The Portland Freeze 2009
May 28th, 2009 by Reid
Join our facebook group entitled, “Portland Improv.” Here you can watch previous experiment videos, and get the most current updates of future experiments.
Portland Improv is a collective mainly comprised of college students who like to provoke joy and create scenes in public places. “Winter Warm Up” was Portland Improv’s seventh event in Portland, the most famous of which being the Portland Freeze. The group coordinated over 1,500 participants and had them all strike a pose and hold it for 5 minutes within the Pioneer Courthouse Square to literally freeze time. Recently, the Portland Freeze became an annual event and was replicated again alongside the Portland Rose Festival inside their Waterfront Village with even greater surprise and mayhem among bystanders (1,000 participants).
If you recently attended the Portland Freeze 2009, please leave us a comment on this post and tell us about your experience! Thank you all so much for coming out, we couldn’t have done this without you! If you have video footage from the event, send us a link at videos@pdximprov.com. If you have photos from the event, send us the files or a link at photos@pdximprov.com. Keep an eye out for the official video in a few weeks, as well as another big event later this summer!
first freeze and it was awesome, just wish you guys told me to bring money for the festival : P
thanks for letting me participate
HEy guys! We totally had an awesome time at the Freeze. Waterfront Village was a great place for it. We did “Rock, Paper, Scissors” for our pose. : ) While we were standing there some guy handed one of us a mango slushie sample. It was good. Thanks for an awesome time!
Love
Shelby, Sam, and Claire
I attended, it was very fun!
I went to the portland freeze today, and it was lots of fun. We went to the waterfront rose festival. It was kind of funny to see everyone’s reactions to all the still people. One perseon actually started freaking out. it was hilarious. There were some cool poses.
I was a little disappointed with the execution. I felt like the coordinators drew too much attention before 7:07. First of all, they were gathered en masse and all wearing their PDX Improv t-shirts. Secondly, they were horsing around and mock-fighting long before our expected cue to freeze. And finally, they participated in the cheering/applause after the unfreeze despite the specific instructions to the contrary.
Even so, I think it was a success. We even made the 11 o’clock news!
I had such a great time. I felt it was very well organized and unlike the freeze at the pioneer square it was more unexpected since it was in an already crowded area. I had fun, it was pretty tough not laughing considering my friend and I posed as if I was about to attack her. I felt it was a success and I am stoked to see the official video. Sadly I missed seeing it on the news.
Today I was working at the Rose Festival & I will admit….it totally blew me away! I mean 5000 people did this! AMAZING!!! You guys rocked it!! I am definitely doing this again the next time it goes on!! I took tons of pixs too. I post them here!!
I just wanted to say that today was a special day for me. It was my birthday and my daughter made plans for all us to attend, and she said that she had a big surprise for me. It was so cool cuz she had the staff sing Happy Birthday to me. That was awesome. It was funny just standing still. It was very interesting seeing all of the people looking and watching us. All in all I had a great time!!! I will have to do this again. I must say that it really is true that it doesn’t matter how old you are you can still have alot of fun.
I participated and brought two of my friends who did not know what they were in for…what a great time. This was organized very well…though the stickers were a little distracting, still no one really knew it was going to happen. Though my view was limited to one direction, my friend told me that a girl was on her cell phone and walking past everyone frozen and it took her a minute to figure it out. All in all a great event and I am very excited to see the photos! Great job everyone!
that was the best time ive had in my entire life…ya i know thats kinda lame but it was! i brought 5 friends and we participated in 2 of the freezes that night. i was the one with the red wizard hat on (it was suposed to be the top of a ketchup bottle hat) and i think you guys should do the mp3 experiment cuz it looks sooooo fun!!!!!!!!! and the freeze was so funny! somebody put candy on my hat while i was frozen
i just wanted to say thank you for making this event possible cuz it was amazing 
when will you be posting the video of the freeze? and do you know where i could find pictures?
@ Lauren
So glad that you could make it Lauren! This was by far the best Freeze yet, in my opinion!
Not sure if you saw on the facebook group page, but there is a big possibilty that Improv Everywhere will do an Mp3 Experiment here in Portland (through Portland Improv) in the near future!
Regarding video and pictures, the official event video will be coming out in 2 to 3 weeks. We had 4 on-site photographers. Each of their albums (which they have uploaded onto facebook), will be re-posted on our Portland Improv facebook group page.
The freeze was really cool. I just froze without making any particular pose, but it was still a lot of fun to see people’s reactions. Why only once a year? I want to do it again and don’t want to wait that long!
Great job PDX Improv!
It has been an honour participating in this event with you guys
~Eugene Improv
@ Melanie L
While I would love to do this more than once a year, I don’t think it can be done too often because it needs to be more out of the normal If it is done too often I don’t think it will be as big of a deal or as cool of an event. Just my personal opion.
wow. i had such an amazing time, it was truly an experience i will never forget! (: i actually convinced my friend paige to do it with me, she was sooo glad she listened to me!! lol. i cant wait to do it again next year
ill be there for sure. and im stoked to see the video and pictures! itl be grand. so what is the link to your groups facebook?
Hey loved it…took a friend with me and now we can add improvisation to our resume, lol. I was the one with the flying monkey attached to the floss attached to his teeth, ha.
It was great to be able to be a part of such a creative project, whether it’s the freeze or any other mass art idea I think people need more of these opportunities just to get out of the rat race and remember how creative we can be, how good it feels to exercise that, and how great it makes everyone else feel as well.
I’m glad I decided to take part in this and I’m looking forward to participating in the future and/or volunteering to assist.
THE FREEZE WAS AWESOME!
p.s im one of laurens
one of laurens 5 friends (sorry i didnt finish the first message!)
i was wearing a blonde wig…
To see a video of the freeze go to youtube and search portland freeze meets d.b. cooper …:)
I had the awesome privilege of being a group leader this year which was awesome. The organization and planning that went into this year’s freeze was absolutely dizzying- yet flawless. Props to Reid, Josh, and the rest of the Core Team. My friend and I posed as a purse snatcher and victim- my arm was dying trying to hold that thing up for 7 minutes! But it was a total thrill and the crowd response was really neat. I had people taking pictures with me and a lady who kept putting popcorn in my mouth. Very unsanitary, slightly gross, and a little invasive! Haha but the freeze was awesome and people loved it. In a way it’s inspiring that in an often cynical and selfish age, people can still come together and have innocent fun and just simply be cheerful and silly together in public! Its totally makes you glad to be a person instead of a dung beetle or a bird or something, and proud to live in a society where things like this are allowed and enjoyed. Hooray for free expression!
Hi, very nice post. I have been wonder’n bout this issue,so thanks for posting
hey! (: i was just wondering when pictures and the video will be put up?
just a little note…. the opposite of freeze is thaw…. not UNFREEZE.