For our latest mission, we converted a New York City subway car into a late night talk show set. Host Pat Cassels (CollegeHumor) interviewed random commuters from his desk as bandleader Evan Gregory (The Gregory Brothers) kept the car rocking.

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

CREDITS
Created and Directed by: Charlie Todd
Video Produced and Edited by: Deverge (Alan Aisenberg, Ilya Smelansky, Andrew Soltys)
Senior Producer for Improv Everywhere: Matt Adams
Music:: Tyler Walker
Shot by: Matt Adams, Denis Cardineau, Ilya Smelansky, Dave Szarejko
Sound: Tony Leonardo
Photography: Ari Scott – Flickr set (photo credit for all photos on this page.)
Production Assistants: Sam Grant, Michael Tannenbaun, Ryan Wolff
Cast: Craig Benzine, Pat Cassels, Evan Gregory, Charlie Todd

We’ve done dozens of ridiculous projects on the subway over the years. We’ve staged a scene from Star Wars, brought 50 redheads onto the same car, put 15 pairs of identical twins across from each other, set up three beds for people to sleep on their way home, thrown birthday parties and marriage proposals, given out dollar bills, and played BINGO, just to name a few off the top of my head. The subway continues to be our favorite stage in New York City. I was excited to take our subway missions to the next level with the project, which I think was the biggest transformation we’ve ever done in terms of the amount of set pieces and props used.

We met at the Deverge production office where the team set up a to scale subway car set with chairs and polls. We ran through the show a few times, making sure everyone knew what props and set pieces they were in charge of setting up. We wanted to set up the show as quickly as possible. Agents Pat Cassels and Evan Gregory also had a chance to rehearse their lines.

We carried everything over to the N train on 28th street and waited on the platform for the last car on the train. We staged this at 9 PM on a Sunday night when knew the trains would be mostly empty. At times it was too empty, but this project wouldn’t work on a crowded train. Our set would be way too annoying. Late at night on a Sunday it would be a welcome diversion.

Agent Ilya Smelansky custom-built the talk show desk with the exact measurements of the N train in mind. He knew down the the inch what would fit on the train. We bought a white IKEA chair off of Craigslist for our guests, and custom created the backdrop with some fabric and paint. When the doors opened our team sprung into action putting everything in place: lights, gopro cameras, coffee mugs with the show logo, and a big talk show microphone. The train was pretty empty, but those that were there got on board pretty quickly with the idea as I invited them in with my producer character.

People reacting as we set up.

Agent Craig “Wheezy Waiter” Benzine served as our stage manager, holding up applause signs for the crowd.

When we first got on the train, the guy pictured above was asleep right next to where we were setting up. He was using his jacket as a pillow and was completely passed out. We set up the entire set around him, and then when the music started he woke up. The look on his face when he realized a talk show set had magically materialized around him as he slept was priceless. He immediately wanted to be a guest on the show, but then later got cold feet about it.

The desk and mugs.

We covered all of the ads in the subway car with ads for our show.

Bandleader Evan Gregory and the Downtown Sound starts the show.

Your host, Pat Caaaaaaaassels! Agent Cassels exited the car in the middle and ran down the platform to the last door to make his entrance. He started the show with 4 monologue jokes, all of which were about the subway. Agent Benzine held up cue cards with the jokes on them.

At each new stop, more people would get on the train, and I would welcome them to the show and let them know there were seats available.

Even the people who sat on the far side of the car still helped out by clapping when the applause sign was up.

I loved this woman’s reaction. It was at Times Square and there were stairs right by our car. So people were running down the stairs trying to make it onto the train and our door was the closet one. They didn’t have an opportunity to see what was going on until they were already inside.

Although she was surprised when she walked in, she ended up enjoying the show.

These guys saw us from the adjacent car through the windows and decided to switch cars. As soon as I saw them coming through the doors, I shouted, “You guys are the next guest on the show!” They got really excited and we interviewed both of them right away.

This was a German couple from Hamburg, visiting New York on vacation. They got on at Times Square and ended up staying on the train for a half hour. At first, they weren’t interested in being guests, but after watching several others, the guy eventually agreed to do it. He was great!

The crowd cheers.

I went back and forth on how to stage this, thinking it might be fun to have actors or even real celebrities as the guests on the show. Ultimately I decided it was way more fun to interview random New Yorkers on the train. This was a talk show on the train, for the train.

Towards the end of the night a couple got on the train who had just come from a party. They were in great spirits and immediately got on board. The woman gave a great interview.

