Table of Contents
- Overview
- TheNakedNYC YouTube Highlights
- TheNakedNYC Instagram Highlights
- Event Details
- Partnerships and Collaborations
- Touring and Commissioning
- About Improv Everywhere
- About Charlie Todd
- Wrapping Up
Overview
NEW YORK, NY — The Mp3 Experiment 20 transformed New York City’s Hudson River Park into a stage for playful public performance. On June 21, 2025, participants gathered in vibrant red, yellow, blue, or green, blending into the Piers 62 and 64 before synchronized instructions began. An original audio track, delivered through the official app, guided them with humor and coordinated challenges. Bystanders on the piers were puzzled over the sudden, choreographed bursts of activity.
The Mp3 Experiment organizer Improv Everywhere partnered with Hudson River Park and Make Music New York to stage the event. Notable past projects by Improv Everywhere include frozen Grand Central and No Pants Subway Ride, captivating millions worldwide. Founder Charlie Todd, acclaimed for his creative public performances, also brought his vision to television and major commercial campaigns.
Internationally recognized, the Mp3 Experiment had previously toured cities like Berlin and Adelaide, as well as major U.S. universities. The Mp3 Experiment event celebrated creativity, community, and the unexpected joy of turning ordinary spaces into extraordinary moments.
For more information, visit the official Mp3 Experiment website.
TheNakedNYC YouTube Highlights
TheNakedNYC Instagram Highlights
Event Details
The Mp3 Experiment came to life in New York City on June 21, 2025, transforming Hudson River Park into a stage for playful public performance. In the weeks leading up to the event, participants stayed connected through the official email list and the NYC Mp3 Experiment Facebook group, ensuring they received every important update. Designed as an immersive audio adventure, the experience invited people to follow synchronized, secret instructions in public spaces, all delivered through their headphones.
Before arriving, participants downloaded the Mp3 Experiment app on their iPhone, iPad, or Android device. The app offered two synchronized performances: those with birthdays from January to June joined at Pier 62, while those born from July to December gathered at Pier 64. Friends and family who wanted to begin together coordinated in advance to select the same pier. Once participants joined their performance, a countdown timer appeared on the app, building anticipation. At the scheduled moment, the audio track began automatically, ensuring everyone started in perfect unison.
Just before the clock struck 2:00:00 PM, participants slipped on their headphones, opened the app. Screens went dark, bags stayed closed, and props remained hidden until the narrator’s voice instructed otherwise.
Partnerships and Collaborations
The Mp3 Experiment 20 partnered with Hudson River Park and Make Music New York. Charlie Todd and Tyler Walker collaborated to produce the event. The event operated without profit, recovering costs through commissioned performances. Donations via PayPal supported operational expenses.
Touring and Commissioning
Organizers stage the Mp3 Experiment in New York annually and toured internationally to colleges and major festivals. The Mp3 Experiment appeared in cities including Berlin, Germany, and Adelaide, Australia. It also appeared at U.S. universities such as UNC Chapel Hill and Texas Tech.
About Improv Everywhere
Improv Everywhere is a decades-long project by comedian and director Charlie Todd. Based in New York City, it produces surprise public performances worldwide. The group pioneered large-scale surprise performances before the term flash mob became common.
It joined YouTube in 2006 and reached over 500 million views. Over two decades, hundreds of performances involved tens of thousands of undercover participants. The group aimed to create moments that made strangers laugh and smile.
Notable project examples include offering high fives at subway escalators, staging a Broadway musical in a grocery store produce section, allowing random people to conduct a world-class orchestra in public, frozen Grand Central and No Pants Subway Ride.
About Charlie Todd
Charlie Todd, founder of Improv Everywhere in 2001, became one of the first YouTube creators in 2006, with his projects amassing half a billion views.
Over the years, he expanded his creative reach by producing series for NBC, MTV, and Pop TV, and by directing and executive producing the Disney+ series Pixar In Real Life. His commercial portfolio featured campaigns for major brands such as Target, Hulu, and ESPN, developed in collaboration with the production company DVRG. Beyond production work, Todd shared his insights as a speaker at TED, PopTech, MoMA, and numerous conferences. He also authored Causing a Scene, published by HarperCollins, and was featured in the documentary We Cause Scenes, which premiered at SXSW. On stage, he spent over two decades performing at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.
Away from the spotlight, Todd lived in Hell’s Kitchen with his wife, Cody Lindquist, their two sons, and three bicycles, while actively serving on Manhattan Community Board 4 as a safe streets advocate.
Wrapping Up
The Mp3 Experiment 20 left a vivid impression on participants and onlookers, uniting strangers through laughter, creativity, and shared experience. Each synchronized action reminded the city that ordinary environments can host extraordinary moments when people come together with a common purpose.
Improv Everywhere’s legacy, strengthened by two decades of innovative public art, continues to inspire similar projects worldwide. Future editions will push boundaries further, exploring new ways to connect communities through shared performance. With each performance, the Mp3 Experiment redefines how art, technology, and community engagement intersect in unexpected spaces.
For more information, visit the official Mp3 Experiment website.
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