One of my favourite tv shows as a kid was an Australian programme called The Magic Boomerang. In this show the main character, Tom Thumbleton (I kid you not), had a boomerang that, when thrown, had the power to freeze time and allow our hero to foil the plans of any sinister baddie: of whom there appeared to be many in that part of Australia! For some reason, it appealed to my childish brain that someone could chose to freeze the people around them.
In a brilliantly executed exercise, an improvisation group recently decided to plant 207 people in Grand Central Station in New York and get them to suddenly stay still and remain so for 5 minutes. The reactions of those not "in" on the exercise is fascinating, including one guy who decides to prod one of the "living statues" and the little bloke in the electric cart who is unable to move and calls for assistance.
A list (with links) of Improv Anywhere's other pranks is given here.
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