I started Improv Everywhere about 10 years ago when I moved to New York City with an interest in acting and comedy. Because I was new to the city, I didn't have access to a stage, so I decided to create my own in public places.
十年前,當時我搬去紐約 對表演同喜劇非常感興趣 於是我創立咗「隨地即興」 不過我初嚟甫到,上唔到舞臺 所以決定要喺公眾場合 創造我自己嘅舞臺
So the first project we're going to take a look at is the very first No Pants Subway Ride. Now, this took place in January of 2002. And this woman is the star of the video. She doesn't know she's being filmed. She's being filmed with a hidden camera. This is on the 6 train in New York City. And this is the first stop along the line. These are two Danish guys who come in and sit down next to the hidden camera. And that's me right there in a brown coat. It's about 30 degrees outside. I'm wearing a hat. I'm wearing a scarf. And the girl's going to notice me right here.
第一個過往活動要畀你哋睇嘅係 第一屆唔著褲坐地鐵 嗰陣時係 2002 年 1 月 依位女士係依段片嘅主角 佢唔知自己俾人影緊 因為我哋用隱藏嘅鏡頭拍嘅 依度係紐約六號線 依度係六號線嘅第 1 個站 有兩個丹麥男子上嚟 坐咗喺攝影機隔籬 著住啡色外套嗰個就係我 室外溫度係攝氐 -1 度左右 我戴住帽同圍巾 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……
At this point -- at this point she's noticed me, but in New York there's weirdos on any given train car. One person's not that unusual. She goes back to reading her book, which is unfortunately titled "Rape."
(笑聲) 而家,佢注意到我喇 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 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
Now, in the meantime, I have six friends
但係佢即刻當冇事發生
who are waiting at the next six consecutive stops 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. And we'll act as if it's just an unfortunate mistake we've made, forgetting our pants on this cold January day.
與此同時 我有 6 個朋友喺接落嚟嘅連續 6 個站 都淨係著住底褲,等緊車上車 我哋會扮到唔識對方 只係咁啱大家都喺寒冬中嘅一日 唔記得著褲
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Laughter continues)
So at this point, she decides to put the rape book away.
到咗而家 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. In the meantime, the two Danish guys to the left of the camera, they're cracking up. They think this is the funniest thing they've ever seen before. And watch her make eye contact with them right about now.
然後留意下發生喺佢周圍嘅事 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 佢哋覺得我哋冇著褲 係佢哋成世人見過最搞笑嘅事 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, because before it became a shared experience, it was something that was maybe a little bit scary, or something that was at least confusing to her. And then, once it became a shared experience, it was funny and something that she could laugh at.
依段片入邊,我最鍾意依一刻 係因為個女人 喺仲未同其他人有交流之前 佢覺得我哋嘅行為有啲得人驚 又或者令人疑惑 但係當佢開始同其他人有交流之後 我哋冇著褲就變成一件搞笑嘅事喇
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. This goes on for another four stops. A total of seven guys enter anonymously in their underwear. At the eighth stop, a girl came in with a giant duffel bag and announced she had pants for sale for a dollar -- like you might sell batteries or candy on the train. We all very matter-of-factly bought a pair of pants, put them on and said, "Thank you. That's exactly what I needed today," and then exited without revealing what had happened and went in all different directions.
但我唔會播晒成段片 因為後邊嘅 4 個站都係一樣 成件事有 7 個男人好似我噉 淨係著住底褲 到第八個站 有個女仔帶住一個大帆布袋上車 然後對所有人講 佢有長褲平賣,一蚊美金一條 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 就對賣褲個女仔講:「太多謝你喇, 我今日就係爭依樣嘢。」 然後一句解釋都冇就落車 向住唔同嘅方向離開
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you.
