The shared experience of absurdity | Charlie Todd

Translator: Ereblir Kadriu Reviewer: Liridon Shala

Une fillova Permirsimin Kudo (Improv Everywhere) para 10 viteve

I started Improv Everywhere about 10 years ago

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

kur u zhvendosa ne New York me nje interes per aktrim dhe komedi.

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

Sepse une isha i ri ne qytet, nuk kisha qasje ne skene,

so I decided to create my own in public places.

keshtuqe vendosa te krijoje timin ne vende publike.

Pra projekti i pare qe do ta shikojme

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

eshet i pari Shetije pa pantollona ne metro.

is the very first No Pants Subway Ride.

Pra kjo zuri vend ne Janar te 2001.

Now, this took place in January of 2002.

Dhe kjo grua eshte fillimi i kesaj video.

And this woman is the star of the video.

Ajo nuk e di qe ajo eshte duke u filmuar.

She doesn't know she's being filmed.

Ajo eshte duke u filmuar me nje kamere te fshehur.

She's being filmed with a hidden camera.

Kjo eshte ne trenin e 6 ne New York.

This is on the 6 train in New York City.

Dhe kjo eshte ndalesa e pare pergjate rruges.

And this is the first stop along the line.

Keta jane dy djem danez

These are two Danish guys

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

te cilen dolen dhe u ulen prane kameres se fshehur.

Dhe ja ku jam une me nje pallto ngjyre kafe.

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

Eshte rreth 30 grade jashte.

It's about 30 degrees outside.

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

Une jam duke e bartur nje kapele. Jam duke bartur nje shalle.

Dhe vajza do te me verej menjehere.

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

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

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

Dhe sic po e shihni tani, une nuk jam duke veshur pantollona.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

Pra ne kete pike--

At this point --

ne kete pike ajo me vrejti mua,

at this point she's noticed me,

por ne New York ka njerez te cuditshem ne secilin tren.

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

Nje person nuk eshte edhe aq i pazakonshem.

One person's not that unusual.

Ajo kthehet prap tek leximi i librit te saj, i cili fatkeqsisht eshte i titulluar Dhunimi "Rape".

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

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

Pra ajo vrejti nje gje te pazakonte,

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

por ajo eshte kthyer ne jeten e saj normale.

Now, in the meantime, I have six friends

Tani nderkohe, une kam gjashte shoke

who are waiting at the next six consecutive stops

te cilet jane duke pritur me te brendshme ne gjashte ndalesa te njepasnjeshme

in their underwear as well.

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

Ata do te hyn ne kete makine nje nga nje.

Ne do te reagojme sikurse nuk e njohim njeri tjetrin.

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,

Dhe ne duhet te veprojme sikurse te ishte nje gabim te pasukseshem qe ne e kemi bere,

forgetting our pants on this cold January day.

duke i harruar pantollonat tona ne kete dite te ftoft Janari.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter continues)

Pra ne kete pike,

So at this point,

she decides to put the rape book away.

ajo vendos te largoj librin e perdhunimit.

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

Dhe ajo vendos te behet pak me shume e pergjegjshme per rrethant e saj.

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,

Tani nderkohe, dy djemt danez ne anen e majte te kameres,

ata jane duke pelcitur.

they're cracking up.

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

Ata mendojne se kjo eshte gjeja me qesharake qe ata e kane pare më parë.

Dhe te shikojne ate duke bere kontakt me sy me ata .

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

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

Dhe une e dua ate moment ne kete video,

And I love that moment in this video,

sepse parase te behej nje pervoje e perbahshket,

because before it became a shared experience,

it was something that was maybe a little bit scary,

ishte dicka qe ishte ndoshta paksa e frikshme,

or something that was at least confusing to her.

ose dicka qe ishte se paku konfuse per të,

Dhe pastaj njehere po te behet nje pervoje e perbashkte,

And then, once it became a shared experience,

ishte qesharake dhe dicka me te cilen ajo mund te qeshte.

it was funny and something that she could laugh at.

Pra treni eshte duke u ndalur ne

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

ndalesen e e trete pergjate rreshtit te 6.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

Pra video nuk do te tregoj te gjitha.

So the video won't show everything.

