Customer Reviews

Causing a Scene: Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Prior to reading this book, I had not, at least as far as I know, heard of Improv Everywhere. (Some vague memory exists of footage of one escapade, but I certainly don't recall the name of the group involved.) That fact certainly did not keep me from reading the book in a single sitting, laughing frequently.

"Causing a Scene" catalogs some of the work of Improv Everywhere, a group of people devoted to, well, causing a scene--in a word, pranks. What if, for example, 80 people showed up at Best Buy wearing blue shirts and khakis? Or suppose seven people on a subway train weren't wearing pants? What if the next year there were year there were 30 and then 40 and the number kept growing each year? These, apparently, were the sort of questions that the authors thought needed answers. So they set out to answer them.

The thing that separates the "missions" in this book from the realm of the ordinary practical joke is their sheer inventiveness and the fact that there is nothing malicious here. At their finest, the members of the Improv Everywhere are simply providing free entertainment for the lucky few who happen to be present at, say, the Olympic tryout of the New York City Synchronized Swimming Team--in about four inches of water in a public fountain.

The book describes thirteen missions, devoting around 20 pages to each one. The authors share the genesis of the idea, the planning, the execution, and the reactions. This project--by which I mean the book, not the missions--strikes me as a risky proposition. Describing jokes never works, so would describing pranks? The answer is a resounding yes, at least for most of the chapters. My particular favorites were the Starbucks mission (in which the same five-minute scene is repeated twelve times in a row à la Groundhog Day), the live book-signing by the great, great, and dead Anton Chekhov, and the synchronized swimming tryout.

The members of Improv Everywhere are carrying on the best tradition of hoaxing with all the creativity of Robert Benchley or P. T. Barnum but with far gentler motives than the latter. The book truly made me sense what it might have been like to be present at some of these wonderful missions.

I should add that the book raises some sociological or psychological questions about the way society treats difference. Some of the missions end with police involvement and raise issues that would have fascinated Michel Foucault. At one store, for instance, forty agents took over forty listening stations in a music store. The police were called. This response and some of the others detailed in the book are probably ideal for an enterprising graduate student's thesis. "Causing a Scene," however, keeps things light and funny. Only two points keep me from giving this five stars. First, I like to reserve that ranking for the truly outstanding, the work that will be remembered for not just years but decades. Second, there are some points at which the book could have been edited to reduce repetition, though I suppose with the repetition, the book is something one can read 20 pages at a time in multiple sittings.

I have been a fan of Improv Everywhere (IE) for several years, checking their site intermittently to see what crazy new antics they were up to, so I was thrilled to see that they had released a book.

This book compiles thirteen of IE's "missions," describing the event in great detail, from the inception to the actual incident. They've included some of my favorites - the book signing by (the very dead) Chekhov, the Best Buy employee army, and the subway ride sans slacks. All the agents do a great job and the reactions from members of the public are priceless. Maybe one day I'll be lucky enough to be in New York when IE strikes!

As far as downsides to the book, I would have to say that it is a fairly small book, the paper quality isn't great, and the pictures are black and white. But I consider these relatively small issues and I feel the book is fairly-priced.

If you're looking for a good laugh, definitely check out this book (and their site at improveverywhere dot com to see more missions). Be sure to leave it out on your coffee table so friends and family can enjoy it as well!

"Causing a Scene" provides an inside perspective on the familiar exploits of the veteran pranksters at Improv Everywhere. Having already watched many of the IE pranks online, I was concerned that the text might simply rehash what I'd already viewed. This proved not to be the case as the book told each story in a fresh way, flush with detail obscured to and commentary unavailable in IE's previously recorded exploits. The authors have captured what the cameras missed.

Whether or not you're already familiar with Improv Everywhere, this book will amuse in an easy-to-read, lighthearted way. Five stars.

My son (who is 15 years old) has been following the antics of Improv Everywhere on their website for quite some time now. He was thrilled when I handed him this book and he has been pouring over it ever since.

Most of the material in the book has already been on the website in some form, but it is expanded upon and better put together for the book. I believe that fans won't really even mind that the material has appeared on the website because they will enjoy being able to read and share the funny experiences and stories.

My son would love to figure out how to get to New York and find himself in the middle of one of these extraordinary pranks!

