The shared experience of absurdity | Charlie Todd

Translator: Xun Lin Reviewer: Qi Gu

I started Improv Everywhere about 10 years ago

十年前，當時我搬去紐約 對表演同喜劇非常感興趣

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

於是我創立咗「隨地即興」

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

不過我初嚟甫到，上唔到舞臺

so I decided to create my own in public places.

所以決定要喺公眾場合 創造我自己嘅舞臺

第一個過往活動要畀你哋睇嘅係

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

第一屆唔著褲坐地鐵

is the very first No Pants Subway Ride.

Now, this took place in January of 2002.

嗰陣時係 2002 年 1 月

And this woman is the star of the video.

依位女士係依段片嘅主角

She doesn't know she's being filmed.

佢唔知自己俾人影緊

因為我哋用隱藏嘅鏡頭拍嘅

She's being filmed with a hidden camera.

依度係紐約六號線

This is on the 6 train in New York City.

依度係六號線嘅第 1 個站

And this is the first stop along the line.

These are two Danish guys

有兩個丹麥男子上嚟

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

坐咗喺攝影機隔籬

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

著住啡色外套嗰個就係我

It's about 30 degrees outside.

室外溫度係攝氐 -1 度左右

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

我戴住帽同圍巾

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

個女仔就快要發現我喇

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

可以睇到，我冇著褲

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

所以……

（笑聲）

At this point --

而家，佢注意到我喇

at this point she's noticed me,

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

但係喺紐約 你隨時都可能喺地鐵遇到怪人

一個人冇著褲，一啲都唔出奇

One person's not that unusual.

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

所以佢繼續睇書，咁啱得咁巧 佢本書嘅名係《強姦》

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

嗱，佢意識到有奇怪嘅事發生

但係佢即刻當冇事發生

Now, in the meantime, I have six friends

與此同時

我有 6 個朋友喺接落嚟嘅連續 6 個站

who are waiting at the next six consecutive stops

都淨係著住底褲，等緊車上車

in their underwear as well.

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

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

我哋會扮到唔識對方

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

只係咁啱大家都喺寒冬中嘅一日 唔記得著褲

forgetting our pants on this cold January day.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Laughter continues)

So at this point,

到咗而家

she decides to put the rape book away.

佢決定要將本強姦書擺埋一邊喇

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

然後留意下發生喺佢周圍嘅事

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

同時，嗰兩個坐喺攝影機旁邊嘅 丹麥男子已經笑到停唔到喇

they're cracking up.

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

佢哋覺得我哋冇著褲 係佢哋成世人見過最搞笑嘅事

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

留意下個女人 同個兩個男子有眼神交流喇

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And I love that moment in this video,

依段片入邊，我最鍾意依一刻

because before it became a shared experience,

係因為個女人 喺仲未同其他人有交流之前

it was something that was maybe a little bit scary,

佢覺得我哋嘅行為有啲得人驚

or something that was at least confusing to her.

又或者令人疑惑

但係當佢開始同其他人有交流之後

And then, once it became a shared experience,

我哋冇著褲就變成一件搞笑嘅事喇

it was funny and something that she could laugh at.

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

列車而家進入六號綫嘅第 3 個站喇

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So the video won't show everything.

但我唔會播晒成段片

This goes on for another four stops.

因為後邊嘅 4 個站都係一樣

A total of seven guys enter anonymously in their underwear.

成件事有 7 個男人好似我噉

淨係著住底褲

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

到第八個站 有個女仔帶住一個大帆布袋上車

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

然後對所有人講 佢有長褲平賣，一蚊美金一條

like you might sell batteries or candy on the train.

就好似喺列車上賣電池同糖一樣

我哋都買咗條褲，著上身之後

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

就對賣褲個女仔講：「太多謝你喇， 我今日就係爭依樣嘢。」

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

and then exited without revealing what had happened

然後一句解釋都冇就落車

向住唔同嘅方向離開

and went in all different directions.

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

多謝

So that's a still from the video there.

講返條片

And I love that girl's reaction so much.

