0:00:00.760,0:00:02.920
I started Improv Everywhere[br]about 10 years ago

0:00:02.960,0:00:06.456
when I moved to New York City[br]with an interest in acting and comedy.

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Because I was new to the city,[br]I didn't have access to a stage,

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so I decided to create[br]my own in public places.

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So the first project[br]we're going to take a look at

0:00:15.280,0:00:17.176
is the very first No Pants Subway Ride.

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Now, this took place in January of 2002.

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And this woman is the star of the video.

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She doesn't know she's being filmed.

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She's being filmed with a hidden camera.

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This is on the 6 train in New York City.

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And this is the first stop along the line.

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These are two Danish guys

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who come in and sit down[br]next to the hidden camera.

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And that's me right there in a brown coat.

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It's about 30 degrees outside.

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I'm wearing a hat. I'm wearing a scarf.

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And the girl's going[br]to notice me right here.

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(Laughter)

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And as you'll see now,[br]I'm not wearing pants.

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(Laughter)

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At this point --

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at this point she's noticed me,

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but in New York there's weirdos[br]on any given train car.

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One person's not that unusual.

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She goes back to reading her book,[br]which is unfortunately titled "Rape."

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(Laughter)

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So she's noticed the unusual thing,[br]but she's gone back to her normal life.

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Now, in the meantime, I have six friends

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who are waiting at the next[br]six consecutive stops

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in their underwear as well.

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They're going to be entering[br]this car one by one.

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We'll act as though[br]we don't know each other.

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And we'll act as if it's just[br]an unfortunate mistake we've made,

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forgetting our pants[br]on this cold January day.

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(Laughter)

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(Laughter continues)

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So at this point,

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she decides to put the rape book away.

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(Laughter)

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And she decides to be a little bit[br]more aware of her surroundings.

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In the meantime, the two Danish guys[br]to the left of the camera,

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they're cracking up.

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They think this is the funniest thing[br]they've ever seen before.

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And watch her make eye contact[br]with them right about now.

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(Laughter)

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And I love that moment in this video,

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because before it became[br]a shared experience,

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it was something[br]that was maybe a little bit scary,

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or something that was[br]at least confusing to her.

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And then once it became[br]a shared experience,

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it was funny and something[br]that she could laugh at.

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So the train is now pulling[br]into the third stop along the 6 line.

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(Laughter)

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So the video won't show everything.

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This goes on for another four stops.

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A total of seven guys[br]enter anonymously in their underwear.

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At the eighth stop,[br]a girl came in with a giant duffel bag

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and announced she had[br]pants for sale for a dollar --

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like you might sell batteries[br]or candy on the train.

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We all very matter-of-factly[br]bought a pair of pants, put them on

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and said, "Thank you.[br]That's exactly what I needed today,"

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and then exited without[br]revealing what had happened

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and went in all different directions.

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

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So that's a still from the video there.

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And I love that girl's reaction so much.

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And watching that videotape later that day

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inspired me to keep doing what I do.

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And really one of the points[br]of Improv Everywhere

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is to cause a scene in a public place

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that is a positive experience[br]for other people.

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It's a prank, but it's a prank[br]that gives somebody a great story to tell.

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And her reaction inspired me

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to do a second annual[br]No Pants Subway Ride.

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And we've continued to do it every year.

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This January, we did[br]the 10th annual No Pants Subway Ride

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where a diverse group of 3,500 people

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rode the train in their[br]underwear in New York --

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almost every single[br]train line in the city.

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And also in 50 other cities[br]around the world,

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people participated.

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(Laughter)

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As I started taking improv class[br]at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater

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and meeting other creative people[br]and other performers and comedians.

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I started amassing[br]a mailing list of people

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who wanted to do these types of projects.

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So I could do more large-scale projects.

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Well, one day I was walking[br]through Union Square,

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and I saw this building,[br]which had just been built in 2005.

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There was a girl in one of the windows[br]and she was dancing.

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It was very peculiar,[br]because it was dark out,

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but she was backlit[br]with florescent lighting.

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She was very much onstage

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and I couldn't figure out[br]why she was doing it.

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After about 15 seconds,[br]her friend appeared --

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she had been hiding behind a display.

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They laughed, hugged[br]each other and ran away.

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Maybe she had been dared to do this.

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So I got inspired by that.

