Great Ideas: Charlie Todd and Improv Everywhere

http://improveverywhere.com/charlie_todd/

Charlie Todd moved to New York city with a passion for acting, comedy, and most of all improv. Without access to a real stage, he decided to turn the city of New York into one. Now, ten years later, his performance arts group called Improv Everywhere has carried out dozens of very public pranks (which they call “missions”) all over the city in an attempt to cause scenes of "chaos and joy”.

Some of their “missions” have included things like the Black Tie Beach day, in which a large group of people volunteered to dawn formal attire and spend a day at the beach, some even going for a swim. Another example is the Human Mirror, in which fifteen pairs of twins were recruited, dressed identically to their partner, and stationed on opposite’s sides of a subway car while mimicking the exact movements of their twin, creating a literal Human Mirror to entertain the patrons of New York’s Subway system.

These kinds of events may not seem very traditionally productive to most people; all they do is cause a little confusion and chaos for the people of New York. But the reason Charlie Todd’s group is such a great idea, is because everything his Improv Everywhere does is simply to make the people who see them perform a little happier. In a world where most people are completely caught up in their own lives and their own problems, Improv Everywhere is the much needed (and almost always welcomed) interruption to their day. In a way, the events Charlie Todd organizes are the purest form of altruism: making people’s lives better for the sole purpose of making people’s lives better. Causing harmless, entertaining chaos is a dying art, which makes Improv Everywhere a great idea.

For more about Improv Everywhere:
http://improveverywhere.com/ 
http://www.ted.com/talks/charlie_todd_the_shared_experience_of_absurdity.html

For more of their missions:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ImprovEverywhere