Amidst the bustling Metro crowds of professionals in Brooks Brothers and tourists in D.C. shirts, hundreds of people decided to go pantsless today.
Capitol Improv sponsored the event in D.C., but the original idea came from Improv Everywhere, a New York City group that plays pranks in public places, who stages an annual No Pants Subway Ride Day every January. The idea is that participants board the train wearing all their normal winter apparel — except pants. If anyone asks about the conspicuous lack of pants, participants say they forgot them.
“6,000 of us forgot our pants today,” said first-time participant Mame, who preferred to withhold her last name. “Why not take part? It’s living, it’s fun. This is called civilized streaking.”
Junior Renee Carrizo decided to go on a whim, after receiving an email about the event.
“I did it because I knew it was going to be a lot of fun, and it was,” Carrizo said. “It was worth all the walking and standing on the train.”
The prank started with just seven New Yorkers in 2001, but last year, 3,500 people in New York and thousands more in 48 other cities across the globe went pantsless.
The event spread, in part, through the videos promoting the No Pants Subway Ride on Improv Everywhere’s website.
“I’ve been watching ImprovEverywhere.com for forever,” said D.C. resident Matt, who withheld his last name. “I finally wanted to get out here and experience one of these deals.”
No Pants Subway Ride Day was a great experience, in part because of the interesting people who participated, Carrizo said.
“I met funny people, people who don’t care about anything, people who love taking off their pants and just nice down-to-earth people,” Carrizo said. “I would definitely do it again.”
Participants should keep their underwear PG-13 or safer, event organizers reminded on the event’s Facebook page. Though participants have to maintain a certain level of decency, the shock of seeing men dressed in suit jackets sans pants or women with only sweaters on resonated throughout the metro station.
“I thought it was weird at first because I only saw one guy in white underwear,” junior Caroline Crawford said. “But once I realized what was going on, I thought it was pretty funny.”
Temple University sophomore James Fantom and B-CC graduate Michael Go (‘10) also participated in the event for the first time this year.
“It’s great,” said Fantom, clad in a gray jacket and crimson boxers. “You can take off your pants in public today, and no one will care.”
