The shared experience of absurdity | Charlie Todd

Translator: Nicolas Collignon Reviewer: Jonas Tholstrup Christensen

Jeg begyndte Improv Everywhere for 10 år siden

I started Improv Everywhere about 10 years ago

when I moved to New York City with an interest in acting and comedy.

da jeg flyttede til New York City med en interesse i at optræde og komedie.

Because I was new to the city, I didn't have access to a stage,

Fordi jeg var ny i byen havde jeg ikke adgang til en scene.

so I decided to create my own in public places.

så jeg besluttede mig for a danne min egen i offentlige steder.

Så den første projekt vi skal kigge på

So the first project we're going to take a look at

er den aller første No Pants Subway Ride (Ingen Bukser Metro Tur)

is the very first No Pants Subway Ride.

Det fandt sted i Januar 2002

Now, this took place in January of 2002.

og denne kvinde er stjernen af videoen

And this woman is the star of the video.

Hun ved ikke at hun bliver filmet

She doesn't know she's being filmed.

Hun er filmet med et skjult kamera

She's being filmed with a hidden camera.

Det er på toget 6 i New York City

This is on the 6 train in New York City.

og det er den første stop i linjen

And this is the first stop along the line.

Det er to danske fyre

These are two Danish guys

who come in and sit down next to the hidden camera.

som kommer og sætter sig ned ved siden af det skjulte kamera.

og det er mig lige her med en brun jakke

And that's me right there in a brown coat.

Det er ca. 0 grader udenfor

It's about 30 degrees outside.

I'm wearing a hat. I'm wearing a scarf.

Jeg har en hat og et tørklæde

Og pigen kommer til at lægge mærke til mig lige her.

And the girl's going to notice me right here.

(latter)

(Laughter)

And as you'll see now, I'm not wearing pants.

og som I kan se nu har jeg ikke nogen bukser på.

(Laughter)

(latter)

så på det tidspunkt -

At this point --

på det tidspunkt har hun lagt mærk til mig

at this point she's noticed me,

men i New York er der mærkelige mennesker i enhver vogn

but in New York there's weirdos on any given train car.

En person er ikke så usædvanligt.

One person's not that unusual.

Hun går tilbage til at læse hendes bog, som desværre hedder "Voldtægt".

She goes back to reading her book, which is unfortunately titled "Rape."

(Latter)

(Laughter)

Så hun har bemærket den mærkelige ting

So she's noticed the unusual thing, but she's gone back to her normal life.

men hun er tilbage til hendes normale liv

Now, in the meantime, I have six friends

på samme tidspunkt har jeg 6 venner

who are waiting at the next six consecutive stops

som også venter i de kommende 6 stop i deres undertøj

in their underwear as well.

They're going to be entering this car one by one.

De kommer til at komme ind i toget en efter en

Vi laver som om vi ikke kender hinanden

We'll act as though we don't know each other.

And we'll act as if it's just an unfortunate mistake we've made,

og som om det kun er en uheldig fejl vi har lavet

forgetting our pants on this cold January day.

at glemme vores bukser på den her kold Januar dag

(Laughter)

latter

(Laughter continues)

så på det tidspunkt

So at this point,

she decides to put the rape book away.

bestemmer hun sig for at sætte voldtægt bogen væk.

(latter)

(Laughter)

og hun bestemmer sig for at være lidt mere bevidst om sine omgivelser.

And she decides to be a little bit more aware of her surroundings.

In the meantime, the two Danish guys to the left of the camera,

På det smme tidspunkt, de to danske fyre til venstre for kameraet

de kan ikke håndtere det mere

they're cracking up.

They think this is the funniest thing they've ever seen before.

de synes at der er det sjoveste som de nogensinde har oplevet

Og se hende få øjenkontakt med dem lige omkring nu.

And watch her make eye contact with them right about now.

(Laughter)

(latter)

Og jeg elsker dette tidspunkt i videoen,

And I love that moment in this video,

fordi før det blev til en delt oplevelse

because before it became a shared experience,

it was something that was maybe a little bit scary,

var det noget som måske var lidt uhyggeligt

or something that was at least confusing to her.

eller noget, der var i det mindste forvirrende for hende.

og da det først bliver til en delt oplevelse

And then, once it became a shared experience,

blev det sjovt og noget som hun kunne grine af

it was funny and something that she could laugh at.

