Impromptu Chaos – Creating Scenes in the City

London’s secretly prominent scene-makers

By Ally

It is your average afternoon on a Sunday mid January – post-holiday blues, skint wallets and grey skies. You are on the tube headed absolutely nowhere special. Out of the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of some bloke slowly slipping out of his trousers while reading a book. Do they have your attention now?

Professional Scene-Makers

The Stiff Upper Lip Society hosts the annual No Trousers Tube Ride every January on the same date on which thousands of people in 60 cities from 25 countries follow suit and ride the underground, trains and trams trouserless. The concept originated from Improv Everywhere, who launched the first ever No Pants Subway Ride in New York City in 2002. The 2015 London edition saw several hundred enthusiastic participants who turned up to dress down and turn heads everywhere from the Ministry of Justice to Regent Street to the British Museum.

Fast-forward to mid February, when another mischievous group took over Waterloo Station. At exactly 3pm on yet another typical London winter Sunday (read: grey and moist), hundreds of Londoners froze at the bemusement of unexpecting spectators around them. The station went dead silent for five minutes, as strangers walked around the maze of human statues, took photos and tried to make them break character. The scene-makers this time were The Stiff Upper Lip Society and London Flashmob.

Why Cause Scenes

I met with Ivan from The Stiff Upper Lip Society and Hannah from London Flashmob to find out more about their strange passion. When asked why they do this, the answer they give is the same – to create experiences of chaos and joy, disrupt the norm and channel London’s spontaneity into visually exhilarating creations.

Do participants pay to join? No. It’s absolutely free. All they do is sign up via social media, turn up and cause a scene – the reactions from strangers are priceless.

Next Event: The London Undersound

For their next joint project, The Stiff Upper Lip Society and London Flashmob are again drawing inspiration from their transatlantic peers at Improv Everywhere. Following in the footsteps of the wildly successful MP3 Experiment (R), London’s own scene-makers are putting a tasteful and playful British spin on the experience and bringing it to London for the first time ever on the 20th of September, 2015. The concept of The London Undersound is simple: at the hosts’ signal, participants will press play on an Podcast recording they will be provided with, and follow the instructions. Activities will range from fun and unusual games to innocent pranks and entertaining freezes. Simon says, sign up now! That is, if you can hold your lip perfectly stiff while you disrupt the norm..

What: The London Undersound
Where: Chinatown Bakery, WC2H 7
When: Sunday 20th September (3pm – 4:30pm)
Cost: Free

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You may also want to check out the Open House London 2015.