Improv Everywhere Strikes Again

Ken AshfordPopular CultureLeave a Comment

The date:  August 19, 2006

The target:  Home Depot’s mega-store in Manhatten

The mission:  225 participants (or "agents") entered the Home Depot posing as ordinary customers, scattered throughout the store and then proceeded to shop . . . in slow motion.  At a pre-determined time, they all froze for five minutes.

The results:  Full recounting, with video and photos, here.  Unlike previous ventures, the employees of Home Depot weren’t pricks about it.  They were understandably confused (as were regular customers), but they seemed to laugh rather than get annoyed.

YouTube video:

I don’t think this one was as good as the "Best Buy" mission from last April.  In that one, 80 Improv Everywhere agents entered a Manhattan Best Buy megastore, all dressed in the "Best Buy" blue shirt and tan khakis worn by Best Buy employees.  And they just stood around.  This upset the real Best Buy employees a lot (and confused many many customers).  The NYPD was called in, and many of the Improv Everywhere agents were escorted from the store.  Here’s that video:

UPDATE:  Oh, what the hell — more Improv Everywhere antics.  This one, from December 2005, is self-explanatory:

Other missions:

Posing as U2 and performing a rooftop concert (ended in arrests)

Getting 120 people to check in their backs at the Strand Bookstore, only to have the cell phones in the bags start ringing at the same time

And of course their yearly Ride the Subway With No Pants Event

My favorite though is Romantic Comedy Cab, an improv mission played solely to one person, an unsuspecting cabbie.  It’s a really sweet improv — but too complicated to explain.  Follow the link and read.