Improv AZ – Page 21

October 6, 2009 by Ruth Carter 1 Comment

Silent Rave

The Arizona Diamondbacks had their last home game of the season on Sunday, September 27th, and Improv AZ decided to joyfully celebrate with the fans. With the weather starting to cool down, it seems liked a good reason to bring the Improv AZ group together. We decided to throw a Silent Rave.

It was a sunny and sticky Sunday afternoon when I met with our new videographer. This event was a last-minute idea, so I had not scouted the area in advance. We scoured the courtyard and found a suitable open area for dancing next to Sliders restaurant. It was an appropriate area for gleeful gyrations.

And then we waited. I saw a few familiar faces with anticipatory smiles from past events amongst the sea of red-shirted Diamondbacks fans.

At 12:45 our group of approximately fifteen people spontaneously started to dance. We received a number of bewildered looks from Diamondbacks fans, some who stopped to take pictures. Apparently the host at Sliders encouraged our tomfoolery over the loudspeaker. I couldn’t hear him because we were having so much fun. Although our event was a silent rave, we had the music of Sliders to dance to; however I don’t think it had a negative impact on the absurdity of the event.

At 12:47, the alarm on my phone went off. I gave the ending signal and we dispersed. Some of us headed into the game and the rest disappeared into the surrounding crowd.

There are some good pictures from the event on Flickr. We were working with a new videographer for this event. I’m hoping the footage will be up soon. If you were there and have photos or video from the event, please post them with the tags ImprovAZ and SilentRave.

June 27, 2009 by Tim 5 Comments

Epic Super Hero Battle 2009

Several weeks of planning and strategizing culminated in a fantastic event, when the forces of justice and villainy met near Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall on a hot June evening for a battle that was truly epic. In conjunction with another local group, AZ Cacophony Society, the plan was hatched in early May and the call went out to gauge interest in the idea. Since the response was a resounding “Yes, we want in on this!”, we quickly moved on to the strategizing phase while directing our followers to get started on their costumes. The date was chosen and a scouting mission was done to devise a battle plan that would draw public attention while (hopefully) limiting any security intervention.

On the day of the event, the respective groups began to form up when a snag was encountered. Mall security approached the Heroes and stated that several mall policies prohibited the group from entering. Luckily, cool heads prevailed on both sides and with just a few modifications to the plan, the Heroes were allowed to proceed through the mall to meet the Villains on the other side.

As you can imagine, the sight of two large groups of costumed individuals garnered quite a bit of attention as each made their way to the battle site, a large street corner in full view of all passers by. The Heroes arrived first and took the high ground (as Heroes often do), taunting the Villains who were forced to wait for traffic. Once the Villains reached the area, all manner of mayhem broke out with water soaker guns employed to full effect. Most of the participants were very into character, pairing up with each other for mock fisticuffs and other shenanigans. A few of my favorite characters were Musical Theater Girl and her jazz-hands of justice, Dark Elvis with his menacing patch of removable chest hair, Couch Potato with his “hang back and let others fight” stance and The Zombie who wandered through the crowd oozing on his foes.

As the battle wound down the group posed for photographs and then headed off to reminisce on the event at one of the nearby watering holes. Within minutes of the event’s completion, a hilarious video of the battle was uploaded to YouTube:

And here is a shorter compilation of the event, complete with dramatic soundtrack!

There’s also a growing set of amazing pictures on Flickr, and in the Facebook event! Tag yourself and comment away!

May 5, 2009 by Oden Leave a Comment

Phoenix First Friday Freeze

First Friday Freeze May Day in Phoenix; and what better way to celebrate the beginning of the long hot summer than a group freeze in the midst of Phoenix’s First Friday festivities.

Sometime after 6:30 p.m. groups of revelers, approximately 40 in total, converged at the intersection of 5th St and E Garfield, mingled in with the crowds of patrons, artists and passerby’s, inconspicuously waiting. At about 6:50 p.m. balloons were released to the sky signaling the group members to hold that pose and hold it and hold it some more.

A few people were frozen checking their cell phones, or reading a map. I froze in the process of being fed a scoop of ice cream, which dribbled into a mess on the ground. One person froze tying his shoe, and another froze in mid marriage proposal. Definitely lots of creativity in the poses and participants!

Soon crowds gathered; some shocked, some confused, some awed, all mostly amused, to witness the event.

In the true pagan spirit of the holiday, members of the AZ Cacophony Society captivated the crowd by decorating the freeze participants with beads, starry sunglasses, makeup and even making an impromptu human May Pole with streamers.

Then, as suddenly as it began and not a moment too soon for those in pose, it was over at the sound of what could be described as an asthmatic air horn. Everyone quickly dispersed to enjoy the rest of their usual First Friday experience.

Several people have posted videos on YouTube, including alacritae, ballergrlHeather, and this one from RelGirl8:

Victorianladyaz1 was one the freezers, and left the video camera on the whole time. Watch this video to check out the curious people walking around and trying to figure out what was going on.

We have one more “official” video coming, and will post that as soon as it is ready.

There are also some nice pictures showing up in Flickr. Be sure to use the tags “improvaz” and “phxfreeze” on Flickr so we can find them.

If you were part of the First Friday Freeze or witnessed it firsthand, post your thoughts in the comments below! If you want to get involved in future pranks or flashmobs, keep checking this blog or join our Facebook page.

Hi there!