Så toget er nu ved at trække ind

So the train is now pulling into the third stop along the 6 line.

for der tredje stop i linje 6

(Laughter)

(latter)

Videoen kommer ikke til at vise det hele

So the video won't show everything.

dette forsætter for endnu fire stop

This goes on for another four stops.

I alt træder syv fyre ind anonymt i deres undertøj.

A total of seven guys enter anonymously in their underwear.

At the eighth stop, a girl came in with a giant duffel bag

På den ottende stop, kom en pige ind med en gigantisk sportstaske

og meddelte hun havde bukser til salg for en dollar -

and announced she had pants for sale for a dollar --

like you might sell batteries or candy on the train.

som man kunne sælge batterier eller slik på et tog.

Vi købte alle sammen et par bukser og tog dem på

We all very matter-of-factly bought a pair of pants, put them on

og sagde "Mange tak. Det var lige det jeg havde brug for idag."

and said, "Thank you. That's exactly what I needed today,"

and then exited without revealing what had happened

og derefter forladt toget uden at afsløre hvad der var sket

og gik i alle forskellige retninger.

and went in all different directions.

(Applause)

(klapsalver)

Mange Tak

Thank you.

So that's a still from the video there.

Så det er stadigvæk fra videoen her.

And I love that girl's reaction so much.

Og jeg elsker bare den piges reaktion så meget.

And watching that videotape later that day

og at se den videobånd senere på dagen

inspired me to keep doing what I do.

inspirerede mig til at fortsætte med at gøre, hvad jeg gør.

Og en af formålene med Improv Everywhere

And really one of the points of Improv Everywhere

is to cause a scene in a public place

er virkelig at skabe en scene på et offentligt sted

that is a positive experience for other people.

der er en positiv oplevelse for andre mennesker.

It's a prank, but it's a prank that gives somebody a great story to tell.

det er en ren spøg, men det er en spøg som giver én en god historie at fortælle

Og hendes reaktion gav mig inspiration

And her reaction inspired me

to do a second annual No Pants Subway Ride.

for at lave en anden årlig No Pants Subway Ride.

And we've continued to do it every year.

Og vi har fortsat med at gøre det hvert år.

This January, we did the 10th annual No Pants Subway Ride

I januar, gjorde vi det 10. årlige Ingen Pants Subway Ride

hvor en blandet gruppe på 3.500 personer

where a diverse group of 3,500 people

rode the train in their underwear in New York --

tog toget i deres undertøj i New York -

næsten hver eneste tog linie i byen.

almost every single train line in the city.

Og også i 50 andre byer rundt om i verden,

And also in 50 other cities around the world,

deltog folk.

people participated.

(Laughter)

(latter)

As I started taking improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater

Da jeg startede med at tage improvisationsundervisning på Upright Citizens Brigade Theater

og møde andre kreative mennesker og andre udøvende kunstnere og komikere,

and meeting other creative people and other performers and comedians,

Jeg begyndte at samle en mailingliste

I started amassing a mailing list of people

af mennesker, der ønskede at gøre disse typer af projekter.

who wanted to do these types of projects.

Så jeg kunne organisere større projekter.

So I could do more large-scale projects.

En dag gik jeg igennem Union Square,

Well, one day I was walking through Union Square,

og så denne bygning

and I saw this building, which had just been built in 2005.

som var blevet bygget i 2005

og der var en pige i en af vinduerne og hun dansede

There was a girl in one of the windows and she was dancing.

Og det var meget usædvanligt,

It was very peculiar, because it was dark out,

fordi det var mørkt, men hun var baggrundsbelyst med fluorescerende belysning,

but she was backlit with florescent lighting.

og det var som om hun var på en scene

She was very much onstage

men jeg kun ikke gennemskue hvorfor hun gjorde det.

and I couldn't figure out why she was doing it.

Efter ca. 15 sekunder, dukkede hendes veninde op --

After about 15 seconds, her friend appeared --

Hun havde gemt sig bag en skærm -

she had been hiding behind a display.

og de lo og krammede hinanden og løb væk.

They laughed, hugged each other and ran away.

Så det virkede som om hun måske var blevet vovet om at gøre det

Maybe she had been dared to do this.

og det inspirerede mig

So I got inspired by that.