Kjo vazhdon per kater hapa te tjere.

This goes on for another four stops.

Nje total prej shtate djemve anonim hyn me te brendshmet e tyre.

A total of seven guys enter anonymously in their underwear.

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

Ne ndalesen e tete, nje vajze erdhi me nje çante shpine gjigande

dhe deklaroj qe ajo kishte pantolla per shitje per nje dollar--

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

like you might sell batteries or candy on the train.

sikur ju mund te shitni bateri apo karamele ne tren.

Ne te gjithe brengosemi per faktin qe bleu nje pale pantollona, veshi ata

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

dhe tha , " Faleminderit. Kjo eshte saktisht ajo qe me duhet sot,"

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

and then exited without revealing what had happened

dhe pastaj doli pa e zbuluar cka kishte ndodhur

dhe shkoj ne drejtime te ndryshme.

and went in all different directions.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

Faleminderit.

Thank you.

So that's a still from the video there.

Pra eshte nje qetesi nga video atje.

And I love that girl's reaction so much.

Dhe une e dua regimin e asaj vajze shume .

And watching that videotape later that day

Dhe duke e shikuar ate xhirim te videos me vone

inspired me to keep doing what I do.

me inspiroj te vahzdoj te beje ate cka une beje.

Dhe me te vertete njera nder pikat e Improv Everywhere

And really one of the points of Improv Everywhere

is to cause a scene in a public place

eshte te shkatoj nje skene ne nje vend publik

that is a positive experience for other people.

dhe kjo eshte nje eksperinnce pozitive per njerezit tjere.

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

Eshte nje shaka, por eshte nje shkaka qe i jep dikujt nje histori te kendshme per te treguar.

Dhe reagimi i saj me inspiroj mua

And her reaction inspired me

to do a second annual No Pants Subway Ride.

qe te beje vdy vjetorin e Pa pantollona te shetisim ne metro.

And we've continued to do it every year.

Dhe ne kemi vazhduar t'a bejme ate cdo vit.

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

Kete Janar, ne beme 10 vjetorin e Pa pantolla te shetisimin ne metro

ku nje grup i ndryshem prej 3,500 njerezve

where a diverse group of 3,500 people

rode the train in their underwear in New York --

shetiten ne tren me te brendshme ne New York--

gati ne te gjithe trenat te qytetit.

almost every single train line in the city.

Dhe gati ne 50 qytete tjera rreth botes,

And also in 50 other cities around the world,

njerezit morren pjese.

people participated.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

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

Pasiqe fillova te marr ore permiresimi ne Teattrin Upright Citizens Brigade

dhe duke takuar njerez tjere kretiv dhe performues tjere dhe komedian,

and meeting other creative people and other performers and comedians,

Une fillova te grumbulloj nje liste te postes

I started amassing a mailing list of people

te njerezve te cilet deshironin te benim keto lloje te projekteve.

who wanted to do these types of projects.

Pra une mund te beje me shume projekte te medha.

So I could do more large-scale projects.

Mire nje dite isha duke ecur pergjate Sheshit Union,

Well, one day I was walking through Union Square,

dhe e pash kete ndertese,

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

e cila posa ishte ndertuar ne 2005.

Dhe aty ishte nje vajze ne njeren prej dritareve dhe ajo ishte duke vallezuar.

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

Dhe ishte shume e vecante,

It was very peculiar, because it was dark out,

sepse ishte erret jashte, por ajo ishte e veshur me frite flouroshente,

but she was backlit with florescent lighting.

dhe ajo ishte shume ne skene,

She was very much onstage

dhe nuk munda t'a merrja vesh pse ajo ishte duke e bere ate gje.

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

Pas 15 sekondave, shoqja e saj u shfaq--

After about 15 seconds, her friend appeared --

ajo ishte fshehur prapa nje shfaqje--

she had been hiding behind a display.

dhe ato qeshen dhe perqafuan njera tjetren dhe u larguan.

They laughed, hugged each other and ran away.

Pra u duk sikur ajo ishte sfiduar t'a bente kete.

Maybe she had been dared to do this.

Keshtu une u inspirova nga ajo.

So I got inspired by that.

