Giant Switch Turns on the Lights in the Park and the People Inside!

Just in time for Christmas, Improv Everywhere, together with target, set up thousands of Christmas lights in New York City’s Father Demo Square. A giant switch, 7 foot tall, was placed at the entrance of the square. This switch would “control” the lights but the crew were the ones who actually turned on the lights depending on the actions of the random New Yorker holding the button.

A number of volunteers were also wrapped in Christmas lights, with the performers instructed to turn on their lights and freeze in place once someone turns on the lights.

The park was kept dark save for the usual lamps but when someone turns on the switch, the magic begins.

At first, people were puzzled by the giant red switch, wondering why it was there in the first place. After all, it was out-of-place in the lovely park setting. But when curiosity takes over, these puzzled people were soon treated to a wonderful surprise!

Every 10 minutes or so, the crew covers the switch with tarp, then, uncovers it to allow new people to enjoy the awesome Christmas surprise. This is truly lovely!

Check out the video here and watch out for the kids who turned this into a magical moment as they repeatedly switched the lights on and off:

Christmas Lights

Since the early 20th century, it has been customary to set up electric Christmas lights in the weeks leading to Christmas Day – but did you know that Christian homes in early modern Germany used candles to decorate their Christmas tree in the past?

That’s because there was still no electricity at the time and when it was already discovered, it took decades before someone had the brilliant idea to create the strings of lights to place in Christmas trees and other spots to decorate for the holiday season.

Today, Christmas lights can be controlled by computers and could even “dance” in time with musical scores, as programmed by the creator.

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