Looking at the entire facade -- there were 70 total windows --

Ved at se på hele facaden - var der 70 i alt vinduer -

vidste jeg hvad jeg skulle gøre

and I knew what I had to do.

(latter)

(Laughter)

So this project is called Look Up More.

Så dette projekt hedder Look Up More. Vi havde 70 skuespillere klædt i sort.

We had 70 actors dress in black.

Dette var helt uautoriseret.

This was completely unauthorized.

We didn't let the stores know we were coming.

Vi havde ikke ladt butikkerne vide, at vi var på vej.

And I stood in the park giving signals.

Og jeg stod i parken give signaler.

The first signal was for everybody to hold up these four-foot tall letters

Det første signal blev for alle til at holde op disse halvandenmeter høje bogstaver

som sagde "Look Up More" (Se Op Mere)

that spelled out "Look Up More,"

projektets navn

the name of the project.

The second signal was for everybody to do jumping jacks together.

Det andet signal blev for alle at gøre sprællemænd sammen.

Man kan se det lige her.

You'll see that start right here.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

And then we had dancing. We had everyone dance.

Og så had vi danse. Vi fik alle til at danse.

Og så havde vi solo danser, hvor kun en person dansede

And then we had dance solos

where only one person would dance and everybody would point to them.

og alle pegede til dem.

(latter)

(Laughter)

Så derefter gav jeg en håndsignal,

So then I gave a new hand signal,

som betød at den næste soloist i Forever 21,

which signaled the next soloist down below in Forever 21,

og han dansede

and he danced.

Dere var andre forskellige aktiviteter.

There were several other activities.

Vi havde folk der hoppede op og ned.

We had people jumping up and down, people dropping to the ground.

folk der faldt på gulvet

And I was standing just anonymously in a sweatshirt,

og jeg stod der bare anonymt i en sweat shirt

og sat min hånd på og ud af en skraldespand

putting my hand on and off of a trashcan to signal the advancement.

for at signalere fremgangen.

And because it was in Union Square Park, right by a subway station,

Og fordi det var i Union Square Park, lige ved en metrostation,

var der hundredvis af mennesker ved udgangen

there were hundreds of people by the end who stopped and looked up

som stoppede og kiggede op

and watched what we were doing.

for at se hvad vi var i gang med.

There's a better photo of it.

Der er et bedre billede her.

So that particular event was inspired by a moment

Så denne bestemte begivenhed

blev inspireret af et øjeblik

that I happened to stumble upon.

som jeg tilfældigvis snublede over.

The next project I want to show

Den næste projekt jeg gerne vil vise

was given to me in an email from a stranger.

blev givet til mig i en mail fra en fremmed.

A high school kid in Texas wrote me in 2006

En gymnasie-dreng i Texas skrev til mig i 2006

and said, "You should get as many people as possible

og sagde " Du burde prøve at få som mange som muligt

to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants

til at sætte blå poloer og khaki bukser på

and go into a Best Buy and stand around."

og gå ind i en Best Buy og gå rundt. "

(Laughter)

(latter)

(Applause)

(klapsalver)

So I wrote this high school kid back immediately

Så jeg skrev tilbage til gymnasie-drengen med det samme,

og sagde: "Ja, du har ret

and I said, "Yes, you are correct.

jeg tror jeg prøver det i week enden. Tak skal du have."

I think I'll try to do that this weekend. Thank you."

Så her er videoen.

So here's the video.

Igen, det er i 2005.

So again, this is 2005.

Det Best Buy'en i New York City.

This is the Best Buy in New York City.

We had about 80 people show up to participate,

Vi havde ca. 80 mennesker som var med

og som kom ind en efter en.

entering one by one.

There was an eight-year-old girl, a 10-year-old girl.

Der var en 8-årige pige, en 10-årige pige.

Der var også en 65-årige mand.

There was also a 65-year-old man who participated.

som var med.

So a very diverse group of people.

så en meget blandet gruppe mennesker.

(Laughter)

Og jeg fortalte folk, "Lad vær med at arbejde, lad være med at egenltig lave arbejde.¼

And I told people, "Don't work. Don't actually do work.

Men lad vær med at købe

But also, don't shop.

Just stand around and don't face products."

Bare gå rundt, men lad vær med at kigge på produkter"

Now you can see the regular employees

Nu kan I se de rigtige medarbejdere

by the ones that have the yellow tags on their shirt.

det er dem som har de gule tags på deres trøjer.

