No plans for this Saturday? Oh, you're not doing any of the cool sh*t we're doing?!
Well, now you have some!
Improv Everywhere is putting on their 13th Annual Mp3 Experiment at Governors Island!
Improv Everywhere is exactly what it sounds like: they like to perform improv comedy, everywhere. Over the past 15 years, they’ve staged over 150 missions flash mob-style, and they’ve recorded all of their hilarious antics.
Based in New York City, the collective was started in 2001 by Charlie Todd. Todd is a producer, author of ‘Causing a Scene,’ the subject of a Netflix documentary 'We Cause Scenes,' a long time performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade, and has even given a TED Talk.
The Mp3 experiment is just one of their awesome missions. The first one was launched in 2004 at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater, and since that first success, the project has been held every year in NYC and has toured the world.
As summarized on the website, the experiment is “a participatory audio adventure where attendees download an audio file and listen to synchronized secret instructions in a public space via headphones.”
[anad]
The audio file in question is a 45-minute Mp3 created by Tyler Walker, a New York composer. Participants blend in with unsuspecting spectators and at 3:00 p.m. on the dot, the file begins to play. Hilarity ensues, especially thanks to the props that participants conceal in their bags until the performance commences.
The props change every year, as do the instructions. This year, participants have been asked to bring a wig, a marker, a deflated beach ball, a small wrapped gift, earphones, and your phone to play the instructions.
The location depends on participants’ birthdays, with those born from January to June convening on Discovery Hill, and July-December babies blending in at Outlook Hill.
A map and all of the information is all on the website, and people of all ages are invited to join in on the fun. Check out videos of the past 12 Mp3 experiments here and get excited! Don’t forget to get to the Island early, the ferry will be packed.
[Feature Image Courtesy Youtube]