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

Duke e e pare tersine e pamjes se jashtme-- aty ishin 70 dritare ne total--

dhe une e dija cka duhej te beja.

and I knew what I had to do.

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

So this project is called Look Up More.

Pra ky projekt quhet Te kerkkojme me shume. Ne kishim 70 aktore te veshur ne te zeza.

We had 70 actors dress in black.

Kjo ishte terersisht e pa autorizuar.

This was completely unauthorized.

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

Ne nuk i kishim njoftuar dyqanet qe ishim duke shkuar.

And I stood in the park giving signals.

Dhe une qendrova ne park duke dhene sinjale.

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

Sinjali i pare ishte per te gjithe te mbajme lart letrat

qe shkruej ne ato "Look Up More<"

that spelled out "Look Up More,"

emri i projektit.

the name of the project.

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

Sinjali i dyte isthte per te gjithe te bejne Jumping Jacks se bashku.

Ju do te shihni kete nisje ketu.

You'll see that start right here.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

And then we had dancing. We had everyone dance.

Dhe pastaj ne kishim vallezimin. Ne i beme te gjithe te vallezojne.

Dhe pastaj ne vallezuam solo ku vetem nje person do te vallezonte

And then we had dance solos

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

dhe te gjithe te spikasin ata.

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

Pastaj e dhash nje sinjal tjeter,

So then I gave a new hand signal,

cili sinjalizoj solistin tjeter ne Gjithmone 21,

which signaled the next soloist down below in Forever 21,

dhe ai vallezoj.

and he danced.

Ishin disa aktivitete tjera.

There were several other activities.

Ne kishim njerez qe kercenin lart e poshte,

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

njerez qe hidheshin ne toke.

And I was standing just anonymously in a sweatshirt,

Dhe une po qendroja anonim me nje bluze te djersitur,

duke vendosur dhe hequr doren time nga koshi i plehrave

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

per te sinjaluzuar avancimin.

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

Dhe per shkak qe ishte ne Parkun e Sheshit Union, afer stacionit te metros,

ishin me qindra njerez nga fundi

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

te cilet ndaluan dhe shikuan

and watched what we were doing.

dhe pane cka ne ishim duke bere.

There's a better photo of it.

Eshte nje foto me e mire e kesaj.

So that particular event was inspired by a moment

Pra kjo ngjarje e vecante

ishte inspiruar nga nje moment

that I happened to stumble upon.

qe une u desh ta pengoja .

The next project I want to show

Proejkti i rradhes qe une dua te ju tregoj

was given to me in an email from a stranger.

me ishte dhene me email nga nje i huaj.

A high school kid in Texas wrote me in 2006

Nje nxenes i shkolles se mesme ne Texas me shkurjati ne 2006

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

dhe tha, " Ju duhet te mblidhni sa me shume njerez qe eshte e mundshme

to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants

te veshin bluze ngjyre te kalteret dhe pantollona me ngjyre kaki

and go into a Best Buy and stand around."

dhe te shkoni ne Best Buy dhe te qendroni per rreth."

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

(Applause)

(Duartroktije)

So I wrote this high school kid back immediately

Keshtu qe une i shkrujata atij nxenesi te shkolles se meseme menjhere,

dhe i thash, " Po, ju keni te drejte.

and I said, "Yes, you are correct.

Po mendoj do te provoj t'a beje ate kete wikend. Faleminderit."

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

Pra ja ku eshte video.

So here's the video.

Pra perseri, kjo eshte 2005.

So again, this is 2005.

Ky eshte Best Buy ne New York.

This is the Best Buy in New York City.

We had about 80 people show up to participate,

Ne kishim rreth 80 njerez qe u paraqiten te marrin pjese,

duke u futur nje nga nje.

entering one by one.

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

Ishte nje vajze tete vjecare, nje 10 vjecare.

Ghithashtu ishte edhe nje burre 65 vejcar

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

i cili morri pjese.

So a very diverse group of people.

Pra nje grup i shumellojshem i njerezve.

(Laughter)

Dhe u thash njerezve, "Mos punoni. Faktikisht mos punoni.

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

Por gjithashtu, mos beni pazar.

But also, don't shop.

Just stand around and don't face products."

Vetem qemndroni per rreth dhe mos u perballni me produktete."

