ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Charlie Todd - Comedian
Charlie Todd is the creator of Improv Everywhere, a group that creates absurd and joyful public scenes.

Why you should listen

Bored by a temp job, and tired of waiting for someone to give him a stage, comedian Charlie Todd decided to make his own. So he walked into a bar and pretended to be musician Ben Folds. It went so well that it inspired him to create Improv Everywhere, "a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places." 

Todd has produced, directed, performed, and documented the group’s work for over ten years. In that time they've run over 100 prank missions, some involving hundreds or thousands of agents, and each one creating a wonderful and irreproducible experience.

He's a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, and is the author of Causing a Scene.

Watch our photographer's view of the TED2012 prank ... and see how Improv Everywhere pulled it off with the help of a few willing TEDsters ...

More profile about the speaker
Charlie Todd | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxBloomington

Charlie Todd: The shared experience of absurdity

查理・托德:群体性荒诞行为之体验

Filmed:
3,155,979 views

查理・托德发起一些古怪滑稽令人无法意料的活动:商店橱窗前一同起舞的70名舞者;在纽约公共图书馆乱窜的“捉鬼天师”;还有一年一度的不穿裤子乘地铁。他在TEDxBloomington,他展示了其“随处即兴”团队是怎么通过以上活动将人们聚集起来。
- Comedian
Charlie Todd is the creator of Improv Everywhere, a group that creates absurd and joyful public scenes. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I started开始 Improv即兴 Everywhere到处 about 10 years年份 ago
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大约十年前我创立了“随处即兴”
00:18
when I moved移动 to New York纽约 City with an interest利益 in acting演戏 and comedy喜剧.
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当时我刚搬到纽约,对表演和喜剧充满兴趣
00:21
Because I was new to the city, I didn't have access访问 to a stage阶段,
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因为初来乍到,我找不到舞台落脚
00:24
so I decided决定 to create创建 my own拥有 in public上市 places地方.
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于是我决定在公共场所创造我的大舞台
00:27
So the first project项目 we're going to take a look at
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我们将要看到的第一个活动就是
00:29
is the very first No Pants裤子 Subway地铁 Ride.
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“首届不穿裤子乘地铁”
00:31
Now this took place地点 in January一月 of 2002.
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那是在2002年1月
00:33
And this woman女人 is the star of the video视频.
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这位女士就是女主角
00:35
She doesn't know she's being存在 filmed拍摄.
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她不知道自己被拍摄
00:37
She's being存在 filmed拍摄 with a hidden camera相机.
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一个隐蔽摄像头纪录了这一切
00:39
This is on the 6 train培养 in New York纽约 City.
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这是纽约地铁6号线
00:41
And this is the first stop along沿 the line线.
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这是这条线路的第一站
00:43
These are two Danish丹麦 guys
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两个丹麦人上来了
00:45
who come out and sit down next下一个 to the hidden camera相机.
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他们坐到了隐蔽摄像头的旁边
00:48
And that's me right there in a brown棕色 coat涂层.
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穿着咖啡色外套的就是我
00:50
It's about 30 degrees outside.
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当时室外温度大概是零下一度
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I'm wearing穿着 a hat帽子. I'm wearing穿着 a scarf围巾.
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我戴着帽子和围巾
00:54
And the girl's女孩 going to notice注意 me right here.
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她马上就注意到我了
00:59
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:05
And as you'll你会 see now, I'm not wearing穿着 pants裤子.
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而你现在可见,我没穿裤子
01:07
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:10
So at this point --
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现在
01:12
at this point she's noticed注意到 me,
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她注意到我了
01:14
but in New York纽约 there's weirdos变态 on any given特定 train培养 car汽车.
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但是在纽约,地铁里怪人随处可见
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One person's人的 not that unusual异常.
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一个人没有什么稀奇的
01:18
She goes back to reading her book, which哪一个 is unfortunately不幸 titled标题 "Rape强奸."
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她继续看书,巧得很书名叫《强奸》
01:21
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
01:25
So she's noticed注意到 the unusual异常 thing,
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她注意到奇怪的事
01:27
but she's gone走了 back to her normal正常 life.
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但很快恢复常态
01:29
Now in the meantime与此同时, I have six friends朋友
