If you haven’t heard or witnessed these groups, well, here’s your chance. There’s a popular group called ImprovEverywhere that causes scenes all over New York City and have been doing so for years. I love them. Here are a few of my favorites:

High Five Escalator

No Pants Subway Ride

Frozen Grand Central Station

Well, there seems to be some competition stirring up on the West Coast now. I’m not sure if this is an organized group like ImprovEverywhere or if this is just a skit put on by A&E TV but it’s funny.

Hammer Pants

I think this is truly wonderful. It was a promotional stunt for a television program in Belgium. They were looking for someone to play the lead in a version of ‘The Sound of Music’. It occurred at Central Station Antwerp in Belgium and is reminiscent of improveverywhere’s Frozen Grand Central.  

200 people participated with only two rehearsals before the stunt was staged at 8.00am in the morning. I just love the way you can see those watching become actively involved and full of the joy of song and dance.

Thanks Milly for showing it to your Mum who then showed it to me. Very glad that you come and visit here on the odd occasion too!

Hope you all have a great weekend.   

It seems to have started with Improv Everywhere – slo-mo shopping in a Home Depot and their antics in New York’s Grand central Station.  Now at the Liverpool Street Station in London, a T-Mobile add and in Antwerp’s Central Station (Centraal Station Antwerpen), a promotion for Belgium’s version of In Search of Maria.  Yeah, it only happens in musicals, no one ever just breaks out in song and dance… or do they?

Imagine just going about your daily commute, minding your own business…

And in Antwerp…

Below is Improv Everywhere’s Frozen Grand Central

Next is Improv Everywhere’s slow motion shopping in a Home Depot:

Food Court Musical:

Suicide Jumper:

Cell Phone Symphony:

Operation Best Buy:

And there’s many more, go find them yourself.

Cheers,
Maggie Williams

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most of you probably have seen the frozen grand central flash mob action in new york but in any event i came across it again and it’s worth it to watch twice.

for those who didn’t know, a flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. the term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via social media or viral emails, rather than those organized by public relations firms or for a publicity stunt.

rumor has it that bill wasik, senior editor of harper’s magazine, created the first flash mobs in 2003. in one more than 100 people converged upon macy’s ninth floor rug department, gathering around an expensive rug. anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of new york, that they were shopping for a “love rug”, and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group. funny.

Flash mob videos make me ridiculously happy. I don’t know why. They just do.

According to Wikipedia, a flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief time, then quickly disperse. The term flash mob is generally applied only to gatherings organized via social media or viral emails, rather than those organized by public relations firms or for a publicity stunt.

The first flash mob was created in Manhattan in May 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine. The origins of the flash mobs were unknown until Wasik published an article about his creation in the March 2006 edition of Harper’s. The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather. Wasik avoided such problems during the second flash mob, which occurred in June 3, 2003 at Macy’s department store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas—in four prearranged Manhattan bars—where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.

More than 100 people converged upon the ninth floor rug department of the store, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, that they were shopping for a “love rug”, and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group.

Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.

Wasik claimed that he created flash mobs as a social experiment designed to poke fun at hipsters and to highlight the cultural atmosphere of conformity and of wanting to be an insider or part of “the next big thing”. The Vancouver Sun wrote, “It may have backfired on him… [Wasik] may instead have ended up giving conformity a vehicle that allowed it to appear nonconforming.”

Nothing so ironic as irony, eh?

Please enjoy some of my favorite mobs. If you only have time for one, watch Frozen Grand Central. For some reason it puts a lump in my throat every time I watch it. But this Liverpool one is cool, too. And so is … oh, heck! Watch ‘em all!

This mob practiced for 8 weeks and late one night at the Liverpool train station.  On January 15th, 2009, with hidden cameras and 400 dancers at 11:00 a.m. their plan was put into action.

Frozen Grand Central

Human Mirror

Look Up More

Would you participate in a flash mob? Which of these events would you consider joining in? Got a cool idea of your own?

Am vazut de mult video asta, si poate multi dintre voi l-ati vazut deja, insa mi-am adus aminte de el acum, si chiar merita promovat. E cel mai tare!

Sunt curios noi cum am fi reactionat la asa ceva? Cati dintre noi ar fi fugit? =)).

Enjoy!

Ongeveer een jaartje geleden organiseerden de mensen van ImprovEverywhere, wat mij betreft, hun leukste Flash Mob tot nu toe. Ze trommelden 207 vrijwilligers op om plots als bevrozen stil te vallen in het station van New York. Toevallige passanten wisten niet wat er gebeurde en dat leverde leuken videobeelden op.

T-Mobile en reclamebureau Saatchi&Saatchi vonden dat filmpje blijkbaar ook leuk en besloten er een variant op te maken. Ditmaal in het Liverpool Street Station.

