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

~ (Author), Alex Scordelis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Causing a Scene], like the group itself, is inventive, entertaining, and frequently surprising." (Booklist )

Product Description

A fake U2 concert. A deranged hypnotist.

A book signing by a dead author.

Welcome to the wild world of Improv Everywhere.

From the infamous No Pants! Subway Ride to the legendary Grand Central Freeze, Improv Everywhere has been responsible for some of the most original and subversive pranks of the Internet age. In Causing a Scene, the group's agents provide a hilarious firsthand account of their mischievous antics. Learn how they created a time loop in a Starbucks and gave Best Buy eighty extra employees. Join in on the fun with this irreverent, behind-the-scenes look at Improv Everywhere's world-famous missions, and get inspired to create your own memorable mayhem.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1 edition (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006170363X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061703638
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (49 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,120 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely funny, May 25, 2009

By	P. Mann (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for any prankster!, May 19, 2009

By	Amazonie (USA) - See all my reviews

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

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I dare you not to laugh!, June 4, 2009

By	eponine (Boston) - See all my reviews

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!