The shared experience of absurdity | Charlie Todd

チャーリー・トッド：バカバカしさの共有体験

翻訳: Sawa Horibe 校正: Wataru Narita

Improv Everywhereを始めたのは10年ほど前です

I started Improv Everywhere about 10 years ago

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

芝居とコメディに興味を持ちニューヨークに来た当時

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

新しい街で 舞台に立つ機会がなかったので

so I decided to create my own in public places.

公共の空間に自分の場を創ることにしました

最初にお見せする企画は

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

初の「ズボンなし地下鉄乗車」で

is the very first No Pants Subway Ride.

2002年の１月に行いました

Now, this took place in January of 2002.

この女性がビデオの主人公です

And this woman is the star of the video.

撮影されていると気づいていません

She doesn't know she's being filmed.

隠しカメラで撮影しています

She's being filmed with a hidden camera.

ニューヨーク市の地下鉄６ライン列車内で

This is on the 6 train in New York City.

これが路線の最初の停車駅です

And this is the first stop along the line.

デンマーク人の男が

These are two Danish guys

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

２人やってきて隠しカメラの横に座りました

この茶色のコートの人が僕です

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

外は摂氏－１度ほどで 僕は

It's about 30 degrees outside.

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

帽子を被ってマフラーをしています

女性がもうすぐ僕に気づきます

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

（笑）

(Laughter)

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

ご覧の通りズボンを履いていません

(Laughter)

（笑）

それでこの時点で―

At this point --

この時点で女性は僕に気づきました

at this point she's noticed me,

でもニューヨークの地下鉄ですから

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

１人くらいは珍しくありません

One person's not that unusual.

女性は本に戻ります　ちなみに題は「レイプ」です

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

（笑）

(Laughter)

変なものを目撃したけれど

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

気を取り直したわけです

Now, in the meantime, I have six friends

さて一方では 僕の友達６人が

who are waiting at the next six consecutive stops

次の６つの停車駅で下着姿で待っています

in their underwear as well.

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

１人ずつこの車両に乗ってきます

僕らはお互い他人のフリをして

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,

この凍える１月の日にズボンを忘れるという

forgetting our pants on this cold January day.

不幸な間違いをしただけのように振る舞います

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Laughter continues)

この時点で女性は

So at this point,

she decides to put the rape book away.

レイプの本をしまうことにします

（笑）

(Laughter)

そして周囲にもう少し注意を向けることにします

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,

カメラの左側のデンマーク人２人は

こんな滑稽なことは

they're cracking up.

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

見たことがないと爆笑しています

彼らと女性が目配せしますから見ていてください

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

(Laughter)

（笑）

このビデオの瞬間は最高です

And I love that moment in this video,

ここで体験を共有するまでは

because before it became a shared experience,

it was something that was maybe a little bit scary,

女性にとってこれは少し不気味な

or something that was at least confusing to her.

よく分からない状況だったのに

一旦共有されると 可笑しくて

And then, once it became a shared experience,

笑える状況になったからです

it was funny and something that she could laugh at.

電車は今６ラインの

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

３つ目の停車駅に到着しました

(Laughter)

（笑）

最後まで全部お見せしませんが

So the video won't show everything.

この状態があと４駅続きます

This goes on for another four stops.

計７人の誰か分からない男らが下着姿で乗り込んできます

A total of seven guys enter anonymously in their underwear.

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

８つ目の駅では巨大な袋を抱えた

女の子が乗ってきて１ドルでズボンを売ると言います

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

like you might sell batteries or candy on the train.

電車の中で電池やアメを販売する要領です

僕らは皆 当然のようにズボンを買って履き

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

「すごいタイミングだ　ありがとう」と言って

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

and then exited without revealing what had happened

何が起こったのか説明もなく電車を降りて

それぞれ別の方向に去ったのでした

and went in all different directions.

(Applause)

（拍手）

ありがとう

Thank you.

So that's a still from the video there.

これはビデオからの画像です

And I love that girl's reaction so much.

女性の反応が最高でした

And watching that videotape later that day

その日あとからビデオを観ていて

inspired me to keep doing what I do.

続けてみようと思いました

Improv Everywhereの目的の１つは

And really one of the points of Improv Everywhere

is to cause a scene in a public place

公共の場で騒ぎを起こして

that is a positive experience for other people.

人に楽しんでもらうことです

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

イタズラですが 面白い話のネタになるイタズラです

女性の反応がよかったので

And her reaction inspired me

to do a second annual No Pants Subway Ride.

第２回ズボンなし地下鉄乗車を行い

And we've continued to do it every year.

その後毎年続けるようになりました

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

今年１月には10回目を行いました

3,500人の様々な人たちが

where a diverse group of 3,500 people

rode the train in their underwear in New York --

下着姿でニューヨーク市内の

地下鉄のほぼ全線に乗りました

almost every single train line in the city.

また 世界中50ヶ所の都市でも

And also in 50 other cities around the world,

人々が参加しました

people participated.