All in all it was a great night on the train. At one point we experienced a train delay of about 10 minutes. Usually train delays are the absolute worst. Everyone on the train starts rolling their eyes and complaining to themselves. But during this delay, the show kept on going, and everyone had a super fun distraction. It was definitely the most fun I’ve ever had on a stalled train.

Mission Accomplished

Related Videos:

Our No Pants Subway Ride series!

Photos:

Full set of photos from photographer Ari Scott: Flickr Link

Music:

Listen to the full Theme to Late Night Underground, written by Tyler Walker:

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For our latest mission we posed as city workers providing a ridiculous solution to the “texting and walking” epidemic in New York. Our team of 60 participants divided into two groups: Half were “Seeing Eye People” wearing orange vests, and half were individuals texting and walking, connected to the Seeing Eye People via leashes. The Seeing Eye People claimed to be part of a Department of Transportation pilot program.

Later in the day, we staged a second version of the project where our Seeing Eye People went up to real people texting and walking on the street and offered the service. Here are the results:

This project was a collaboration with our friends at BuzzFeed.

We got tons of great reactions throughout the day. Most people laughed, though more than a few completely bought it. It really is ridiculous how many of us walk and text in New York! You can’t walk more than a block without spotting someone doing it.

Mission Accomplished

CREDITS
Created by: BuzzFeed & Improv Everywhere
Directed by: Charlie Todd
Produced and Edited by: Deverge
Music by: Tyler Walker
Producers: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Chris Baker, Jeff Greenspan, Mike Lacher, Andrew Soltys, Charlie Todd
Shot by: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Denis Cardineau, Ilya Smelansky, Chloe Smolkin, Andrew Soltys
Photography: Joseph Lin (photo credit for all photos on this page)
Production Assistant: Michael Tannenbaum
Principle Cast: Mikala Bierma, Dan Black, Dustin Drury, Don Fanelli, Keith Haskel, Cody Lindquist, Ari Voukydis

Watch our previous absurd street safety mission, The Tourist Lane:

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[Watch the video first and then read the spoilers below]

If you haven’t figured it out by now, the Reverse Times Square mission was our annual April Fool’s hoax. We did not actually get 2,000 people to go backwards in Times Square. While a cool idea in theory, we’re pretty sure it would be dangerous to ask thousands of people to walk backwards through an area filled with cars… not to mention how rude it would be to other pedestrians on the sidewalks we’d bump into.

The video was shot and edited by Cameron Sun, who also shot our Quadruplets hoax last year. Almost the entire video is reversed footage, often composited together with normal footage. One shot, for example, contains cars going forward in the foreground, while random New Yorkers are going backwards in reversed footage in the background.

About twenty Improv Everywhere agents helped us shoot the video, providing some of the reaction shots and some of the more unrealistic moments. We staged shots with just a few of the Improv Everywhere performers were walking backwards while reacting, and the reversed the footage to make it seem like everyone else was going backwards as they walked forwards. We intended the absurd moments at the end to let everyone in on the joke, but dozens of folks seemed to fall for it anyway (surely they started commenting or tweeting before reaching the end!)

As a group that puts on pranks year-round, it doesn’t make sense for us to release a normal video on April Fool’s Day. We use the day as an opportunity to play a prank on our YouTube Subscribers.

A huge thanks to Cameron Sun for shooting and editing this project. Check out his YouTube channel to see his special effects driven comedy videos.

Check out our previous April Fool’s videos:
- Quadruplets

- Jar Jar Subway Car
- No Underwear Subway Ride
- Best Funeral Ever

Over 2,000 people move backwards through Times Square, making it look like time is going in reverse to unsuspecting tourists and New Yorkers. Participants met in Bryant Park to receive instructions and synchronize their watches before heading over to Times Square and blending in with the crowd. At exactly 3:15 PM, participants began moving backwards for exactly five minutes.

This project is in the tradition of previous Improv Everywhere missions Frozen Grand Central, The Mute Button, and Slo-mo Home Depot.

UPDATE: There is a very important update to this project that you should read after you’ve seen the video.

Video edited by: Cameron Sun
Shot by: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Denis Cardineau, Andrew Soltys, Cameron Sun

Normally we have lots of photos of our mission posted on these reports, but it’s impossible to take a photo of someone going backwards! So we didn’t have any photographers on board for this one. I think the video tells the story really well. Watch and enjoy!

Mission Accomplished

Recent Missions:

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The feature-length documentary film about Improv Everywhere, We Cause Scenes, is having its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas! Director Matt Adams has done an amazing job telling our story. I saw the film for the first time last week, and I can’t wait to share it with all of you. If you are in Austin for SXSW please come out and see the film! The film is screening four times, complete schedule here.

