• Day 88/90 – Lunch with Stripes!

    Day 88 of the 90 Days of Awesome is in the bank! What made today awesome? I got to have lunch with Stripes!

    Stripes and Me!
    Stripes and Me!

    I met Rachel (aka Stripes) at the inaugural No Pants Light Rail Ride in 2009 and then we became friends as two of the co-founders of Improv AZ. (She got the nickname Stripes because she wore awesome striped knee-high socks at the first No Pants Ride.) We did some awesome shenanigans together like Welcoming a Stranger at the Airport, a Freeze at First Friday, and we were co-captains of part of the 2010 No Pants Light Rail Ride. Geez we had fun!

    This is a freakin' cool kid!
    This is a freakin’ cool kid!

    And then Stripes moved to the east coast, got married, and had a baby. This week, they were all back in town because Stripes and her husband Paul were invited to give talks on computer programming. (Yeah, they’re wicked smart.) We met up for lunch at Carolina’s – Paul’s first time to this Mexican food Mecca with the best tortillas in Phoenix. I suspect they don’t have Mexican food like this back east.

    It was so great to catch up with Stripes and meet her husband. I loved his 3-question test he gave each of his dates when he was still single:

    1. What’s the square root of 144?
    2. True or false: There is right way to put on the toilet paper roll.
    3. What do you do?

    He and Stripes seem to be a good fit for each other. And they have the most adorable baby. In general, I dislike children (which I need to revise that to children over 6 months old) but this little guy was so cute and chill. I asked to hold him the moment I saw him. I love his big inquisitive brown eyes – always checking out his surroundings.

    It was so great to see Stripes! It’s too bad my next trip back east won’t afford me enough time to visit them on their turf.

    In case you missed it: Day 87 of the 90 Days of Awesome – Processing my grief and anger.

  • I Met Charlie Todd!

    I’ve known about Charlie Todd and Improv Everywhere since he uploaded Frozen Grand Central to YouTube in 2008. I was fascinated by their creativity and boldness from the start. I went back and watched all their videos and read all the blogs from their missions – it was captivating. I subscribed to their YouTube channel and I joined the now-disbanded “Urban Prankster Network” online.

    Charlie Todd and Me
    Charlie Todd and Me

    Charlie and I have exchanged emails and messages over the years after I helped co-found Improv AZ and I started digging into the legal issues surrounding flash mobs and pranks. He was always friendly and helpful, but since we lived on opposite sides of the country, we never met in person.

    A few weeks ago, I got a note from Charlie saying that he was debuting his film “We Cause Scenes” at SXSW. The film follows the story of Improv Everywhere from the beginning to where it is now. I love this story because Charlie didn’t start out trying to create this group. He was just a guy who was having fun with his friends and he embraced the opportunities that allowed it to grow into his career. I was so excited. I immediately put his film at the top of my SXSW to-do list.

    I met Charlie about an hour before the film in the convention center. When I saw his familiar face, threw up my arms, and screeched, “Charlie Todd!” I gave him a big hug and chatted for a few minutes before claiming my spot in line. It was so great to meet him in person but because we’ve been conversing for years, it was like seeing an old friend.

    The movie was fantastic. If it comes to your city, go see it. It’s a great story.

    During the Q&A after the movie, Charlie announced that Improv Everywhere was doing an MP3 Experiment in Austin. I of course rearranged my schedule so I could go. We were given a place, a time, an MP3 to download, and we were told to wear a certain color shirt and bring an uninflated balloon. You’ll have to wait to see the video to see what we did, but we had a blast. It was so great to do a mission with my prankster brothers and sisters.

    I give my friend Jeff Moriarty a lot of credit for helping me become the person I am today. If he hadn’t organized the first No Pants Ride in Phoenix, there never would have been an Improv AZ and I wouldn’t be a flash mob attorney and blogger. Watching Charlie’s movie reminded me that I have to give him a lot of credit too. He was the one who came up with the idea for the original No Pants Subway Ride and he was the one who decided to invite the world to participate in 2009. If he hadn’t done that, he wouldn’t have given Jeff his launch into the official prank/flash mob world.

    So thank you Charlie. Without you, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.

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  • Flash Mobs Are Not Crimes

    Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer.  This blog should not be viewed as legal advice.  It is simply my experiences, opinions, and information I looked up on the internet.

    It appears the term “flash mob” is being used inappropriately and its meaning is being overly broadened to include any group activity that is coordinated using social media.  This year, there have been several robberies and assaults perpetrated by a group of people that appear (at least on the surface) to have been orchestrated via social media sites.  The media has called them “flash mob crimes.”  They make it sound like someone created a Facebook event that said, “Meet at Broadway and Main at 10pm.  At exactly 10:03, we’re all going to run into the minimart, grab whatever we want, and run out.”  That’s not a flash mob.  That’s solicitation and possibly conspiracy.  If the event actually occurs, it’s larceny and perhaps inciting a riot.

    Improv AZ – Where's Waldo Flash Mob Photo by Jeff Moriarty

    A flash mob is defined as “a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and sometimes seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then disperse, often for the purposes of entertainment and/or satire.”  Flash mobs have been occurring at least since the 1970’s.  In recent years, they have been orchestrated via email and social media websites; however, that does not mean that every public group activity that is coordinated via social media is a flash mob.

    Flash mobs are generally light-hearted innocuous fun.  People who participate in flash mobs ride public transportation without their pants; they welcome back strangers at the airport; they have fake battles between heroes and villains; and they stand frozen in place for short periods of time.  Some protests and promotional events are referred to as “flash mobs,” but technically they’re not.  And any event that has a criminal intent is definitely not a flash mob.

    I give the media some leeway when it comes to coining terms; however, I was deeply disturbed when I saw a legal website refer to flash mobs as including criminal behavior.  It suggests the writer did not do their research on this topic.

    I love flash mobs.  I have been participating in them and organizing them since 2009.  When Improv AZ organizes a flash mob, we do thorough research on the potential legal implications of our event.  I have attended an event with pages of statutes in my back pocket to ensure that we’re acting within the confines of the law.  We are diligent to inform our participants in advance of their do’s and don’ts.  We may push the envelope, but we never intend to cross the line.  Most of our encounters with police involve them smiling or laughing at us.  At the 2010 No Pants Ride after party, a Tempe police car stopped near us and an officer yelled out, “We had a briefing about you!”  And then he went about his merry way, knowing we were harmless.  A bit odd and rather goofy, but harmless.

    Flash mobs are harmless, playful, and unexpected events.  They are not criminal acts by design.  Flash mobs and crimes are two completely different phenomena.  They do not exist on the same continuum.

    In other news, the flash mob community needs to send a big “thank you” to Mayor Jackson and the city of Cleveland.   Mayor Jackson recently vetoed a proposed law that would have made it illegal to use social media to coordinate a flash mob.  Thank you for protecting our First Amendment rights!