Can you guess what the following have in common?

A stormtrooper cleaning a pool.

Five postal workers hula-hooping outside a Post Office.

A romantic three Michelin star dinner with a puppet.

If you didn't know already, these were just three of the items on a checklist 151 long for the Largest media scavenger hunt that took place late last year.

14,580 participants in 972 teams took part in the latest GISHWHES event, tasked with acting out scenes such as those above amongst other good deeds, and taking pictures/video to prove it.

But what's it all about, and who organises this brilliantly odd, record-breaking competition? We spoke to founder and film/TV actor, Misha Collins to find out more.

GWR: Tell us a little about GISHWHES: what's the idea behind it, how did it come about, and what do you aim to achieve with it?

MISHA: G.I.S.H.W.H.E.S. (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt The World Has Ever Seen) is a global scavenger hunt played by thousands of people in over 90 countries.

Each team is comprised of 15 people from all over the world. We post a list of items that people need to create or find and then photograph or film. I created GISHWHES for a few reasons.

The primary reason is that I loved the idea of thousands of people from all over the world connecting to create incredible things that would make people think twice about… well, everything.

I also realized it would be a great way to inspire people to do good in the world - which is in line with our non-profit - Random Acts.

Most importantly, I wanted to see what an eight-foot Tyrannosaurus rex made entirely out of sanitary napkins would look like. It's impressive!

GWR: How exactly does this relate to your charitable work, and Random Acts?

MISHA: Random Acts is an organization staffed and managed by wonderful volunteers that see the power in changing the world, one random act of kindness at a time.

By creating certain "kindness" items, GISHWHES has been a great global platform to further goals and help fund Random Acts all over the world.

A bedside puppet show performed for a young hospital patient





GWR: Who comes up with all the to-do items on the list? Is there any special reason why there are 151 of them? How do you decide how many points each should be worth?

MISHA: You mean who are the lucky lunatics? Just me and a couple of other deranged miscreants that are excited about undermining normalcy.

The number of items this year stopped at 151 because our brains stopped at that point.

The way we allot points is very scientific: it involves an 18th century dart board, and a sharpened, petrified piece of asparagus.

GWR: Do you have any particular favourite submissions received?

MISHA: It's too challenging to pick a favorite. It's like asking which is your favorite child if your children were made of jello, kale, skittles and cheese whiz. See what I mean?

That being said, I loved our "couples" item this year - people that have been together for over 60 years sharing their secrets to a lasting relationship. We put a bunch of them on a map - it's pretty moving.

I also liked our "pledges" item. We had almost 100,000 people pledge to do a Random Act of Kindness. I also liked the women posing on classic cars wearing nothing but cheese because, who wouldn't?

GWR: Were there any items on the list that no team submitted an entry for?

MISHA: Only one item was not achieved this year: covering a full-sized commercial blimp entirely with autumn leaves. But some tried… apparently it was a mass/float issue.

Pure physics is the only thing that can stop this crowd… and even that is surpassed sometimes - see last year's 6-foot floating decorated christmas tree on the news.

GWR: GISHWISHES 2011 set the first record in this category, and the 2012 event has broken your own record - is this something you hope to do every year? What else do you have in store for future events?

MISHA: This year we have also submitted to you a record for the most charitable pledges. We received almost 100,000 pledges to carry out acts of kindness!

And yes, we will try to break a new world record every year. Our plan is to make each one more challenging.

Ultimately i think it would be nice to wallpaper the entire interior of my home with Guinness World Record certificates.

GWR: What does it mean to you to hold a Guinness World Records title?

MISHA: Since childhood, when i used to pour over the Guinness World Records book, i've always wanted to grace it's pages.

I never imagined it would be for scavenging or charity, but i'm very happy that the dream has been realized, that I as able to achieve the it with the help thousands of other people by frolicking and making art. (I'm also very happy to have made a world record without having to pogo stick across country.)

GWR: What's your favourite world record, other than your own?

MISHA: The woman with the longest fingernails. Those long, curling fingernails. They boggle my mind.

GWR: You're well known as an actor on the TV series Supernatural, which has just been renewed for a 9th season - what else have you got lined up for the future?

MISHA: In the immediate future, we're about to release in festivals and online a very unique "educational" program I directed and starred in on America's Transportation Security Authority (TSA).

I might never be allowed to board a plane again.

I also have something I've been creating with some leading Swiss opheologists for the last six years that I'm considering releasing to the world.

I'm in discussions with the FDA right now on it.

GWR: Finally, for those who are yet to experience the event, why should people reading this sign up for and take part in GISHWISHES 2013 later this year?

MISHA: It will be the most incredible joyful, exciting, scary and liberating event you will ever partake in.

As a side benefit you'll lose most of your sanity. What's not to like?

Thank you to Misha Collins for answering our questions, and congratulations to team Badwolf, who won a trip to a haunted castle in Scotland for finishing top in GISHWHES 2012!

Still want to know more about GISHWHES?

Here are just 10 of the 151 items on the 2012 list:

Find an object that was manufactured the day and year you were born in the city or town of your birth. Prove it.

Take a picture of a person in a business suit with a leather briefcase jumping into a pile of leaves.

Get your team name and "GISHWHES" on a billboard. Must include commerical-looking graphics, and be on an actual commercial billboard at least 100 square feet in area.

Hug a uniformed veteran.

Take a picture of a man in a chicken suit in the pilot seat of a commercial jet.

Break your own world record.

Hand in coats you've collected from yourt home, friends, and neighbours to a local homeless shelter.

Jog wearing shoes made of real pumpkins, shorts, and headphones down a busy street.

Get an orchestra in a symphony hall with at least 25 instruments to perform "Carry On My Wayward Son".

A picture of you and your loved one kissing - but with at least 11 food items between your liups and those of your loved one.