Name: The shared experience of absurdity
Uploaded: 2011-11-11T16:14:51Z
Duration: 11 min 47 s
Description: Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. His group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

Charlie Todd: The shared experience of absurdity

The shared experience of absurdity

Charlie Todd causes bizarre, hilarious, and unexpected public scenes: Seventy synchronized dancers in storefront windows, "ghostbusters" running through the New York Public Library, and the annual no-pants subway ride. His group, Improv Everywhere, uses these scenes to bring people together.

Small, unexpected acts of playful absurdity can transform public spaces and bring strangers together. When 3,500 people rode the New York subway in their underwear, laughter and curiosity replaced confusion and isolation. These joyful scenes, from impromptu dance parties in windows to mass high-five events, remind adults that playing together needs no justification. Absurdity shared in public becomes a story and a moment of real connection.