Hyde, a member of the Massachusetts comedy team Million Dollar Extreme, then began to lay out a number of ideas that would have sent any rational person sprinting for the exits, but he managed to hang on to a majority of his listeners-some of whom seem in on the joke. The worlds,” he stuttered, affecting the casual-yet-unprepared attitude that carries him through the nearly 20-minute speech (going well over his limit, of course). “That pat on the back is for saving the worlds. “Give yourselves a pat on the back,” he told the audience after being introduced as a journalist just back from Mogadishu and deliberately eating up time with heavy breathing, then asking for his clock to be reset. I don't want it to sound too sanctimonious, but I think really self-congratulatory.'īut tell us what you think.According to the TED organization, the TEDx program “is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.” But attendees at Drexel University’s third annual TEDx symposium were treated to an experience that squared a bit too well with the TED ethos.Ĭomedian Sam Hyde, dressed in what looked to be a cheap Halloween costume, took the stage to subtly attack the smug, self-congratulatory air of such lectures-under the guise of complete and oblivious earnestness. Regardless of its effectiveness, people on YouTube enjoyed it, posting comments like 'he is the next Nostradamus' and 'Brilliant Speech!' As for Hyde's reason for doing it? He told Philadelphia magazine, 'I don't think TED talks are cool. This might lead people to believe that the people running the show at Drexel were in on the joke, although a chat posted by Hyde t o Pastebin proves otherwise. One facet of the prank that didn't quite go along with Hyde's intent was that a presentation lampooning TED talks in general wouldn't necessarily be poorly received by its organizers. Hyde haphazardly jumped from topic to topic - some of it was funny, and some, from the dead silence in the audience, was plain cringe-worthy.

Little did organizers know, the 16-minute speech was a satirical take on the 'big ideas' speech given by many TED speakers. Comedian Sam Hyde, of the group Million Dollar Extreme, was able to fool organizers of the TEDx event at Drexel University into thinking he was a journalist who had just returned from Mogadishu, and they let him conclude the conference with his piece 'The 2070 Paradigm Shift.' In what may be a first, in Philadelphia this past weekend, a TEDx event was pranked. The popularity of the conferences led to a spinoff, TEDx, whereby communities can hold independent events with speakers of their choosing.

The conferences are also criticized by some who say they are all talk, no action. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conferences are renowned the world over for giving people with big ideas a platform by which to spread them.

2070 paradigm shift