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Photo: REUTER
AP:
The No Pants Subway Ride amused and bemused New Yorkers for the sixth time in as many years at the weekend.
Organised by the comedy group Improv Everywhere, the event is intended to make people laugh and have an interesting New York experience.
When asked, participants are not supposed to reveal the purpose. Instead, they are asked to respond with something such as: “I forgot my pants today.”
Not that everyone gets the joke. During last year’s No Pants ride, a police officer stopped a train at 59th Street, ordered all the passengers off, and handcuffed eight of the pranksters on the platform.
A judge later threw out the disorderly conduct charges, noting that it was not illegal to wear underwear in public.
Improv Everywhere’s founder, Charlie Todd, says the event starts slowly, with one person boarding the train in boxers and briefs.
“It’s subtle at first, and it’s hard for people to explain what could possibly be happening,” he said. “By the end of the ride, when there’s 20, 30, 40 people in their underwear, it becomes something that’s obviously meant to be funny.”
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February 29th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Love it. Only in New York. The faces in the photo are totally nonchalant. What a brilliant city New York is.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
The look of detached resignation on the woman is wonderful. In NYC’s routine unreality, the entire scene is TOO true-to-life to have been actually staged. Here, that thin line between the credible and incredible is often crossed with barely a notice and hardly a whimper. Thanks, Suzann.