(Laughter)

（笑）

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

即興劇場で即興のクラスを取り始め

他の創造的な人や役者やコメディアンに出会うにつれ

and meeting other creative people and other performers and comedians,

この様な企画に参加を希望する人の

I started amassing a mailing list of people

メーリングリストを作り始めました

who wanted to do these types of projects.

より大規模な企画を行うためです

So I could do more large-scale projects.

ある日ユニオンスクエアを歩いていて

Well, one day I was walking through Union Square,

このビルを見ました

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

2005年に建設されたばかりです

するとビルの窓ぎわで女の子が踊っていました

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

外は暗くビル内は明るかったので

It was very peculiar, because it was dark out,

独特な感じで しかも

but she was backlit with florescent lighting.

観衆を意識した踊りでした

She was very much onstage

でもなぜだか分かりました

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

ディスプレイの後ろにいた友達が

After about 15 seconds, her friend appeared --

15秒ほど後に現れ ２人は

she had been hiding behind a display.

笑い抱き合ってから走り去りました

They laughed, hugged each other and ran away.

人前で踊れるか賭けたのでしょう

Maybe she had been dared to do this.

そこで僕は思いつきました

So I got inspired by that.

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

ビルの正面にあるのは計70の窓

することは決まっていました

and I knew what I had to do.

（笑）

(Laughter)

So this project is called Look Up More.

「もっと見上げて」企画では70人の役者に黒を着せ

We had 70 actors dress in black.

全く許可なしで行いました

This was completely unauthorized.

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

店舗には知らせませんでした

And I stood in the park giving signals.

そして僕は公園から合図を出し

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

最初の合図で全員が１mほどの大きさの文字を掲げ

「Look Up More」と綴りました

that spelled out "Look Up More,"

企画名「もっと見上げて」です

the name of the project.

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

次の合図で一斉に挙手跳躍をしました

運動開始がここで見られます

You'll see that start right here.

(Laughter)

（笑）

And then we had dancing. We had everyone dance.

次はダンスで全員が踊りました

それから全員が１人を指差して

And then we had dance solos

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

その人だけが踊るソロもしました

（笑）

(Laughter)

そして手で次の合図をすると

So then I gave a new hand signal,

下のFOREVER 21にいる次の人が

which signaled the next soloist down below in Forever 21,

ソロのダンスをしました

and he danced.

他にもいくつかのことをしました

There were several other activities.

ジャンプしてもらったり

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

床に伏せてもらったりです

And I was standing just anonymously in a sweatshirt,

トレーナー姿の僕はそしらぬ顔で

手をゴミ箱に置いたり離したりして

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

進行合図を送っていました

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

現場はユニオンスクエアで

地下鉄の駅のすぐそばだったので

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

終わる頃には何百人もの人が

and watched what we were doing.

立ち止まり僕らのしていることを見上げていました

There's a better photo of it.

その時のもっといい写真です

So that particular event was inspired by a moment

このイベントは

たまたま目にした出来事から

that I happened to stumble upon.

ヒントを得て行いました

The next project I want to show

次にお見せしたい企画は

was given to me in an email from a stranger.

知らない人がメールでくれました

A high school kid in Texas wrote me in 2006

2006年にテキサス州のある高校生に言われました

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

「できるだけ沢山の人を集めて

to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants

青のポロシャツとカーキのズボン姿でBest Buyの

and go into a Best Buy and stand around."

店内にぼーっと立ってもらえば？」

(Laughter)

（笑）

(Applause)

（拍手）

So I wrote this high school kid back immediately

僕はすぐに「君の言う通りだ」と

返信しました

and I said, "Yes, you are correct.

「今週末やってみる　ありがとう」

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

というわけでそのビデオです

So here's the video.

これは2005年のことで

So again, this is 2005.

これはニューヨーク市のBest Buyです

This is the Best Buy in New York City.

We had about 80 people show up to participate,

約80人が参加したいと集まり

１人ずつ店に入りました

entering one by one.

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

参加者には８歳の女の子

10歳の女の子

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

65歳の男性もいました

So a very diverse group of people.

とても多様な人々のグループです

(Laughter)

僕からの指示は 「実際に仕事をしないこと

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

買物もしないこと ただブラブラして

But also, don't shop.

Just stand around and don't face products."

商品も見ないこと」でした

Now you can see the regular employees

正規の従業員たちがいます

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

シャツに黄色のロゴがある人たちです

他は皆 僕らの役者です

Everybody else is one of our actors.

(Laughter)

（笑）

The lower-level employees thought it was very funny.

一般従業員は面白がっていました

休憩室に自分のカメラを取りに行き

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

僕らと写真を撮った者もいました

and took photos with us.

冗談で僕らに重たいテレビを裏からお客様のところへ

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

運んでこさせようとする者も沢山いました

to get heavy television sets for customers.

でも店長たちや警備員は

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

特に面白がってくれませんでした

did not find it particularly funny.

この映像に彼らも映っています

You can see them in this footage.

黄色か黒のシャツを着ています

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

And we were there probably 10 minutes

僕らが現れて大体10分くらいで

before the managers decided to dial 911.

