Improv Everywhere Declares No Pants, No Problem

NEW YORK– On Sunday, Jan. 8, more than 4,000 New Yorkers dropped their pants. A collaborative effort by flash-mob group Improv Everywhere, the No Pants Subway Ride celebrated its 11th annual occurrence in Manhattan.

The concept started out as a small inside joke between seven men, and has since then mushroomed into an international phenomenon - with riders in 59 cities across 27 countries in the world.

The idea of the event is self-expository. In the middle of cold winter weather, random passengers enter a subway car at different stops. At an assigned stop, each passenger will remove their pants, and behave as if nothing has changed. They then exit the subway, and board the next train on the line.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Forest Erwin (’15). “I’m insanely self-conscious, but I was honestly worried more about the cold than the people watching, except possibly the small children.”

This year, the NYC event was spread out over six meeting points in Manhattan and Brooklyn, with all the groups converging at Union Square.

Improv Everywhere has used YouTube and Facebook to get the word out on each meeting. The gathering has grown exponentially since it started in 2002. Over 16,000 people RSVP’d globally on the event’s Facebook page this year.

“The purpose is to have fun and entertain people,” said Improv Everywhere Organizer Dan Becherano. “The goal of flash mobs is to show how we can get together without knowing each other and work as teams without really having seen each other ahead of time. The most important thing will be the victims - the reaction of people who aren't involved.”