Length:: 0:35 Mins

Alan Corey, aka Agent Ace$Thugg, gives his opinions on this excellent Improv Everywhere book for the serious or causal prankster.
Causing a Scene: Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere

After recently reading books about murder, making mistakes, identity theft, genocide, corruption and torturing animals, this was a nice break. It is a VERY light, breezy book. No heavy lifting (or thinking) required. Your head (or heart) will not hurt at the end of it.

It's funny, some reviews say the book is not as good as the videos it talks about. I watched a couple of the videos when I was half-way through the book and thought they didn't live up to what I had read. So, I stuck with the book only and the images it conjured in my mind.

This book reflects upon some of the most successful missions completed by Improv Everywhere, a New York based comedy group that stages harmless--though chaotic--pranks throughout the city. Examples include (my personal favorite) an Anton Chekhov book signing at Barnes and Noble, an Olympic Trial synchronized swimming bid in the Washington Square Park fountain, and how they froze time in Grand Central Terminal.

The book is very well-organized with firsthand accounts from the actual agents who both planned and participated in the missions. There are photographs from the events, as well as reflections. They even went so far as to include quotes from famous figures that relate to the pranks in question.

I particularly enjoyed the writers' style and tone. They were very engaging and their sense of humor shined through the print. It's hard to convey humor through the written word, but Todd and Scordelis manage to pull it off nicely. They even infused a few pranks within the book itself (which took me longer to spot than I care to admit)!

If you're a fan of brilliant and victimless pranks, then I highly recommend you give Causing a Scene a try. Believe it or not, I'd never heard of Improv Anywhere before reading this book. Now I can't wait to visit their website and watch the video evidence of their exploits!

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumhant

This book is the ultimate coffee table reader. It also is a coffee table reader that you should actually read and I would find it hard for anyone to put down.

This book offers true stories to put it simply. These true stories are not of murders or conspiracies or anything lurid in nature but that of a group of people that live to not take life so seriously. This book reminds all of us that we can find humor in "disrupting" our everyday lives outside of t.v. and actually in our "real world". The "acts" performed in this book are from an "improv" group--performers (or normal people) who have a means or goal in mind (i.e. stunts) but use spontaneity as a direction.

Through faking a U2 concert in NYC in midday on a workday, that has us giggling to ourselves or thinking "they must be really gutsy" , this book has an underlying didactic approach that shows we should not take life as serious as it seems to be at times. Instead, to have fun with it and remember that we can find humor at expense of our everyday lives.

Through improving and performing stunts, this book should have you smile and give you that gleam in your eye the next day you walk to work in the morning. Did I mention it's a great coffee table book too.

"Causing a Scene" breaks down some of the crown jewels in the Improv Everywhere crown.

The "extraordinary pranks" are hilarious and brilliant. The pranks are laugh out loud funny but also very intelligent. I really enjoyed the way each prank was introduced with plenty of back story and where the inspiration came from.

This book reminds me almost of a combination greatest hits album, travel guide, and a whole helping of "how-to". It's a fun read- not just exploring the basic prank, but an intelligent examination of how and why it works, and how human nature, the individual, and the collective experience are all different and unintentional participants are the key to keeping the experiments truly improvisational.

This book would be a great gift for any prankster-at-heart - however mild or outrageous.

Warning: you will want to try these and invent your own, you will begin to spot potential set-ups in everyday situations. You might burst out in uncontrollable laughter in public, just imagining the possibilities.

HA HA HA HA HA HA

This is without a doubt one of the funniest books I have ever read. So good in fact, that I actually felt like I was there participating in the pranks, and in some cases being fooled right along with the countless other unfortunate, or perhaps fortunate, individuals who literally fell hook, line, and sinker for the whole thing.

Now I don't want to spoil the incredibly funny antics of the Improv Everywhere troupe, but I can definitely say that you are going to miss a very hilarious couple of hours if you don't purchase and read this book. Heck, you may find that you want to join the hilarious group of comedians themselves, or maybe even start one of your own. And anytime you can make someone laugh, you've definitely brightened up the world even if only for a short time, even if it is only one person at a time.

I liked this book so much that I have even loaned it out to several friends for them to enjoy.

Shawn Kovacich
Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence series.