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Arts & Entertainment

An Evening With Charlie Todd and Friends

Adelphi University hosts wacky creator of Improv Everywhere.

Have you ever seen “No Pants! Subway Ride” on You Tube? How about “Grand Central Freeze” or “Human Mirror?" These “performances” and additional pranks have been orchestrated and filmed by the zany creator of Improv Everywhere, Charlie Todd.

Much to the delight of students who already knew of their antics, Todd and his improv buddies recently made their Long Island debut at the Adelphi University Performing Arts Center (AU PAC).

The group graciously met theater students before the event at a “Meet and Greet” where they were able to enjoy snacks and ask Todd and his fellow performers about their experiences with Improv Everywhere. During that time, the group of four performers originally from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre, Todd, Anthony King, Ben Rodgers and Gavin Speiller, kept an understated profile that belied their Candid Camera-like antics they would show later on screen.

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The evening was broken into two halves: the first half consisted of film clips of Todd’s “You Tube” happenings and the second half was a long form improv experience along the lines of Drew Carey’s Whose Line is it Anyway?” Corey, a Plainview High School student interested in music, was interviewed first, and then the four actors made up hilarious scenes from his life on the spot. One funny scene they named, “Looking for Treble.”

Later, Adelphi University freshmen, Ali and Mary, came up on stage. They are friends from Medford. The Improv Everywhere actors did similar riffs on their lives, much to the amusement of the girls and the audience.

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“Todd’s quite a guy. He’s a genius! Only in New York can he do that,” said Dylan Davidson, a Wantagh High School student there with his friends Peter Romano and Chris Cruz.

Rhoda, a senior citizen, remarked, “This is one of the best programs I have seen with my subscription!”

Abe, Rhoda’s friend, bemoaned, “How does he make a living?” Apparently, Todd has found a way.

Todd is the founder of Improv Everywhere, who has directed and performed with a group of funny actors in public areas of New York City. “It’s a cultural phenomenon like ‘Second City,’ and a unique American art form,” he said.

Anthony King, one of the four Improv Everywhere members, added, “We’ve been together for ten years. You can compare it to a sports team in that we know how to think about the approach…The idea of improv came out of Second City with Del Close, who was the mentor to Bill Murray and Chris Farley.”

Todd’s bright idea started after the theater major graduated college and was trying to impress some girls in a Manhattan bar, pretending he was the musician, Ben Folds, who has similar looks. A friend helped. The girls believed their story and the rest is Improv Everywhere history. 

Concurrent with teaching and performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Manhattan, Todd and his gang have orchestrated more than 100 silly pranks with ever-increasing numbers of people. More than 10,000 “secret agents” have helped on his missions so far. The videos of these scenes have gone viral, with more than 150 million views.

Todd is author of the book, Causing a Scene, published by Harper Collins in 2009. King has a two-person Off-Broadway comedy called Gutenberg- the Musical being played in various cities and countries. 

For more information on Improv Everywhere, visit www.ImprovEverywhere.com. To learn more about AU PAC’s 2010-2011 season, visit www.aupac.Adelphi.edu or call the AU PAC Box Office at 516-877-4000.

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