I’m not the only geek who loves seeing TED talks.
But I may be the only one who binge watches their more comically toned ones.
(Today’s marathon – brought to you by the Youtube sidebar).
After finishing the spoofed out improv bit that trolled TED attendees (and then the interwebs too by pretending to be a real thing), I wandered on over to this one done by the dude who inspired the whole “no-pants” subway ride (which has, incidentally, gone global since its initiation). Much like the actor who did the “Crowdsourcing Solar” performance featuring a party like parade of spinning rainbows (Mac’s signature insignia for death-freeze) filling the auditorium, this guy is also involved in Upright Citizens Brigade (an improv acting group). Following the funny reactions his no-pants ride earned him, he went on to do a whole ongoing series of ridiculousness. Like having people do simultaneous dances in backlit store windows on every floor of a tall building (to the delight of an unexpecting street crowd) as he silently cued them from the ground.
Then he did a Best Buy raid – asking a huge group to just show up at the store in blue collared shirts and khakis (plot twist – they were probably more useful than the actual people who work there). The best part of the Best Buy stunt had to be when a store manager dialed 911 in response – and the police had to come and inform the staff that it’s not against the law to wear what pretty much every business casual office worker in their mid 40’s and beyond does heading to and from work.
As for favorite stunts I’d wanna be part of? Probably that MP3 one (where everyone’s listening to the same song through their own headphones and dancing around together – silently so to anyone who sees them and doesn’t have on the headphones, you look like you all snorted bath salts soaked in LSD together). That and the Coney Island stunt – where everyone gets gussied up in prom dresses and Sunday best… and jumps in the ocean.
All of them, he says, are for the sake of “shared absurdity” – that delight we feel seeing the interruption in the mundane of everyday routines is a form of play. It gets people laughing and smiling – especially if they feel like they’re part of it. And I love that. What’s the point in living if there’s no play involved? He finishes by adding “As adults, we need to learn there’s no right or wrong way to play.”
This was prompted by comments saying “These people have too much time on their hands.”
His comeback?
They’ve got no more than anyone sitting in stands to watch football.
Preach, brah! I mean, my take is that – so long as you’re laughing (at the very least on the inside) while you carry out your free-time extracurriculars – do it. Any hobby that’s not, like, contract killing or lighting the neighborhood cat on fire is totes fine. That’s why I jog. So I don’t have to murder people. Do a hobby that makes you so happy it bleeds over into your day to day drudgery.
Not one that makes you wanna make other people bleed.
Arguably, football might sometimes be on that latter list :/
Just sayin’.
Actually, that bag’d make a great x-mas gift for my sister’s favorite hobby.
A bonus – I’ll add bricks inside for any who fail to read. ’cause like they say:
If you can’t beat ’em. Help ’em beat other people.
(Hey, who says I can’t have more than one hobby?)