IMPROV EVERYWHERE: MP3 EXPERIMENT 6
Three years in a row my friend Sean has sent me an email about a “No Pants Subway Ride” he was going to partake in, and three years in a row I flaked on him. Each time I’ve ended up watching the resulting video from Improv Everywhere, and vowed next year I’m actually going to make it out to the event. I may have missed the opportunity again this past winter, but luckily this weekend is going to offer me at least a partial shot at redemption.
Improv Everywhere is a New York based comedy troupe that specializes in public displays using participants (often fans of the site who answer open casting calls) doing outrageous things in otherwise pedestrian situations. Some of my favorite videos they’ve done include “Frozen Grand Central“, “Food Court Musical” and “Star Wars Subway Car” (and “Tourist Lane“, I wanted to stop at three but I couldn’t leave this one out!). What it comes down to is they’ve created a youtube page that is essentially my go to procrastination tool (and there are a lot of great ones out there!), and the millions of hits their videos receive prove I’m not the only one.
This weekend, Improv Everywhere is going to be doing another large scale event similar to their “No Pants Subway Ride” called the MP3 Experiment (see above video). This is the 6th time they’ve done this annual prank and the crowd that shows up each year seems to grow exponentially. The basic premise is that people are given a track to upload on their ipods with instructions on what to do. Everybody meets at the same place (this year it’s Roosevelt Island) and starts their instructional track at the same time. The tape gives them tasks to undertake such as giving as many high fives as you can to random strangers or following one non-participating person mimicking their every move. The result is a lot of uncomfortable non-participants and a youtube video that’s sure to be circulating around your office soon after.
This event will be a blast. It’s an exercise in spontaneity, and is pretty unique to this experience. When else are you going to get the chance to work with a thousand strangers simultaneously without actually communicating with any of them?
Go for the uniqueness of the situation, go to have a few laughs, go to get the hell out of the apartment. Just make sure you go! Don’t get caught in the trap of vowing to make the next one!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ON HOW TO PARTAKE IN IMPROV EVERYWHERE’S 6TH MP3 EXPERIMENT!
-Rich
Two Barbers 
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