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与此同时,我的6个朋友
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who are waiting等候 at the next下一个 six consecutive连续 stops停止 in their underwear内衣 as well.
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再接下来的6个站只穿着内裤等着
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They're going to be entering进入 this car汽车 one by one.
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他们将一个接一个进来
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We'll act法案 as though虽然 we don't know each other.
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我们装作相互不认识
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And we'll act法案 as if it's just an unfortunate不幸的 mistake错误 we've我们已经 made制作,
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我们都装作 只是碰巧在这寒冬腊月
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forgetting遗忘 our pants裤子 on this cold January一月 day.
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都忘了穿裤子
01:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
02:11
So at this point,
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现在
02:13
she decides决定 to put the rape强奸 book away.
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她把书合上
02:15
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
02:17
And she decides决定 to be a little bit more aware知道的 of her surroundings环境.
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决定看看到底是怎么一回事
02:21
Now in the meantime与此同时, the two Danish丹麦 guys to the left of the camera相机,
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这时候摄像头旁的两名丹麦男子
02:23
they're cracking开裂 up.
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已经乐不可支了
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They think this is the funniest最有趣 thing they've他们已经 ever seen看到 before.
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他们觉得这是自己看到的最搞笑的事情
02:27
And watch her make eye contact联系 with them right about now.
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你看她在跟他们眼神示意
02:35
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
02:37
And I love that moment时刻 in this video视频,
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我最喜欢视频里这一刻
02:39
because before it became成为 a shared共享 experience经验,
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因为这成为一个共同经历
02:42
it was something that was maybe a little bit scary害怕,
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这事也许有点吓人
02:45
or something that was at least最小 confusing扑朔迷离 to her.
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至少有点让人摸不着头脑
02:47
And then once一旦 it became成为 a shared共享 experience经验,
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但是一旦这一经历被人所共享
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it was funny滑稽 and something that she could laugh at.
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我就变成一个搞笑滑稽的主体
02:51
So the train培养 is now pulling into
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现在到了
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the third第三 stop along沿 the 6 line线.
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6号线第三站
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(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
03:12
So the video视频 won't惯于 show显示 everything.
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这个视频不会展示全部
03:14
This goes on for another另一个 four stops停止.
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接下来还有四站
03:16
A total of seven guys enter输入 anonymously匿名 in their underwear内衣.
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7个只穿内裤的男人陆续上车
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At the eighth第八 stop, a girl女孩 came来了 in with a giant巨人 duffel一种粗呢 bag
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第八站一个提着大帆布袋子的女士上车了
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and announced公布 she had pants裤子 for sale拍卖 for a dollar美元 --
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一美元一条裤子减价大甩卖
03:25
like you might威力 sell batteries电池 or candy糖果 on the train培养.
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就象别人在车上卖电池或者糖果之类
03:28
We all very matter of factly实事求是地 bought a pair of pants裤子, put them on
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我们每人买了一条裤子穿上
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and said, "Thank you. That's exactly究竟 what I needed需要 today今天,"
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然后对她说:“多谢了,真是雪中送炭!”
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and then exited退出 without revealing揭示 what had happened发生
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然后不说什么都下车了
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and went in all different不同 directions方向.
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各奔东西
03:39
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
03:41
Thank you.
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谢谢
03:45
So that's a still from the video视频 there.
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这是暂停的一个画面
03:47