多謝
So that's a still from the video there. And I love that girl's reaction so much. And watching that videotape later that day inspired me to keep doing what I do. And really one of the points of Improv Everywhere is to cause a scene in a public place that is a positive experience for other people. It's a prank, but it's a prank that gives somebody a great story to tell. And her reaction inspired me to do a second annual No Pants Subway Ride. And we've continued to do it every year. This January, we did the 10th annual No Pants Subway Ride where a diverse group of 3,500 people rode the train in their underwear in New York -- almost every single train line in the city. And also in 50 other cities around the world, people participated.
講返條片 我實在太鍾意個女仔嘅反應喇 嗰日後尾我睇返段片之後 我覺得要做多啲類似嘅事 「隨地即興」嘅宗旨之一 就係喺公眾地方整啲惡作劇 令其他人有正面嘅體驗 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 所以之後每年我哋都搞 今年一月 係唔著褲坐地鐵嘅第十年 一共有 3,500 個嚟自唔同背景嘅人 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 全球仲有 50 個城市嘅人參與其中 (笑聲)
(Laughter)
當我喺紐約 Upright Citizens Brigade 劇院
As I started taking improv class at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and meeting other creative people and other performers and comedians, I started amassing a mailing list of people who wanted to do these types of projects. So I could do more large-scale projects. Well, one day I was walking through Union Square, 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. It was very peculiar, because it was dark out, but she was backlit with florescent lighting. She was very much onstage and I couldn't figure out why she was doing it. After about 15 seconds, her friend appeared -- she had been hiding behind a display. They laughed, hugged each other and ran away. Maybe she had been dared to do this. So I got inspired by that. Looking at the entire facade -- there were 70 total windows -- and I knew what I had to do.
開始教即興表演 遇到好多有創意既人、演員同喜劇明星 於是乎我開始整一個 對依類型演出有興趣嘅人嘅表 方便我聯絡佢哋 做日後更大型嘅表演 有一日,我行過紐約聯合廣場 見到一棟 2005 年建成嘅樓 有個女仔喺一個窗口嗰度跳舞 望落好奇怪啦 因為周圍都好暗 得啲光管喺後邊照住佢 好似佢就喺舞臺上邊噉 我就諗唔通點解佢會做啲噉嘅嘢 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 佢哋狂笑,攬一攬對方,就跑咗去 我估就應該係佢哋玩緊 「你敢唔敢做」之類嘅遊戲 於是我就得到啓發 望住棟樓,一共有 70 個噉既櫥窗 然後我就知道我要做咩啦 (笑聲)
(Laughter)
依嗰活動嘅名叫做「多啲抬頭望」
So this project is called Look Up More. We had 70 actors dress in black. This was completely unauthorized. We didn't let the stores know we were coming. And I stood in the park giving signals. The first signal was for everybody to hold up these four-foot tall letters that spelled out "Look Up More," the name of the project. The second signal was for everybody to do jumping jacks together. You'll see that start right here.
我哋一共有 70 個人著到全黑 活動事前未經過批准 因為我哋唔想畀商場知 我哋要做依樣嘢 我就企喺公園度畀信號 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 第二個信號就係要佢哋係噉跳 你哋可以見到喇
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
And then we had dancing. We had everyone dance. And then we had dance solos where only one person would dance and everybody would point to them.
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 然後所有人都會指向嗰個人
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So then I gave a new hand signal, which signaled the next soloist down below in Forever 21, and he danced. There were several other activities. We had people jumping up and down, people dropping to the ground. And I was standing just anonymously in a sweatshirt, putting my hand on and off of a trashcan to signal the advancement. And because it was in Union Square Park, right by a subway station, there were hundreds of people by the end who stopped and looked up and watched what we were doing. There's a better photo of it.
然後我又畀一個新信號 示意下一個獨舞嘅係 Forever 21 舖嘅嗰個人 然後佢就開始跳 仲有好多其他形式嘅表演 佢哋會上下跳 瞓落地下 我就著住件 T 恤 唔顯眼噉企喺人群之中 用我隻手同一個垃圾桶黎畀信號 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 睇我哋做緊乜 依張係影得比較靚嘅相
So that particular event was inspired by a moment that I happened to stumble upon. The next project I want to show was given to me in an email from a stranger. A high school kid in Texas wrote me in 2006 and said, "You should get as many people as possible to put on blue polo shirts and khaki pants and go into a Best Buy and stand around."
