Frozen Improv in Shanghai

Alright, this is way late, but was just too cool not to mention.

About a month ago in Shanghai a group inspired by Improv Everywhere created a “scene” in front of the Sofitel on Shanghai’s Nanjing Rd.

At a set time the group of random folks from a number of nationalities stopped and froze in place for five minutes, causing quite a crowd of onlookers to grow around them. Despite getting away with two “freezings”, the group was amicably told by police that technically they couldn’t continue as it was against Chinese law (?? – if freezing in place for long periods of time is against the law, someone should tell all the assholes that suddenly stop in doorways and in front of escalators.)

Frozen Improv in Shanghai

Original Inspiration – Frozen Grand Central (NYC)

How awesome is that.

According to the Shanghaiist, another possible freeze mission is on its way. Interested peeps should check out ShanghaiiAdLib’s page on the Improv Everywhere community site.

H/T to Kevin Smith, at whose blog I caught this.

6 Responses

  1. Great stuff! How long is it acceptable to sit still reading this post? The police probably thought they were trying to make some kind of statement other than awesomeness.

  2. As corny as they are, I love the ‘free hugs’ stuff too. There’s a bunch from all over the world and even a few here in China. (Which are pretty funny. And yeah, the fun police (er, niceness police) come and put a stop to it also)

  3. I believe that there is no freedom of association in the Chinese Constitution (despite having freedom of religion, etc.) That means any group of people assembling for any purpose could actually be breaking the law. Groups not officially sanctioned (i.e. tour groups) can be asked by the police to disperse. Comes from a fear of counter-revolutionaries.

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