Sunday, March 11, 2012

Things 12 & 13!

This adventure was a double whammy!

Thing 12: Be a part of a flash mob.

Flash mobs used to hold an entirely negative connotation.  The term “flash mob” was used to describe a quick escalating group of people who typically destroyed things.  Flash mobs did things like the riots that happened in California after the O.J. trial.  They were groups that were hard to control and did great damage as a result.

In 2003 that all changed.  It took many years after that to get up and running but I’d guess around 2005-2008 I had my first tastes of flash mobs that were created for entertainment value; the biggest of those being the acting group who randomly froze at 2:30PM in Grand Central Station.  I saw that video and fell in love with flash mobs; particularly the ones involving dance.

In 2009 a woman (Staci) and a man (Conroe) founded an organization called Flash Mob America.  Their first mission: A Michael Jackson Tribute to Beat It.  Sometime in 2010 I joined their mailing list.  At the end of last year, my friend, Mel, and I decided that 2012 would be our year to cross “be a part of a flash mob” off our Bucket Lists.

March 6, 2012 appeared on their website followed by Chicago, IL.  We were in.  We signed up and never looked back.

Flash Mob America is an incredibly detailed group; they leave nothing up to chance, and nothing up to blowing their cover.  Less than a week before show time we got our assignment info: as vague as possible, with instructions that our dance video (sent as a private link) would be emailed to us only days before the event.  And randomly, by awesome luck, my friend was chosen as the mascot!  Mascot for what?  We had no clue, but we were SO in!

The videos arrived and I spent that Saturday rehearsing and getting the first half down.  We had instructions to show up at a center for the arts in Chicago on Tuesday, the day of the mob, at 8am for dance rehearsal.  That is all that we knew.

Monday night, Mel got a call from the producer and found out that she was 1 inch too short to be the mascot.  Being the wonderful friend that she is, she handed my name over and thus a star was born!

8am brought us to the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in Chicago, IL.  Only something this exciting would be able to drag us out of bed and onto the road at 5:45AM!

For 3 hours we danced.  It was a dream come true.

And finally, as I hopped into my Oreo costume, we were given our location and the time (noon) that the business was goin’ down.  At noon we would be celebrating Oreo’s 100th Birthday party.  On Michigan Avenue.  IN DOWNTOWN CHICAGO!!!!!


It was the most unbelievable day that I have ever had.  Oh, and did I mention that my friend and I were hired to stay for 2 or 3 hours?  Yep, we’re getting paid, baby!  I don’t even care if it’s a dollar, I’m getting paid to dance and be the flippin’ Oreo Man – what is more fabulous than that?  Oh, AND I’m in like a gazillion pictures.  I felt like a celebrity.  The mob ended and everyone (dancer-wise) left, and then a swarm of hundreds of people and cameras surrounded me and my “Handler”, Mel.  It was hilarious.

(Mel, Me, and Mitzie, the Producer)
(this guy worked for oreo, but i like to refer to him as my boyfriend.)

Did I mention that being a cookie is hard work?  It was a sauna in that double stuff cookie.  Plus, I’ve never felt so molested in all of my life.  People are so weird.  And why are people drunk at noon?  I may never get that one.

(can't a cookie get a cab in this town without the paparazzi getting all up in my double stuff?)


WORTHY NOTE:  One of the organizers helped me get into the Oreo suit, in a crammed tent, moments before the mob.  She had these words of wisdom for me, and I quote, “If anyone gets too physical or starts molesting you, slap the sh#t out of them!”  I didn’t expect that one!  “Stay in character”, is more what I was thinking.  But nope, that was so not the case.  Best advise ever.
(Me and Mel)

Highlights:

      -          Being in a flash mob

-          Dancing in a REAL dance studio in a “big” city

-          Working with a for-real producer!

-          Being the Oreo cookie

-          Seeing the Marilyn Monroe statue in person.

-          Being on several News Broadcasts

      -          Getting paid for all of the above!

Bonus: 

Thing 13: Learn to Dougie. Record dance video.

One of our other “things” was to learn how to Dougie.  Yep –the Dougie was in the dance that we did!  Ha!  (See video in previous post)

5 comments:

BeeKay said...

Fantastic. If junior high school you had told junior high school me this story of you being the Oreo cookie in a massive choreographed event, I would have been like, "Of course."

Miss Taken said...

Right?

Tina said...

There are so many things that I like about this post, probably my favorite part would be that fact that you had a "handler" .... You are such an undercover agent. Ha!

Miss Taken said...

No comment. Well, okay, this technically *is* a comment. But my comment is: No comment.

Tina said...

Ok, handlers are not attorneys... you don't plead the 5th or whatever... They simply say, "I'll handle it." Ha! Yeah, that was lame.