Food Court: The Musical

Watched Dr. Horrible for the 54th time? Here's more musical goodness from Improv Everywhere

Sounds like an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but people really did randomly burst into song at the Baldwin Hills Mall, starting with the Hot Dog on a Stick girl at the food court. Take a look:


Actually, it's an event staged by Improv Everywhere, a movement started by Charlie Todd which stages random acts of art and humor throughout the U.S. Here's their report on how they managed to plan and stage the musical.

I first heard about IE on This American Life, which did both a radio and TV story about an event where their New York "agents" descended on the show of an unknown band to give them the Best Gig Ever.

I've added Improv Everywhere as my YouTube Channel of the Week. They started doing events in 2001 and launched on YouTube on April 2006, where they are currently the 64th most subscribed channel. For now, this is where they will stay. NBC had approached them to do a pilot back in April of 2007, but they passed on it some time in June (though it seems they got to keep the footage that was shot, such as the best little league game ever).

Perhaps it is just as well--IE has both viral and subscription potential, and are therefore a natural for the web. Then again, NBC passed last year before the writer's strike--with a thin fall season lineup, you never know.