LETTER FROM NEW YORK
Candid camera, 2.0
New York troupe takes improvised theatre to the streets
Last Updated: Friday, November 13, 2009 | 11:44 AM ET
By David Common, CBC News
Boredom can motivate. And apparently, even carve out a career.
Take Charlie Todd, who arrived in New York City in 2001 fresh from acting school. The 22-year-old was ready to take on the world — but the world wasn't yet ready to take him on. Forget about acting gigs, he couldn't even get auditions. So Charlie, along with several equally bored college friends, decided to create their own opportunities.
The group headed to a bar — an odd place to find a bunch of 22-year-olds, right? Charlie sat down alone in a corner with a drink. After a half-hour or so, a friend popped in and freaked out in a theatrical fashion, insisting Charlie was singer Ben Folds. (Charlie does have a small resemblance to Folds.) Soon, the bar management was pouring him free drinks while girls swooned and handed over their phone numbers. Here's Charlie's recollection of how it went it down.
By 2002, Charlie and his jokey pals had formed Improv Everywhere, a volunteer New York-based comedy troupe that pulls unexpected but tasteful stunts, shocking those around them. You may well have seen one of their 100 "missions," dozens of which have gone viral.
The group's 11th stunt involved a subway ride — but with no pants. This idea has since been copied in many cities across North America, including Toronto.
Years rolled on. And the number of followers became tens of thousands. Charlie happens to live across the street from Madison Square Garden in New York. One night, U2 was playing. So Charlie got together some friends who play in a cover band, dressed up as U2 and gave a fake U2 concert from Charlie's roof before the real concert got started. People believed it — for a while. Then the police came.
Charlie and the others were charged and tossed in jail that night. A judge with a sense of humour met with them the next morning and, still smiling, lectured them and sent them on their way. They would still get in trouble in future skits, though.
That was a turning point. Television executives started to notice, and the network NBC commissioned a pilot. With the backing of a big company, Improv Everywhere filmed a stunt with permission from a location and money for decent camerawork. Frozen Grand Central shows the results.
As you may have guessed, Charlie dubbed a fake voice in for the driver of the cart on his radio. Charlie tells me those were his words, since the man right behind him is actually an agent of Improv Everywhere. (They have roaming "mic stands" to collect audio.) But in this case, the audio didn't take, so they re-did it later.
Food Court Musical came next, also for NBC. This skit was shot three times, after which the group selected the best take. But between each take, the performers had to wait until food court patrons left, and a new batch of unsuspecting lunchers sat down. During the lull, one of the singers — a woman dressed in a ridiculous uniform — had to serve hot dogs to customers. (Yes, the mall knew about it.)
NBC ended up passing on the pilot. But by this point, the stunts had raised Charlie's profile enough to get him stand-up gigs in comedy clubs and a teaching job at a local acting college.
Improv Everywhere gets a lot of requests to open chapters in other cities. But as Charlie explains, IE isn't really into franchising. In part, it's because he is the only constant in the group. He doesn't make money directly from the skits. They don't do product placement, for instance. But they have started to accept some funding — in exchange, they'll play a brief commercial at the beginning or end of the video. Trident gum, for instance, sponsored one of the most recent events, Grocery Store Musical.
Improv Everywhere isn't doing things like No Pants anymore. The performers are no longer just the ordinary masses, but skilled and experienced individuals who are looking to do something unpredictable. In an effort to grow the group, Charlie has moved away from the spontaneous to the more flashier and more organized. But, he says, it's still as fun as it's always been.
David Common is the New York correspondent for CBC News.
