The shared experience of absurdity

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. At TEDxBloomington he shows how his group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

I started Improv Everywhere
about 10 years ago

when I moved to New York City
with an interest in acting and comedy.

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

so I decided to create
my own in public places.

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

is the very first No Pants Subway Ride.

Now, this took place in January of 2002.

And this woman is the star of the video.

She doesn't know she's being filmed.

She's being filmed with a hidden camera.

This is on the 6 train in New York City.

And this is the first stop along the line.

These are two Danish guys

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

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

It's about 30 degrees outside.

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

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

(Laughter)

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

(Laughter)

At this point --

at this point she's noticed me,

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

One person's not that unusual.

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

(Laughter)

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

Now, in the meantime, I have six friends

who are waiting at the next
six consecutive stops

in their underwear as well.

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

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

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

forgetting our pants
on this cold January day.

(Laughter)

(Laughter continues)

So at this point,

she decides to put the rape book away.

(Laughter)

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

In the meantime, the two Danish guys
to the left of the camera,

they're cracking up.

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

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

(Laughter)

And I love that moment in this video,

because before it became
a shared experience,

it was something
that was maybe a little bit scary,

or something that was
at least confusing to her.

And then once it became
a shared experience,

it was funny and something
that she could laugh at.

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

(Laughter)

So the video won't show everything.

This goes on for another four stops.

A total of seven guys
enter anonymously in their underwear.

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

and announced she had
pants for sale for a dollar --

like you might sell batteries
or candy on the train.

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

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

and then exited without
revealing what had happened

and went in all different directions.

(Applause)

Thank you.

So that's a still from the video there.

And I love that girl's reaction so much.

And watching that videotape later that day

inspired me to keep doing what I do.

And really one of the points
of Improv Everywhere

is to cause a scene in a public place

that is a positive experience
for other people.

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

And her reaction inspired me

to do a second annual
No Pants Subway Ride.

And we've continued to do it every year.

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

where a diverse group of 3,500 people

rode the train in their
underwear in New York --

almost every single
train line in the city.

And also in 50 other cities
around the world,

people participated.

(Laughter)

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

and meeting other creative people
and other performers and comedians.

I started amassing
a mailing list of people

who wanted to do these types of projects.

So I could do more large-scale projects.

Well, one day I was walking
through Union Square,

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

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

It was very peculiar,
because it was dark out,

but she was backlit
with florescent lighting.

She was very much onstage

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

After about 15 seconds,
her friend appeared --

she had been hiding behind a display.

They laughed, hugged
each other and ran away.

Maybe she had been dared to do this.

So I got inspired by that.

Looking at the entire facade --
there were 70 total windows --

and I knew what I had to do.

(Laughter)

So this project is called Look Up More.

We had 70 actors dress in black.

This was completely unauthorized.

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

And I stood in the park giving signals.

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

that spelled out "Look Up More,"

the name of the project.

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

You'll see that start right here.

(Laughter)

And then we had dancing.
We had everyone dance.

And then we had dance solos

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

(Laughter)

So then I gave a new hand signal,

which signaled the next soloist
down below in Forever 21,

and he danced.

There were several other activities.

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

And I was standing
just anonymously in a sweatshirt,

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

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

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

and watched what we were doing.

There's a better photo of it.

So that particular event
was inspired by a moment

that I happened to stumble upon.

The next project I want to show

was given to me
in an email from a stranger.

A high school kid in Texas
wrote me in 2006

and said, "You should get
as many people as possible

to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants

and go into a Best Buy and stand around."

(Laughter)

(Applause)

So I wrote this high school kid
back immediately

and I said, "Yes, you are correct.

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

So here's the video.

So again, this is 2005.

This is the Best Buy in New York City.

We had about 80 people
show up to participate,

entering one by one.

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

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

So a very diverse group of people.

(Laughter)

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

But also, don't shop.

Just stand around
and don't face products."

Now you can see the regular employees

by the ones that have
the yellow tags on their shirt.

Everybody else is one of our actors.

(Laughter)

The lower-level employees
thought it was very funny.

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

and took photos with us.

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

to get heavy television sets
for customers.

The managers and the security guards,
on the other hand,

did not find it particularly funny.

You can see them in this footage.

They're wearing either
a yellow shirt or a black shirt.

And we were there probably 10 minutes

before the managers decided to dial 911.

(Laughter)

So they started running around

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

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

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

Ultimately, the police
had to inform Best Buy management

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

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Thank you.

(Applause)

So we had been there for 20 minutes;
we were happy to exit the store.

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

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

But the one camera guy they never caught

was the guy that went in
just with a blank tape

and went over to the Best Buy
camera department

and just put his tape
in one of their cameras

and pretended to shop.

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

(Laughter)

I think our best projects
are ones that are site-specific

and happen at a particular
place for a reason.

And one morning, I was riding the subway.

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

where there are
these two giant escalators.

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

So I decided to try and stage something

that could make it as happy
as possible for one morning.

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

It's morning rush hour.

It's very cold outside.

People are coming in from Queens,

transferring from the E train
to the 6 train.

And they're going up
these giant escalators

on their way to their jobs.

(Laughter)

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Thank you.

So there's a photograph
that illustrates it a little bit better.

He gave 2,000 high fives that day,

and he washed his hands
before and afterward

and did not get sick.

And that was done also without permission,

although no one seemed to care.

So I'd say over the years,

one of the most common criticisms
I see of Improv Everywhere

left anonymously on YouTube comments

is: "These people
have too much time on their hands."

And you know, not everybody's
going to like everything you do

and I've certainly developed a thick skin
thanks to Internet comments,

but that one's always bothered me,

because we don't have
too much time on our hands.

The participants
at Improv Everywhere events

have just as much leisure time
as any other New Yorkers,

they just occasionally choose
to spend it in an unusual way.

You know, every Saturday and Sunday,

hundreds of thousands of people each fall

gather in football stadiums
to watch games.

And I've never seen anybody comment,
looking at a football game,

"All those people in the stands,
they have too much time on their hands."

And of course they don't.

It's a perfectly wonderful way
to spent a weekend afternoon,

watching a football game in a stadium.

But I think it's also
a perfectly valid way

to spend an afternoon
freezing in place with 200 people

in the Grand Central terminal

or dressing up like a ghostbuster

and running through
the New York Public Library.

(Laughter)

Or listening to the same MP3
as 3,000 other people

and dancing silently in a park,

or bursting into song in a grocery store

as part of a spontaneous musical,

or diving into the ocean in Coney Island
wearing formal attire.

(Laughter)

You know, as kids, we're taught to play.

And we're never given a reason
why we should play.

It's just acceptable
that play is a good thing.

And I think that's sort of
the point of Improv Everywhere.

It's that there is no point
and that there doesn't have to be a point.

We don't need a reason.
As long as it's fun

and it seems like
it's going to be a funny idea

and it seems like the people
who witness it

will also have a fun time,

then that's enough for us.

And I think, as adults, we need to learn

that there's no right
or wrong way to play.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)