If you were in Macy’s Department store in Manhattan in 2003 shopping for a rug, you might have witnessed the start of the social revolution of the ‘flash mob.’ A group of 100 people converged at the 9th floor of Macy’s and all stared at a particular rug. Anyone who was asked what they were doing responded that they all lived together in a warehouse and were looking for a ‘love rug.’
This whole stunt was set up by Bill Wasik of Harper’s Magazine. He claimed the purpose was a social experiment that wanted to show the humor of conformity. It also created a social network of people that want to get together to do something that draws a lot of attention. The definition of ‘flash mob’ is “a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and pointless act for a brief time, then disperse.”
Since its inception in 2003, the flash mob phenomenon has traveled all over the world. Some events have become yearly occurrence like “No Pants Day,” “National Pillow Fight Day,” and “Zombie Walk.”
These flash mobs antics have spurred viral videos of their performances. The whole concept would not be possible without the technology that connects the members and then shows the rest of the world what they did. The event is set up though social networking sites, email and text messages. Using during one of the events the participants (usually called agents) are contacted by text message on when to start their performance. The event is usually videotaped and then posted online. The concept of doing unusual things in usual places is pretty funny and the videos are widely shared.
The original concept was a humorous event, it was not created to be a protest of anything of political matter. The flash mob concept is similar to what Improv Everywhere does but on a larger level. Improv Everywhere does some usual stunts in public places. My favorite is their ‘Ghostbusters’ skit in the New York Library.
The idea of a ‘flash mob’ has also caused some unintended side effects. Groups with some negative ideas have used the tactic of gathering a large group of people by social networking, email and text. The point of the gathering is not for comedic humor but for violent protests and riots. They have been called ‘flash mobs’ but this in incorrect because they actually have a point they are trying to prove. Philadelphia has had constant problems with violent so-called ‘flash mobs’ and have requested help from the FBI to monitor social media sites. Protesters for the G20 summit in Canada called themselves a flash mob and caused havoc in the city that turned to looting and burning of police cars.
The flash mob machine doesn’t seem like it’s losing any steam. It has groups that are categorized in big cities on sites like Facebook and Myspace. There is also a site called Urban Prankster that recruits people for large flash mob events. It has also spawned other ‘mob’ groups like smart mob and crop mob. Smart mob is an organization that uses the same recruitment and execution strategies for a political, economic or social purpose. Cropmobs use social networking to recruit people for help maintaining small organic farms.
I’ve been looking into the Chicago flash mobs and street improv and I’ve found we havent even come close to New York. Oprah did set the record with 20,000 people doing a synchronized dance to Black Eyed Peas ‘I’ve Gotta Feelin’ but that is neither here nor there. From the city where comedy is king I think we can do better. There is bad organization and the dates and times get switched often. The Urban Prankster Chicago group is more than a 1,000 members strong, but it only takes one to try to turn a good hearted flash mob event into a social protest. So I asked writer/director/actor Joe Janes, who is also a teacher at Second City, what his reaction would be if he was walking down Michigan Ave. and there were 70 people frozen by the bean. He responded, “I love that stuff. Its like the WTF moments. Its great to see a group of people get together and do something fun and spontaneous.” He was familiar with the No Pants subway rides and the group that did a MP3 experiment in Lincoln Park close to what Improv Everywhere did in New York.
So finally I asked him what advice he had for the people that were starting street improv groups. He said, “Just do it. Don’t put it off a few days and wait for more people to join. Go out and get it started. Let it snowball and if you do something that you love people will follow.”
The flash mobs create so much attention that large corporations have started to use them to market their products. The most widely watched corporate funded flash mob was the T-Mobile flash mob dance at the Liverpool Street station in London. Yahoo has just signed Improv Everywhere to work on a marketing plan. Microsoft put together a flash mob for the release of Office 2010 but the video bombed getting a very weak 67 views of the day of its release. Its problem was that everyone was wearing Microsoft Office shirts. The point is that is supposed to look random. The idea of a flash mob for marketing purposes is a very tricky concept to deal with. It has to be original, funny and be completely legal to avoid any lawsuits against the company.
I don’t really think that this is a fad. Just like social networking sites have become a part of our lives, flash mobs have become a part for some of us too. The point that is has to evolve and stay fresh. Whether its to promote a product or just for fun, its become a hobby for many people. If I was walking through LaSalle street station in Chicago and 100 people started dancing, I would stop and laugh my ass off. But how many times I am going to think a dance or a freeze is funny after that? Chicago has the potential to be a great city to experiment with the flash mob and street improv. Someone just has to take the reigns.