And I love that girl's女孩 reaction反应 so much.
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我十分喜欢她对此的反应
03:49
And watching观看 that videotape录影带 later后来 that day
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那天晚些时候我又看了看这个视频
03:51
inspired启发 me to keep doing what I do.
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这启发了我应该继续做类似的事
03:53
And really one of the points of Improv即兴 Everywhere到处
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而“随处即兴”的宗旨
03:56
is to cause原因 a scene现场 in a public上市 place地点
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就是在公共场合创造一个
03:58
that is a positive experience经验 for other people.
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对其他人来说成为积极经历的场景
04:00
It's a prank恶作剧, but it's a prank恶作剧 that gives somebody a great story故事 to tell.
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这是个恶作剧,但这个恶作剧得以让人们分享很棒的故事
04:03
And her reaction反应 inspired启发 me
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她的反应启发了我
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to do a second第二 annual全年 No Pants裤子 Subway地铁 Ride.
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来举办第二届“不穿裤子乘地铁”
04:07
And we've我们已经 continued继续 to do it every一切 year.
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这变成一项年度活动
04:09
This January一月, we did the 10th annual全年 No Pants裤子 Subway地铁 Ride
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今年1月,我们举办了第十届“不穿裤子乘地铁”
04:11
where a diverse多种 group of 3,500 people
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大约有3,500名各种背景的人
04:14
rode骑着车 the train培养 in their underwear内衣 in New York纽约 --
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在纽约地铁上共同上演了这个好戏-
04:16
almost几乎 every一切 single train培养 line线 in the city.
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几乎每一趟列车上都能见到
04:18
And also in 50 other cities城市 around the world世界,
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同时在世界各地其他50个城市
04:20
people participated参加.
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也有人参与了
04:22
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
04:24
As I started开始 taking服用 improv即兴 class at the Upright直立 Citizens公民 Brigade Theater剧院
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我开始在正直公民旅团剧院上即兴艺术的课程
04:27
and meeting会议 other creative创作的 people and other performers表演者 and comedians喜剧演员,
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并得以见到其他的创意人士,演员和喜剧明星们
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I started开始 amassing再再 a mailing邮件 list名单
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我开始大量收集
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of people who wanted to do these types类型 of projects项目.
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对此类行动有兴趣的人的邮件地址
04:34
So I could do more large-scale大规模 projects项目.
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来扩大我的表演阵容
04:36
Well one day I was walking步行 through通过 Union联盟 Square广场,
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一天我经过联合广场
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and I saw this building建造,
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看到这栋楼
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which哪一个 had just been built内置 in 2005.
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于2005落成
04:42
And there was a girl女孩 in one of the windows视窗 and she was dancing跳舞.
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有一个橱窗前一个女孩在跳舞
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And it was very peculiar奇特,
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非常奇特的景象
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because it was dark黑暗 out, but she was back-lit背面照明 with florescent荧光 lighting灯光,
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因为周围都很暗 荧光从她背后照过来
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and she was very much onstage在舞台上,
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就是浑然天成的舞台一样
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and I couldn't不能 figure数字 out why she was doing it.
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我不明白她干嘛这么做
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After about 15 seconds, her friend朋友 appeared出现 --
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大概15秒后她的朋友出现了-
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she had been hiding behind背后 a display显示 --
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她躲在一个展板后面
04:57
and they laughed笑了 and hugged拥抱 each other and ran away.
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她们大笑着拥抱了对方然后跑开了
04:59
So it seemed似乎 like maybe she had been dared to do this.
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估计她们在玩真心话大冒险
05:01
So I got inspired启发 by that.
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我受到了启发
05:03
Looking at the entire整个 facade正面 -- there were 70 total windows视窗 --
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我望着整栋楼的正面-一共有70个窗户
05:05
and I knew知道 what I had to do.
