as Huge Connect Four Board"

-- Poor Sue Simmons: NBC4 News has gone high-definition!