Now you can see the regular employees

Tani ju mund te shihni te punesuarit e rregullt

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

nga ata te cilet kane etiketimin e verdhe ne bluzat e tyre.

Te gjithe te tjeret jane nje nga aktoret tane.

Everybody else is one of our actors.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

The lower-level employees thought it was very funny.

Niveli me i ulte i te punesuareve menduan qe ishte shume qesharake.

Dhe ne fakt, disa prej tyre shkuan t'i merrnin kamerat e tyre nga dhoma e pushimit

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

dhe bene foto me neve.

and took photos with us.

Shume prej tyre bene shaka duke tentuar te na kthjene prapa neve

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

te marrin sete te renda televizive per konsumatoret.

to get heavy television sets for customers.

Menaxheret dhe rojet e sigurise, ne anen tjter,

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

nuk i eshte dukur qesharake.

did not find it particularly funny.

Ju mund t'i shihni ata ne filmim.

You can see them in this footage.

Ata kane te veshur ose nje bluze te verdhe ose te zeze.

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

And we were there probably 10 minutes

Dhe ne ishim atje ndoshta 10 minuta

before the managers decided to dial 911.

parase menaxheret te vendosin te thirrnin 911.

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

So they started running around

Keshtu qe ata filluan te vraponin per rreth

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

duke ju treguar te gjitheve se policet ishin duke ardhur, kujdes, policet ishin duke ardhur.

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

Dhe ju mund t'i shihni policet ne kete filmim.

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

Ky eshte nje polic i veshur me te zeza ja ketu, eshte duke u filmuar me nje kamere te fshehur.

Se fundi, polici duhej te informonte menagjmentin e Best Buy

Ultimately, the police had to inform Best Buy management

se ne fakt nuk ishte ilegale

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

te veshnin nje bluze polo te kaltert dhe pantollona kaki

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

(Duartroktije)

(Applause)

Faleminderit.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

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

Keshtu ne ishim aty per 20 minuta, ne ishim te lumtur qe dilnim nga dycani.

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

Nje gje qe menaxheret po tentoni te beni

ishte te gjurmonin kamerat tona.

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

Dhe ata kapen nje grup te djemve te mi te cilet kishin te fshehura kamerat ne çanta krahu.

Por ate te duhurin ata kurre nuk e kapen

But the one camera guy they never caught

ishte djali i cili shkoj me nje regjistrimi te zbrazte

was the guy that went in just with a blank tape

dhe kaloj tek departamenti i kamerave te Best Buy

and went over to the Best Buy camera department

dhe vetem vendosi kaseten ne njeren prek kamerave te tyre

and just put his tape in one of their cameras

dhe pretendonte qe po bente pazar

and pretended to shop.

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

Pra une pelqej konceptin e tyre te perdorimit te teknologjise se tyre kunder atyre.

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

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

Une mendoj projektet tona me te mira jane ato te cilat jane ne faqet tona zyrtare

dhe ndodhen nje nje vend te vecante per nje arsye.

and happen at a particular place for a reason.

Dhe nje mengjes, Une isha duke udhetuar ne metro.

And one morning, I was riding the subway.

Une duhej te beja nje transfer ne ndalesen e rruges 53

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

ku aty jane ato dy shkallet gjigande.

where there are these two giant escalators.

Dhe eshte nje vend shume i merzitshem ne mengjes, eshe shume tollovi.

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

Keshtu qe une vendose te provoj dicka

So I decided to try and stage something

qe mund t'a benet ate sa me shume te gezuar qe eshte e mundshme per nje mengjes.

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

Pra kjo ishte ne dimer te 2009--

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

8:30 ne mengjes.

Eshte mengjes i ngutshem.

It's morning rush hour.

It's very cold outside.

Eshte shume ftohte jashte.

People are coming in from Queens,

Njerez jane duke ardhuar nga Queens,

transferring from the E train to the 6 train.

duke u transferuar nga treni E ne trenin 6.

And they're going up these giant escalators

Dhe jane duke shkuar ne keto shaklle gjikande

ne rrugen e tyre per punen e tyre.

on their way to their jobs.

[Rob wants]

[to give you]

(Buzeqeshje)

(Laughter)

[a high five!]