依嗰活動之所以有 係全因撞到嗰兩個女仔嘅嗰一刻 下一個我想要同你哋分享嘅過往活動 係同一位我完全唔識嘅德州中學生 喺 2006 年發咗封電子郵件畀我有關 佢話:「你應該搵人,越多人越好, 著住藍色 polo 恤衫同啡色長褲, 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 and I said, "Yes, you are correct. I think I'll try to do that this weekend. Thank you." So here's the video.
我即刻回信畀個中學生 話:「你啱。 我依個週末就試下!多謝!」 接落嚟就係嗰日影嘅
So again, this is 2005. This is the Best Buy in New York City. We had about 80 people show up to participate, entering one by one. There was an eight-year-old girl, a 10-year-old girl. There was also a 65-year-old man who participated. So a very diverse group of people.
就係 2005 年 喺紐約依間 Best Buy 舖頭入邊 一共有大概 80 個人參與依次活動 佢哋一個個噉行入舖頭 其中有 8 歲嘅細路女、 10 歲嘅細路女 同埋 65 歲嘅男人 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. But also, don't shop. Just stand around and don't face products." Now you can see the regular employees by the ones that have the yellow tags on their shirt. Everybody else is one of our actors.
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。 就噉企喺度,不過唔好對住啲貨品。」 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 而我哋啲參加者就冇 (笑聲)
(Laughter)
舖頭嘅初級員工覺得我哋好搞笑
The lower-level employees thought it was very funny. Several of them went to go get their camera from the break room and took photos with us. A lot of them made jokes about trying to get us to go to the back to get heavy television sets for customers. The managers and the security guards, on the other hand, did not find it particularly funny. You can see them in this footage. They're wearing either a yellow shirt or a black shirt. And we were there probably 10 minutes before the managers decided to dial 911.
甚至有啲人由休息室行出嚟 攞住部相機 要同我哋嘅人合照 有啲人就想整蠱我哋,要我哋去倉庫 搬啲好重嘅電視畀顧客 不過,經理同保安 就唔覺得我哋搞笑喇 喺依段片,你哋可以見到 佢哋著住黃色或者黑色恤衫 喺經理就決定要打 911 報警之前 我哋喺嗰度留咗大概 10 分鐘
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
So they started running around telling everybody the cops were coming, "Watch out, the cops are coming." And you can see the cops in this footage right here. That's a cop wearing black right there, being filmed with a hidden camera. 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.
然後我哋就開始周圍跑 通知其他人警察要嚟喇! 睇住啊!警察要嚟喇! 可以見到警察就喺嗰度 著住黑色制服,俾人偷拍緊 最後,個警察就同經理講 冇法律規定話唔比著 藍色 polo 恤衫同啡色褲
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you.
多謝
(Applause)
(掌聲)
So we had been there for 20 minutes; we were happy to exit the store. One thing the managers were trying to do was to track down our cameras. And they caught a couple of my guys who had hidden cameras in duffel bags. But the one camera guy they never caught was the guy that went in just with a blank tape and went over to the Best Buy camera department and just put his tape in one of their cameras and pretended to shop. So I like that concept of using their own technology against them.
我哋喺舖頭入邊有 20 分鐘 然後好開心噉離開 但個經理有試過搵我哋偷拍嘅攝影機 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 呢個人帶住空白嘅帶入去舖頭 然後去到相機攝影機嘅區域 將個空白帶放入舖頭嘅相機 扮喺度試機 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 and happen at a particular place for a reason. And one morning, I was riding the subway. I had to make a transfer at the 53rd St. stop where there are these two giant escalators. And it's a very depressing place to be in the morning, it's very crowded. So I decided to try and stage something that could make it as happy as possible for one morning. So this was in the winter of 2009 -- 8:30 in the morning. It's morning rush hour. It's very cold outside. People are coming in from Queens, transferring from the E train to the 6 train. And they're going up these giant escalators on their way to their jobs.
