We Cause Scenes Page #10

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I think I figured out a way

where it can actually

be my job.

So the Grand Central video

had been so popular,

I remember just being

so excited that I knew I had

two more hits under my belt.

I released Food Court Musical

about a month

after Frozen Grand Central,

and it went viral.

And then about

a month after that,

I put out The Best Game Ever.

I remember thinking, like,

"Okay, I just had these

three huge hits.

What am I gonna do next,"

you know?

It was a double edge sword

because the pilot

was shot and produced

by a professional

production company

with a giant budget behind it.

Now, a new Improv Everywhere

video comes out,

and if this video is shot

on crappy DV cameras

with shaky footage,

people are gonna wonder

"What the heck is going on?"

The first video we put out

was this project

called "The Camera

Flash Experiment. "

It was a grand idea,

I would get 700 people

to line the length

of the Brooklyn Bridge,

and they would all take a

camera flash in succession

to create this wave of light

across the bridge.

It ended up being this rainy,

cold, horrible night.

The video was not that great

and I remember being like,

"Our fan base was going to

be expecting

Frozen Grand Central Food Court Musical

Best Game Ever every time now. "

I go to prove that

I can make videos

of a similar quality,

just with my friends.

Quiet on set!

- Okay, everything good?

- Good.

All right, thanks for

coming out, everybody.

Today's mission is called

"Surprise Wedding Reception. "

We're going to throw a

surprise wedding reception

for a random couple

who's getting married

by city hall across the street.

In early 2009, HD cameras

were all of a sudden

becoming more affordable,

so, some of the people

that were on our crew

had HD cameras,

and we started to release

our videos in HD.

That was an exciting

transition where it's like

our videos really look

like television.

That fall, I had guy

email me and say

"We have 2,000

invisible dog leashes here.

Would you be interested

in doing a prank with them?"

I just sent out one email

to our mailing list.

No explanation of what

was gonna happen.

I guess I thought

maybe a thousand people

would show up,

and two thousand people

showed up.

So we have about

two thousand of these.

I was like, the first time

I realized like,

"Wow! I can't do things

in small spaces anymore. "

It became this cycle

where the real world interest

would drive YouTube views

and vice-versa.

That was really exciting.

It seems like

everything I put out

is gonna get, you know,

in the millions of views.

There guy! There guy!

Here you go!

Keep it going!

We did a prank called

"High Five Escalator. "

I saw people in other cities

set up the same thing

on escalators.

It's cool, just seeing

complete strangers

you don't know, and a city

you've never been to,

doing a project of yours,

you know.

It's really cool to see.

And then somebody

sends me a link,

and it's like the Chicago Bears

did it in Chicago with a

professional football player,

and it's advertising

buying season tickets.

Okay, well that's not cool.

I just think it takes away

from the project

if there's some sort

of message.

Ultimately, there's not much

I can do about it.

We were not the first people

to do a public prank,

we don't have a copyright

on public pranks.

I think that's why

it's so important to me,

for us to constantly

be trying new things

and pushing ourselves

in new directions.

And new opportunities are

presented to me all the time.

People are now understanding

the value of a viral video

being set on their property.

The fact that they let us

dress up like "Ghost Busters"

and have this ridiculous,

disruptive chase through

their main reading room,

was really cool.

We released that video

on YouTube,

it just immediately

went insane.

He's become really shrewd

at the internet side of it,

getting the most people

seeing what's going on

and excited about it.

YouTube opened up,

and what he does now

just wouldn't ever have

happened without YouTube.

Bryant Park Corporation said,

"Hey! We really like what you

guys are doing,

we want you

to do something here. "

And I pitched them

doing a project

where we had

the worst possible ice skater

stranded in the middle

of the rink,

and then he would

do an amazing routine.

The Guggenheim approached us,

and we did projects with them.

Ariana!

Mommy loves you!

You have a cute umbrella!

I really like it!

We're from Dallas, Texas,

and we love New York!

It makes life easier

to have permission

but, at the same time,

I'm the kind of person

that gets excited

about being somewhere

he's not supposed to be.

In 2010, the Metropolitan

Museum of Art

had just restored

this Velazquez painting

of King Phillip IV of Spain.

And it just so happened

that there was a guy

on my mailing list who bore

a striking resemblance

to the King.

So we decided to dress him up

like the painting,

show up here at the Met,

and address his subjects.

Okay, ladies and gentlemen,

we're gonna be having

an autograph signing with

King Phillip IV of Spain.

Excuse me, sir, do you have

any permission to do this?

I don't think we can just allow

to bring people in like that.

- Oh, I see.

- You can come with me?

It's just the King wanted

to stand in front

of his painting.

He's very excited that

it's recently been restored.

- Yeah.

- Okay, that's fine.

Thank you.

So normally, when someone

asked us to leave

during a prank, we just leave.

But, in this situation,

we hadn't gotten

all we needed for the video.

Maybe we should-

maybe just stand.

I won't do anything

but just-

let's take some photos

of just him.

You guys from around here?

Cool.

Excuse me sir,

I asked you before to leave.

Yes, I'm sorry.

We haven't gone back,

I stopped.

I didn't know it was not okay

for him to stand here.

We'll leave.

Please come with me.

No, we'll leave, sir.

We weren't doing anything.

I was just standing

right there.

So, thank you everybody.

The guy's just doing his job.

His job is to be

a security guard at the Met,

you know, and I'm just

doing my job.

My job is to make a funny video

without permission in the Met.

It was a fun clash,

and sort of hilarious

that we're both adults.

I mean, he was

much older than me,

but-but I'm an adult now.

You know,

I'm not a kid anymore.

We just want to say thank you

all so much for being here.

We're so, we're so excited

that so many of you

are here and have come

from so many far places.

Cody and I got married

in October of 2011.

I mean, I'm biased,

but I think it was

the best wedding ever.

To quote Shakespeare,

"Congratulations Charlie

and Cody. "

It had sincerity, and it also

had you know, humor.

Um, and it had been

a nice ceremony,

but I think they were people

who were like,

"Is this really it?"

I, Cody, promise to be

your partner in life.

I'll always treat your family

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