警察に通報されました

（笑）

(Laughter)

So they started running around

そして彼らは店内中を回り

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

「警察が来るぞ　いいのか」と皆に警告し始めました

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

ちょうどここの映像で警官たちが見えます

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

黒い制服を着た警官が隠しカメラで撮影されています

最終的には 警察がBest Buy側に

Ultimately, the police had to inform Best Buy management

青いポロシャツとカーキのズボンは

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

違法ではないと言って終わりました

（笑）

(Laughter)

（拍手）

(Applause)

ありがとう

Thank you.

(Applause)

（拍手）

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

こうして僕らは20分ほどで満足して店を出ました

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

店側は僕らのカメラを

見つけようとし

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

かばんにカメラを隠していた２～３人が捕まりました

でもある男性は捕まりませんでした

But the one camera guy they never caught

空のテープだけ持って

was the guy that went in just with a blank tape

Best Buyのカメラ売り場に行き

and went over to the Best Buy camera department

商品のカメラにテープを入れて

and just put his tape in one of their cameras

買い物しているふりをしたんです

and pretended to shop.

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

敵の技術を利用するとはなかなかです

(Laughter)

（笑）

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

いい企画とは場所に合ったものです

その場で行う意義のあるものです

and happen at a particular place for a reason.

ある朝 僕は地下鉄に乗っていて

And one morning, I was riding the subway.

53番通りで乗り換えでした

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

巨大なエスカレーターが２つあり

where there are these two giant escalators.

混雑した朝にはとても気の滅入る場所です

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

そこである日の朝を出来るだけ

So I decided to try and stage something

楽しくすることをやってやろうと決めました

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

これは2009年の冬で

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

朝の８時半です

朝のラッシュ時間です

It's morning rush hour.

It's very cold outside.

外が非常に寒い日です

People are coming in from Queens,

人々はクイーンズからやって来て

transferring from the E train to the 6 train.

Eラインから６ラインに乗り換えています

And they're going up these giant escalators

巨大エスカレーターを上がって

仕事に向かう途中です

on their way to their jobs.

[Rob wants]

[to give you]

「ロブがあなたにハイタッチしてくれます」（笑）

(Laughter)

[a high five!]

(Laughter)

[Get ready!]

(Laughter)

「用意はいいですか？」（笑）

(Applause)

「この人がロブ」（拍手）

ありがとう

Thank you.

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

もう少し分かりやすい写真です

He gave 2,000 high fives that day,

ロブはその日２千回ハイタッチしました

でも前後に手を洗って

and he washed his hands before and afterward

風邪をひいたりなどしませんでした

and did not get sick.

これも許可なしで行いましたが

And that was done also without permission,

誰も気にしてないようでした

although no one seemed to care.

さて長年の間で

So I'd say over the years,

one of the most common criticisms I see of Improv Everywhere

YouTubeでの匿名コメントで一番多かった

left anonymously on YouTube comments

Improv Everywhereへの批判は

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

「暇すぎなんじゃないか」でした

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

誰もが自分のやることに好意を持つとは限りません

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

実際おかげで面の皮も厚くなりました

でもこれは前から気になっていました

but that one's always bothered me,

僕らは暇なわけじゃないからです

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

Improv Everywhereの参加者の余暇の量は

The participants in Improv Everywhere events

他のニューヨーカーと変わりません

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

たまに変わったことをして

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

過ごしているだけです

You know, every Saturday and Sunday,

秋になると何十万人の人々が

hundreds of thousands of people each fall

毎週末スタジアムに行って

gather in football stadiums to watch games.

フットボールの観戦をします

でもフットボールの試合を見て

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

「観客は暇すぎなんじゃないか」と言う人はいません

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

それにもちろん暇じゃないんです

And of course they don't.

スタジアムでのフットボール観戦は

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

全く素晴らしい週末の午後の過ごし方です

watching a football game in a stadium.

でも他にも全く妥当な過ごし方はあり

But I think it's also a perfectly valid way

グランドセントラル駅で静止状態で

to spend an afternoon freezing in place with 200 people

200人の人と午後を過ごしたり

in the Grand Central terminal

ゴーストバスターの格好で

or dressing up like a ghostbuster

and running through the New York Public Library.

ニューヨーク公共図書館内を走ったり

(Laughter)

（笑）

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

３千人の人と一緒に同じMP3を聴きながら

無言で公園で踊ったり

and dancing silently in a park,

or bursting into song in a grocery store

スーパーで前触れなくミュージカルの

as part of a spontaneous musical,

歌を突然歌い始めたり

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

正装してコニーアイランドの海に飛び込んだりです

子供は遊ぶことを教わりますが

(Laughter)

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

遊ぶ理由まで教わりません

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

遊ぶのが楽しいというだけでいいのです

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

これがImprov Everywhereの意味とも言えます

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.

意味がなく意味の必要もありません

理由も要りません

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

楽しくて

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

面白そうなアイデアで

and it seems like the people who witness it

目撃する人たちにも楽しんでもらえそうなら

will also have a fun time,

僕らにはそれで十分です

then that's enough for us.

And I think, as adults, we need to learn

遊び方には良いも悪いもないと

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

大人は学ぶ必要があると思います

どうもありがとうございました

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

（拍手）