Guido in Rome, a listener and friend of the podcast, sent us this amusing (funny) video. This is a musical performance by a group called “Improv Everywhere.” Improv is short for improvisation, which means to create a performance without preparation. Clearly these performers have rehearsed (practiced) this performance, but it doesn’t make it any less amusing.
This takes place in a shopping mall food court in Los Angeles. A food court is an area in a shopping mall with a lot of fast food restaurants and a large common (shared) area with many tables and chairs where people sit to eat. What these unsuspecting (unaware) shoppers never expected was a musical performance like this!
By the way, the woman who begins the song and who is wearing the funny hat works at a chain of fast food stands/restaurants with locations in many California shopping malls called “Hotdog on a Stick.” They are well known for their lemonade, a sweet drink made with lemons, and corn dogs, hot dogs wrapped with a type of bread and deep fried (see picture).
~ Lucy
Here are the first lines of the song.
Lemonade spilled across the countertop (a flat surface for working, usually in the kitchen).
There’s ice and lemons everywhere now.
I’ve got to clean it up.
Can I get a napkin, please?
I’m going to need some just like these.
I’ve got three or four, but I might need more.
Can I get a napkin, please?
Ah man! Can I get a napkin, too, by chance (possibly)?
I have spilled some mustard (a yellow paste people put on their hot dogs and hamburgers) on my pants.
What a pain, it’s a shame, this is probably going to stain (leave a permanent mark),
If I don’t get a napkin…
We both need napkins, that’s a fact.
That’s true. It’s napkins that we lack (don’t have).
We’re agreed, we’re in need,
On our knees we humbly plead (beg),
Can we get a napkin, please?
Can I get a napkin, please?
I promise that we’re not wasting trees.
I’ll take one from you, and from this hot (attractive) girl, too.
Can I get a napkin, please?
I need a napkin.
I have an infant (baby) in my arms,
And I don’t mean to cause alarm (make others worried or anxious)
She just hurled (vomited) on my pearls, she’s my darling little girl
But, can I get a napkin…?
I’m the janitor (someone whose job is to clean),
The working man you all adore (love)
Sweeping up this dirty floor,
Boy, my left foot sure is sore (hurting).
I just want a chance to show the world that I can dance!
Improv Everwhere rocks! I became exposed to these guys a few weeks ago when I saw one of their amusing videos on YouTube. In that video a cool guy named Rob gave out numerous high fives to the passengers in the NY subway. Since then, I forgot about them but this post reminded me how cool they are. Thank you for posting this story.
That’s how we, far from “beautiful Los Angeles, Caaalifornia”, imagine the life in the city of movies and musical entertainments: fun and music everywhere. Perhaps it’s not really true but… let’s run the imagination 🙂
ciao
P.S.
Glad to be a listener and honored to be a friend
hahaha.. That´s cool. Thanks Lucy and Guido for give us some time of laugh. 🙂
m sure this must be an interesting Video……i havent been able to open utube for a period of time….and dont know if i’ll ever get a chance by seeing videos at you tube again in my country, i hope they will let it open again……T.T
good thing is i can still come here, at ESL!!!
Well Guido,I’m afraid you’re wrong.(They have to work too and get up early in the morning).If you were right, I’d already be living in beautiful Los Angeles,California, although sometimes I picture myself living in a small town on the southwest coast of the US.I really don’t think I could put up with all the bustling of a big city,you know,a lot of people,a lot of traffic…
Anyway,wow!what a fun video!I’d be willing to make one of those in my work place,along with some other people ,because nobody wants to make a fool of themselves,but if there are other people involved too,then that’s another story.
Damn it! What a coincidence!I know you’re not going to believe this,but this is (not) a joke.Did you hear me?This is (not) a joke.I was writing this comment when unintentionally (of couse) spilled some coffee over my new, expensive shirt ( It cost me an arm and a leg),and what a coincidence again!I’ve run out of napkins! So,could I get one of those too?
I would like to have some of these funny perfomances here sometimes, now even more that we are going through hard days and people have less money to spend going to some show.
It is really amazing to see the faces of the people who are sitting at the tables having their foods.
Thank you Lucy and Guido it is an amusing video indeed.
Very entertaining ,but let’s not get all worked up with a video clip. I have been around my friends and Big cities never live up to the hype. So, please don’t get caught in the hype . The truth the matter is those highfalutin places are a bunch of stores in an enclosed area.That is all there is to it my fellow podcast learners.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not one of those guys who take all the positivity and put a negative spin on it . I m just happen to talk reality.I don’t know what Lucy’s angle is to the whole thing ,but I think she has the exact take about shopping malls.
I just happen ,Sorry for the typo
Thank you, that’s funny.
ciao!
woOow
i like it amazing
i replay it many times and i still laughing 😀
i wished that i was their
thanks Dr lucy we love u ^_^
&
thanks Guido nice pick 🙂
This video is amusing. I don’t know why some people do this, but one thing is sure, I would like to have been there.
I wish (ojalá), someday, when I am at the airport, or at my office, or at the bank or walking along the street, or wherever I am, the group “Improv Everywhere” appears suddenly and makes a performance like that.
In my view, things like this make whoever feels happy and forgets for a moment any problem.
I’m going to tell you one experience similar that I had a couple years ago.
It was march. My city was celebrating its Greater Feast (Las Fallas). I was walking alone along a street crammed with people, and all around there were many performers doing their performance, for free but in change for some money.
There was one very amusing clown. He wore colorful cloths, a nice cap and with something in his mouth that no one saw but it permited he was able to speak without words, but with a rare sound. He was making all kinds of things with balloons of all of colours to children while he ‘was speaking’ with they with a sort of whistle.
He looked very nice to me and I remained there standing up to see his performance. There was around twenty people looking at him and suddenly he looked at me. Then he started beating my head with a big hammer while he told me something with his peculiar whistle and doing mime to make easier his no words.
This was a little embarrassing for me because all of people was looking at me.
Then he took out a small tool and some of metallic wire of his pocket. With a few quick movements of his hands he made two small interlaced hearts. He gave it to me and then he told me using his whistles: “Give it to your wife, please”. Then he took off his cap and his red nose just one second and told me: “We had lunch together last Sunday”.
At the moment I realized that he was a friend of my sister-in-law that I didn’t recognize. This little thing made me feel happy for all day.
Regards.
Thank you very much ! very funny !
wow!!! What a nice comic video, I would like to call it like that so, It was really funny to enjoyed it. I bursted into laughing for a long time when I start to watch it. The people’s face expression was the most enjoyable thing that I found in this video.
thanks a lot eslteam for make us smile a little.
preto.