Imagine standing in line at South Station. The person at the back of the line suddenly falls to the ground, followed by the person in front of her, and then the person in front of him. Just like dominoes, almost 50 people fall to the ground and form a meandering row of disheveled bodies and luggage.
This human domino effect, which was performed March 29, is just one of the Boston Society of Spontaneity’s (BSOS) orchestrated stunts, which have been performed throughout the city.
BSOS, a self-described secret society in its second year, aims to break up the monotony and repetition of the every day by performing stunts “to save Boston from its sometimes too-serious self,” according to the group’s website, Bostonsos.org.
The website serves as a social network to connect its growing number of members and inform them of events before they happen, said founder and director James Cobalt. According to the website, BSOS currently has over 500 members.
Cobalt, a travel planner, said he goes to great lengths to plan the stunts and to ensure their safety and legality.
Despite the group’s spontaneous nature, BSOS events are carefully selected, Cobalt said. He also said the group avoids ideas that could pose a hazard or appear to have a political or religious motivation.
Past events include talking into banana “phones” in July inside the Boylston Street and CambridgeSide Galleria Apple stores, according to the website.
“We did convince one person that the bananas were really phones.” Cobalt said. “He wasn’t very bright. One girl started eating it and he was like, ‘Oh, so it’s not a real phone,’ and she was like, ‘no the technology is in the skin.’ He bought it.”
Cara Brooks, a graphic design teacher at Emerson College who participated in the stunt, said it was no problem.
“Oh please, it’s so easy,” Brooks said. “Just imagine you’re talking to your mother or something: ‘But Mom, but Mom, oh I know, I know, 10 hours of labor