Photo by Chad Nicholson ImprovEverywhere sent several agents to Best Buy dressed in khaki pants and blue shirts identical to the store's uniform. They were not to claim to work at Best Buy but be friendly and helpful if anyone had a question.

Growing up, Charlie Todd never dreamed the pranks his family, friends, and co- workers played on each other would become his life's work.

Todd lived in Columbia for the first 18 years of his life, graduating from Hammond School. He spent his summers as a teenager working with his father, Chuck Todd, in the family store, Todd and Moore Sports.

Todd's grandfather, the original Charlie Todd and the original family prankster, was born on April 1, living up to his April Fool's birthday.

Todd attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a drama major with plans to become a theater actor in New York. While at Chapel Hill, he had fun as a member of an improv theater troupe.

After receiving his degree, Todd moved to New York to pursue acting, theater being his goal. He says when he attended theater he noticed it always seemed to be older people at the shows. He wanted to do something geared more toward young people. Comedy seemed to be the obvious choice.

Charlie Todd, grandson of Charlie Todd and son of Chuck Todd of Todd & Moore, created Improv Everywhere

Todd's career as pro- fessional prankster came about by accident. Some of his friends told him he looked like the musician Ben Folds. So on a whim they decided to pull a prank where he would pose as the musician. A few hours later, "Ben Folds" and his buddies were having drinks "on the house" surrounded by women in a West Village bar.

As an actor, new to the city, he discovered he could create his own theater rather than waiting around for someone to give him stage time.

The internet was a big boost to Todd's prankster career; he was able to type up his pranks, take video and pictures, then upload them to the web. Improv Everywhere was born.

Improv Everywhere is, at its core, about having "organized fun." The company's missions are a source of entertainment for the participants, those who happen to see them live, and those who read the website improveverywhere. com. Todd and his "agents" are out to prove that a prank doesn't have to involve humiliation or embarrassment; it can simply be about making someone laugh, smile, or stop to notice the world around them. Victimless pranks are the goal.

"Sycronized Swimming" 16 synchronized swimmers in the 10- inch deep Washington Square Park fountain

Improv Everywhere has been in business since 2001 and has performed over 80 pranks, including 16 synchronized swimmers in the 10- inch deep Washington Square Park fountain, 60 cell phones ringing in symphony at a bookstore baggage check, a five- star restroom attendant at McDonald's, a subway car filled with identical twins creating a human mirror, a large group of agents dressed in khaki pants and blue polo shirts browsing in Best Buy, the infamous annual no pants subway ride, a book signing by a dead author, and over 200 agents freezing in place at the exact same second for five minutes in the Main Concourse of Grand Central Station.

"Look Up More" Agents dance in 68 windows seen from across Manhattan Park

Todd has been interviewed on "The Today Show," "ABC's Nightline," "This American Life" (both their radio and TV programs), and "VH1's 40 Greatest Pranks." He has been profiled by The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone, Spin Magazine, and countless international newspapers and magazines. He was named "One of the 10 funniest people you've never heard of " by New York Magazine.

Improv Everywhere's slogan "We Cause Scenes" has become the subject of a recently published book, Causing a Scene, by Charlie Todd and fellow prankster, Alex Scordelis. Todd also teaches improv at the UCB Theatre in New York and performs weekly with his improv team.

Todd and Improv Everywhere are "focused on creating comedy for comedy's sake and staging events that purposefully have no explicit reason behind them, other than the goal of spreading chaos and joy throughout the world."