(View it larger on YouTube)
Song by Anthony King and Scott Brown (Gutenberg! The Musical!)

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. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our report below.

Still Photos: Katie Sokoler and Chad Nicholson.
Additional video work by: Matt Adams

The Today Show has featured Improv Everywhere a few times in the past, and this fall they asked if we could create a mission for them that Ann Curry could have a part in. Specifically, they were big fans of Food Court Musical and wanted to work with us to stage something similar. (In the time between the show approaching us and the segment airing, we had the opportunity to produce Grocery Store Musical as well.) The Today Show crew would produce the mission (providing hidden cameras, microphones, and a PA system), and we would be in charge of the creative side.

Agent Brown rehearses with the cast

Once again longtime agents and Gutenberg! The Musical! authors Scott Brown & Anthony King served as our songwriting team. They also both appeared as actors in the musical, along with some senior IE Agents and comedians from The Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. We had a rehearsal at a Manhattan studio where Agent Brown taught the song, and Agent King worked on the choreography.

Rehearsing in the space

The night before the mission, we were able to rehearse in our location. The Today Show was able to get permission from Trump Tower to stage the musical in the seating area of their atrium, a popular lunch spot for tourists and people who work in the building.

The incredible tech set up

The Today Show pulled out all the stops, tech wise. The crew set up in a huge storage room just off the atrium. There were seven robotic HD cameras set up in the space, each controlled by a dedicated operator via joystick. An eighth camera filmed the control room for behind-the-scenes shots.

Our camera angles

Zooming in on Agent King

The cameras were extremely well hidden in the space either behind tinted glass or hidden among plants on the balcony above.

We also hid speakers in the plants all around the seating area, so that the song could be amplified live during the mission.

Ann Curry wasn’t able to make it to the rehearsals, so we met her for the first time the morning of the mission. We worked in the back room and taught her the choreography, and Agent Brown helped her learn her part. Ann is not a singer, so she was nervous about getting her line just right. She was super easy to work with and very quickly became one of the team.

Agents in place at the start of the mission

We staged the mission a few times throughout the day to make sure we got the best possible take and camera coverage. The first take started around 12 Noon. We had to wait about a half hour between each take to make sure we had a new group of people dining around us.

Agent Hiller starts the song, “I love lunch / It’s half the way to dinner”

Heads started to turn

Agent Lindquist stands up and declares, “I love lunch!”

A man laughs at Agent Lindquist joining in

Agents Brown and Thomas stand up and join the song
“I like my chili with corn / I like my sandwich served warm”

Agent Hiller runs downstairs in time for his next line

Large crowds of tourists started watching from the balcony

“We’re gonna use our sporks now!”

Sporks (that I “borrowed” from a Taco Bell) held high in the air

“We’re major lunch dorks now!”

Laughing at our choreography

“There ain’t no shame in loving lunch!”

A member of the NYPD interrupts the singers

“You’re singing a song about lunch?”

“I love lunch toooooo!”

I think Agent Santangeli’s performance as the cop fooled the guy above, because he was laughing pretty hard when he figured out he was in on it.

“We all love lunch / We’re gonna sing it louder!”

“I’m eating clam chowder!”

Agent Curry was awesome. She nailed her line and then removed her hat to join the finale (she wore a hat to try to stay incognito lest she be spotted by fans before her part.)

With so many tourists there, it seemed like everyone had a camera

Applauding the finale

After the song ended our agents, including Agent Curry, sat back at their respective tables and continued eating lunch as if nothing had happened.

Telling stories afterwards in the back

We had a blast working on this mission. It was an excellent opportunity to get to work with The Today Show and their fancy equipment, and it was nice to have our work reach their massive television audience. Hopefully along the way we were able to deliver a very important message: There ain’t no shame in loving lunch.