Also, we are staging an Mp3 Experiment project in Austin the weekend of the premiere! RSVP on Facebook for the Mp3 Experiment Austin.

Stay tuned for more announcements about future film screenings in other cities.

We found a four-foot tall ledge in Midtown Manhattan and decided to put a suicide jumper on it. A police officer, fireman, and the man’s wife and co-worker all arrive on the scene to talk him down. This is a newly remastered video from a project we did in 2005, more info below.

Actors: Will Hines, Ben Rodgers, Eliza Skinner, Nate Shelkey, Alan Corey
Shot by: Chris Kula, Kevin Cragg
Photography: Chad Nicholson

This 2005 mission is the fourth in a series of remastered videos we are producing from our archives to commemorate our 10th anniversary. We are going through our original tapes and updating old classics with higher quality video and audio, as well as adding additional never-before-seen footage. Due to file size restrictions in the early days of YouTube, many of these videos have only been seen in extremely low 240p quality. The remastered Suicide Jumper video dramatically improves the video quality and removes the previously used copyrighted music, allowing the video to be seen in some countries for the first time. The original mission report is still online for your reading pleasure.

Look for more remastered videos in the future, including some that have never been posted to YouTube, and stay tuned for our regular schedule of brand new missions throughout the year.

On the evening of Grand Central Terminal’s 100th birthday, 135 Improv Everywhere participants staged a surprise performance in the grand windows on the terminal’s west side. Equipped with a variety of LED flashlights and camera flashes, performers appeared suddenly and unannounced along three floors of windows, creating a shower of light for the commuters and tourists below.

This project took place at the invitation of MTA Arts for Transit as part of the centennial celebration of Grand Central Terminal.

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

Video produced by: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Andrew Soltys; Edited by Deverge
Shot by: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Denis Cardineau, Ilya Smelansky, Chloe Smolkin, Andrew Soltys, Spencer Thielmann
Sound: Alan Kudan
Photography: Chad Nicholson (flickr set), Arin Sang-urai (flickr set) Katie Sokoler (flickr set)
Production Assistant: Dave Szarejko
Lighting Consultant: Dan Green
Equipment: Thanks to Kessler for outfitting the video team with a slider for capturing Grand Central in motion. For more about the gear, check out their site.

It was almost exactly six years ago when we staged our Frozen Grand Central mission. 32 Million views later, it’s our most popular of all time. So I was thrilled when Arts for Transit approached me and asked if I would be interested in staging something in the Grand Central Terminal on its 100th birthday. While scouting the terminal with them, I noticed someone walking on the catwalks. I had never even realized the catwalks were there. They aren’t open to the public and are only used by employees to get from one side of the building to the other without having to use the elevators. The sight of one person walking by was striking. I figured a large group of people would be even better.

This project ended up having similarities to many past Improv Everywhere missions. We took over windows in Look Up More. We experimented with flashlights in The Mp3 Experiment Eight. And of course it would be the same location as Frozen Grand Central.

The performers arrived not knowing what the project would be. They were just told to dress in black, bring a flashlight and a camera, and meet at a table outside Grand Central. Once they arrived they were escorted up into a green room and given a special LED flashlight that could do white, red, and green light.

The choreography was all delivered via a prerecorded narrator. We placed wireless speakers in the catwalks and broadcast the narration track to them simultaneously. Agent Tyler Walker recorded the instructions: “On my cue, everyone turn your red light on. 1, 2, 3, GO.” We had exactly one rehearsal in the green room before heading out to the performance.

The performance photos:

Agent Alan “Ace$Thugg” Corey had a special dance solo. Agent Brian Fountain and Agent Sadia Corey pointed their lights at him while he danced as the rest of the windows went to black. Agent Ace$Thugg had a similar solo in the upper right hand window for Look Up More eight years ago.

The performers’ perspective.

The performance could also be viewed outside the terminal on Vanderbilt Avenue.

Mission Accomplished

Related Missions:

Prior Art:

Fenestrations by Stephan Kloplowitz

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On Sunday, January 13th, 2013 tens of thousands of people took off their pants on subways in 60 cities in 25 countries around the world. In New York, our 12th Annual No Pants Subway Ride had over 4,000 participants, spread out over six meeting points and ten subway lines. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos.

