Top 3 Flashmobs of All Time

Top 3 Flashmobs of All Time
A comedy article by Clinton Nortje

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08/10/2010 12:03 AM 2690 views

Wikipedia defines a "flashmob" as "a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual or pointless act for a brief moment, and disperse." These brief moments not only bring joy to those who personally witness the events, but to millions of slack workers around the world, who have eaten up millions of dollars in productivity by watching the resulting videos, three minutes at a time.

This Top 3 list pays tribute to those flashmobs that not only brought a smile to our faces, but helped the world run down the clock. Our Top 3 Flashmobs account for at least 910,000 hours of lost productivity. That's 103 years of pure productivity simply clicked away, and you're about to become a part of that!

1) Improv Everywhere - Grand Central Freeze

If beauty is in simplicity, then Improv Everywhere's Grand Central mobbing is the Megan Fox of flashmobs. Having attracted over 22,700,000 views on You Tube, you would expect this to be one of the most intricately choreographed bits the world had ever seen, or at the very least have one scene of a monkey drinking his own pee. This was not the case, and millions of YouTube viewers found themselves watching people do nothing. More than 200 Improv Everywhere agents simply froze in time in one of the busiest cities in the world. Finding the power in the pause, "Frozen Grand Central" takes the #1 spot.

Best Bit: At 1:58, we enjoyed the line, "Eh, never mind, they're moving."

Bonus Video:

2) Bounce - Michael Jackson Tribute Mob

Ah, Sweden. Home of wobbly furniture, the gayest straight band in history, and our number 2 flashmob. Two weeks after the King of Pop passed away, the Swedish street dance troupe Bounce (yes, even the whitest of white people have dance troupes) took to the streets of Stockholm and danced their white asses off to pay tribute to He-Whose-Glove-Was-Shiny. The resulting video was viral gold, and it quickly chalked up millions of hits. Like MJ himself, Bounce's Michael Jackson Tribute also had flashmob impersonators, and similar tributes soon poured in from around the world. In turn, we pay tribute to the video that started it all.

Best Bit: It's tough to pick a best bit on a flashmob of this scale, simply because it is the sum of its parts that makes it great. But check out the girl in the black pants and white top at 0:32 (near the bottom right of your screen) who runs toward the action only to discover that the only other people running toward the flashmob are in on it. Scared to death that she might have to dance as well, she quickly retreats.

Bonus Video: (prison tribute inspired by Bounce)

3. T-Mobile Dance - Liverpool Street Station

Much deliberation went into whether or not T-Mobile's flashmob ad campaign could qualify for the Top 3 Flashmobs list. According to Wikipedia, publicity stunts are not generally considered flashmobs. Screw Wikipedia, this video is an absolute classic. Yes, T-Mobile's motives were not as noble as Bounce's or Improv Everywhere's, but the message and execution completely fell within the spirit of what flashmobs try to achieve. Of the 22,000,000 views, we imagine the only people who did not enjoy it were those stranded at Liverpool Street Station.

Best Bit: We have watched this video ten times, and still can't figure out whether the two old ladies at 1:28 were part of the mob or not.

Bonus Video: (Sound of Music flashmob promoting a new reality show)