Mission Accomplished

- The Today Show’s segment on this mission:

- Many more photos in higher resolution:
- Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set
- Agent Nicholson’s Flickr Set
- Our other musicals: Food Court Musical & Grocery Store Musical
- Buy the cast recording of Gutenberg! The Musical, also by Brown & King.

If this is your first time here:
-our nearly 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
-sign up for our RSS feed and Newsletter
-New Yorkers join our NY Agents list
-We have a book and a DVD for sale!

The Today Show aired a segment on Improv Everywhere today(Wednesday, November 4) during the 8:00 AM hour. It was a behind-the-scenes look at a brand new IE mission.

This new mission will appear on our site and YouTube channel later this week as soon as we finish putting the documentation together.

The mission is our third musical, in the style of the recent Grocery Store Musical and the classic Food Court Musical.

If you’ve arrived at this page because you saw the segment, welcome! Check out our other musicals linked above as well as our 8 years of ridiculous missions, archived to the right. And if you like what you see, consider buying our book!

We have some upcoming events in Spain and Munich. Tell your Spanish and German friends!

Spain

We’re staging the first Spanish language Mp3 Experiments in Barcelona, Madrid, Murcia, and Vigo. The experiments will take place simultaneously on Thursday, October 29 at 6:00 PM. Details are on this Facebook group. There are also Facebook events for the individual cities: Barcelona, Madrid, Murcia, and Vigo.

On Saturday, October 31, I will be giving a presentation at Artfutura at 8:00 PM at Edificio IMAGINA (Avenida Diagonal 127.) More details here.

Munich

I’ll be speaking at the PATHOS Transport Theater on Monday, November 2. Details are here. The talk and debate that will follow is with the Urbanauts’ project, and is part of the SPIELART Theater Festival.

On Tuesday, November 3 there will be a mission in Munich that is a collaboration with Improv Everywhere and the series of public SMS “swarms” taking place there. Details on how to sign up to participate are here.

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Song by Anthony King and Scott Brown (Gutenberg! The Musical!)

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. The mission was filmed with hidden robotic, lipstick, and wearable cameras. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our report below.

We had a couple of really excellent hidden camera reaction interviews that got cut from the final video. I put them together in an outtake video:

Produced by: Disposable Television
Director of Photography: TV Boy
Still Photos: Katie Sokoler

We’ve been wanting to stage a follow up to our Food Court Musical mission for quite some time. Unfortunately, we’re not able to produce a musical like that without some serious help in the budget department. (Food Court Musical was produced for a TV pilot.) Last month Trident Layers expressed interest in sponsoring an Improv Everywhere event (giving us creative control and using no product placement), and I knew this would be a great opportunity to create a new public musical.

Agent Brown rehearses with Agents Kayne and Rustin

I knew from the start that in order to make a worthy follow up to Food Court Musical, I would have to use the same songwriting team, Scott Brown & Anthony King. Not only are they longtime Improv Everywhere Agents, they’re also the authors of the hit Off-Broadway musical, Gutenberg! The Musical!. Their songs, both catchy and hilarious, have been stuck in my head for many a sleepless night.

The cast rehearsing

The cast were all actors I knew from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. We had to cast people who could really sing well, given the “slow jam” nature of the song. We had a rehearsal at a Manhattan studio where Agent Brown taught them the song, and Agent King worked on the choreography.

Rehearsing in the store

The next night we had a rehearsal in the grocery store itself. The store was part of a small chain called “Best Yet” and was located in Astoria, Queens. We chose it for its enormous size, at least by New York standards.

Our rehearsal was late at night, right before the store closed. There were very few people shopping at that hour, so we wouldn’t get a real sense of how crowded the produce section would be until the actual mission the next day. We worked with the store and got permission, enabling us to set up hidden cameras. We used some incredible robotic cameras that were operated via joystick in the control room in the back.

The control room

Speakers

We had planned to just use the store’s PA system to play the song. At the dress rehearsal we learned that grocery store speakers sound awful when the volume gets cranked up. The bass turned to fuzz. So we hid some additional speakers under the muffin table to give their system a boost.