No Pants Subway Ride 2013 Generals:
(top L-R) Dave, Eng, Matt Shafeek, Zach Linder, Mike Fiedler, Jaime Linn
(bottom L-R) Alex Scordelis, Jesse Good, Cody Lindquist, Charlie Todd, Lauren Reeves
Photo by Brian Fountain

Video produced by: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Andrew Soltys; Edited by Deverge
Shot by: Matt Adams, Alan Aisenberg, Justin Ayers, Denis Cardineau, Kris Knight, Nate Russell, Ilya Smelansky, Chloe Smolkin, Andrew Soltys, Cameron Sun, Spencer Thielmann
Digital Photography: See our official photographers’ flickr sets here.
Volunteer Car Captains: Rich Lovejoy, Mark Levy, Chris Polansky, Jeffrey Kornberg, Matt Pavlovich, Joshua Jabbour, Jennifer Pilalas, Pete Goldstein, Will Choy, Boris Khaykin, Dimon Hunter, Starr Kendall, Dave Siegel, David Silver, Lesley Robin, Chris Schell

If you’re unfamiliar with this event, you might want to first read our history of The No Pants Subway Ride. Since this is the 12th year we’ve done this, there’s not too much to report other than it was another awesome time. Below are a small selection of photos that jumped out to me as being fun and new, compared to previous editions. Enjoy!

This Queens resident won the award for “oldest participant” at 82-years-old at the Downtown meeting point.

Agent Richard Lovejoy, who was at the original ride in 2002 and won the award at the Downtown meeting point for most rides.

Awesome to have someone from the military participate!

This year China joined the No Pants Subway Ride with rides in Hong Kong and Shanghai (pictured above.)

This dapper gentleman participated in Philadelphia.

Mexico City had 2,500 participants at their ride!

Thanks to our editing team that got the video done in under 24 hours. These guys didn’t sleep.

Once again the No Pants Subway Ride happened around the world, with many cities making their debut this year. You can find links to photos and articles in the comments on this page: Regional Agent Reports.

We announce the date of the No Pants Subway Ride every year in early December. If you’re interested in participating in 2014 in New York or anywhere else in the world, sign up for our mailing list, follow us on twitter, and like us on Facebook so you’ll be the first to hear about it.

Mission Accomplished.

- To see links to full flickr sets of photos from all of our official photographers and to read comments from participants, check out this page.

- Also check out our complete history of The No Pants Subway Ride.

- See our new video telling the story of the first No Pants Subway Ride:

And here’s last year’s video:

If this is your first time here:
-our over 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
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Photo by Brian Fountain

The 12th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place today in New York in mild 52 degree weather. Over 4,000 riders met at meeting points spread out all over the city and converged on Union Square. The event also happened in in 60 cities in over 25 countries around the world. Thanks so much to all who participated! Leave a comment and let us know how it went for you.

We will be updating this page later tonight with more links to photos from our official photographers. The official video should be ready very soon. Subscribe on YouTube to be sure you see it.

Photos:
- Downtown (1 Train) photos by Cecilia Senocak
- Brooklyn (R Train) photos by Brian Fountain
- Downtown (6 Train) photos by Arin Sang-urai
- Central Park (C Train) photos by David Bledsoe
- Downtown (N Train) photos by Juan Zapata
- Bushwick (L Train) photos by Gabe Chai
- Astoria (N Train) photos by Kien Quan
- Flushing (7 Train) photos by Alvin Mendoza
- Central Park (C Train) photos by Heather-Ann Schaeffner
- Central Park (1 Train) photos by Andres Catana

Be sure to sign up for our mailing list so you’ll stay updated on future events like this. You can also like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

Last year’s video:

The story of the first No Pants Subway Ride in 2002 in New York City:

Check out the complete history of The No Pants! Subway Ride with videos of past years.

No Pants Subway Ride 2013 Generals:
(top L-R) Dave, Eng, Matt Shafeek, Zach Linder, Mike Fiedler, Jaime Linn
(bottom L-R) Alex Scordelis, Jesse Good, Cody Lindquist, Charlie Todd, Lauren Reeves
Photo by Brian Fountain

No Pants Subway Ride in Hong Kong, January 13, 2013

If you participated in one of the 60 regional No Pants Subway Rides today in over 25 countries across the world, leave us an agent report in the comments below letting us know how it went. Post links to any photos and videos from your town’s event as well. Let us know how many people participated and what the temperature was. (If it hasn’t happened in your time zone yet, see here for details.)

Be sure to sign up for our mailing list so you’ll stay updated on future global events like this. You can also like us on Facebook, follow us on twitter and subscribe to our YouTube channel.

New York City’s 2012 No Pants Subway Ride:

The story of the first No Pants Subway Ride in 2002 in New York City:

Check out the complete history of The No Pants! Subway Ride with videos of past years.