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Tags: Flash Mobs / Crowds / Berlin Travel / Historical Travel / Events / → All Tags
Join 33,000 Others To Recreate The Fall Of The Berlin Wall On Its 20th Anniversary
Here at Jaunted, we love us some flash mobs and all of the fun and city exploration that come with them. But this upcoming Monday, November 9 in Berlin, a flash mob will take on a somber note as up to 33,000 people gather to recreate the Berlin Wall on the 20th anniversary of the night it came down.
The "Mauer Mob"—know that "mauer" means "wall" in German— will happen at approximately 8:15pm on Monday, lasting for about 15 minutes so that visitors, Berliners, and even those who were there for the original tearing down of the wall can commemorate the date and capture photos of the scene. Already almost 6,000 people have registered to participate on the event's official site, and if you're in the vicinity, you should not miss this opportunity.
For tips on what to see and what to skip while you're not becoming part of a human Berlin wall in the city, be sure to check out our Berlin Field Trip series.
Related Stories:
· Temporarily Recreating The Berlin Wall [Kottke]
· Mauer Mob [Official Site]
· Walk The Path Of The Berlin Wall And Crash Into A Starbucks [Jaunted]
· Berlin coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Jaunted]
Tags: Dave Chappelle / Pioneer Square / Portland Travel / Celeb Travel / Flash Mobs / Twitter / → All Tags
Dave Chappelle Breaks It Down for Portland's Pioneer Square
| Dave Chappelle in Portland |
Our favorite comedian before he abruptly left the public eye, Dave Chappelle, is apparently still crazy but this time, his crazy actions benefited thousands of folks who crowded Pioneer Square in Portland, Oregon to see him do a sort of flash mob stand-up routine after rumors lit up Facebook and the Twitterwaves.
The comedian, who suddenly dropped out of a lucrative $50 million contract for his Comedy Central sketch show and the comedy scene altogether, stepped on stage just after midnight and performed for nearly 90 minutes.
From the Oregonian:
Chappelle seemed surprised by the scene.
"This has never happened in my entire career," he said, to a huge cheer. "I'm grateful everybody came out."
Chappelle did squeeze in some comedy. He compared one guy working on the sound system to Scotty from Star Trek, and took an OPB reporter's microphone and said, "Support Oregon Public Broadcasting." At one point, a woman and two men atop Starbucks began stripping as Chappelle gaped and the crowd cheered and jeered.
By 2 a.m., it was clear the sound system wouldn't go, and Chappelle wound things down. He thanked the crowd and shared a few things he learned, including: "Don't tell a secret in Portland."
Tags: Events / New York City / Flash Mobs / Paris / London / → All Tags
What's Happening This Weekend in World Capitals
· New York City and almost everywhere else: Set your jammies aside and warm up your biceps for some serious public pillow whomping as the world celebrates International Pillow Fight Day on Saturday. We already let you in on the fact that New York City will host their massive stress-relieving event at 3pm on Wall Street, but be sure to check out the official site for details on how to get in on the fun in your city, whether that be Cardiff or Seattle.
Tags: Flash Mobs / Events / New York City / Improv Everywhere / → All Tags
Start Prepping For The Pillow Fight Felt 'Round the World
What are you waiting for? It's time to head your local dollar store and invest in some bandannas and a good, sturdy fightin' pillow, what with Annual Pillow Fight Day on Saturday! For those who haven't yet had the pleasure of being publicly pummeled by pillows wielded by happy-go-lucky strangers, it's a must-do.
Now beloved in more cities around the world than just New York, Saturday will see flash mob pillow fights in the usual hot spots like Chicago, Budapest and Amsterdam, but also appearing in some truly random locales; think Miyazaki City in Japan, Caracas, Venezuela and Parma, Italy. For the full schedule around the world, check out PillowFightDay.com.
For the New York City slickers, this year's feather-free event hosted by Newmindspace will allow you to release financial frustrations by appropriately taking place at Wall Street and Broad Street at 3pm. Sadly, since it's a Saturday, there will be no wandering bankers or financial types to get mixed up in the good-natured violence. Aw, shucks.
Related Stories:
· Pillow Fight Day [Official Site]
· World Pillow Fight Day is Saturday [Urban Prankster]
· Say Sayonara to Stress on International Pillow Fight Day [Jaunted]
· Flash Mobs Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: Urban Prankster]
Tags: Flash Mobs / Crowds / Spring Festivals / International Party Time / → All Tags
Say Sayonara To Stress On International Pillow Fight Day
There’s a lot to be stressed out over lately. The media, including us, can’t stop mentioning that the world’s economy is in the toilet. Pilots are smoking wacky tobaccy while you’re stuck in coach, and the long cold winter can’t end soon enough. If you’re like us, you'll need to relieve all that pent up frustration one way or another, and to do that, there's nothing better than pretending that you're six years old. So forget the adult worries and grab your favorite pillow—ninja turtle pajamas are optional.
On April 4 people from all over the globe will convene in town squares to celebrate International Pillow Fight Day. From Sydney to Stockholm everyone will get a chance to relieve their stress and anxiety by attacking friends and complete strangers.
Tags: Where Is / Flash Mobs / Viral Ads / → All Tags
The Station Where The Crowds Danced For T-Mobile?
The new British T-Mobile "Life's For Sharing" ad features a crowd that magically breaks into song and dance in the middle of a train station. It's like a cross between Improv Everywhere's "Look Up More", the Filipino prison "Thriller" and [spoiler] the end credits of "Slumdog Millionaire." Not surprisingly, we totally like it.
The spot is the brainchild of ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi, for which 350 dancers were hired. Its immediacy is unique: Shot January 15 with ten hidden cameras, the spot first aired in the U.K. on the 17th two days later.
