Random Acts of Silliness: Improv Everywhere

Picture this: you're in a New York subway, a typical day. You're doing your best to not look at anyone - when the man across the way from you takes off his pants. You look away. The lady three seats up from you just took off her skirt, and has folded it and put it in her briefcase.

Gratefully, you see your stop coming up next. The doors slide open, and you get out. On the platform, a full dozen people are standing around - without pants.

You've just experienced Improv Everywhere, a small improvisational group with a very large following in the New York City area. The core troup is made up of perhaps a dozen people, but using text messaging and emails they can gather hundreds together in a short period of time. Among their classic pranks and acts of sublime goofiness are:

Their annual No Pants prank, where a large group of people remove their pants on the subway and then exit.

Synchronized swimming in public, where large groups gather at public fountains with goggles and swim caps to perform - usually standing ankle-deep in water

Over 200 Home Depot customers spontaneously start moving in slow motion, then freeze in place.

Thirty bags stored at the front of a bookstore start ringing simultaneously as conspirators call the cell phones inside them.

Random pranksters pose as bathroom attendants at McDonalds, providing cologne, mints, and even fresh towels while refusing tips.

Over about five years, Improv Everywhere has engaged in more than sixty pranks of all sorts, delighting large crowds and individuals alike. They are often compared to "flash crowds" - a phenomenon where crowds are assembled quickly and suddenly using new technology, then allowed to disperse almost as quickly.

Improv Everywhere: The Television Show

The best recent news for the Improv Everywhere guys: NBC has picked up their random silliness as a new alternative comedy series. Basically, Improv Everywhere will be doing the same things they've always done - but instead of amateur photography and filming, they'll have professionals to record their improv, and they'll be able to share it with the world.

While Improv Everywhere is almost completely confined to New York City because the core group lives there (with early stints at Chapel Hill, North Carolina), the television show will almost certainly go further afield. Already the regular Improv Everywhere group has shown up in Las Vegas to play underwater poker. Who knows where the Improv Everywhere guys will show up - or who will fall for their pranks?