我實在太鍾意個女仔嘅反應喇

And watching that videotape later that day

嗰日後尾我睇返段片之後

inspired me to keep doing what I do.

我覺得要做多啲類似嘅事

And really one of the points of Improv Everywhere

「隨地即興」嘅宗旨之一

is to cause a scene in a public place

就係喺公眾地方整啲惡作劇

that is a positive experience for other people.

令其他人有正面嘅體驗

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

我知係有整蠱人感覺 但可以係人人嘅茶餘飯後

個女人嘅反應啓發咗我 去搞第二屆唔著褲坐地鐵

And her reaction inspired me

to do a second annual No Pants Subway Ride.

And we've continued to do it every year.

所以之後每年我哋都搞

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

今年一月 係唔著褲坐地鐵嘅第十年

where a diverse group of 3,500 people

一共有 3,500 個嚟自唔同背景嘅人

rode the train in their underwear in New York --

齋著住底褲，出現喺紐約地鐵上

幾乎每一條綫都可以見到佢哋

almost every single train line in the city.

全球仲有 50 個城市嘅人參與其中

And also in 50 other cities around the world,

people participated.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

當我喺紐約 Upright Citizens Brigade 劇院

開始教即興表演

遇到好多有創意既人、演員同喜劇明星

and meeting other creative people and other performers and comedians,

I started amassing a mailing list of people

於是乎我開始整一個 對依類型演出有興趣嘅人嘅表

who wanted to do these types of projects.

So I could do more large-scale projects.

方便我聯絡佢哋 做日後更大型嘅表演

Well, one day I was walking through Union Square,

有一日，我行過紐約聯合廣場

見到一棟 2005 年建成嘅樓

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

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

有個女仔喺一個窗口嗰度跳舞

It was very peculiar, because it was dark out,

望落好奇怪啦

因為周圍都好暗 得啲光管喺後邊照住佢

but she was backlit with florescent lighting.

She was very much onstage

好似佢就喺舞臺上邊噉

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

我就諗唔通點解佢會做啲噉嘅嘢

After about 15 seconds, her friend appeared --

約莫 15 秒之後，佢個朋友出現

個朋友原來之前一直匿喺展板後邊

she had been hiding behind a display.

佢哋狂笑，攬一攬對方，就跑咗去

They laughed, hugged each other and ran away.

我估就應該係佢哋玩緊 「你敢唔敢做」之類嘅遊戲

Maybe she had been dared to do this.

So I got inspired by that.

於是我就得到啓發

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

望住棟樓，一共有 70 個噉既櫥窗

and I knew what I had to do.

然後我就知道我要做咩啦

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

So this project is called Look Up More.

依嗰活動嘅名叫做「多啲抬頭望」

We had 70 actors dress in black.

我哋一共有 70 個人著到全黑

This was completely unauthorized.

活動事前未經過批准

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

因為我哋唔想畀商場知 我哋要做依樣嘢

And I stood in the park giving signals.

我就企喺公園度畀信號

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

第一個信號係要所有人 舉起一個 4 尺高嘅字母

拼埋一齊就係「多啲抬頭望」嘅英文

that spelled out "Look Up More,"

the name of the project.

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

第二個信號就係要佢哋係噉跳

You'll see that start right here.

你哋可以見到喇

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And then we had dancing. We had everyone dance.

然後就開始跳舞，開頭係大家一齊跳

跟住落嚟就係每次得一個人跳

And then we had dance solos

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

然後所有人都會指向嗰個人

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

So then I gave a new hand signal,

然後我又畀一個新信號

which signaled the next soloist down below in Forever 21,

示意下一個獨舞嘅係 Forever 21 舖嘅嗰個人

and he danced.

然後佢就開始跳

There were several other activities.

仲有好多其他形式嘅表演

佢哋會上下跳

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

瞓落地下

And I was standing just anonymously in a sweatshirt,

我就著住件 T 恤 唔顯眼噉企喺人群之中

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

用我隻手同一個垃圾桶黎畀信號

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

因為地點係喺聯合廣場公園 就喺地鐵站隔籬

到咗最後，應該有幾百人駐足、抬頭

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

and watched what we were doing.