Een beetje jammer voor de mensen van ImprovEverywhere dat hun idee nu commercieel gebruikt wordt, maar eerlijk gezegd kan ik het de Saatchi’s niet kwalijk nemen want dit idee smeekte wel om op de een of andere manier in reclame gebruikt te worden.

(via)

Viral Video Chart har sammanställt de bästa Youtube klippen under 2008. Min personliga favorit är Randy Pausch´s last lecture och för hans kommentar:

- I just bought a Macintosh.

Sen har vi den levande konstupplevelsen på Frozen Grand Central

Will.I.am. låt som bygger på Obamas segertal är också cool.

Maybe I’m just weird but I’ve always wanted to participate in something fun like this…  Below are a couple of videos from Improv Everywhere.  If you’re not familiar with Improv Everywhere they were the creative geniuses behind the ever so popular Food Court Musical.

“Frozen Grand Central”

“Mobile Desktop”

“In an Absolut World, Everyone Would be Welcomed Home”

Much like the previously mentioned Frozen Grand Central, Frozen Dublin or similar events in other cities, Stephansplatz in Vienna is to be frozen in place for 5 minutes next Friday (19^th December) at 15:00. Get more information on StudiVZ, Facebook or Upcoming.

This is a crazy fun video. I bet it was a riot. I have to try it with a group of young people one day.

YouTube – Frozen Grand Central

This is probably old news for some of you, but when I saw it, I was totally blown away (and went on watching all the other 564,345 related videos).

Improv Everywhere is a group of undercovers aiming to create a scene amongst unsuspecting public. This video here shows how 16 undercovers burst into a musical in a shopping mall food court. Freaking hilarious!

While you’re at it, check out the infamous Frozen Grand Central (and the rest of the 564,244 videos too!).

I love musicals!

Improve Everywhere has been taking performance art to the streets since 2001. This weekend, they’re coming to Toronto for the Mp3 Experiment. The concept is simple. Download the mp3 on their site, show up at Riverdale park at 2pm with your portal music player and follow the instructions. They’ve been doing this for years, but my favourite improve project is Frozen Grand Central in New York City. Imagine that on your morning commute.

When you think about a mob the first association and picture that usually come up your mind is an angry group of people – a violent, aggressive and uncontrollable crowd.
But in times of internet and mobile communication a mob can appear in many different facings: Hundreds or even thousands of mostly young people meeting in public places, acting pacifically, enjoying the furore they created just with their own appearance.
Flash mob is the keyword of this new way to gather in a group – the very mob! But what exactly is that – a flash mob. The easiest way to explain, is to quote from the dictionary. As many new expressions linked to the IT-branch also the term flash mob found its way into the dictionaries surprisingly quick after its first appearance 2003 in New York. “A group of people who organize on the Internet and then quickly assemble in a public place, do something bizarre, and disperse; also called inexplicable mob” so the direct quotation from dictionary.com.
The inventor of the first flash mob, which took place in Manhattan in May 2003, was the journalist and editor Bill Wasik. Via SMS, e-mail or phone Bill Wasik rounded up more than one hundred people in a department store, where they clapped their hands for exact 15 seconds. After that time they left the store without any reaction or explanation for the surprised and perplex employees and customers. Exact these absurdity and purposelessness of the action is emblematic and prototypical for a flash mob. By contrast  is the so called smart mob, which I’m going to look at in detail in my second article. Like a flash mob a smart mob is also a convention of people gathered together via interetn, SMS, ect. But there is one big difference between the two: Unlike a flash mob, a smart mob always has a political or socil background and purpose.
One of the most spectacular flash mobs happened during a cold Saturday in January 2006 in New York’s Grand Central Station – one of the biggest train-stations in the world. More than 200 people – all informed by e-mail, SMS or mobile phone – met in the Main Concourse of the station, where they stopped in their move all in the same time for exact five minutes. With disbelief in their eyes all the other pedestrians walked in-between the groups of human-statues. Because the participants of this flash mob acted like frozen bodies, this act became famous as the Frozen Grand Central. Since today this type of flash mob was copied in many different cities all over the world.

Sources:

- wikipedia.org
- youtube.com
- Spiegel.de
- dictionary.reference.com
- improveverywhere.com

fuderoso fuderoso. o pessoal do improve everywhere teve mais uma idéia massa, juntou mais de 200 pessoas para fazer uma ação coletiva em que ficam congelados por 5 minutos no meio do central park/ ny.

*nos vídeos relacionados tem mais ações do coletivo.

I’m not big on practical jokes, but when a group of people can draw the attention - NOT ire – of even the busiest New Yorker, I’m intrigued.