我覺得我哋最好嘅活動 係喺特定場地有特定原因嘅活動 有一朝,我坐緊地鐵 要喺第 53 街站轉車 嗰個站有兩條超長嘅電梯 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 雖然只係一個朝早咁短 然後係 2009 年冬天嘅 其中一日八點半返工嘅繁忙時間 室外好鬼凍 啲人都係從皇后區坐過黎嘅 由 E 號線轉 6 號線 個個都搭緊依兩條超長嘅電梯 返佢哋嘅工
[Rob wants] [to give you]
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
[a high five!]
(Laughter)
[Get ready!]
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
(Applause)
(掌聲)
Thank you. So there's a photograph that illustrates it a little bit better. He gave 2,000 high fives that day, and he washed his hands before and afterward and did not get sick. And that was done also without permission, although no one seemed to care.
多謝 依張相影得好啲 佢嗰日同其他人拍手二千次 依個活動前後佢都有洗手 所以冇病到 依次活動都係冇經過批准嘅 不過好似都冇人理
So I'd say over the years, one of the most common criticisms I see of Improv Everywhere left anonymously on YouTube comments is: "These people have too much time on their hands." And you know, not everybody's going to like everything you do, and I've certainly developed a thick skin thanks to Internet comments, but that one's always bothered me, because we don't have too much time on our hands. The participants in Improv Everywhere events have just as much leisure time as any other New Yorkers, they just occasionally choose to spend it in an unusual way.
依幾年 我見過喺 YouTube 匿名留言中 關於隨地即興最常見嘅評論係 「依班人實在太得閒啦。」 「唔係個個人都會鍾意你做嘅嘢。」 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 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 我哋只係間中選擇一種唔同嘅方式 嚟消磨時間 之但係,每年秋天嘅每個週末
You know, every Saturday and Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people each fall gather in football stadiums to watch games. And I've never seen anybody comment, looking at a football game, "All those people in the stands, they have too much time on their hands." And of course they don't. It's a perfectly wonderful way to spent a weekend afternoon, watching a football game in a stadium. But I think it's also a perfectly valid way to spend an afternoon freezing in place with 200 people in the Grand Central terminal or dressing up like a ghostbuster and running through the New York Public Library.
成千上萬人都會去球場睇波 但點解唔見有人話啲睇波嘅人 「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 搵個週末下晝喺足球場睇波 都冇乜嘢唔好 不過我覺得 搵日下晝,喺紐約中央車站 同二百人一齊 或者著住《捉鬼敢死隊》嘅制服 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 and dancing silently in a park, or bursting into song in a grocery store as part of a spontaneous musical, or diving into the ocean in Coney Island wearing formal attire.
或者三千人一齊喺公園入邊聽 MP3 一齊無聲噉跳舞 又或者喺超市突然間開始唱歌 上演一場即興嘅音樂劇 又或者一班人盛裝打扮,潛落個海度
(Laughter)
(笑聲)
You know, as kids, we're taught to play. And we're never given a reason why we should play. It's just acceptable that play is a good thing. 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. We don't need a reason. As long as it's fun and it seems like it's going to be a funny idea and it seems like the people who witness it will also have a fun time, then that's enough for us. And I think, as adults, we need to learn that there's no right or wrong way to play.
細細個嗰陣,大人都會教我哋點玩 但係佢哋都冇話我哋知 點解我哋要玩 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 玩係冇原因 我哋亦唔需要一個原因去玩 只要件事好玩 個諗法睇落會好玩 同埋睇嘅人開心 我哋就滿足喇 作為成年人 我哋要明白玩係唔分啱同錯
Thank you very much.
多謝
(Applause)
(掌聲)