No pants, no problem!

The fourth No Pants Light Rail Ride was last Sunday here in Phoenix as part of Improv Everywhere’s global No Pants Subway Ride, and it was a rockin’ great time. About 250 people hit the rail, taking the train into Tempe and then walking (or strutting) down to Robbie Fox’s for some mid-ride fun.

No matter how many  years this happens, people are always surprised to meet us on the train. Many riders were stunned, but recovered enough to get out their cell phones to snap pictures. One man commented that he “liked white butts”, which meant Sunday must have been like Christmas for him.

More than any previous year, we had people join in the fun spontaneously, with at least eight people dropping their pants and becoming part of the group without really knowing what was going on.

Perhaps the weirdest encounter was an older couple who happened to run into the No Pants Ride last year, then again this year. They were determined to find out what was going on, and when we finally explained it they found the whole idea fun and hysterical.

Most people who asked didn’t get an explanation for why the group wasn’t wearing pants. Some of the overheard excuses that were given for being panstless included the simple “I forgot my pants,” but ranged to the more creative “My girlfriend broke up with me and she shredded all my pants” and “Oh my god, I did it again. Sometimes I forget to wear pants.”

We had furry slippers, big wigs, colorful socks, tons of superhero underwear, and one spectacularly big, blue mohawk. We also saw the most pre-printed underwear of any ride yet, including “No Pictures Please”, “Stop Staring”, “I <3 Bacon”, “Esquire”, and “Cougar In Training.”

Apparently Fascinations sent out an email to their customers about us, so a big thanks to them. Maybe they’ll offer an Undie Discount next year – who knows?

No Pants Pictures, Videos, and Stories

Here is our video of the event, but there is a lot more to see…

Over four hundred No Pants pictures are up on Flickr. These are fantastic and you really should check some of them out. Use the tag “nopantsaz” if you add your own.

The Phoenix New Times had a no pants slideshow with The Good, The Bad, The Ugly, and the TMI.

The Arizona Republic also had a no pants slideshow, and we were covered in the Downtown Devil, the ASU State Press, and Arizona Foothills Magazine. All were pretty good about getting with the spirit of it this year, and most event removed their pants!

Channel 3 sent out a cameraman and we ended up on the evening news. We asked them not to disrupt the ride, and they were mostly good about that. They need smaller cameras.

Guitarsenals on YouTube recorded both a 2D ride video and, yes, a 3D No Pants ride video!

Don’t miss out…

If you want to join us next year, or for any of our other flash mobs, join our email notification list and we’ll let you know when something is coming up.

Cheers!

Another great day of pantsless fun achieved!

Approximately 150 people dropped their pants on January 9th across the Valley as part of Improv AZ’s 3rd Annual No Pants Light Rail Ride. The event was part of Improv Everywhere’s Global No Pants Subway Ride.

Our pantsless participants boarded the light rail more or less at 2pm at three stations around Phoenix. Passengers were confused and maybe a wee bit shocked, with many pulling out their cellphones to take pictures. New passengers entering the cars did double takes and tried to find the spot on the car furthest from the leg-showing throng. Some asked us what we were protesting.

Our group was a diverse lot. One woman was a mother whose sons did the No Pants Ride last year… and this year she wanted to join in. Two people wore awesome animal hats complete with paws. This also seemed to be the year to wear argyle socks and to have verbiage on your undies. We had “Cheers,” “Follow Me,” and “I’m blogging this” to list a few.

This was also the chilliest No Pants Ride in Arizona to date. The high for the day was 61 degrees,which was too cold for some thin-blooded (e.g. wimpy) Arizonans and they backed out at the last minute. Others coped by layering tights underneath their underwear. One guy rolled in with underwear that had full legs – almost like girls’ leggings. It was a fashion extravaganza!

All the riders exited on Mill Avenue in Tempe and walked three blocks to the great pub Robbie Fox’s Public House. When a street musician saw our pantsless parade walking down the street, he removed his trousers and continued to play. Lots of cars honked and pulled over to take pictures, and the Auburn and Oregon fans in town for the BCS championship game were quite baffled.

We hung around for about an hour drinking and having fun, then took a great group picture and headed back to our trains, our cars, and our pants.

Check out all the pictures from the No Pants ride on Flickr, and there is a No Pants slideshow on the Phoenix New Times site.  Here is the first video, but we hope to have another one soon.

A big thank you to everyone who participated in the No Pants Light Rail ride this year, and much love our photographers Devon Christopher Adams, Joe Abbruscato, and Michael Ging – and videographers Bob Marquis and Lorin Thwaits.

Related articles

• Friday Fun: No Pants Subway Ride (thecityfix.com)
• Light rail riders: No pants? No problem (seattlepi.com)
• Improv Everywhere No Pants Subway Ride 2011: Big Photo Gallery (dubiously SFW) (boingboing.net)