Once again, Improv in Toronto puts a smile on people’s faces as we participate in the world-wide cause, Gifts for Strangers. One of our favourite annual events, its purpose is as simple as the name suggests: to give gifts to complete strangers.

Our agents had a lot of fun selecting the gifts to be given and we spent an entire evening wrapping the presents and writing personal messages. Some of the gifts were small store-bought items while others were hand-made.

Even more fun was distributing the gifts to people who walked by, who had no idea what the event was or why they felt they deserved to receive a gift. If there’s anything to be learned, it’s that everyone deserves a gift just for being awesome!

Photos will be added shortly!

Gifts for Strangers, is a world-wide cause to spread kindness and goodwill around the world. We do this once a year by giving gifts to strangers.

One should never underestimate the power of kindness. It can create a smile or a laugh from thin air. It can change a person’s opinion or even their view on life. Like a flame, kindness can spread from one person to another. Changing the world, as if by storm. And like magic, it always manages to make its way back to you. Last year 23 cities around the world participated in Gifts for Strangers. This year we hope to improve that number, by spreading the movement to even more cities across the world.

A seemingly innocent bystander gets attacked by a zombie, he yells out for your help. Near him lies a pile of foam swords and Nerf guns. Do you take up the call and save your dying comrade? Or do you just keep walking?

We put this question to the test to see to would rise up to the risen dead. We placed a sign inviting any brave souls to choose a weapon with which to rescue the fallen victim from the zombie attack.

What the sign didn’t mention was that selecting a weapon would provoke an outbreak of an even more terrifying zombie attack. When zombies emerge from every direction, the rescuer is forced to slay the incoming horde using their selected weapon.

Who survived the outbreak? Who have fallen prey to the infection? Watch the video below to find out, then continue on to view more photos from the event.

(more…)

Brandish thy foam swords! Unsheathe thy fully-automatic Nerf machine guns! Try as we might, no amount of archaic language can bring elegance to the pandemonium that was the Foam Sword Battle of 2012.

Despite the name of the event, we welcomed foam weapons of all sorts, including Nerf guns. We encouraged participants to wear costumes and we were not disappointed by the number of people donning the garbs of fabled heroes and characters from video games, comic books, and the like. We employed a variety of game styles such as zombies and capture the flag to test the mettle of swordsmen and gunners alike.

Many fallen soldiers and well-deserved victories later, the battle had ended, but not without the new-found camaraderie among all those involved.

Photos to be posted shortly!

We are bringing back our viral hit Dare to Fight but with a twist. This time…zombies.

Check out last years event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0t71cexWzvM

When: Saturday, October 13th, 1:00pm
Where: Queen’s Park, at the Horseman statue
What to Bring: Dress like a zombie
RSVP: Facebook 

We will have a single zombie, standing out in the open walking around downtown Toronto. Nearby will be a sign which states “Choose Your Weapons”. Laid out before it are an assortment of foam weapons and nerf guns for people to choose from.

Passerbys see this all and have the option to pick out some weapons. Once they have chosen, they approach the zombie to fight it off. But just as suddenly, zombies begin appearing from around the corners of all the surrounding buildings. This person must now fight to survive, or perish.

For a couple months now, we have been waiting for the perfect rainy day. Running an event such of this is very difficult, because of the inconsistency of weather. More than once we planned the event, and then had to cancel due to lack of rain. But finally, our day came! Our team hit the streets outside Bathurst subway station, helping people get to and from the subway.

It was fun helping these people out, but also really amazing to be able to walk and get to know random people who took us up on our service. The Umbrella Taxi Service was a huge success!