The piano crasher

There is this hilarious site my husband Howard stumbled upon called www.pianocrasher.com. This guy from Kazakhstan, I think it is, he performs what he calls "acoustic graffiti." Which means, music where it is not permitted.

It is nicer than the visual graffiti in that no one's property is damaged.

And it is just such a kick.

What this guy -- his name is Oleg Lapidus -- does is, he finds an unguarded piano somewhere -- in a highbrow restaurant, say, or a hotel lobby. And he launches competently into an impromptu performance of a loud, showy, demanding piece by Chopin or Rachmaninoff. Impromptu, get it? And here I thought I would be foggy because of giving up coffee for Lent.

Inevitably a security guard or bureaucrat approaches and makes Oleg stop. He puts up no fight. That is part of the fun. He shrugs and obeys. Then he turns to his friend with the video camera and shrugs again as if, what can you do?

This is a piano crash in the lobby of London's Royal Festival Hall.

The site has a bundle of other performances.

Googling around I see that Oleg Lapidus also has a serious site where he offers music lessons. "Oleg Lapidus is a well-established London music teacher."

But his alter ego as the Piano Crasher is what I really love.

On YouTube you get these comments here and there: "Well, the guard had a point. He could have damaged the piano and they cannot afford to take that risk, blah blah blah..."

Hahahahahaha!

Too funny.