Gibber-gabber
Improv Everywhere: Human statues in Grand Central Station
beingzoe 2008-11-30 21:08:52 UTC

While waiting for your train to arrive at Grand Central Station, the crowd is bustling and seemingly getting thicker every second. Then out of nowwhere hundreds of people stop dead in their tracks. You look around with countless others witnessing human statues, frozen in place, where otherwise typical looking travelers were walking, talking, or enjoying a snack.

The scene described and in the video above occurred on February 24, 2007 at exactly 2:30pm. This was another fantastic “mission” by the performance art group Improv Everywhere

From the Mission page at their website:

On a cold Saturday in New York City, the world’s largest train station came to a sudden halt. Over 200 Improv Everywhere Agents froze in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station. Over 500,000 people rush through Grand Central every day, but today, things slowed down just a bit as commuters and tourists alike stopped to notice what was happening around them.

As you can see in the video above, the mission was a smashing, or should I say halting, success. The crowd was intrigued, watching intently, waiting to see what would happen next. You can hear folks in the video trying to figure out what is going on as they survey and describe the scene. My favorite is the utility cart driver near the end who radios someone to say that he needs help, “I can’t move my cart.”

In 2006, Improv Everywhere pulled a similar stunt with some 200 people shopping in slow motion at a Manhattan Home Depot.

About Improv Everywhere:

Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 80 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City.

*Visit the Improv Everywhere official site

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