In addition to the robotic cameras hidden on high ledges and in security domes, Agent Adams had a couple of camera rigs he could control out on the floor. We put a lipstick camera on the end of a cart and filled it with groceries. He was able to push it around the area while watching what he was filming on a little monitor.

Agent Adams also had a hidden camera in the strap of his bag, getting a great POV shot of anyone he talked to.

His main job was to get reactions from shoppers after the musical ended. He wore a hidden microphone and also wore an earpiece, enabling me to talk to him from the control room and say things like, “Try to get the woman you’re talking to to turn around; we’re only seeing the back of her head.”

Control room monitor

We staged the mission a few times throughout the day to make sure we got the best possible take and camera coverage. The first take started around 1 PM.

The first few moments were always hilarious. As soon as Agent Kayne started in with his “No, no, no’s,” heads began to turn.

When we did Food Court Musical, we had a pretty good idea of where our audience would be– sitting at the tables. This was more unpredictable. We had all of this choreography planned, but we had no idea if people would make way for us. The area got increasingly crowded as the day went on, which made it all the more fun. Often people found themselves right in the middle of the show.

A woman laughs as Agent Johnson passes with his basket

The woman above took her cart right through the center just as the chorus began. It was like she was a part of the choreography.

Agent Scott’s character was pregnant; she was not. We used a fake belly. She had shoppers coming up to her before and after the song asking when she was due, etc.

Agent Fernandez helps a customer find an item from the circular

Agents Brown and Fernandez played the two stock boy characters. This meant they spent most of the day walking around the floor in the store’s uniform. Of course they were constantly being stopped by customers asking for help.

Our musical was staged very close to the front door, so lots of folks would walk in mid-song. It was fun to see their reactions as they entered and were immediately confronted by our ridiculousness. We got so many wonderful reactions from everyone in the store throughout the afternoon. Queens is the most diverse county in the entire world, and it was really wonderful seeing all of the different types of people laugh and smile.

Letting a friend on the phone listen in

This guy was particularly excited (as seen in the video)

There was always a nice crowd near the registers looking over

The musical got even more absurd when Agent Brown carted Agent Fernandez down the aisle. Agent Fernandez delivered his passionate speech into a price gun, and the two starting spinning while the rest of the cast circled them, building up to the finale.

Before the shoppers could finish applauding, our actors were back to normal life. Those playing customers went back to shopping and those playing stock boys got back to work.

Agent Brown prices some fruit

Mission Accomplished

- Many more photos in higher resolution: Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set
- Our first musical: Food Court Musical
- Buy the original cast recording of Gutenberg! The Musical, also by Brown & King.

If this is your first time here:
-our nearly 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
-sign up for our RSS feed and Newsletter
-New Yorkers join our NY Agents list
-We have a book and a DVD for sale!

(View it larger on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams / “The Dogs Were Let Out by Whom?” song by Tyler Walker

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.

Digital Video: Agents Adams, Haskel, VanDamme
Digital Photography: Agents Nicholson, Sokoler

About a month ago I got an email from Keith Schweitzer from No Longer Empty. The group transforms vacant spaces into public art exhibitions and had an exhibition coming up in an abandoned factory in Brooklyn. He told me there were over 2,000 invisible dog leashes collecting dust on a shelf and wondered if I would like to put them to use. Yes, please.

The crowd

The factory space served as our meeting point. It’s an incredibly cool spot, and it was fun knowing that the leashes we would be using were created right there in the 1970s. The building was recently bought by a French artist, who is converting it into an art space.

It’s tough to say exactly how many participants showed up. We had over 3,000 RSVPs, and the crowd was so large that we filled up the giant warehouse and then had an enormous line of people waiting to get in winding around the block. I think it’s safe to say more than 2,000 showed up. Thankfully, we had enough leashes for everyone.

