Photo courtesy Improv Everywhere.
Improv Everywhere is one of my favorite entities ever. They have brought staged performance improvisation to the streets in a funny, joyful way. You may have seen people in NYC riding the subway without pants on today - that's the work of Improv Everywhere.
Last spring, the group arranged one of their best events yet. They grabbed a random couple on their way out of City Hall who had just gotten hitched and threw them a wedding reception! They had everything already set up across the street. The couple had several family members with them, and Improv Everywhere brought 50 "guests", including an entire wedding party and a DJ!
Check out the video:
How sweet is that? And how lovely is it that 50 people gave up their Monday afternoon to bring joy to a couple of strangers? Check out the whole website; this group does some really cool stuff.
4 comments:
I heard about IE on "This American Life", the NPR radio show. The broadcast was actually somewhat disturbing. Performance stunts, and performance art is one thing, but when the actors consciously intrude into the life and reality of another person, and interpersonally act to convince them of the false reality they are manufacturing- I see a line being crossed. I go to the theatre for drama, and too often reality happens in the street. A "stunt" can make me laugh, think, and maybe cry - but for actors to enter my life and make me a player without asking me to be a part of the company - that is not right. I sound like a party pooper, I know. But when I heard the young college student, who was the brunt of one of one of these improv parties (EVERYONE IN THE PERFORMANCE ACTED TO CONVINCE HIM THAT THEY WERE THERE TO CELEBRATE HIS BIRTHDAY, even though he wasn't the person they identified him as) talk about the experience - it broke my heart. It was a case of well intentioned bullying. Let your art move people and make them thing, don't over-manipulate by "forcing" them to see the false reality.
That is SO cool!!
Improve Everywhere does some pretty neat things. I never thought about what dedalus commented about. Interesting.
Post a Comment