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Looking at the entire facade --[br]there were 70 total windows --

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and I knew what I had to do.

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(Laughter)

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So this project is called Look Up More.

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We had 70 actors dress in black.

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This was completely unauthorized.

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We didn't let the stores know[br]we were coming.

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And I stood in the park giving signals.

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The first signal was for everybody[br]to hold up these four-foot tall letters

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that spelled out "Look Up More,"

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the name of the project.

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The second signal was for everybody[br]to do jumping jacks together.

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You'll see that start right here.

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(Laughter)

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And then we had dancing.[br]We had everyone dance.

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And then we had dance solos

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where only one person would dance[br]and everybody would point to them.

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(Laughter)

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So then I gave a new hand signal,

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which signaled the next soloist[br]down below in Forever 21,

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and he danced.

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There were several other activities.

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We had people jumping up and down,[br]people dropping to the ground.

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And I was standing[br]just anonymously in a sweatshirt,

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putting my hand on and off of a trashcan[br]to signal the advancement.

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And because it was in Union Square Park,[br]right by a subway station,

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there were hundreds of people by the end[br]who stopped and looked up

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and watched what we were doing.

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There's a better photo of it.

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So that particular event[br]was inspired by a moment

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that I happened to stumble upon.

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The next project I want to show

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was given to me[br]in an email from a stranger.

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A high school kid in Texas[br]wrote me in 2006

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and said, "You should get[br]as many people as possible

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to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants

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and go into a Best Buy and stand around."

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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So I wrote this high school kid[br]back immediately

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and I said, "Yes, you are correct.

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I think I'll try to do that[br]this weekend. Thank you."

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So here's the video.

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So again, this is 2005.

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This is the Best Buy in New York City.

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We had about 80 people[br]show up to participate,

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entering one by one.

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There was an eight-year-old girl,[br]a 10-year-old girl.

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There was also a 65-year-old man[br]who participated.

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So a very diverse group of people.

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(Laughter)

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And I told people,[br]"Don't work. Don't actually do work.

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But also, don't shop.

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Just stand around[br]and don't face products."

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Now you can see the regular employees

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by the ones that have[br]the yellow tags on their shirt.

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Everybody else is one of our actors.

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(Laughter)

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The lower-level employees[br]thought it was very funny.

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Several of them went[br]to go get their camera from the break room

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and took photos with us.

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A lot of them made jokes[br]about trying to get us to go to the back

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to get heavy television sets[br]for customers.

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The managers and the security guards,[br]on the other hand,

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did not find it particularly funny.

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You can see them in this footage.

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They're wearing either[br]a yellow shirt or a black shirt.

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And we were there probably 10 minutes

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before the managers decided to dial 911.

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(Laughter)

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So they started running around

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telling everybody the cops were coming,[br]"Watch out, the cops are coming."

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And you can see the cops[br]in this footage right here.

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That's a cop wearing black right there,[br]being filmed with a hidden camera.

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Ultimately, the police[br]had to inform Best Buy management

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that it was not, in fact, illegal[br]to wear a blue polo shirt and khaki pants.

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(Laughter)

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(Applause)

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Thank you.

0:08:03.120,0:08:04.816
(Applause)

0:08:04.840,0:08:09.256
So we had been there for 20 minutes;[br]we were happy to exit the store.

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One thing the managers were trying to do[br]was to track down our cameras.

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And they caught a couple of my guys[br]who had hidden cameras in duffel bags.

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But the one camera guy they never caught

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was the guy that went in[br]just with a blank tape

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and went over to the Best Buy[br]camera department

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and just put his tape[br]in one of their cameras

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and pretended to shop.

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So I like that concept of using[br]their own technology against them.

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(Laughter)

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I think our best projects[br]are ones that are site-specific

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and happen at a particular[br]place for a reason.

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And one morning, I was riding the subway.

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I had to make a transfer[br]at the 53rd St. stop

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where there are[br]these two giant escalators.

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And it's a very depressing place[br]to be in the morning, it's very crowded.

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So I decided to try and stage something

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that could make it as happy[br]as possible for one morning.

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So this was in the winter of 2009 --[br]8:30 in the morning.

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It's morning rush hour.

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It's very cold outside.

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People are coming in from Queens,

0:09:00.880,0:09:03.776
transferring from the E train[br]to the 6 train.

