The performance and reception of flash mobs: authenticity, YouTube, and the fantastic

This dissertation analyzes the performance methodology and reception of various flash mobs performed from 2003 to 2015. This twelve year history is separated into three periods. The first period consists of Bill Wasik’s initial flash mob performances, a series of eight events known as the Mob Project. These performances establish the three commonalities I use to define and identify flash mob performance- the anonymity between performer and spectator, the overloading of space, and the performance of incongruous action. The second period begins with the popularity of the T-Mobile flash mob commercial “Dance,” which introduced the use of a Protagonist and the “performer/spectator.” The third period is characterized by the use of flash mobs as advertisements by sponsoring organizations in order to achieve authentic alignment between themselves and their audience. All three periods are unified by a common potential reception on the part of the spectator- a reception that corresponds to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the Fantastic.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Theatre

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Gailey, Benjamin Joseph

Contributors dc:contributor

• Davis, Peter
• Davis, Peter A.
• Robinson, Valleri
• Mitchell, Tom
• Bishop, Mardia

• Flash mobs
• YouTube
• Fantastic
• Authenticity
• Theatre
• Performance Studies

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Benjamin Gailey

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/88276

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/88276