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我知道怎么办了
05:07
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
05:09
So this project项目 is called Look Up More. We had 70 actors演员 dress连衣裙 in black黑色.
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这个活动就叫做“再抬头看看”,我们有70个着黑衣的舞者
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This was completely全然 unauthorized擅自.
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这未经批准
05:14
We didn't let the stores商店 know we were coming未来.
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我们不想商场知道我们的计划
05:16
And I stood站在 in the park公园 giving signals信号.
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我站在公园给指示
05:18
The first signal信号 was for everybody每个人 to hold保持 up these four-foot四足 tall letters
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第一个指示是每个人都举起这些四英尺高的字母
05:21
that spelled拼写 out "Look Up More,"
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拼起来就是“再抬头看看”
05:23
the name名称 of the project项目.
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即活动名称
05:26
The second第二 signal信号 was for everybody每个人 to do Jumping跳跃 jacks千斤顶 together一起.
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第二个指示是每个人做踢腿跳
05:29
You'll你会 see that start开始 right here.
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你这会儿就能看到
05:32
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
05:34
And then we had dancing跳舞. We had everyone大家 dance舞蹈.
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然后是跳舞 每个人都跳
05:36
And then we had dance舞蹈 solos独奏 where only one person would dance舞蹈
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接下来就是独舞
05:38
and everybody每个人 would point to them.
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所有人就都指着他们
05:40
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
05:47
So then I gave a new hand signal信号,
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然后我的手出了一个新指示
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which哪一个 signaled信号 the next下一个 soloist独奏者 down below下面 in Forever永远 21,
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示意楼下Forever21的人独舞
05:52
and he danced跳舞.
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他就跳起来了
05:54
There were several一些 other activities活动.
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还有一些其他形式的表演
05:56
We had people jumping跳跃 up and down,
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有的上下蹦跳
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people dropping落下 to the ground地面.
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有的摔倒地上
06:00
And I was standing常设 just anonymously匿名 in a sweatshirt运动衫,
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我就穿着一件套头衫,默默站在人群里
06:02
putting my hand on and off of a trashcan垃圾箱
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把手放上放下一个垃圾桶
06:04
to signal信号 the advancement进步.
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来给出下一步的指示
06:06
And because it was in Union联盟 Square广场 Park公园, right by a subway地铁 station,
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因为这是在联合广场公园 离地铁站很近
06:08
there were hundreds数以百计 of people by the end结束
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最后有好几百人
06:10
who stopped停止 and looked看着 up
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停下来观看
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and watched看着 what we were doing.
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我们的表演
06:16
There's a better photo照片 of it.
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这个照片比较清楚
06:18
So that particular特定 event事件
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那么这个活动
06:20
was inspired启发 by a moment时刻
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仅仅是由
06:22
that I happened发生 to stumble绊倒 upon.
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我受自己偶然间的观察启发而生的
06:24
The next下一个 project项目 I want to show显示
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下一个我想分享的项目
06:26
was given特定 to me in an email电子邮件 from a stranger陌生人.
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来自一个陌生人的电子邮件
06:28
A high school学校 kid孩子 in Texas德州 wrote me in 2006
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2006年德克萨斯一个高中生写信给我
06:31
and said, "You should get as many许多 people as possible可能
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说:“你应该聚齐尽可能多的人
06:33
to put on blue蓝色 polo马球 shirts衬衫 and khaki黄褐色 pants裤子
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穿着蓝色polo衫和卡其裤子
06:36
and go into a Best最好 Buy购买 and stand around."
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跑到百思买去站着。”
06:38
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
06:42
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
06:44
So I wrote this high school学校 kid孩子 back immediately立即,
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我立马给他回了邮件
06:46
and I said, "Yes, you are correct正确.
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说:“你说的一点没错。
06:48
I think I'll try to do that this weekend周末. Thank you."
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这周末我就会努力实行,谢谢!”