T-Mobile worked behind the scenes with Network Rail, the company that owns British train infrastructure, and with the Liverpool Street Station in London to get clearance for the flash mob style dance, modeled after spontaneous gatherings like a 2007 silent rave at Victoria Station, in which over 4,000 commuters gathered during rush hour to dance to the music of their iPods for two hours -- a stunt repeated in New York's Union Square in April.
Liverpool Street is an old pro at appearing onscreen; it was the set for two BBC fictional movies about terrorist attacks on London and makes a cameo in the 1996 movie "Mission: Impossible."
Related Stories:
· Life's For Sharing campaign channel [YouTube]
· 2007: 4,000 Flash Mob Dancers Startle Commuters At Victoria [This Is London]
· 2008: For 1,000 Solo Dancers, a Soundtrack of Silence [NY Times]
[Photo: Adrants]
Tags: Fall Travel / Flash Mobs / Sports Travel / Weird / → All Tags
Nostalgia Travel: NYC's Big Wheel Race
This Saturday, October 18, Central Park will play host to the NYC Big Wheel Race. Tossed together by the pranksters at Newmindspace, racers can enter with big wheels, tricycles, skateboards or even a roller skate screwed to a 2x4--just as long as the vehicle's seat is no more than a foot off the ground.
Superhero attire--as well as protective gear--is suggested, and you'll probably need it: The race takes place down the Great Hill, the highest point in the park.
You'll need to email Newmindspace to register if you're racing, but spectators can just show up at 103rd Street and Central Park West by 2 pm to catch the start of the action.
Related Stories:
· Newmindspace [Official Site]
· The Big Wheel Rally [Zoomdoggle]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of a Big Wheel rally in San Francisco: Jef Poskanzer]
Tags: Flash Mobs / Improv Everywhere / Fall Culture Travel / Videos / → All Tags
Fall Culture Travel: Act Out with Improv Everywhere
For last year's MP3 Experiment, colorfully dressed masses descended on the park around the World Financial Center to play games and create a bull's-eye formation as directed by a faceless voice. Great fun was had by all! Now the pranksters behind the MP3 experiment, Improv Everywhere, are bringing the internet-driven playtime to three additional cities in the fall.
New York's MP3 Experiment takes place this Saturday afternoon on Governors Island; hipsters in Toronto, San Francisco and Chicago will get their shots September 28 and October 4-5.
Related Stories:
· Instructions for New York's MP3 Experiment [Official Site]
· One Of Last Year's Missions: Frozen Swarm Takes Over Grand Central [Jaunted]
· Hipster Swarm Engulfs New York City Park [Jaunted]
Tags: Flash Mobs / Videos / → All Tags
Frozen Swarm Takes Over Grand Central
Improv Everywhere's latest mission infiltrated one of New York's most famous landmarks: Grand Central Terminal. More than 200 people swarmed the train station and froze in place for five full minutes. Hilarity, obviously, ensued.
This is the same crew that organizes NYC's infamous No Pants subway rides, the most recent of which happened on January 12. They also put together the swarm that invaded Battery Park last summer.
If you wanna get in on one of these events, it's as easy as signing up on the Improv Everywhere mailing list.
Related Stories:
· Improv Everywhere [Official Site]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]
· Travel Videos coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: It's Summer Somewhere / It's-Summer-Somewhere / Asia Travel / Flash Mobs / Crowds / → All Tags
It's Summer Somewhere: Flash Mob and Shop at KL's Petronas Towers
With an average high temperature of about 90 degrees year-round, you'd be safe to say that it's always summer in Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur. KL is modern and full of interesting sights to see and a whole lot of shopping, plus it's home to the tallest twin buildings in the world: the Petronas Towers.
And it's at the base of the Towers, home to one of KL's numerous shopping centers, that tourists might have been confused by a recent flash mobbing. Word of the sudden public meeting was spread by bloggers and at the appointed time, one of the mobbers tore up a newspaper in protest against a mainstream media mogul. Hundreds of people were suddenly there, and just as suddenly gone. (Reminds us of that hipster swarm in NYC.)
But if flash mobbing isn't your idea of a good time, then take a ride to the top of the Petronas Towers for a fantastic view over the city. If you get one of the free passes (1,700 per day), you can cross the Skyway that joins the two towers at the 41st floor. Of course that's only half way up--it's 88 floors tall--but you don't want to get greedy.
Related Stories:
· Malaysia's Foreign Tourist Arrivals Hit High [Forbes]
· Kuala Lumpur Gets a Metblog [Jaunted]
· Flash Mob in KL [Metroblogging]
· Flash Mobs coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: superciliousness]
Tags: Podcasts / Crowds / Flash Mobs / Internet / → All Tags
Hipster Swarm Engulfs New York City Park
Ever wondered what 800 people gathering in a field looks like from above? Now you know. As you might have guessed from the watermark, some pranksters belonging to a group called Improv Everywhere recently drew a huge crowd of people who would apparently do whatever the Internet told them to do--even when that advice is as cryptic as, "Download this song, go to a park wearing red, green, yellow or blue, and start listening at 4PM."
The track instructed participants, some who had come from as far away as New Hampshire and California to meet at the World Financial Center, to point to the Statue of Liberty, take pictures of each other and high-five unsuspecting pedestrians. We were there but obeyed the track's instructions not to stop to take pictures. Rest assured, it was tons of fun.
Past Improv Everywhere missions have included a synchronized-swimming routine in the Washington Square Park fountain, giving out dirty "snowcones" in Aspen, Colorado and faking a U2 gig in Midtown.
Related Stories:
· Improv Everywhere [Official Site]