Explaining the mission

All of the participants showed up having no idea what they would be doing. I gave a quick talk explaining the history of the building and what the mission would entail, and then we passed out the leashes. Everyone was just told to spread out and go on a walk for an hour or so, behaving as if they were walking an actual dog.

Passing out leashes

We had a very diverse group of agents, with folks of all ages and races participating.

Three dogs pass at an intersection

The guy above told me his nickname was “Big Dog” and that’s why he had the “BEWARE OF THE DOG” bumper sticker. It certainly seemed appropriate for the mission.

There were so many great reactions throughout the day. With 2,000 people spread out all over the neighborhood, it was impossible to document them all. Most people laughed or smiled. Some ignored us. Others got irritated when no one would tell them what was going on. Typical dialogue went about like this:

Stranger: Where did you get that?
Agent: What? My dog? At a shelter.
Stranger: No, the leash.
Agent: At a pet store.
Stranger: Ahh! No one will tell me what is happening!

Everyone had their own theory about what must be happening. The two most common I overheard were that we were promoting shelter dogs and that we were protesting dog poop.

Some of the best reactions came from folks in cars. Anyone driving on Court or Smith Streets would have seen hundreds of dogs in a very short span of time. Lots of people rolled down their windows to shout questions. One guy driving an MTA bus even pulled over, opened his door, and asked what was going on with a laugh.

The best reactions came from those who played along and Yes Anded us. Lots of people really got into it and stopped to join the fun. “Oh what breed is he?” “Can I pet him?” “He’s so cute!”

There were lots of kids on the streets, and it was fun to see their reactions. Several parents played along, and some kids were a little confused when their mom or dad claimed to see the dog as well.

We also had lots of children working as agents.

Apparently this kid’s dog climbed the fence!

The Dutton family all participated together

The most fun part of the mission was running into real dogs. I think it’s the first time we’ve ever confused animals during an Improv Everywhere mission. I loved seeing their reactions.

Lot of participants visited local establishments along their walk. Bars and cafes were soon filled with invisible dogs, at least the ones that allowed dogs were.

Grabbing a drink while keeping the dogs outside

The pet store on Smith had some visitors

Someone purchased a bone for the dogs

A dog kennel quickly put up the above sign on their door after getting a few rings from folks wanting to discuss lodging for their invisible dogs. I can’t say I blame them. Other establishments did all they could to attract the dogs and their owners into spending their money.

The Jake Walk bar was especially generous

Those waiting tables in bars and cafes were treated to a steady stream of passing dogs. Many had to go outside to get a better look.

Picking up invisible poop

Of course, dog ownership is not all fun and games.

Chasing pigeons

Going in two directions

Sniffing trash

Taking a leak

Chasing a bike

Agent Zalowitz takes a spill

Agent Lathan was a dog walker

Agent Lindquist and I had a very pleasant Sunday stroll with our new invisible Basset Hound puppy.

After a couple of hours, agents started slowly returning to the meeting point to turn in their leashes. Many were sad to tell their invisible dogs goodbye. It was really fun to do a mission that was so spread out, both in time and in space. It felt like we really blanketed the whole neighborhood with our silliness.

Mission Accomplished

Many more photos in higher resolution:
- Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set
- Agent Nicholson’s Flickr Set
- More photos at No Longer Empty
- Learn more about the history of 51 Bergen Street.

Stream or Download “The Dogs Were Let Out by Whom?” by Tyler Walker:

You can read the Agent Reports from folks who were involved in the comments on this post.

If this is your first time here:
-our nearly 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
-sign up for our RSS feed and Newsletter
-New Yorkers join our NY Agents list
-We have a book and a DVD for sale!

Thanks to the over 2,000 people who participated in today’s mission in Brooklyn. If you were there, please leave an Agent Report in the comments. I know there are thousands of funny stories waiting to be told. Also leave links to any photos you might have taken. We will be posting photos from our official photographers later today, and we hope to have our video up in a week or so.

