In 2001, Charlie Todd founded Improv Everywhere, a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes and pulls jokes in public places. It spawned Frozen Grand Central, which involved 200 people standing stock still in the middle of the terminal for five minutes and then walking away, creating the group’s most popular video (30 million views). It is also responsible for the annual tradition of the No Pants Subway Ride. Most recently, Todd, 34, who lives in Chelsea, coordinated a light show for Grand Central’s 100th birthday. You can expect another prank video from him on April Fool’s Day. This is his improv New York.
1. Beauty Bar, 231 E 14th St.
This was the first prank we ever pulled. It was off the cuff — we decided to do it because my friend thought I looked like musician Ben Folds (I don’t). I entered the bar by myself, my friend entered five minutes later. Then he came up to me and said “Oh my God, you’re Ben Folds! Can I have an autograph?” This is 2001, so no one has an iPhone, no one can Google Ben Folds and say, “No, you’re not.” All of a sudden people were asking for my autograph, taking pictures with me, the bartender giving me free drinks. So I wrote that story down and created a Web site to share it with my friends. That’s when I created Improv Everywhere. It was a month after I moved to New York City to pursue acting and comedy. Rather than waiting for people to cast me in their play, I was like, “I’m just going to create my own performances.”
2. UCB Theater, 307 W. 26th St.
I perform here every week, and it’s also where I met most of the collaborators for Improv Everywhere. Pretty much everybody I know from 2001 when I started [my group] there, is now on TV or working in comedy professionally — Bobby Moynihan from “Saturday Night Live,” and Zach Woods on “The Office”; the shows that I used to see were Paul Scheer, Ed Helms and Rob Corddry. It’s amazing how much talent got their start at the UCB.
3. Bryant Park, Sixth Avenue and 40th St.
We’ve been kicked out of a lot of places over the years — we do many things without permission. But Bryant Park reached out to us and said, “We want you to do things here.” We did a prank on their carousel where we had a jockey dressed in full jockey attire get on the carousel, which was filled with 4- or 5-year-olds. And then two friends of mine showed up as announcers and started commenting as if it were a horse race. We had about 30 people dressed very nicely — as if they were going to the Kentucky Derby — show up cheering, and they were placing bets on the horses. One kid who was riding a rabbit won.
4. Rooftop of the building at Eight Avenue and 20th street
We staged a fake U2 concert on the roof, across the street from Madison Square Garden. A giant crowd showed up. I seeded it with like 80 people, but by the end of it there were 500 people on the street. It was the night of a real U2 show, and U2 is known for playing rooftops. It woke up the whole neighborhood. The real cops showed up and handcuffed fake Bono and me. We got a ticket that was dismissed.
5. Best Buy in Chelsea, 60 W. 23rd St.
We had 100 people dressed in blue polo shirts and khaki pants [the Best Buy uniform] enter the store. The age range was like 10 through 60. Most of the employees thought it was funny, took pictures and joked about putting us to work. But the management didn’t like it and dialed 911. The cops showed up and had to inform management that there was nothing illegal about wearing a blue polo shirt and khaki pants. Many of the customers were legitimately fooled. I told everybody, “Don’t claim to work there, but if someone asks you a question and you know the answer, help them out.” Most of our participants are pretty tech-savvy. Really, Best Buy should have just been happy to have all the extra help.
6. The ledge on 31st Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues
I wanted to make light that there’s a silly 3-foot-tall ledge. So I put a “suicide jumper” on it. A fake fireman showed up with a tiny trampoline, a fake cop talked him down, his wife showed up and his “co-worker” got out on the ledge to join him.
7. Peter McManus Cafe, 152 Seventh Ave.
It’s a 77-year-old Irish bar. Because it’s three blocks from the old UCB Theater, it has been an improviser hangout for years. It’s a huge wood bar, they have these old-time phone booths from a bygone era. It’s the kind of bar where there are buybacks, the bartenders recognize all the comedians’ faces. It’s like the Cheers of the comedy community. “Saturday Night Live” being on TV in that bar is like a Yankee game being on TV at any other bar. When Bobby Moynihan got on “Saturday Night Live,” the crowd was cheering. Most of us had performed and were friends with him.
8. Subway station, 53rd and Lexington
We did a project there called High Five Escalator. I had five actors stand on the stairs next to two giant escalators and hold up signs that said, “Rob wants to give you a high five.” Then I had comedian Rob Lathan at the top with his hand out. It’s a dreary spot and it was freezing outside. It was fun to watch how people’s dispositions changed from the bottom of the escalator to the top. Pretty much everybody left smiling. New Yorkers have an unfair rap of being cynical. I found that not to be the case. If they’re given the opportunity to interact with something new and fun, they’ll always say yes.