Black Tie Beach 2011

This past Saturday, I participated in Improv Everywhere's Black Tie Beach 2011. They e-mailed us our location on Friday afternoon (Rockaway Beach, which I semi-suspected) and instructed us to wear our finest thrift-store formalwear and not to tell onlookers why were doing so. Mission: accepted!

Sarah and Gayle were my co-agents, and after a delicious bagel brunch, we headed down to Far Rockaway. As we walked to the beach, we were stopped by an elderly woman who was overwhelmed with how beautiful we looked (her words, but she was right!). She insisted on taking a picture of us, told us to have fun and to stay sober. It was 3:45 pm, but good advice nonetheless.

The beach was full of fancy folk and regular beach-goers and it was a gorgeous day. We played in the water, strolled romantically along the beach, ate watermelon, and acted elusive when people questioned our motives. "We just thought we'd get dressed up for the beach!" Sarah said. (She was much better at improvising than I was).

This is the second Improv Everywhere event that I've participated in, and I'm always so overjoyed by the diversity and friendliness in the participants. I saw whole families with little children, all dressed up in their party clothes, messing around in the water. The events really do generate a sense of playfulness and joy that is so important - to coin a Chinese phrase - "in our daily lives."

Below are some photos taken by a mixture of IE photographers and my dear friend Sarah. Bonsoir!