…Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.
From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere:
For our latest mission, seven undercover agents staged a spontaneous musical during lunch at the Trump Tower atrium. The mission was filmed for a segment on The Today Show and includes a cameo from Ann Curry. Check out our video and behind the scenes report.
Song by Anthony King and Scott Brown (Gutenberg! The Musical!)
From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere, October 20, 2009:
For our latest mission, six undercover actors burst into song in a grocery store in Queens. Three minutes and lots of silly choreography later, they returned to their roles as shoppers and stock boys. It’s the long-awaited follow up to Food Court Musical!
Song by Anthony King and Scott Brown of Gutenberg! The Musical!
Visit here for the back story and lots of visuals.
To see more on The Art of the Prank about Improv Everywhere’s missions, visit here.
From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere:
For our latest mission, over 2,000 people walked “invisible dogs” down the streets of Brooklyn on a Sunday afternoon. The leashes were on loan from the current owner of 51 Bergen Street, the factory space where the invisible dog toy was invented in the 1970s. Participants of all ages spread out from Red Hook to Brooklyn Heights, very seriously walking their very silly dogs. Read more and check out the photos here.
edited by Matt Adams / “The Dogs Were Let Out by Whom?” song by Tyler Walker
From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere
For our latest mission, we installed a photography studio on a random subway car. We claimed that the MTA had hired us to take photos of every single person who rides the subway and that we”d be producing a yearbook at the end of the year. Most people were happy to pose for us, and the resulting photos show just how diverse New York subway riders can be. Enjoy the video first and then check out the mission report and photos below.
We collaborated with local production company Hello World on this mission. They wanted to film us for a Brazillian TV show, so we invited them to be a part of team. The show”s hosts, Agents Duarte and Martini, played the role of the “ringers”– they”d blend in with the crowd on the train and hop up to get their photo taken to encourage others to do the same. One nice thing about working with Hello World is that they specialize in shooting video with the fancy new Canon DSLR cameras. Since the Canons looked like still cameras, no one would know they were filming.
See the full story and lots of photos here.
Digital Video: Agents Adams, Yoshida, Garofalo
Digital Photography: Agent Sokoler
Portrait Photography: Agent Nicholson
Edited: Matt Adams
Score: Tyler Walker
The Art of the Prank
by Spencer Morgan
Maxim.com
June 29, 2009
From coast to coast, intrepid bands of merrymakers are staging hoaxes, stunts, and practical jokes like never before. Welcome to the Golden Age of the Prank.
This is for participants only,” announces a heavily bundled Charlie Todd through his trusty gray bullhorn. “If you didn”t come to take your pants off today, you”re in the wrong spot.” It”s a frigid January afternoon in New York City”s Foley Square, and hundreds of fearless pranksters are braving the elements to get together and shed their trousers for the eighth annual “No Pants! Subway Ride.”
Todd, a baby-faced 30-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina, is the mastermind behind this gathering, and on his command the assembled crowd scatters for the nearest subway entrances”¦and collectively drops trou. Even in a city like New York, riding the subway sans pants is a guaranteed eye-opener, and today is no exception: Straphangers stare, chuckle, even take photos. Around 1,200 men and women have come out clad in boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, and bloomers, not just in New York, but in 21 cities across the globe. (“Three hundred take to the subway””shameless and pantless,” the Toronto Sun would inform its readers soberly the next day.) The mission ends with a group of agents celebrating in Union Square, making snow angels, still pantless. Improv Everywhere has struck again. Mission accomplished. Continue reading “Maxim Declares the Golden Age of the Prank”