Picture this: you're riding on a subway train, when you notice a few passengers get on without wearing pants, in the dead of winter. They are otherwise dressed normally, with a coat, hat, and winter gloves, but pantsless.
Photo credit: Juan Zapata
You write it off as one of the many strange things you see on the subway, until the doors open at the next stop, and even more pantsless riders get on board. Now you're amused, and possibly aroused, depending on the body and underwear on display.
Photo credit: Juan Zapata
At the next stop, still more depantsed riders get on, until finally you summon the courage to ask one of them what's going on. "I just didn't feel like wearing pants today," the person might say, going back to the book he was reading.
Photo credit: Juan Zapata
Such was the experience of thousands of subway riders around the globe on Sunday, in the annual No Pants Ride. It started in 2002 as a small prank with seven participants, organized by Charlie Todd's Improv Everywhere, and has since grown to a global phenomenon that takes place across 16 countries from Australia to Argentina -- in short, everywhere there's a subway system, and pants.
Photo credit: Juan Zapata
The turnout this year in New York was record-breaking, with an estimated 3,000 pranksters in attendance, who were ready to take off their pants and act normal. The No Pants crowd has grown so large that they broke into groups across the city, converging on Union Square, which became a union of happy, pantsless pranksters.
Improv Everywhere founder Charlie Todd commands his mighty, pantsless army of pranksters. Photo credit: Kate Sokoler
Although previous No Pants events encountered run-ins with the police, the NYPD is now fully aware of the prank, since it has grown into a movement. As the prankster ranks have swelled, many New Yorkers are now aware of the stunt as well. "It's No Pants Day," one rider explained to another.
"Why? For what reason?" asked his companion.
"Do you really need a reason?"
And that, of course, is precisely the point of pantslessness: an opportunity to create a silly moment of fun for people who are not in on the joke. Spectators were both amused and confused, looking around at the dozens of pantsless riders who seemingly didn't know each other, and didn't even care that no one else was wearing pants.
Photo credit: Kate Sokoler
"Excuse me, but why are you in your underwear?" one woman asked a heavyset guy wearing a pair of Batman boxer shorts.
"They got itchy," he explained.
As the crowd has grown, so have the number of participants who don't quite understand the rules: some posed for photos, danced to imaginary music, or otherwise drew attention to themselves. But the majority kept to the spirit of the No Pants Ride, acting as if nothing was wrong, as if pants were always optional in the frigid New York winter months.
For those who missed the fun, be sure to sign up for Improv Everywhere's e-mail list, where you can get advance notice of next time it'll be okay to go out in your underwear. Although for the dedicated prankster, you don't really ever need an excuse.
(Thanks to Robert Zmuda for additional coverage -- no pun intended -- from New York. For complete footage of the No Pants Ride, visit Improv Everywhere.)
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