睇我哋做緊乜

There's a better photo of it.

依張係影得比較靚嘅相

So that particular event was inspired by a moment

依嗰活動之所以有

係全因撞到嗰兩個女仔嘅嗰一刻

that I happened to stumble upon.

The next project I want to show

下一個我想要同你哋分享嘅過往活動

was given to me in an email from a stranger.

係同一位我完全唔識嘅德州中學生

A high school kid in Texas wrote me in 2006

喺 2006 年發咗封電子郵件畀我有關

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

佢話：「你應該搵人，越多人越好，

to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants

著住藍色 polo 恤衫同啡色長褲，

and go into a Best Buy and stand around."

喺數碼商店 Best Buy入邊企下。」 （Best Buy 制服係藍衫啡褲）

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

So I wrote this high school kid back immediately

我即刻回信畀個中學生

and I said, "Yes, you are correct.

話：「你啱。

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

我依個週末就試下！多謝！」

接落嚟就係嗰日影嘅

So here's the video.

So again, this is 2005.

就係 2005 年

喺紐約依間 Best Buy 舖頭入邊

This is the Best Buy in New York City.

We had about 80 people show up to participate,

一共有大概 80 個人參與依次活動

佢哋一個個噉行入舖頭

entering one by one.

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

其中有 8 歲嘅細路女、 10 歲嘅細路女

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

同埋 65 歲嘅男人

So a very diverse group of people.

參與今次活動嘅真係咩年齡都有

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

我同啲參加者講：

「唔好表現到你喺嗰度做嘢， 亦都唔好表現到你喺度買嘢。

But also, don't shop.

Just stand around and don't face products."

就噉企喺度，不過唔好對住啲貨品。」

Now you can see the regular employees

而家你可以見到舖頭嘅員工 件藍色恤衫上邊係有個黃色牌嘅

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

而我哋啲參加者就冇

Everybody else is one of our actors.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

The lower-level employees thought it was very funny.

舖頭嘅初級員工覺得我哋好搞笑

甚至有啲人由休息室行出嚟 攞住部相機

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

要同我哋嘅人合照

and took photos with us.

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

有啲人就想整蠱我哋，要我哋去倉庫

to get heavy television sets for customers.

搬啲好重嘅電視畀顧客

不過，經理同保安

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

就唔覺得我哋搞笑喇

did not find it particularly funny.

You can see them in this footage.

喺依段片，你哋可以見到

佢哋著住黃色或者黑色恤衫

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

And we were there probably 10 minutes

喺經理就決定要打 911 報警之前

before the managers decided to dial 911.

我哋喺嗰度留咗大概 10 分鐘

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

So they started running around

然後我哋就開始周圍跑

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

通知其他人警察要嚟喇！ 睇住啊！警察要嚟喇！

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

可以見到警察就喺嗰度

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

著住黑色制服，俾人偷拍緊

最後，個警察就同經理講

Ultimately, the police had to inform Best Buy management

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

冇法律規定話唔比著 藍色 polo 恤衫同啡色褲

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

（掌聲）

(Applause)

Thank you.

多謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）

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

我哋喺舖頭入邊有 20 分鐘 然後好開心噉離開

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

但個經理有試過搵我哋偷拍嘅攝影機

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

佢哋捉到我哋幾個參加者 喺帆布袋入邊有部攝影機

但係有一個冇俾人捉到

But the one camera guy they never caught

呢個人帶住空白嘅帶入去舖頭

was the guy that went in just with a blank tape

然後去到相機攝影機嘅區域

and went over to the Best Buy camera department

將個空白帶放入舖頭嘅相機

and just put his tape in one of their cameras

and pretended to shop.

扮喺度試機

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

我好鍾意依嗰諗法 用舖頭自己嘅產品嚟影舖頭

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

我覺得我哋最好嘅活動 係喺特定場地有特定原因嘅活動

and happen at a particular place for a reason.