06:50
So here's这里的 the video视频.
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就是这个视频
06:52
So again, this is 2005.
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这还是在2005年
06:54
This is the Best最好 Buy购买 in New York纽约 City.
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纽约市的百思买
06:57
We had about 80 people show显示 up to participate参加,
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大约有80人参加
06:59
entering进入 one-by-one一个接一个.
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他们一个接一个进入商店
07:01
There was an eight year-old girl女孩, a 10 year-old girl女孩.
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有八岁的女孩,十岁的女孩
07:03
There was also a 65 year-old man
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还有65岁的男人
07:05
who participated参加.
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都参加了
07:07
So a very diverse多种 group of people.
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因此参加人员十分广泛
07:09
And I told people, "Don't work. Don't actually其实 do work.
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我告诉他们:“别表现出你真在工作
07:12
But also, don't shop.
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但是也别买什么
07:14
Just stand around and don't face面对 products制品."
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就四处转转别看产品。”
07:16
Now you can see the regular定期 employees雇员
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正式职员的T恤上
07:18
by the ones那些 that have the yellow黄色 tags标签 on their shirt衬衫.
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是有黄色牌子的
07:20
Everybody每个人 else其他 is one of our actors演员.
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其他的都是我们的演员
07:22
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
07:24
The lower降低 level水平 employees雇员 thought it was very funny滑稽.
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基层职员觉得这很搞笑
07:26
And in fact事实, several一些 of them went to go get their camera相机 from the break打破 room房间
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实际上,甚至有人从休息室拿了相机
07:28
and took photos相片 with us.
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要和我们拍照留念
07:30
A lot of them made制作 jokes笑话 about trying to get us to go to the back
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很多人开玩笑说让我们一起去仓库
07:33
to get heavy television电视 sets for customers顾客.
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为客人把沉重的电视机抬出来
07:36
The managers经理 and the security安全 guards卫士, on the other hand,
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不过,商店的经理和保安
07:39
did not find it particularly尤其 funny滑稽.
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可没觉得这有什么搞笑的
07:41
You can see them in this footage镜头.
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这个镜头里能看到
07:43
They're wearing穿着 either a yellow黄色 shirt衬衫 or a black黑色 shirt衬衫.
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他们穿着黄色或者黑色T恤
07:46
And we were there probably大概 10 minutes分钟
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我们待了大概10钟
07:48
before the managers经理 decided决定 to dial拨号 911.
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经理觉得要打911报警了
07:50
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
07:53
So they started开始 running赛跑 around
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于是他们就开始到处跑
07:55
telling告诉 everybody每个人 the cops警察 were coming未来, watch out, the cops警察 were coming未来.
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通知其他人,注意点,警察要来了
07:58
And you can see the cops警察 in this footage镜头 right here.
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这个镜头里能看到警察
08:01
That's a cop警察 wearing穿着 black黑色 right there, being存在 filmed拍摄 with a hidden camera相机.
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一个隐蔽摄像头拍到了这个警察
08:04
Ultimately最终,, the police警察 had to inform通知 Best最好 Buy购买 management管理
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最终警察告诉百思买的经理
08:06
that it was not, in fact事实, illegal非法
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穿蓝色polo衫和卡其裤
08:08
to wear穿 a blue蓝色 polo马球 shirt衬衫 and khaki黄褐色 pants裤子.
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不能算违法
08:10
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
08:12
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
08:16
Thank you.
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谢谢
08:18
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
08:21
So we had been there for 20 minutes分钟; we were happy快乐 to exit出口 the store商店.
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于是我们待了将近有20分钟后, 愉快地离开了百思买
08:24
One thing the managers经理 were trying to do
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经理尝试要
08:26
was to track跟踪 down our cameras相机.
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追查我们的相机
08:28
And they caught抓住 a couple一对 of my guys who had hidden cameras相机 in duffel一种粗呢 bags包装袋.
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他们发现我们几个人在帆布包里藏里摄像机
08:31
But the one camera相机 guy they never caught抓住
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但是有个摄像的却一直没被发现
