Laughing Squid

For the latest mission, 40 members of Improv Everywhere surprised employees and shoppers at the Gap store on 5th Avenue in Manhattan by disguising themselves as extra mannequins. Gap security broke up their fun very quickly. The video was directed by Charlie Todd and produced by Deverge.

Performers entered the store wearing white Morphsuits under Gap-style clothing. At the exact same second they zipped up their suits and froze in place next to the store’s actual mannequins. Customers and employees laughed and took photos of the performance, but Gap security reacted by dialing 911. The police arrived and handcuffed many performers, but after assessing the situation, everyone was allowed to leave the store.

photos by Arin Sang-urai

music by Tyler Walker

HBO has made the first full episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, their new late-night talk show hosted by comedian John Oliver, available to stream on YouTube. In the episode, Oliver pokes fun at racist remarks, explores the election in India, and suggests the National Security Agency change their name to Mr. Tiggles.

via Last Week Tonight

New York City-based body painting artist Trina Merry has created a human Tibetan-style temple made up of 17 naked circus performers and dancers painted in elegant reds and golds in order raise awareness and funds for “Beyond The Four Walls“, an organization that seeks to empower the women of Nepal.

Nepal is the only country in the world where women have a shorter life expectancy then men. Many young girls are either sold into slavery to pay off family debts or married off as young as age nine. Women are responsible for all the hard labor and domestic duties of the house. Only 1% of women in Nepal attend college. Violent acts against women have been well documented in recent news in southeast Asia. Merry hopes to bring awareness and compassion by creating this eye-catching art piece and tangible supplies like laptops and smart phones to these internet cafes when she and her team perform in Nepal in November. She and her Silicon Valley based team will be teaching practical skills on entrepreneurship, online marketing and business skills as well as fun hands on art and dance classes for these women to encourage and empower these promising next generation of talented women.

The temple is currently being shown at the WORKS San Jose for a co-exhibition experiment with artist Theresa Because in San Jose, California. Donations for Trina’s trip to Nepal can be made here.

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips

News Be Funny has created a great compilation video of the best news bloopers from April 2014. We previously wrote about their best local news bloopers from January, February, and March 2014.

Adelaide, Australia filmmaker Danny Philippou (a.k.a. “Racka Racka“) has created “Star Wars vs. Harry Potter,” an incredible homemade video that imagines what it would be like if two roommates, a Jedi Knight and a wizard, engaged in battle over a silly phone charger. The large amount of special effects in Danny’s video make for quite an epic duel.

Generation VS Generation … who will win? Magic or the force? Saber or the wand?

via reddit

A few weeks back on Portlandia, Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen showed us why the best part of going to a music concert is heading back home.

Fred and Carrie face the cons of a concert

Eclectic Method has released “The Wes Anderson Mixtape,” a fun remix of the many creative movies created by director and screenwriter Wes Anderson. The song is available to download online in MP3 format at Soundcloud.

Great directors create their own genre and Wes Anderson movies are a genre unto themselves. His films are played out in linear motion, his actors moving like costumed dolls in a vast toy house. It’s as much theater as film. Here are Anderson’s movies remixed like a cross section of a doll’s house – the themes and styles blended and mashed together.

image via Eclectic Method

submitted via Laughing Squid Tips