城市街头的搞怪“IE”人 1)Improv Everywhere Pranks the City
文字难度：★★★
Helps to let people stop and notice the world around them with a smile.
旨在让人们停下脚步，面带微笑地关注一下自己周围的世界。
Since 2001, Improv Everywhere has been taking over the streets of New York with comedy. Their new book Causing a Scene, Extraordinary Pranks in Ordinary Places with Improv Everywhere, written by founder Charlie Todd and senior agent Alex Scordelis, gives a 2)behind-the-scenes look at the group's missions over the past ten years. It also includes photographs of the many missions by Chad Nicholson.
自2001年后，Improv Everywhere（简称“IE”，字面意思是“随处即兴表演”）以喜剧事件征服了纽约街头的人们。由IE创始人查理·托德和资深成员亚历克斯·司古特拉斯合著的新书《制造轰动，与IE在平凡生活中非凡玩闹》揭开了在过去十年间这个恶作剧团体执行任务的幕后故事，随书还附上乍德·尼科尔森拍下的许多照片，见证着每个恶作剧行动的精彩瞬间。
If you don't already know who Improv Everywhere is, you might have seen videos of Frozen Grand Central, where over 80 people froze 3)simultaneously for five minutes in 4)Grand Central Station's Main 5)Concourse. This has gained so much recognition that it has been replicated all over the world and even on an episode of 6)Law & Order: Special Victims Unit featuring 7)Mo Rocca.
即使你未曾听闻过IE为何人，你大概也曾看过“定格的中央车站”的视频——80多人在中央车站主厅同时定格，五分钟内保持静止不动。这次的行动得到极大的赞赏，世界各地效仿不断，甚至在电视剧《法律与秩序：特殊受害者》的其中一集里，莫·洛克尔也效仿了这个恶作剧行为。
Improv Everywhere is a New York City based group of comedians that performs pranks (or “missions”) to make people laugh.
IE位于纽约，是一个由一群喜剧演员组成的恶作剧团体，旨在为人们带来欢笑。
“We're out to prove that a prank doesn't have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile or stop to notice the world around them,” Todd said on their web site, improveverywhere.com.
“我们的目的是为了证明恶作剧并不是非得包含羞辱或尴尬；它也可以纯粹是为了让人们捧腹大笑，或是会心微笑，又或是让人们停下脚步来关注一下周围的世界。”托德在他们的网站improveverywhere.com上发表了这么一段话。
It all started in August 2001 when Todd decided to pull a prank pretending to be musician 8)Ben Folds at the West Village bar. He had two of his friends 9)pose as 10)groupies and before he knew it, he was getting free drinks and his two friends were thrown out for stealing “Ben Folds' wallet.”
这一切的源头可以追溯到2001年的八月，当时托德在西村酒吧玩起了恶作剧，假扮成音乐家本·弗尔兹。他让两个朋友假装成乐迷（接近他），而在他反应过来之前，已经有很多人（以为他正是本·弗尔兹）要请他喝酒，而他的两个朋友则因为“偷窃‘本·弗尔兹'的钱包”而被赶出酒吧。
“I had always been a prankster, but this experience enlightened me as to how far a prank could be taken. As an actor new to the city, I discovered I could create my own theatre rather than waiting around for someone to give me stage time. I got tired of telling the story to friends, so I typed it up and put it on the web. Improv Everywhere was born,” Todd stated on the web site. Since then, they have performed over 85 missions.
“从小到大我都是一个喜欢胡闹的人，但这次经历启发了我，让我知道恶作剧还可以这样搞。作为一名刚来到这个城市的新演员，我发现我大可以创造自己的舞台，而不用苦苦等待谁来给我表演的机会。我已经厌倦了跟朋友们讲同一个故事，所以我将它写下来，放到网上去。IE应运而生，”托德在网站上如是说。从那以后，他们共组织上演了超过85次恶作剧行动。