Wednesday, January 16, 2013

So, what do you think of the Annual No Pants Subway Ride?

The 12th Annual No Pants Subway Ride took place this past Sunday, as you may have noticed. If not, then here's the official recap...



The background:

The No Pants Subway Ride is an annual event staged by Improv Everywhere every January in New York City. The mission started as a small prank with seven guys and has grown into an international celebration of silliness, with dozens of cities around the world participating each year. The idea behind No Pants is simple: Random passengers board a subway car at separate stops in the middle of winter without pants. The participants do not behave as if they know each other, and they all wear winter coats, hats, scarves, and gloves. The only unusual thing is their lack of pants.

Some 4,000 people apparently took part here. I saw a few people walking on First Avenue in their underwear... and coats. I thought about taking photos, but it seemed like a lot of effort. And a little pervy. Then again, you're the one in your underwear walking on First Avenue.

Not sure what else transpired after the ride.



All too corny for my tastes. Still, certainly far, far away from SantaCon on the Apoplectic Rage Meter. Didn't know how you felt about it... New Jack Cornballs? Or, Hey, We're Just Having Fun. If You Don't Like Fun, Then Move to... Or maybe somewhere in between.

18 comments:

JM said...

This has what has supplanted five generations of cool. Bon appetit.

Brian Van said...

Well, this one's definitely NOT a bar crawl, considering that it's organized and takes place in facilities where no alcohol is served.

Why does everyone take extreme notice when someone does something like this? Isn't NYC a place where people are routinely seen in S&M getups? On one hand, there are a lot of people who say "That's corny, I'd never do that" and that's fine and very much to the character of NYC... but on the other hand, there are the ones who are intolerant and want anything and everything banned (except maybe brunch, although there are killjoys who want to ban that too), and that is definitely a threat to the soul of this city.

pinhead said...

Amateurs. Some of us never wear pants.

9:48am said...

Desperate and juvenile. This maybe fun back in Podunk Midwest.

Pub crawls and brunch representing the soul of the city? Please. East Village is must now truly be dead.

And from a commenter from last years No Pants kidults and adultlecscents crawl: beneath the thin veneer of mirth and bonhomie its not hard to see the emptiness/misery in these participants' eyes. It's a simulacrum of a good time.

Anonymous said...

They should call this the annual gonorrhea subway ride.

abrod said...

At least it's not rowdy - supposedly their instructions are to act normal on the subway, to try to weird people out. It's weird, but at least they're not yelling or trashing sidewalks etc.

That said, I try to avoid the subway on the day they do it...

Anonymous said...

Oppressively unfunny. A prank minus the surprise and the humor. Everyone has known about this for years so its become rote and routine at this point. It's the very opposite of "improv" isn't that? Maybe therein is the ironic humor? Sorry-- I'm in my mid-thirties, I'm out of touch with what passes for comedy these days.

Really just a "thing" for boring people to say they were a part of so they have something to talk about to make themselves seem interesting. Also I am a die-hard ass-man but something ain't right about seeing girls with their sweet butts hanging out on the filthy subway. I know there is safety in numbers and everything but that is one of the last places on earth a girl should be flashing her precious goods.

Also very depressing to see a number to parents bringing their very small children into this prank. Parents, small children don't have the capacity to understand hackneyed, convoluted "comedy" concepts. Now sure they could very well grow up to have an insipid, stunted sense of humor like you but why foist it upon them at such a young age? Please, let them have a chance at least at developing their own healthy sense of humor.

VH McKenzie said...

Some people should always wear pants.

THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N. said...

"LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'M NOT WEARING PANTS! POST ME ON INSTAGRAM. WHO CARES, IT'S ONLY NEW YORK! LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'M SO CREATIVE AND UNIQUE! POST ME ON TWITTER! AND MAKE SURE YOU SPELL MY NAME RIGHT, IT'S M-E-G-H-A-N! WOOO! LOOK AT MEEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Someone shoved her in front of a train!!!

...


LOOK AT HER! LOOK AT HER!

Anonymous said...

Corny all American fun, wish it would stay there.

Anonymous said...

@ 9.48am "back in podunk midwest" WTF??? Don't try deflecting what's happening here and NOT there!

ericfg said...

when it was a small group of friends doing something "new" it was still stupid but at least had an edge of creativity and messing with minds of the masses.

now it's just a commodified ritual that lacks any creativity but makes the participants think they are "cool"

santacon too was once interesting and creative, and we all know what's happened there

3:35pm said...

@ 2:46 PM Most of the participants and the originators of this are from Podunk Midwest, so don't deflect this here just because they did it here.

THE NOTORIOUS L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N. said...

I was in Nowhere one night and these three goofs come in and drop their long coats to reveal they're all wearing pajamas. People stared at them and they had the dumbest expressions on their faces, like 'Oh, I thought this would be fun but people are looking at us like we're assholes.' I don't understand this desperate need for attention. What is the point???

Anonymous said...

please take this and the drunk santas and depart

Anonymous said...

Even dumber than the Santacon mobile vomitorium.

As if the subways weren't already unhygienic enough. Let's call this the "Annual E-Coli Subway Ride".

- East Villager

Anonymous said...

Who cares....

randall said...

Really, it's all just context. I lived for a lot of years by the beach in San Diego where people walking around in almost next to nothing is pretty common and not remarkable. This isn't really event that edgy. Probably everyone riding the subway with NO PANTS is entirely comfortable wearing a bikini or a bathing suit at the beach.