08:33
was the guy that went in just with a blank空白 tape胶带
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他带里个空带进去
08:35
and went over to the Best最好 Buy购买 camera相机 department
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进了百思买的相机摄影机部门
08:37
and just put his tape胶带 in one of their cameras相机
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就把空带放进其中一个摄像机
08:39
and pretended假装的 to shop.
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假装试机
08:42
So I like that concept概念 of using运用 their own拥有 technology技术 against反对 them.
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我很喜欢这个想法,用他们的技术应对对方
08:45
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
08:47
I think our best最好 projects项目 are ones那些 that are site现场 specific具体
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我想最好的行动计划是在特定场所
08:49
and happen发生 at a particular特定 place地点 for a reason原因.
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有原因地发生
08:51
And one morning早上, I was riding骑术 the subway地铁.
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有天早上我去乘地铁
08:53
I had to make a transfer转让 at the 53rdRD St. stop
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我得在53街站换乘
08:55
where there are these two giant巨人 escalators自动扶梯.
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那儿有两个超长的电梯
08:57
And it's a very depressing压抑 place地点 to be in the morning早上, it's very crowded.
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而那是个让人一大早就感到很压抑的地方 人非常多
09:00
So I decided决定 to try and stage阶段 something
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我决定要尝试点什么,演上一出
09:02
that could make it as happy快乐 as possible可能 for one morning早上.
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能让人觉得开心 哪怕只是一早上
09:06
So this was in the winter冬季 of 2009 --
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这是2009年冬天-
09:08
8:30 in the morning早上.
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早上八点半
09:10
It's morning早上 rush hour小时.
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上班高峰期
09:12
It's very cold outside.
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外面非常冷
09:14
People are coming未来 in from Queens皇后,
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都是从皇后区过来的乘客
09:16
transferring转移 from the E train培养 to the 6 train培养.
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从E号线转乘6号线
09:19
And they're going up these giant巨人 escalators自动扶梯
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他们搭着这超长电梯
09:21
on their way to their jobs工作.
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去往工作的路上
09:34
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
09:46
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
09:48
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
09:54
Thank you.
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谢谢
09:56
So there's a photograph照片 that illustrates说明 it a little bit better.
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另外一张照片照的比较好点
09:59
He gave 2,000 high fives五岁以下儿童 that day,
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他那天击掌里两千次
10:01
and he washed his hands before and afterward之后
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行动前后都洗过手了
10:03
and did not get sick生病.
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没生病
10:05
And that was doneDONE also without permission允许,
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这个行动没有经过批准
10:07
although虽然 no one seemed似乎 to care关心.
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不过似乎也没人理
10:09
So I'd say over the years年份,
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这几年
10:11
one of the most common共同 criticisms批评 I see of Improv即兴 Everywhere到处
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我见过Youtube上对于“随处即兴”
10:14
left anonymously匿名 on YouTubeYouTube的 comments注释
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最常见的评论之一是
10:16
is: "These people have too much time on their hands."
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“这帮人真是闲得慌”
10:19
And you know, not everybody's每个人的 going to like everything you do,
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不是每个人都喜欢你做的所有事
10:22
and I've certainly当然 developed发达 a thick skin皮肤 thanks谢谢 to Internet互联网 comments注释,
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多亏这些评论我变得厚脸皮了
10:24
but that one's那些 always bothered困扰 me,
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但就是这个评论很烦人
10:26
because we don't have too much time on our hands.
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因为我们并没有那么闲
10:28
The participants参与者 at Improv即兴 Everywhere到处 events事件
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“随处即兴”的参与者
10:31
have just as much leisure闲暇 time as any other New Yorkers纽约人,
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不比其他纽约人空闲时间多
10:33
they just occasionally偶尔 choose选择
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他们只是偶尔选择
10:35
to spend it in an unusual异常 way.
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一种不同的方式来休闲
