Flash Mob -Kendal Town Centre.

The first flash mobs were created in Manhattan in 2003, by Bill Wasik, senior editor of Harper’s Magazine.The first attempt was unsuccessful after the targeted retail store was tipped off about the plan for people to gather.Wasik avoided such problems during the first successful flash mob, which occurred on 17 June 2003 at Macy’s department store, by sending participants to preliminary staging areas—in four Manhattan bars—where they received further instructions about the ultimate event and location just before the event began.

More than 130 people converged upon the ninth floor rug department of the store, gathering around an expensive rug. Anyone approached by a sales assistant was advised to say that the gatherers lived together in a warehouse on the outskirts of New York, that they were shopping for a “love rug”, and that they made all their purchase decisions as a group.Subsequently, 200 people flooded the lobby and mezzanine of the Hyatt hotel in synchronized applause for about 15 seconds, and a shoe boutique in SoHo was invaded by participants pretending to be tourists on a bus trip.

Advertising the flash mob in Kendal was a very big deal for us as a production. Flash mobs can either look really precise or look really messy and people simply walk past. I witnessed a flash mob in Manchester and it was messy, quiet and the performers looked like they didn’t want to be there. Also when the flash on ended, we didn’t know what they were advertising or what it was for. If there were any thespians around they were trying to advertise the production of We Will Rock You.

Before we went in to the streets of Kendal, we had to rehearse out side. Rehearsing out side gave it a completely different dynamic. For starters the Music wasn’t as loud because it could travel. In addition to this Elliot and Bonnies voices were really quiet. Having a quality speaker for a flash mob is key. We also used microphones for Bonnie and Elliot so that we could hear there voices in the middle of crowds in town.

Never assume your flash mob or prank is legal. Always look up the applicable state and local laws. When in doubt, consult an attorney.
Be prepared for encounters with the police. Know what they can and can’t do and be ready to respectfully explain why what you’re doing is legal.
Make sure your participants know their dos and don’ts going into a flash mob

Before we went in to the streets of Kendal, we were given permission my the town hall and Costa coffee to use the space to preform and also to use their power source. When getting to the town, it was a very different environment as it felt like I was stood around doing nothing until I was cued. A good idea we could have had is putting cheap jumpers on and pretending we were passers by. Despite this we were wearing Addams Family Tshirts so the public knew the dates of the show. Standing around the outside of the performance space gave us time to interact with the audience and tell them about the show etc. Luckily we had more space than we thought we would have at the bird cage and Costa coffee. The extra space gave us advantage to be a larger spectacle. I believe for me, the one thing that let my performance down was my energy levels . Due to the intense heat, I constantly needed to keep hydrating my body as I felt myself becoming faint. However we are lucky the weather was like this and was a half term weekend as we had a variety of age groups and had at least 50 audience members each performance.

Professionalism was key yesterday as we were not only showing ourselves as a production, but a college. I believe we showed of the production well. I had some really good conversations with the public whilst handing out some flyers and everyone I gave a flyer to, they read it and were engaged with conversation.