I admit the details are hazy, but this is what I gathered from a Toronto area, 18 year old, high school student named Nick via his internet tv show...
The group Improv in Toronto based in guess where started an action way back sometime. The action was planned where several dozen people boarded a Toronto subway pretending to be strangers. Wearing iPhones and mp3 players, they gradually started to dance to the astonishment of other passengers. The event was such a success, they have done it at least one more time.
And now they are up to version...um...2.5. Here is the full details on their blog, which they title: the full details. I promise I am going to contact Improv in Toronto to tell them that they are really cool and get the full story. Then I will demonstrate full journalistic integrity and correct the inaccuracies in this blog post.
I sort of interviewed Nick aka nickpoo21 via his Blog.tv show. He was very cranky that I was not from Toronto and not planning to attend the event. But he did have an entertaining planning party on air with music and prizes. There was a lovely young woman named Helen who had a crush on him and obviously went to school with him. She said he had one prize that he would not offer. Ahem.
Nick didn't care one iota that he had a newcomer in his viewing pool. He heaped abuse on me and was quite dismissive, something I'm not used to. I mean, I'm from the Northeast. Philadelphia is riding the drag of the great New York City, which is the greatest city in the universe. I expected him to stop everything and pay attention. When I said I was from Philly he was not impressed and said my city had a population that was smaller than Toronto.
Umm, okay. He's right. (I had to look that up).
I admit I was at a loss for the perfect put down of Toronto because as an entitled American, I knew nothing of his Canadian city. This was a setback in Toronto-Philadelphia relations I admit, but I did tell Nick that I was planning to visit his fair city in the fall (which is true)
But I digress. We were talking about Philadelphia, not Toronto.
I think Philadelphia needs to have a subway dance party. Stay tuned for details.
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The fact that this guy was anything but gracious towards you is sort of a turn-off. I've seen the groups work - but now that I realize he is just a typical egocentric actor trying to create buzz about himself. I wonder if these teams have an overall purpose outside promoting their own careers. Maybe these guerrilla actors staging group think demonstrations could put their stunts towards a good cause and draw attention to a worthwhile non-profit. Still fuming that they could be mean to our sweet Caroline!
ReplyDeleteUpdate: There has been a huge buzz about this blog entry on Twitter and Facebook (ok, ok, 15 people have responded). It's official. I will be organizing a subway dance party in Philly sometime this summer (or perhaps fall). If anybody is interested in getting involved Facebook me at Caroline Leopold, follow me on Twitter: @caroline815, or leave a comment here.
ReplyDeleteMFL or BSL?
ReplyDeleteOr 30th St. Station :)
--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UE3CNu_rtY
That German video is fantastic. I think 30th St. Station would be a great location. Thanks for the idea. Hope the momentum for this event continues to build.
ReplyDeleteHey, this is Jared (if you've seen the official videos on youtube.com/improvintoronto, I'm the guy with the fro), and the subway dance party was originally my idea.
ReplyDeleteIts great to hear that you want to organize another subway dance party, if you heard about this earlier you could've even done it on the same date (we're trying to get it going internationally), which would've been aweseome. I guess theres always next year though.
If you need any help organizing it, let me know (Jared Alleyne on facebook). All of the official IT (Improv in Toronto) would have encouraged you as far as I know, and I have no idea why Nick (has attended events, but I'm pretty sure he isn't part of the organizing group/people who do the closed, more secretive events like the Subway Sing A Long), would have "heaped abuse" on you, and I will apologize for anything mean he might have said.
We're all for more people dancing on subways, it was so cool when I heard my idea reached Seoul Korea (they had a subway dance party too :D).
We aren't trying to create buzz about ourselves or anything like that, The people who plan it just enjoy this kind of thing. Whether it be acting, improv, filming (the missions), or just doing random things (thats the part I enjoy). The goal (like Improv Everywhere, the group that inspired us and many others) is to bring a bit of spontinaiety and excitedment to the boring every day routine. While our missions aren't on the same calibre as Improv Everywhere ... yet... we still do our best and try to provide a good mix of missions where everyone can participate (subway dance party), and those where its just a small group (these have to be planned out better, like the subway sing a long).
Anyways, check out improvintoronto.com and feel free to contact us through that, or feel free to talk to me on facebook. I'm sure everyone will be nothing but nice.
I forgot to add this, but please don't think of the group poorly because someone, who isn't even part of the group (theres two levels, the people who do all the work, planning promoting, thinking of idea, etc., and the people who come), acted poorly towards you.
ReplyDeleteAlso, as for promoting a good cause, we've been approached by multiple companies to do so. We're open to the possibility, but its more of a side project, so generally if they don't have any idea what they want us to do, we're not going to spend a lot of time on it.
Plus, isn't putting a smile on people's face a good cause?
P.S. just on a side note, none of us make any money off of this. Any money made is intended to go into one account to help fund future missions (we've made a whole like... $7 on google ads). We've payed out of our pockets before to fund missions, and spend lots of time planning/attending them.
Yes! Putting a smile on peoples faces is an excellent cause. I saw the German video and got a little teary seeing all those people coming together. Thank you for taking the time to defend yourself and support your organization. And thank you for being so respectful to my comment and our blog. Can't wait to see what you do next!
ReplyDeleteHey Jared, Thanks for the comment. I have Facebooked you and I am definitely getting in touch. I only found out about subway dance party one week ago.
ReplyDeleteI will be writing improvintoronto.com to grovel at there (pedicured, I imagine) feet and hopefully hang with them when I come to Toronto to visit. I've only been to Canada once and that was in Vancouver, which wasn't very fun at all.
By the way, I used a heaping tablespoon of exaggeration when characterizing Nick. Because he doesn't know where I live, I knew he was an easy target. He seems like an awesome guy to be honest and really good at talking in front of a camera.
Hope the state of Toronto-Philadelphia relations continue to improve. Hope they improve soon because we are both pugilistic cities ready to blow at any time.
Unclenching my clenched fists of rage now.
What an amazing idea -- a great way to bring people together. Please count me in!!
ReplyDelete