Agent Nicholson’s Photos
Agent Sokoler’s Photos

For those of you who were not there– we passed out over 2,000 “invisible dog” leashes and had everyone go for a nice Sunday walk in Brooklyn. If you were anywhere within a one mile radius of the Bergen St. stop in Cobble Hill today, you would have seen all types of folks very seriously walking their very silly dogs.

The invisible dog toy was invented in the 1970s in the Brooklyn factory that served as our meeting point today. No Longer Empty and The Invisible Dog art space were nice enough to loan us the vintage dogs for an afternoon of fun.

Thanks again to everyone who participated!

(View it larger on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams / score by Tyler Walker

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.

See this image in high resolution.

Digital Video: Agents Adams, Yoshida, Garofalo
Digital Photography: Agent Sokoler
Portrait Photography: Agent Nicholson

This mission was tons of fun for me personally, because it really reminded me of the early days of Improv Everywhere. Those first couple of years we did so many simple ideas on the subway all with the simple goal of making people laugh and smile. It’s great to work on projects with thousands of people, but it’s also fun to see what you can do with just a couple of folks and a few props.

Agents Nicholson, Duarte, Martini

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.

Filming my intro

For our roles as the photographer and the photographer’s assistant, Agent Nicholson and I wanted to try to dress on the cheesy side, to emulate the yearbook photographers we remembered from high school. I shaved my beard and left a ridiculous mustache and paired it with a $7.99 short sleeve dress shirt I found on the K-Mart clearance rack. Agent Nicholson wore a matching blue shirt, matching khakis, and a sport coat.

Setting up

After getting organized we took to the 6 Train (clearly by now Improv Everywhere’s favorite train) and set up our studio. We clamped a blue backdrop sheet to the polls, and set up our stool, tripod, and flashes. We set up at the end of the car and did our best to not make things too cramped. Still, it was a comically small space for a photo studio.

Riders gawk as we set up

People enter at the first stop

Things got crowded pretty quickly

My main job as the photographer’s assistant was to inform everyone who entered the car about our project. We claimed that we had been hired by the MTA to make a 2009/2010 yearbook of the entire subway system. “Today we’re on car number 9 of the 6 train,” I said, “We’ll here all day, and we’ll move to car number 8 tomorrow. Then on to the next line. It’s a long process.” Making a complete yearbook is a pretty absurd idea if you really think about it– over 4.3 million people ride the subway each day in New York.

Laughing

We weren’t sure how easy it would be to get people to sit for a photo. We were pleasantly surprised by how willing most people were to be a part of it. We ended up not really needing our “ringer” agents more than once or twice– the stool was almost always occupied.

Signing our bogus MTA form

We took down everyone’s email addresses after their photo and, as promised, emailed them a link to download their portrait. You can’t beat that free service!

As you would expect, the train ride was pretty bumpy. A few riders opted to hold Agent Nicholson’s hand as they walked over to the stool. Some held on to the nearby pole during their shot. We had to work hard to keep our umbrella flash stands and the tripod from falling over at every twist and turn, but it added to the absurdity of our studio.

Agent Nicholson snaps a photo of Agent Sokoler snapping a photo

I had a mirror on hand in case anyone needed it before posing. Agent Nicholson ended up gaff-taping his tripod to the pole.

It was fun watching people make the decision to participate. The guy above was amused by what we were doing but told me he definitely didn’t want to pose. After watching a few others do it, he changed his mind.

A more serious pose

While Agent Nicholson snapped away, I continued my job of recruiting new subjects. I couldn’t talk everyone into it but most everyone was polite and fun to talk to.

This woman was nice, but told me she was sure she didn’t want her photo taken. A moment later she was smiling as someone else posed, and then looked at me, shrugged, and sat down herself.

Checking the mirror

Once we reached 125th Street, we got out and rode the train back down town, repeating the mission a second time.