Alle de andre er en af vores skuespillere.

Everybody else is one of our actors.

(Laughter)

(latter)

The lower-level employees thought it was very funny.

De lavere niveau medarbejdere syntes at det var meget morsomt.

Og faktisk var der flere der hentede deres kameraer fra pause værelset.

Several of them went to go get their camera from the break room

og tog billeder med os.

and took photos with us.

Mange af dem lavede vittigheder om at sende os bagved

A lot of them made jokes about trying to get us to go to the back

for at hente tunge tv-apparater for kunderne

to get heavy television sets for customers.

Ledelsen og sikkerhedsvagter, på den anden side,

The managers and the security guards, on the other hand,

syntes ikke set var spor sjovt

did not find it particularly funny.

I kan se dem i videoen

You can see them in this footage.

De har enten gule eller sorte trøjer

They're wearing either a yellow shirt or a black shirt.

And we were there probably 10 minutes

og vi blev ca. 10 minutter

before the managers decided to dial 911.

før ledelsen besluttede sig for at kalde 112.

(latter)

(Laughter)

So they started running around

så de begyndte at løbe rundt

telling everybody the cops were coming, "Watch out, the cops are coming."

og sagde til at politiet kom, pas på, politiet kommer.

And you can see the cops in this footage right here.

Og I kan se politiet i videoen her.

That's a cop wearing black right there, being filmed with a hidden camera.

Det er en politimand med et sort slips, som bliver filmet med et skjult kamera

Til sidst blev politiet nød til at sige til Best buy ledelsen,

Ultimately, the police had to inform Best Buy management

at det faktisk ikke var ulovligt

that it was not, in fact, illegal to wear a blue polo shirt and khaki pants.

at have en blå polo og khaki bukser på.

(latter)

(Laughter)

(klapsalver)

(Applause)

Mange tak.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(klapsalver)

So we had been there for 20 minutes; we were happy to exit the store.

Så vi havde været der i 20 minutter og var glade for at forlade butikken.

One thing the managers were trying to do was to track down our cameras.

En ting som ledelsen prøvede at lave

var at opspore vores kameraer.

And they caught a couple of my guys who had hidden cameras in duffel bags.

Og de fangede et par af mine gutter, der havde skjulte kameraer i sportstasker.

Men det ene kamera som de aldrig fik fanget

But the one camera guy they never caught

var den fyr, som gik med bare et tomt bånd

was the guy that went in just with a blank tape

og gik over til Best Buy kameraet afdelingen

and went over to the Best Buy camera department

og bare sat sit tape i et af deres kameraer

and just put his tape in one of their cameras

og lavede som om han købte noget

and pretended to shop.

So I like that concept of using their own technology against them.

Jeg kan lide konceptet i at brug deres egen teknologi imod dem

(Laughter)

(latter)

I think our best projects are ones that are site-specific

Jeg tror at vores bedste projekter er dem som er stedsspecifikke

og sker på et bestemt sted for en grund.

and happen at a particular place for a reason.

Og en morgen, var jeg i metroen.

And one morning, I was riding the subway.

Jeg skulle skifte på 53. St. stoppet

I had to make a transfer at the 53rd St. stop

hvor der er disse to gigantiske rulletrapper.

where there are these two giant escalators.

Og det er en meget deprimerende sted at være om morgenen, det er en stor menneskemængde.

And it's a very depressing place to be in the morning, it's very crowded.

Så jeg besluttede mig for at prøve at iscenesætte noget

So I decided to try and stage something

for at gøre det så glad som muligt om morgen.

that could make it as happy as possible for one morning.

Så det her er i vinteren 2009 --

So this was in the winter of 2009 -- 8:30 in the morning.

Kl. 8:30

Det er morgen myldretiden.

It's morning rush hour.

It's very cold outside.

Der er meget koldt udenfor.

People are coming in from Queens,

Folk kommer fra Queens

transferring from the E train to the 6 train.

og skifter fra E-toget til 6-toget.

And they're going up these giant escalators

Og de går op af disse kæmpe rulletrappere

på vej til deres jobs.

on their way to their jobs.

[Rob wants]

[to give you]

(latter)

(Laughter)

[a high five!]

(Laughter)

[Get ready!]

(Laughter)

(latter)

(Applause)

(latter)

Mange tak.

Thank you.