10:37
You know, every一切 Saturday星期六 and Sunday星期日,
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每年秋天每个周末
10:39
hundreds数以百计 of thousands数千 of people each fall秋季
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就有成千上万的人
10:41
gather收集 in football足球 stadiums体育场馆 to watch games游戏.
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去美式橄榄球场看球
10:43
And I've never seen看到 anybody任何人 comment评论, looking at a football足球 game游戏,
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从来没见谁看着比赛
10:46
saying, "All those people in the stands站立, they have too much time on their hands."
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说:“看台上的这帮人真闲啊!”
10:49
And of course课程 they don't.
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当然不是这样
10:51
It's a perfectly完美 wonderful精彩 way to spent花费 a weekend周末 afternoon下午,
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这只是一个度过周末下午的美好方式
10:53
watching观看 a football足球 game游戏 in a stadium体育场.
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在体育场看场球赛
10:56
But I think it's also a perfectly完美 valid有效 way
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我觉得200人一齐
10:58
to spend an afternoon下午 freezing冷冻 in place地点 with 200 people
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在纽约中央车站玩瞬间静止
11:01
in the Grand盛大 Central中央 terminal终奌站
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也是很好的度过下午的方式
11:03
or dressing敷料 up like a ghostbuster捉鬼敢死队
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或者穿成捉鬼敢死队的样子
11:06
and running赛跑 through通过 the New York纽约 Public上市 Library图书馆.
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在纽约公共图书馆跑来跑去
11:08
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
11:10
Or listening to the same相同 MPMP3 as 3,000 other people
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或者三千多人一齐听着MP3
11:13
and dancing跳舞 silently默默 in a park公园,
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在公园里无声地跳舞
11:16
or bursting爆破 into song歌曲 in a grocery杂货 store商店
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或者在超市突然放声唱歌
11:18
as part部分 of a spontaneous自发 musical音乐,
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创作出即兴音乐剧
11:20
or diving潜水 into the ocean海洋 in Coney科尼 Island wearing穿着 formal正式 attire服装.
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或者一帮人盛装冲进科尼岛的海滩
11:23
You know, as kids孩子, we're taught to play.
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孩提时候大人教我们玩
11:26
And we're never given特定 a reason原因 why we should play.
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却从来没问我们为什么要玩
11:28
It's just acceptable接受 that play is a good thing.
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玩是积极的事情
11:31
And I think that's sort分类 of the point of Improv即兴 Everywhere到处.
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我想这就是“随处即兴”想要表达的
11:34
It's that there is no point and that there doesn't have to be a point.
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其实我们并没有什么宗旨 也没必要有
11:36
We don't need a reason原因.
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我们不需要原因去玩
11:38
As long as it's fun开玩笑
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只要一件事好玩
11:40
and it seems似乎 like it's going to be a funny滑稽 idea理念
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是个有意思的想法
11:42
and it seems似乎 like the people who witness见证 it will also have a fun开玩笑 time,
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看的人也会一同开心
11:45
then that's enough足够 for us.
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那就足够了
11:47
And I think, as adults成年人, we need to learn学习
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作为成年人
11:49
that there's no right or wrong错误 way to play.
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我们要认识到玩无止尽
11:51
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢
11:53
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Chunxiang Qian
Reviewed by Qi Gu

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Charlie Todd - Comedian
Charlie Todd is the creator of Improv Everywhere, a group that creates absurd and joyful public scenes.

Why you should listen

Bored by a temp job, and tired of waiting for someone to give him a stage, comedian Charlie Todd decided to make his own. So he walked into a bar and pretended to be musician Ben Folds. It went so well that it inspired him to create Improv Everywhere, "a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places." 

Todd has produced, directed, performed, and documented the group’s work for over ten years. In that time they've run over 100 prank missions, some involving hundreds or thousands of agents, and each one creating a wonderful and irreproducible experience.

He's a performer at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, and is the author of Causing a Scene.

Watch our photographer's view of the TED2012 prank ... and see how Improv Everywhere pulled it off with the help of a few willing TEDsters ...

More profile about the speaker
Charlie Todd | Speaker | TED.com