Improv Everywhere , a group dedicated to “causing scenes”, caused a definite scene in New York’s Grand Central Station back in January of this year. Their mission? To freeze in place for five full minutes while NY and New Yorkers buzzed on around them. The mission was aptly titled, Frozen Grand Central.

The reactions are fun, the result amazing. What a cool – harmless – project. And how nice that New Yorkers stopped to take note. See? We’re not all about getting from here to there and nothing more. If you stop dead in our path… we do notice.

Hört talas om Improv Everywhere?

En improvisationsgrupp som startade i New York år 2001 av Charlie Todd. Han annonserar efter folk som vill vara med i stora improviserade aktioner – bland annat Frozen Grand Central – som är en rätt mäktig aktion (se videoklippet).

För några veckor sedan sändes i USA ett avsnitt av Law & Order där en sexualförbrytare och mördare (Robin Williams) ingick i en aktion på Grand Central där alla skulle frysa. Det märkliga är att de har inte bara stulit idén från Improv Everywhere – de har stulit exakta scener ur klippet. Se mannen som knyter sina skosnören och kvinnan som äter youghurt. Avsnittet med Improv heter Authority.

Det verkar inte som om Charlie Todd har tänkt att stämma NBC för idéstöld. Han är lite fundersam – ska man bli arg eller smickrad? Frozen Grand Central är dessutom inte den enda idé de stulit – kuddkriget är också Improvs idé. Och NBC har inte ens kontaktat, eller tackat Improv för idéuppslaget. Snarare tvärtom – de har framställt Charlie Todds karaktär som psykopat.

To reiterate, we had no idea this was happening and the show never contacted us. I guess it’s flattering to see our work fictionalized, even if we’re portrayed as murderers who yell, “Sheep!” at everyone. Too funny!

-

Jag har skrivit om Improv i ett tidigare inlägg – där de uppför en musikal på ett snabbmatställe. Berättade då också om att det finns Improv-grupper i Sverige – men de har inte kommit igång i så stor skala än. Eller vi kanske jag ska skriva – för vi i Skåne ska träffas den 23 maj i Stadsparken i Lund. Alla intresserade är välkomna. Vi kommer att planera en aktion som ska vara lätt att  genomföra – och som inte får kosta för mycket pengar – eftersom det är vi själva som står för kostnaderna.

Är man blyg – och inte vågar agera – så kan man ta med sig videokamera eller vara med och filma med mobiltelefonen – dokumentationen är en viktig del av Improv.

Och kanske får vi se vår aktion i en framtida Beck eller Wallanderfilm. Undrar om jag framställs som en galen sektledare då?

Den 23 maj klockan 18 i Stadsparken, Lund. Framför den vita scenen. Vi har en piratflagga med. Ni har mat, dricka, filt, varma kläder (det blir kallt när solen går ner) och goda idéer. 

Uppdatering!

Det blir ingen picknick i Stadsparken – aktiviteten krockar med något som händer på lördag i Lund. Gå med i Facebookgruppen Flash Mob Lund – eller kom till Botans stora gräsmatta i god tid innan klockan 14:00, lördag den 24 maj. Därifrån utgår en aktion som ska äga rum i Lund.

Jag är inte med eftersom jag kommer att arbeta i Landskrona hela dagen.

Almost every famous landmark the world over is playing host to the latest craze in Youtube.

It’s THE FREEZE..

It has been done in the Grand Central in New York.

In the Trafalgar Square in London

In Trocadero in Paris

As I watch the videos, it must have been mighty creepy to be there, not knowing why all of a sudden people around you stop moving. It must have felt like a time warp, or finding yourself in an episode of the Twilight Zone.

These stagings were inspired by a website called Improv Everywhere. If you visit the site, you will find a lot of experiments of this nature. Cool ideas, I should say. But why go through all

The Singapore Freeze is apparently taking place 17 May.

Минавам аз днес покрай НДК и ставам свидетел на това:
from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod

Понеже видеото е “малко зле” (просто имах само няколко секунди за реакция) обяснявам набързо какво видяхте преди малко
Това са група от хора, който както си се мотат изведнъж “замръзват” и остават така за известно време. Ако сте гледали Frozen Grand Central би трябвало доста добре да знаете за какво става въпрос
Ако не сте, правя бърз обучаващ курс:
from www.youtube.com posted with vodpod


Та така и не разбрах кой организира днешното замръзване пред НДК, но очаквам утре в интернет някой да “поеме отговорност” за случилото се днес и ще ви държа в течение

Остро препоръчва да погледнете официалният сайт на Improv Everywhere:
improveverywhere.com
Improv Everywhere Global и
Improv Everywhere at youtube

Мен лично цялата концепция ме кефи много

EDIT:
Ето тук ще да е мястото за инфото клик @sluchki.blogspot.com

10x to blacksnoopy