This woman’s reaction was great. She was definitely taken off guard by our studio.

But just a few minutes later, she came over and posed.

I noticed a woman on the other side of the car who was putting a little bit of makeup on. She hadn’t volunteered yet, but I could tell she was quietly preparing. I called her out on it, and she laughed and walked over to the stool.

Almost all of the people who did not want to participate were still able to let their guard down and listen to our pitch with a smile. The woman facing the door in the photo above was probably the only person we really failed to reach in any way. She walked directly to the door and faced away from us for several stops, doing her best to completely ignore us. Oh well.

Towards the end of our second ride, there was a family of five who posed for us.

It was exciting to get an infant in our yearbook!

As the train approached the last stop, Agent Nicholson and I posed for a few photos in our studio before taking it down.

It was a super fun afternoon. While conventional wisdom would have you believe that New Yorkers are cynical and gruff– we had no trouble finding lots of fun people willing to get on board with two lame looking dudes in cheap blue dress shirts. You can see the full set of Agent Nicholson’s portraits here.

I remember when I first moved to the city eight years ago, I was blown away by the diversity on the subway. You can be on a train car in Queens and look around to realize that every single rider has a unique ethnicity. It was fun to capture that diversity with these photos, and to also show how much in common we all have. We may have different backgrounds, but we’re all in the same damn yearbook!

Mission Accomplished

Many more photos in higher resolution:
Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set
Agent Nicholson’s portraits

If this is your first time here:
-our other 85+ missions can be seen here: Missions
-sign up for our RSS feed and Newsletter
-New Yorkers join our NY Agents list
-We have a book and a DVD for sale!

We are staging an Mp3 Experiment at the All Points West Festival on Saturday, August 1 in Liberty State Park (a 10-minute ferry ride from Lower Manhattan.) You must be attending the festival (which is a ticketed event) to participate. Come for Improv Everywhere, stay for Tool!

If your festival, school, company, etc, is interested in hiring us to stage an Mp3 Experiment at your event, please get in touch.

We are visiting Cologne and Rotterdam over the next ten days and will be organizing at least one mission in each city. If you live near either city and want to participate, here is the information:

Cologne

Please send an email to christine.nippe@koelnischerkunstverein.de. You will receive a message where and when the action will happen. It’s going to happen on Saturday, July 11. The performance is part of the education programme Open Source/// at Kölnischer Kunstverein.

Rotterdam

Missions will take place between July 13 and 16. To join the missions, apply by becoming member of http://improv010everywhere.hyves.nl/ You will then automatically receive more detailed information about time, date and locations. Or, send an email to improv.rotterdam@gmail.com with ‘request information’ in your header (and you will receive detailed info). We have been invited by The Arts Office Rotterdam, made possible with the support of Your World 2009 (Rotterdam , Youth Capital of Europe 2009).

And if you don’t live anywhere near these cities, but want to invite us to your festival, university, etc., let us know!

watch it larger on YouTube
edited by Matt Adams

For our Sixth Annual Mp3 Experiment, over 2,000 people of all ages downloaded the same mp3, pressed play at the same time, and had a blast together. This year’s event took place on Roosevelt Island, a thin strip of land in the middle of the East River. We would like to thank Yahoo! for their continued partnership with The Mp3 Experiment series. Their support helped make this project truly awesome (1,400 inflatable weapons wouldn’t have been possible without them!) Enjoy the video recap first, and then check out the full photos and report.

Original Music and Sound Design: Agent Walker
Digital Video: Agents Adams, Shafer, Haskel, Person
Digital Photography: Agents Sokoler, Fountain, Chigirev, Hambly, Liu
Lone Wolf: Agent Scordelis

If you’ve never heard of The Mp3 Experiment series, you can read about it here: The Mp3 Experiments.