So there's a photograph that illustrates it a little bit better.

Så her er et billede som viser det lidt bedre.

He gave 2,000 high fives that day,

Han gav 2 000 high fives denne dag,

og han vaskede hænder før og efter

and he washed his hands before and afterward

og blev ikke syg

and did not get sick.

og det blev også lavet uden autorisation

And that was done also without permission,

selv om alle så ud som om de var ligeglade

although no one seemed to care.

Så jeg vil sig at gennem årene

So I'd say over the years,

one of the most common criticisms I see of Improv Everywhere

en af de mest udbredte kritikpunkter jeg ser af Improv Everywhere

left anonymously on YouTube comments

som bliver lavet anonymt på Youtube

is: "These people have too much time on their hands."

er : "Disse mennesker har alt for meget tid i deres hænder."

And you know, not everybody's going to like everything you do,

Og I ved, at det ikke er alle der kommer til at kunne lide alt det man gør,

and I've certainly developed a thick skin thanks to Internet comments,

og jeg har helt sikkert udviklet en tyk hud takket være kommentarer på internettet,

men det er en som jeg hver gang har syntes var irriterende

but that one's always bothered me,

fordi så meget tid har vi ikke .

because we don't have too much time on our hands.

Deltagerne i Improv Everywhere arrangementer

The participants in Improv Everywhere events

har lige så meget fritid som alle andre newyorkere,

have just as much leisure time as any other New Yorkers,

en gang imellem vælger de bare

they just occasionally choose to spend it in an unusual way.

at bruge deres tid på en usædvanlig måde.

You know, every Saturday and Sunday,

du ved, hver Lørdag og søndag

hundreds of thousands of people each fall

hundredtusinder af mennesker hvert forår

gather in football stadiums to watch games.

samles i stadier for at se kampe.

Og jeg har aldrig set nogen sige, da de så en fodbolds kamp,

And I've never seen anybody comment, looking at a football game,

"Alle disse mennesker i tribunerne, de har alt for meget tid i deres hænder. "

"All those people in the stands, they have too much time on their hands."

og selvfølgelig gør de ikke det

And of course they don't.

det er en fuldstændig pragtfuld måde at bruge en weekend aften

It's a perfectly wonderful way to spent a weekend afternoon,

på at se en fodboldkamp i et stadion

watching a football game in a stadium.

Men jeg mener, ​​at det er også en udmærket og gyldig måde

But I think it's also a perfectly valid way

at bruge en aften på at fryse på plads med 200 mennesker

to spend an afternoon freezing in place with 200 people

i Grand Central Terminalen

in the Grand Central terminal

eller klæde sig op som en Ghostbuster

or dressing up like a ghostbuster

and running through the New York Public Library.

og løbe i New York Public Library.

(Laughter)

(latter)

Or listening to the same MP3 as 3,000 other people

eller at lytte til den samme MP3 som 3000 andre mennesker

og danse lydløst i en park,

and dancing silently in a park,

or bursting into song in a grocery store

eller sprænge i sang i en kødmandsbutik

as part of a spontaneous musical,

som del af en spontan musical,

or diving into the ocean in Coney Island wearing formal attire.

eller dykke ned i havet i Coney Island iført formelle påklædning.

I ved, som børn, bliver oplært i at lege.

(Laughter)

You know, as kids, we're taught to play.

Men vi får aldrig at vide hvorfor vi skulle lege.

And we're never given a reason why we should play.

Det er bare accepteret at leg er en god ting

It's just acceptable that play is a good thing.

og jeg tror at det er formålet med Improv Everywhere.

And I think that's sort of the point of Improv Everywhere.

It's that there is no point and that there doesn't have to be a point.

Det er at der ikke er noget formål og der er ikke bruge for noget formål.

Vi har ikke brug for en grund

We don't need a reason. As long as it's fun

bare det er sjovt

and it seems like it's going to be a funny idea

og det ser ud som om det bliver til en sjov idé

and it seems like the people who witness it

og det ser ud som om folk som kommer til at se det også vil have det sjovt

will also have a fun time,

så er det nok for os.

then that's enough for us.

And I think, as adults, we need to learn

Og jeg tror at som voksne, har vi brug for at lære

that there's no right or wrong way to play.

at der ikke er noget rigtigt eller forkert i at spille

Tak skal I have.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

(klapsalver)