Have you ever struggled to understand performance art? Does it usually involve too much self-mutilation and/or debasement for your taste? Did you not quite "get" Andy Kaufman? There is a group of clever hipsters out there who make it okay, even fun, to enjoy bizarre, semi-comedic performance art.
This troupe of loosely affiliated comedians calls itself Improv Everywhere. Their gig is performing benign, amusing acts in the middle of ordinary places, usually by engaging in slightly odd behavior while appearing to be otherwise quite ordinary. The joke comes from how unsuspecting civilians react to them. It will take you some time to read these accounts, but I assure you that you will find at least one of them at least slightly amusing. In one "mission," a guy gets lost on his way back to his seat at a baseball game, much to the eventual concern of most of the upper deck at Yankee Stadium. In another mission, the troupe amusingly invades a Best Buy. In another harmless assault on a big retailer, the troupe infiltrates a Home Depot; don't miss the video clip with the action accelerated. I believe I may have actually heard of these folks last year when they put on a faux rooftop U2 concert.
I have to admit that I love the creativity and generally harmless sense of mischief that these "missions" involve. I also have to admit that there is no way I would be inclined to participate. I'm sure that reveals some deep psychological truth about me, but that's okay. That's why these people exist to do these things, so I don't have to.
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