This year’s location was Roosevelt Island. It’s a really beautiful place, situated in between Manhattan and Queens on the East River. There are about 12,000 residents on the island. To participate in this year’s experiment, agents were given these instructions. Everyone synchronized their watch to the clock on the instruction page, downloaded the mp3, wore a red, blue, yellow, or green shirt, and then traveled to the island. At exactly 4:00 PM, everyone would press play from wherever they happened to be on the island.

It’s always fun to spot other participants in the hours leading up to the event. Everyone was told to wear red, blue, green, or yellow shirts. It’s pretty easy to figure out who will be participating.

By 3:30, the crowd started to get really huge. There is one subway stop on the island, and each arriving F train brought tons of colorful folks.

Participants exiting the subway station

One participant managed to find a quiet spot all to himself

We had a wonderfully diverse group of people show up again this year. All ages, races, and backgrounds were present. We had newborns, children, high school kids, college students, 20/30somethings, parents, and grandparents, all playing together.

Mom, Dad, Son, Dog

I always enjoy participating alone and try to sit away from anyone I know personally. I took a seat on the west coast of the island right next to a family who had a red-shirted dog with them. He was awesome!

The Brown twins (Human Mirror agents!)

4:00 arrived, and participants scattered all over the island pressed play. After the awesome opening song by Tyler Walker, Steve (the omnipotent “voice from above”/narrator of every Mp3 Experiment) introduced himself and led us in some light breathing and stretching.

Participants stretch their groins

Condo residents look down at the masses on their courtyard

Steve had us jump to our feet like popping popcorn and throw our hands in the air.

Jumping up from the ground

A woman throws her hands in the air in reaction to the field of participants doing the same

Next up was the traditional geography test. Participants were asked to point to the sites of some of the past Mp3 Experiments and then towards Nicaragua, the direction of which many sadly haven’t learned yet!

Disagreement

Next up was the “audience interaction” phase of the experiment. Participants were instructed to high five as many non-participants as they could find. Part of the fun of the Mp3 Experiment each year is seeing the looks on the faces of those who happen upon us and have no idea what is going on.

This guy got MANY high fives

Some folks even went into the stores and cafes on the island to give high fives. The next task was to form single file lines behind non participants, making them an unknowing leader in a short game of Follow the Leader.

On my section of the island, there were a half-dozen really funny lines of people. It was hilarious walking on one side of the street in a giant line and seeing another line across the street walking in the opposite direction. Many of the non-participants were laughing at the other lines, while not realizing they had a hundred people lined up behind them as well!

Two lines formed behind two public safety officers

At first, this guy didn’t realize what was behind him

Thumbs up!

The next activity was square dancing. Participants dosey-doed with as many people as they could while a silly square dance song played. It was fun constantly switching partners, and the laughter was infectious.

Steve then called for “Nap time!” Everyone dropped to the ground at the same instant and took a fifteen second power nap.

Notice the one woman on the bench

It was time for everyone to take a walk together to the southern tip of the island. Steve went to grab his favorite soda while his estranged cousin Dave entertained everyone with a story that took place on Roosevelt Island many years ago (or not.) You can listen to the story (written by Tyler Walker) here: Peters and the Wolves.

As everyone began merging together on the paths on either side of the island, it started to become clear just how many people were participating.

It was about a fifteen minute walk to get to southern tip (longer for those who were in the back.) Participants walked along the river, enjoying Manhattan skyline views. They entered the gates to Southpoint Park and passed the old, abandoned Renwick smallpox hospital.

The crowd then followed a short path over the hill and found themselves in a beautiful green space with stunning views in every direction.

Southpoint Park (minus our participants)

People watch as 2,000+ participants arrive in the park

A picnic is interrupted

The park was mostly empty. I’m always surprised at how few people are there, considering how cool it is. There were a few people milling about, and a group of folks sitting in the grass. Hopefully they enjoyed the spectacle. If not, we were gone 20 minutes later anyway.

After everyone had arrived, a game of freeze tag broke out, with the different colors taking turns being “it.”