And one morning, I was riding the subway.

有一朝，我坐緊地鐵

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

要喺第 53 街站轉車

where there are these two giant escalators.

嗰個站有兩條超長嘅電梯

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

不過喺電梯上邊你會覺得好壓抑 而且仲係一個好多人嘅早上

所以我決定要喺嗰度搞啲 可以令人開心嘅嘢

So I decided to try and stage something

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

雖然只係一個朝早咁短

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

然後係 2009 年冬天嘅 其中一日八點半返工嘅繁忙時間

It's morning rush hour.

It's very cold outside.

室外好鬼凍

People are coming in from Queens,

啲人都係從皇后區坐過黎嘅

由 E 號線轉 6 號線

transferring from the E train to the 6 train.

And they're going up these giant escalators

個個都搭緊依兩條超長嘅電梯

on their way to their jobs.

返佢哋嘅工

[Rob wants]

[to give you]

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

[a high five!]

(Laughter)

[Get ready!]

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

(Applause)

（掌聲）

Thank you.

多謝

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

依張相影得好啲

He gave 2,000 high fives that day,

佢嗰日同其他人拍手二千次

and he washed his hands before and afterward

依個活動前後佢都有洗手

and did not get sick.

所以冇病到

And that was done also without permission,

依次活動都係冇經過批准嘅

although no one seemed to care.

不過好似都冇人理

So I'd say over the years,

依幾年

one of the most common criticisms I see of Improv Everywhere

我見過喺 YouTube 匿名留言中

關於隨地即興最常見嘅評論係

left anonymously on YouTube comments

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

「依班人實在太得閒啦。」

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

「唔係個個人都會鍾意你做嘅嘢。」

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

多得網上評論，我面皮都厚咗好多

但係就係放唔低一個人講嘅嘢

but that one's always bothered me,

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

因為講真，我哋都好鬼唔得閑

隨地即興嘅人同紐約市嘅人一樣 都唔乜空餘時間

The participants in Improv Everywhere events

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

我哋只係間中選擇一種唔同嘅方式 嚟消磨時間

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

You know, every Saturday and Sunday,

之但係，每年秋天嘅每個週末

hundreds of thousands of people each fall

成千上萬人都會去球場睇波

gather in football stadiums to watch games.

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

但點解唔見有人話啲睇波嘅人

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

「嗰啲喺足球場嘅人實在太得閒喇！」

不過其實嗰啲睇波人都好忙

And of course they don't.

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

搵個週末下晝喺足球場睇波 都冇乜嘢唔好

watching a football game in a stadium.

不過我覺得

But I think it's also a perfectly valid way

搵日下晝，喺紐約中央車站

to spend an afternoon freezing in place with 200 people

同二百人一齊

in the Grand Central terminal

或者著住《捉鬼敢死隊》嘅制服

or dressing up like a ghostbuster

and running through the New York Public Library.

喺紐約公眾圖書館入邊 跑嚟跑去，都唔錯

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

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

或者三千人一齊喺公園入邊聽 MP3

and dancing silently in a park,

一齊無聲噉跳舞

or bursting into song in a grocery store

又或者喺超市突然間開始唱歌

as part of a spontaneous musical,

上演一場即興嘅音樂劇

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

又或者一班人盛裝打扮，潛落個海度

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

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

細細個嗰陣，大人都會教我哋點玩

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

但係佢哋都冇話我哋知 點解我哋要玩

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

大家都好自然噉接受 玩係一件好事

依嗰就係隨地即興想傳達嘅信息

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.

玩係冇原因

我哋亦唔需要一個原因去玩

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

只要件事好玩

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

個諗法睇落會好玩

and it seems like the people who witness it

同埋睇嘅人開心

will also have a fun time,

then that's enough for us.

我哋就滿足喇

And I think, as adults, we need to learn

作為成年人

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

我哋要明白玩係唔分啱同錯

Thank you very much.

多謝

（掌聲）

(Applause)