(Laughter)

[Get ready!]

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

Faleminderit.

Thank you.

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

Keshtu eshte nje fotograf qe ilustron ate pak me mire.

He gave 2,000 high fives that day,

Ai ka prek 2,000 dore ate dite,

dhe ai i lau duart e tij para dhe pastaj

and he washed his hands before and afterward

dhe nuk u semure.

and did not get sick.

Dhe ajo gjithashtu ishte bere pa leje,

And that was done also without permission,

edhe pse u duk qe askujt si behej vone.

although no one seemed to care.

Pra une do te thoja nder vite,

So I'd say over the years,

one of the most common criticisms I see of Improv Everywhere

njera nder kritikat me te zakonshme qe une shoh te permiresimit kudo

left anonymously on YouTube comments

e lene anoonim ne komentet e YouTube

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

eshte: " Keta njerez kane shume kohe "

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

Dhe e dini, jo te gjithe do te pelqej cdo gje qe ben,

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

dhe une sigurisht qe kam paraqitur nje pa ndjeshmeri duke ju falenderuar komenteve te internetit,

por ato cdo here me kane bezdisur mua,

but that one's always bothered me,

sepse ne nuk kemi edhe aq shume kohe ne dore.

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

Pjesemarresit tek ngjarejt Permiresimi kudo

The participants in Improv Everywhere events

kane aq kohe te lire sa secili New Yorker,

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

kjo eshte vetem nje zgjedhje e rastesishme

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

per te kaluar nje menyre te pa zakonshme.

You know, every Saturday and Sunday,

E dini, cdo te shtune dhe te diele,

hundreds of thousands of people each fall

qindra prej mijera njerezve cdo vjeshte

gather in football stadiums to watch games.

mblidhen ne stadiume futbolli te shikojne lojerat.

Dhe kurre nuk kam pare dike te kete komentuar, duke shikuar loje futbolli,

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

duke thene, " Te gjithe keta njerez ne pozicione, ata kane shume kohe ne dore."

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

Dhe patjter ata nuk kane.

And of course they don't.

Eshte menyre perfefekt per te kaluar nje masdite vikendi,

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

duke shikuar nje loje futbolli ne nje stadium.

watching a football game in a stadium.

Por une mendoj eshte gjithashtu nje menyre plotesisht e vlefshme

But I think it's also a perfectly valid way

per te kaluar nje masdite ne nje vend te ftohte me 200 njerez

to spend an afternoon freezing in place with 200 people

ne terminalin Grand Central

in the Grand Central terminal

ose te veshemi sikur ghostbuster

or dressing up like a ghostbuster

and running through the New York Public Library.

dhe duke vrapuar neper Bibloteken Publike te New york

(Laughter)

(Buzeqeshje)

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

Ose duke degjuar te njetin MP3 sikur 3,000 njerez tjere

dhe duke vallezuar qetesisht ne park,

and dancing silently in a park,

or bursting into song in a grocery store

ose duke ngritur volumin nje kenge ne dyqan ushqimesh

as part of a spontaneous musical,

si pjese e mjuzikllit spontan,

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

ose te zhytemi ne oqean ne Coney Island te veshur me veshje formale.

Ju e dini, si femije, ne jemi mesuar te luajme.

(Laughter)

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

Dhe kurre nuk na eshte dhene nje arsye pse duhet te luajme.

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

Eshte vetem e pranushme qe loja eshte nje gje e mire.

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

Dhe une mendoj se ky eshte nje lloj i permiresimit kudo.

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.

Eshte kjo se nuk ka qellim dhe se nuk duhet te kete qellim.

Neve nuk na duhet arsyeja.

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

Perderisa eshte argetim

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

dhe dukete se do te jete nje ide argetuese

and it seems like the people who witness it

dhe duket se njerezit te cilet deshmojne kete gjithashtu do te argetohen,

will also have a fun time,

pastaj kjo eshte e mjaftueshme per ne.

then that's enough for us.

And I think, as adults, we need to learn

Dhe mendoj, si te rritur, ne duhet te mesojme

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

se nuk ka menyre te drejte apo te pa drejte per te lujatur.

Faleminderit shume.

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)