After all of that running around, it was time for another power nap!

It’s really tough to show just how many people were at the experiment. Unfortunately we didn’t have access to any tall buildings across the river, so we couldn’t get a proper overhead shot. The pictures from the ground level don’t quite capture how ridiculously packed the park was.

Steve announced it was time for a dance party, but first he had to tell a couple of secrets. He had the red/yellow and blue/green groups take their headphones off in turn so he could speak privately to the other group. Blue/green were told to dance like they were from the 1920s and red/yellow were told to dance like they were from the 2020s. What followed was a 2,000+ person dance party for flappers and robots.

Party like it’s 2029

For the finale, Steve introduced everyone to a new game, Bats vs. Hammers. The red/yellow team headed to the northern part of the field and received 700 inflatable bats while the blue/green team went to the southern part of the field to receive 700 inflatable hammers. I figured 1,400 weapons would be enough, but hundreds of people didn’t get a weapon and had to participate in spirit.

Rob blows up his bat

The red/yellow team

The blue/green team

Agent Phire leads his team into battle

Agent Mike the Man charges with his hammer

Steve interrupted the fight suddenly. “Why must we hit each other with inflatable objects every Mp3 Experiment?” he said. He told the crowd that while they were fighting, the Lone Wolf (a character mentioned in the story they heard earlier) had made his way to the park. It was time to unite against a common enemy! Steve had everyone remove their colored shirts to reveal their white shirt underneath. Everyone was now on the same team!

Participants wave their shirts overhead as they prepare to fight the Lone Wolf

Through a cloud of smoke, the Lone Wolf appeared on the staircase at the southern tip of the island.

A couple of thousand people beat on the wolf (he was wisely wearing a cup.)

The attack on the wolf captured by someone across the river in Queens (via)

The Lone Wolf is dead!

Steve instructed everyone to celebrate their victory in slow motion. While some Chariots of Fire-ish music played, the masses high fived and hugged each other at quarter speed.

The dog wasn’t so good at slow motion

The experiment came to an end as the crowd all shouted “goodbye!” to Steve in unison.

We were blown away by how many people came out to participate. We can’t thank you enough for supporting Improv Everywhere and coming out to play with us. It’s just so cool to see all sorts of people young and old getting together to do something so ridiculous, just for the fun of it.

Unfortunately we were not able to tour The Mp3 Experiment this year, but hopefully we will again one day (The 2008 tour was so much fun.) We do enjoy bringing The Mp3 Experiment to new places, so if you know a festival or university that wants to hire us to stage an experiment in your area, let us know. We’ve recently staged experiments at festivals in Berlin and Australia.

And if you’re a fan of Improv Everywhere, show your support by buying or new book!

Agent Erde poses with Agent Todd and Agent Scordelis (still in wolf costume) after getting his book signed following The Mp3 Experiment

Finally, I just had to share this photo I randomly found on Facebook, clearly taken a bit later on in the evening.

Mission Accomplished.

PHOTOS
Agent Sokoler’s Photos
Agent Fountain’s Photos
Agent Hambly’s Photos
Agent Chigirev’s Photos
Agent Liu’s Photos
Roosevelt L!VE’s Photos

AUDIO
You can download some of the songs from The Mp3 Experiment on Agent Walker’s MySpace page.

AGENT REPORTS
Check out first hand reports from participants on the Recap Page. Add your own report if you were there.

Read David Pogue’s write up of the event for The New York Times

Agent Small did a secret sequel of Subway Art Gallery Opening in the F train stop for participants to see on their way home. Check out her photos of the project.

HIRE US
We have also toured The Mp3 Experiment around the world to places like Berlin, Germany and Adelaide, Australia. If you’re part of an organization (festival, university, arts group) that is interested in commissioning an Mp3 Experiment, get in touch via our contact form.

If this is your first time here:
-our other 85+ missions can be seen here: Missions
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-We have a book and a DVD for sale!