The “real feel” may be in the single digits in Massachusetts, but that is of no concern to Boston’s brazen improv comedy crowd.
Thousands of brave Bostonians turned out Sunday for the 17th annual No Pants Subway Ride, a global event organized by the comedy group Improv Everywhere. In Boston, the spectacle is organized by BostonSOS (or Boston Society of Shenanigans). This year, the local event was expected to attract hundreds of half-naked subway riders to the MBTA transit system. Thousands more participated in the event in 60 cities around the world, according to organizers, with 4,000 anticipated in New York City.
The only requirements for participants were: a willingness to go pantless on the subway and an ability to keep a straight face while doing it.
On the event’s website, Improv Everywhere organizers instructed participants to “sit in the car as you normally would. Read a magazine or whatever you would normally do… As soon as the doors shut at the stop before yours, stand up and take your pants off and put them in your backpack. If you’d like to use a briefcase, purse, grocery bag or whatever, instead of a backpack, that’s fine too. If anyone asks you why you’ve removed your pants, tell them that they were ‘getting uncomfortable’ (or something along those lines).”
The event kicked off around 2 p.m. in Pemberton Square. The photos pretty much speak for themselves.
