For our latest mission, we staged an elaborate time travel prank on a New York City subway car with four sets of identical twins. A man enters a subway car and announces he is raising money to complete his time machine. At the next stop, his future self enters to try to talk him out of it. More and more time travelers convene on the subway car as the train rolls along, surprising the random commuters caught up in the middle. 
 
 Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos. 
 
 This project is our third with identical twins. In 2008 we put 15 pairs of identical twins on a subway car sitting across from each other, dressed identically. In 2013 we used two pairs of twins for a Back to the Future-themed prank. This project was a bit of a mix of the two. 
 
 We started off the day at Deverge’s studio rehearsing in a mock subway car. Most of the twins had some experience acting, but not all of them. I don’t think any of them had experience acting on a live subway car. As this would be an unauthorized performance, I had to prepare them to be ready for anything. We went over the script outline and the choreography of which stop each performer would enter, where they would sit, etc. 
 
 Agent Dave Rosenberg was the first to enter, as the panhandling time machine inventor. He got the car’s attention with his pitch, “Ladies and gentlemen, I am sorry to bother you, but I’m here today raising money for my time machine. Traditional funding methods have not worked. My Kickstarter failed. Any money you could can give will help.” 
 
 Almost immediately a man gave him $5. I guess he thought it was a funny pitch? Sadly this guy left at the next stop, so he never got to see what happened. 
 
 At the next stop, Agent Jeff Rosenberg entered and gets the car’s attention, “Wait! Stop! Ladies and gentlemen, please do not give this man any money! Do not let him finish his time machine! Our life turns out to be terrible once you start time traveling!” He approaches his brother and grabs him, “Look at me! I’m you, from the future! You have to believe me.” 
 
 Unlike our Human Mirror project, we didn’t have the twins dress identically. Instead, we had them dress in a similar style and gave them each one specific identical props. Dave wore a brand new Mets cap while Jeff wore the same cap, which was made to look older and dirtier. Jeff also happened to have longer hair and a beard, and we told him to keep the look, as it also implies time passing. 
 
 A couple on the train laughed and tried to give Dave money as Jeff pleaded with them not too. 
 
 Then the doors opened at the next stop theversions of the couple boarded the train. They plead with themselves, “Wait, do NOT give this man money! Our lives are a disaster in the future! Time travel ruins our entire lives!” 
 
 Another guy on the train is laughing hysterically at the scene, and speaks up, “This is hilarious. They’re twins!” 
 
 At the next stop that guy’s future self enters and rushes to find him, “They aren’t twins! It’s real! This is not a prank. Do not give this man money!” The appearance of the fourth twin got the biggest reaction, as passengers were paying close attention to what was going by that point. Everyone was laughing and smiling at the absurdity. 
 
 Eventually the original panhandler is convinced that time travel is not a good idea. “You know what, you guys have convinced me. I WON’T build the time machine after all.” Everyone involved, and a few subway passengers, burst into applause. The future twins then stood around awkwardly trying to figure out what was going to happen to them. “Wait, shouldn’t we disappear if he’s not going to build it?” 
 
 We staged the scene five times total, all on the N train. We took a break in between each staging so the crowd on the car would turn over. The audience for this one was particularly small. Unlike other subway pranks that might get an entire car involved, this one was hyper-focused on the people who happened to be sitting and standing around our playing space. In most performances, it felt like a surprise for just ten people. I love creating something so ridiculously elaborate (four pairs of twins, perfectly timed staggered entrances on the train) for the benefit of so few people. Though with our video, we hope many more around the world will enjoy it. 
 
 Mission Accomplished 
 
 OTHER RESOURCES: 
 
 Production photos from photographer Arin Sang-urai: Mission Photos 
 
 The twins involved with this project were all recruited via our email list. Join our list to be a part of future Improv Everywhere projects. 
 
 Our previous twin projects: ||||| Published on Mar 16, 2016 
 
 An elaborate time travel prank on a New York City subway car with four sets of identical twins! 
 
 Full Story: http://improveverywhere.com/2016/03/1... SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/iesub 
 
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 For our latest mission, we staged an elaborate time travel prank on a New York City subway car with four sets of identical twins. A man enters a subway car and announces he is raising money to complete his time machine. At the next stop, his future self enters to try to talk him out of it. More and more time travelers convene on the subway car as the train rolls along, surprising the random commuters caught up in the middle. 
 
 
 
 Created and Directed by: Charlie Todd 
 
 Executive Producers: Charlie Todd, Andrew Soltys, Alan Aisenberg, Juan Cocuy, Justin Ayers 
 
 Produced by: Andrew Soltys 
 
 Co-Producer: Aleks Arcabascio 
 
 Director of Photography: Justin Ayers 
 
 Hidden Camera: Kraig Adams 
 
 Camera Operators: Justin Ayers, Christian Mortensen, Keith Haskel 
 
 Still Photography: Arin Sang-urai (photo credit for all photos on this page) 
 
 Production Assistant: Tyler Orr 
 
 Editor: Matt Braunsdorf 
 
 DIT: Brian Morrissey 
 
 Music: Tyler Walker 
 
 Starring: David Rosenberg & Jeff Rosenberg (inventor), Gwen Petry & Emily Petry (couple), Paul Herbig & Michael Herbig (couple), Michael Hughes and Matthew Hughes (final guy) 
 
 
 
 Thanks to Tentacle Sync for providing a simple and elegant syncing solution. Their new standalone software will be available soon at: http://tentaclesync.com/ 
 
 
 
 Listen to David and Jeff Rosenberg's Twinnovation podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/t... 
 
 
 
 This is one of over 100 different missions Improv Everywhere has executed over the past ten years in New York City. Others include Frozen Grand Central, the Food Court Musical, and the famous No Pants Subway Ride, to name a few. Visit our website to see tons of photos and video of all of our work, including behind the scenes information on how this video was made. 
 
 
 
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– If a man on the New York City subway started asking riders for money to fund the time machine he was building, you'd probably assume he was a panhandler with a particularly novel method of asking for money. But what that man's future self got on at the next stop and begged riders not to give any money, because if they do, the time machine will indeed get built and ruin all of our lives? That's the pretty neat trick Improv Everywhere pulled off on the subway, using, of course, a set of identical twins to play Current Guy and Future Guy. Three more sets of identical twins also got in on the action at other stops, playing current and future versions of other riders on the subway car. Improv Everywhere staged the scene five times, and unlike some of its past pranks, each performance felt intimate. It "was hyper-focused on the people who happened to be sitting and standing around our playing space," the group's blog post explains. "In most performances, it felt like a surprise for just ten people. I love creating something so ridiculously elaborate (four pairs of twins, perfectly timed staggered entrances on the train) for the benefit of so few people." Of course, the video can now be enjoyed by many more people. Did the time machine builder actually get any money from unsuspecting strangers? Yes, at least $5, the blog post notes, and the giver got off before seeing how the prank played out.