We've all had the dream that we're standing in our underwear in front of a group of people. Well, what if everyone on your subway train was in their underwear ... except you? Such is the annual prankster's pilgrimage known as No Pants Day.
ZUG attended the No Pants Ride in Boston, where hundreds of pranksters congregated at the Alewife MBTA station, organized by the non-profit Boston Society of Spontaneity (following the lead of New York-based Improv Everywhere, which has been doing the No Pants Ride since 2002).
The event was well-organized, with team leaders dividing everyone into small groups that would get off at various stations, remove their pants, then board the next train -- creating the illusion that the entire city had decided to go sans pants.
Participants were instructed to play it straight: there's no nudge-nudge-wink-wink, I'm not wearing pants. The idea was to do whatever you would normally do on the subway -- some chatted with their friends, some read books, others listened to iPods.
This guy did Sudoku.
This dapper gentleman brought an umbrella, a classy touch.
Wacky headgear abounded.
Watching the reactions of people on the subway was the best part of the prank. Most were amused, though many were confused. The minority who had all their clothes on looked at each other repeatedly, making confused expressions and shrugging a lot.
Typical reaction of person wearing pants.
"Excuse me, but what's going on here?" one middle-aged woman asked a pantsless rider.
"What's going on with what?" the man responded, looking up from his book.
"Why are you in your underwear?"
"Laundry day," he said, completely deadpan.
"No, but I mean -- why is everyone else in their underwear? Is there a protest or something?"
"I don't know," he said, turning back to his book. "Coincidence, I guess."
This guy wore boxers with a map of the Boston subway, which would be helpful if he got lost.
The group transferred to the MBTA Orange Line, where they rode a few stops before getting off, a huge pantsless mob. It was incredibly funny to see all these people in their underwear, with no pants, waiting for the next train back into Boston, which took an interminably long time.
As the pantsless riders stood around in the frigid subway station, the station manager even got in on the prank, announcing over the loudspeaker: "THERE ARE NO MORE TRAINS RUNNING TODAY. YOU'RE ALL GOING TO HAVE TO WALK HOME!"
Boston police officer asks, "Wot's all this, then?"
Even the police seemed amused. The event has received the official blessing of the MBTA Transit Police, who now call BostonSOS each year when it's time to plan the No Pants Ride, to be sure there are public safety officials on hand.
Most delighted by the stunt, however, were children. Their eyes as wide as dinner plates, they would look around with a look of both disbelief and pure joy, as if finding out that Santa Claus was moving into the family's guest bedroom.
BostonSOS regularly organizes urban pranking events, such as creating a long chain of human dominoes, or organizing a protest against protesting.
The event organizer (with pants)
The group was founded by James Cobalt, a Web designer and marketer by day, who has since turned the group into a non-profit organization that plans to eventually donate funds to charity for each prank that participants attend.
Given the worldwide turnout on this year's No Pants Day, the group's first cause might very well be "End Worldwide Pantslessness."
Want to read more about No Pants Day 2010? Visit Improv Everywhere for official event coverage.
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