Improv Everywhere's Latest Effort Tries to Get New Yorkers to Say Nice Things

It's been a while since the latest effort from Improv Everywhere, and in this one, the group known for going without pants on subways and coming to a total standstill in Grand Central Terminal seems to go a little soft. That is, they set up a podium in Union Square with a megaphone and a plaque that says "Say Something Nice," in an effort to get New Yorkers to be all mushy with each other.

So, how did it go? People said nice things, some of them sweetly, some a bit shrill-ly, needily, sort of like your mother saying something nice when you know she really just wants you to wash the dishes or bring her a martini. Some people used the megaphone to fulfill their own personal needs for attention, say, to beatbox. Some babies said extremely intelligent things, like about infinity. The overall effect, in this blogger's opinion, was...weird.

See, the thing is, we all want to be told nice things and to feel naturally inspired to say nice things to each other, and to be happy in our combined universe. But in Union Square, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of daily life, as we sweat and lurch toward work, hearing someone squeal on a megaphone that someone's umbrella is pretty is actually -- dare we say it -- a wee bit annoying.

Call us a curmudgeon (people who tell us to have a great day without seeming to mean it or even know us do tend to have the reverse impact on us). We'll give you a hug, but in private, and when we deem ourselves ready. Does that mean we're not nice?

Probably. Or that we need more coffee.

Union Square Pranksters Encourage People to 'Say Something Nice' [DNA Info]
Say Something Nice [Improv Everywhere]

[JDoll / @thisisjendoll]

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