YouTube Millionaires: “Positivity” Rules Improv Everywhere’s Scenes

By 05/14/2015
YouTube Millionaires: “Positivity” Rules Improv Everywhere’s Scenes

Welcome to YouTube Millionaires, where we profile channels that have recently crossed the one million subscriber mark. There are channels crossing this threshold every week, and each has a story to tell about YouTube success. Read previous installments of YouTube Millionaires here.

In 2006, long before prank videos exploded as a major content category on YouTube, Charlie Todd and his team at Improv Everywhere decided to bring their particular brand of public performance to the world’s biggest video site. These “public missions” instantly became quite popular; one of Improv Everywhere’s first YouTube videos, in which a group of confederates froze in place at New York City’s Grand Central station, is a modern-day classic.

Over the past nine years, Improv Everywhere has continued to provide its subscribers with a regular supply of public, positive pranks assisted by large groups. Todd, who remains the channel’s ringleader, spoke to us about his dedication to causing scenes.

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Tubefilter: How does it feel to have one million subscribers? What do you have to say to your fans?

Improv Everywhere: We actually crossed the million subscriber mark awhile back, but it felt great. I was so excited when the YouTube plaque came in the mail, and it hangs proudly in my living room. We’re so thankful for all of our subscribers and all of the people who come out to participate in our projects.

TF: What would you say is Improv Everywhere’s mission?

IE: Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. “We cause scenes” is our motto. I think what sets us apart from other prank channels on YouTube is our focus on positivity. We’re a comedy channel, but we try to get our laughs from giving random strangers a great and hopefully hilarious experience. We like to take ordinary places and try to make something extraordinary happen.

TF: What factors have made YouTube an ideal platform for Improv Everywhere content?

IE: YouTube is such an ideal home for what we do. I think videos of events that happen in the real world are a bit more shareable on YouTube than scripted content. Our projects tend to get picked up by the news media and covered all over the place, but YouTube is the engine that spreads the word first. This is stating the obvious, but YouTube is also the ideal platform for us because it’s the only social media network that pays creators. I hear lots of people talking about putting their content on Facebook, especially now that Facebook seems to have changed its algorithm to favor video uploads and disfavor YouTube links. I’ll get excited about putting videos on Facebook when Facebook offers to share revenue with creators. Until then… not so much.

TF: You guys have been on YouTube for a long time. What do you think is the most significant adjustment you’ve had to make since you started posting videos?

IE: We joined YouTube in April 2006 and we’ve been through everything: The old homepage that was curated by human beings (the good old days), the introduction of the partner program, introduction of HD, “Cosmic Panda,” Google+ meddling with the site, etc. We roll with the changes and try to stay on top of everything by reading sites like Tubefilter (seriously, I’m an RSS subscriber.)

I think in recent years the biggest adjustment has been competing with the flood of network TV content on YouTube. We’re no longer just fighting for homepage real estate with other YouTubers. We have to compete with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen, and hoards of other big budget content. We’ve stepped up our game and worked to make our content look as good as what you see on TV.

TF: Of which Improv Everywhere videos are you most proud?

IE: Tough question! Obviously there is Frozen Grand Central which is our biggest viral hit at 35 million views. I would say a more recent favorite is a project called Conduct Us where we brought a world-class orchestra out into a public space and invited random strangers to conduct. Watching random New Yorkers of all types say yes to the idea was just so much fun. In terms of the funniest, I’d lean towards our King Philip prank at the Met.

TF: “Prank marketing” is exploding in popularity. How does it feel to see advertising campaigns that utilize the same format as a typical Improv Everywhere video?

IE: Anything that gets popular is going to be co-opted by marketers. I only get upset if a brand directly copies an idea of ours beat for beat, and that’s only happened a few times. It’s just lazy. On the bright side as a result of Improv Everywhere I’ve personally been hired to create and direct many videos for brands over the years. We also occasionally take on sponsorship for official Improv Everywhere videos that go on our channel.

I’m very selective about what projects we work on. It has to be the right fit, and it has to be the brand supporting us doing what we do, rather than trying to insert themselves in a product placement type way. A great example of brand collaboration we were really proud of is our recent Epic Christmas Caroling video which was sponsored by Target. The end result was Target giving us a budget to pull off something we had wanted to do for years. Our fans appreciated that.

TF: In countries like Germany and the UK, laws have been enforced to crack down on flash mobs. What do you think separates a positive “public mission” from a negative one?

IE: I think the term “Flash Mob” has been used to describe so many different types of events that it’s pretty much been rendered meaningless. You’ll see a news report on a “flash mob gone wrong” that is really just a “mob.” A bunch of teenagers robbing a store as a group is not a flash mob. I’ve always avoided using the term.

For us it’s important to do things that are both funny and positive in nature. We often stage performances that are unauthorized, but the intention is always to do something harmless and funny. It doesn’t always work out the way we planned, like the time Best Buy called 911 on us for getting 80 people to shop in their store wearing blue polo shirts, but even in that example the police agreed that it was not, in fact, illegal to wear a blue shirt in a Best Buy.

TF: Are there any mission ideas you’ve deemed untenable? If so, what were they and why did you decide not to film them?

IE: We get pitched lots of ideas via the contact form on our site and we get plenty of stuff suggested that’s not a fit. For us, the prank has to be as much fun for the person being surprised as it is for the prankster. If that’s not the case, we won’t do it.

TF: What’s next for the Improv Everywhere channel?

IE: I’ve been working with Collective Digital Studio for the past couple of years, and we just announced a new series, Fake Company Incorporated, at the Newfronts earlier this week. We had a big success with our Movies In Real Life series awhile back. We normally release a video about once a month, but doing a series and releasing on a weekly basis led to a huge uptick in views and subscribers for us.

On Deck (channels that will soon reach one million subscribers): Bratayley, KickTVSirKazzio

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