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July 19, 2004

Agent Wimpy & Chekov

filed under simply defies categorization | story & plot

Lannalee posted a wonderful bit in the discussion forum about a troupe of performers who ... I suppose the quickest way to describe it is this: make havoc and art on the streets of New York. Here's Lannalee's original post; here's the link to the Improv Everywhere troupe; and here's the page about their Chekov performance/stunt. The reason I love this so much is that I have never read a biography of Chekov, and now I've got a crush on him on the basis of the description they provided from Payne's Images of Chekov:
"[...] the actor, the mimic, the clown, who would amuse himself by going to a hotel with a friend, pretending to be a valet, and proclaiming in a loud voice all the secret vices of his master, until the whole hotel was in an uproar.  He adored buffoonery.  He liked putting on disguises.  He would throw a Bokhara robe round his shoulders and wrap a turban round his head and pretend to be some visiting emir from the mysterious lands of the east.  On a train journey he was in his element.  If he was traveling with his mother he would pretend she was a countess and himself a very unimportant servant in her employ, and would watch the behavior of the other passengers toward the bewildered countess with the wide-eyed wonder and delight.  He had the trick of making a walk in the country an adventure in high drama.  Everything excited him."
What Improv Everywhere did was, they got a guy who looked like the elderly Chekov and staged a reading at Barnes and Noble... and they pulled it off; the audience went right along with the idea that they were listening to Chekov read his own work. In the end they did get escorted out of the store; then they went on to do a signing in the park to see what would happen. Read it, you'll be glad you did.

This makes me sad (as I often am) that I don't live in Manhattan.

July 19, 2004 07:43 AM

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Comments

He reminds me a little of Lymond in the Lymond Chronicles. ( The Spaniard and Thady Boy)

Posted by: Susan w at July 19, 2004 03:52 PM

Thanks for the kudos. did you read the write up about the Circle Line Tour? http://www.improveverywhere.com/circle/ Very funny. I spent a whole day reading their webpage.

My (now) husband and I (seems weird saying that a bit) went to see an Improv show at the Upright Citizen's Brigade and saw the video for the Virgin Megastore Stunt (http://www.improveverywhere.com/virgin/). I could go on, but I imagine people have stuff to do.

Posted by: Lanna Lee Maheux at July 19, 2004 06:11 PM