0:09:03.800,0:09:06.896
And they're going up[br]these giant escalators

0:09:06.920,0:09:08.840
on their way to their jobs.

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(Laughter)

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(Laughter)

0:09:33.360,0:09:37.560
(Applause)

0:09:40.000,0:09:41.216
Thank you.

0:09:41.240,0:09:44.256
So there's a photograph[br]that illustrates it a little bit better.

0:09:44.280,0:09:46.936
He gave 2,000 high fives that day,

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and he washed his hands[br]before and afterward

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and did not get sick.

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And that was done also without permission,

0:09:52.824,0:09:54.936
although no one seemed to care.

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So I'd say over the years,

0:09:56.280,0:09:59.496
one of the most common criticisms[br]I see of Improv Everywhere

0:09:59.520,0:10:01.416
left anonymously on YouTube comments

0:10:01.440,0:10:04.576
is: "These people[br]have too much time on their hands."

0:10:04.600,0:10:07.536
And you know, not everybody's[br]going to like everything you do

0:10:07.560,0:10:10.856
and I've certainly developed a thick skin[br]thanks to Internet comments,

0:10:10.880,0:10:12.536
but that one's always bothered me,

0:10:12.560,0:10:14.896
because we don't have[br]too much time on our hands.

0:10:14.920,0:10:17.016
The participants[br]at Improv Everywhere events

0:10:17.040,0:10:19.696
have just as much leisure time[br]as any other New Yorkers,

0:10:19.720,0:10:22.616
they just occasionally choose[br]to spend it in an unusual way.

0:10:22.640,0:10:24.376
You know, every Saturday and Sunday,

0:10:24.400,0:10:26.456
hundreds of thousands of people each fall

0:10:26.480,0:10:29.176
gather in football stadiums[br]to watch games.

0:10:29.200,0:10:32.256
And I've never seen anybody comment,[br]looking at a football game,

0:10:32.280,0:10:35.736
"All those people in the stands,[br]they have too much time on their hands."

0:10:35.760,0:10:37.016
And of course they don't.

0:10:37.040,0:10:39.896
It's a perfectly wonderful way[br]to spent a weekend afternoon,

0:10:39.920,0:10:41.776
watching a football game in a stadium.

0:10:41.800,0:10:43.976
But I think it's also[br]a perfectly valid way

0:10:44.000,0:10:47.176
to spend an afternoon[br]freezing in place with 200 people

0:10:47.200,0:10:48.856
in the Grand Central terminal

0:10:48.880,0:10:51.176
or dressing up like a ghostbuster

0:10:51.200,0:10:53.456
and running through[br]the New York Public Library.

0:10:53.480,0:10:55.576
(Laughter)

0:10:55.600,0:10:58.816
Or listening to the same MP3[br]as 3,000 other people

0:10:58.840,0:11:00.976
and dancing silently in a park,

0:11:01.000,0:11:03.176
or bursting into song in a grocery store

0:11:03.200,0:11:05.416
as part of a spontaneous musical,

0:11:05.440,0:11:08.856
or diving into the ocean in Coney Island[br]wearing formal attire.

0:11:08.880,0:11:10.296
(Laughter)

0:11:10.320,0:11:12.256
You know, as kids, we're taught to play.

0:11:12.280,0:11:14.656
And we're never given a reason[br]why we should play.

0:11:14.680,0:11:16.896
It's just acceptable[br]that play is a good thing.

0:11:16.920,0:11:19.656
And I think that's sort of[br]the point of Improv Everywhere.

0:11:19.680,0:11:22.976
It's that there is no point[br]and that there doesn't have to be a point.

0:11:23.000,0:11:25.016
We don't need a reason.[br]As long as it's fun

0:11:25.040,0:11:27.256
and it seems like[br]it's going to be a funny idea

0:11:27.280,0:11:29.576
and it seems like the people[br]who witness it

0:11:29.600,0:11:31.056
will also have a fun time,

0:11:31.080,0:11:32.456
then that's enough for us.

0:11:32.480,0:11:34.496
And I think, as adults, we need to learn

0:11:34.520,0:11:36.976
that there's no right[br]or wrong way to play.

0:11:37.000,0:11:38.216
Thank you very much.

0:11:38.240,0:11:41.040
(Applause)