Improv Everywhere

Improv Everywhere (often abbreviated IE) is a comedic performance art group based in New York City, formed in 2001 by Charlie Todd. Its slogan is “We Cause Scenes.”
The group carries out pranks, which they call “missions”, in public places. The stated goal of these missions is to cause scenes of “chaos and joy.” Some of the group’s missions use hundreds of performers and are similar to flash mobs, while other missions utilize only a handful of performers. Improv Everywhere has stated that they do not identify their work with the term flash mob, in part because their site was created two years prior to the flash mob trend.
Improv Everywhere has been profiled by many national and international media outlets including The New York Times, The Today Show, and ABC’s Nightline. Todd was interviewed on an episode of This American Life in 2005. While touching briefly on two missions (“No Pants” and “The Moebius”), the show focused on “Best Gig Ever” and “Ted’s Birthday”, and how they created…