No Pants Day in New York (Improv Everywhere photo)

Robin Friedman, who has been behind metro parties, scavenger hunts, bubble battles and other fun free stuff in town, is putting together a Montreal event for Improv Everywhere’s famous Global No Pants Subway Ride next Saturday. New York-based Improv Everywhere has been performing this stunt every January since 2002, having its “agents” ride the subway with no pants on (in the middle of winter) and pretend that it’s perfectly normal.

Here’s the Facebook event. For the benefit of those not on Facebook, the details are as follows:

Meeting point is 3pm at Carré St. Louis (near the fountain). From there, agents will receive further instructions and be sent to nearby metro stations to prepare for the no-pants ride. Bring a backpack to hide your pants in, and don’t wear underwear that’s indecent or is designed to attract attention.

Full details are copy-pasted below.

For those of you worried about the legal implications, the STM’s rules do not require the wearing of pants, though they prohibit being barefoot, subject to a fine of $50-$500. So make sure to wear shoes or boots.

An important note: The event is contingent on at least 25 people participating and will be cancelled if it doesn’t get that amount. So make sure to indicate your presence if you plan on going (and bring your friends).

A similar event is also being planned for Toronto.

UPDATE (Jan. 6): “Someone should call the police or something. I would not want my children/nieces/nephews to have to be subjected to this.”

Full details

All are invited to participate in the 8th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride. The event will take place at 3:00 PM on Saturday, January 10. Everything you need to know is in this post. Please read it carefully!

REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION:

1) Willing to take pants off on subway
2) Able to keep a straight face about it

**THIS IS A PARTICIPATORY EVENT. DO NOT SHOW UP UNLESS YOU PLAN TO TAKE YOUR PANTS OFF.**

DETAILS

When: Saturday, January 10 at 3:00 PM, Sharp! (Over by around 5:30)
Where: Carre St Louis, on St Denis across from Sherbrooke Metro. Meet in front of the fountain on the side closest to st Denis
Bring: A backpack and metro fare (bus pass, ticket, etc)
DO NOT BRING: A camera (we’ll have photographers on hand)
Wear: Normal winter clothes (hat, gloves, etc)

Complete logistics below:

HOW IT WORKS

We will assemble in Carre St Louis at 3 PM. Please be on time. Feel free to be early.

When we’re organized, we will all head down to several nearby subway stations. Do not talk to others once you enter the subway system. No one knows each other. We will wait for a train to arrive on the uptown side of the tracks and all board our assigned cars (follow your team leader). We may let one train go before entering to make sure everyone is ready.

Sit in the car as you normally would. Read a magazine or whatever you would normally do. Your team leader will have already divided you into smaller groups, assigning your group a specific stop where you will depants. Sit near your group.

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. You are responsible for your own pants and they should be with you at all times. If anyone asks you why you’ve removed your pants, tell them that they were “getting uncomfortable” (or something along those lines.)

Exit the train at your assigned stop and stand on the platform, pantless. You will wait on the platform for the next train to arrive. Stay in the exact same place on the platform so you enter the next train in the same car as you exited the last train.

When you enter , act as you normally would. You do not know any of the other pantless riders. If questioned, tell folks that you “forgot to wear pants” and yes you are “a little cold.” Insist that it is a coincidence that others also forgot their pants. Be nice and friendly and normal.

We will exit the train at a predetermined stop and then repeat the mission back down to Berri UQAM

You can wear fun underwear if you like, but nothing that screams out, “I wore this because I’m doing a silly stunt.” Wear two pairs of underwear if it makes you feel more comfortable. Don’t wear a thong or anything else that might offend people. Our aim is to make people laugh, not piss them off.

If you haven’t already, please take a moment to read about previous No Pants! Subway Rides.

A few common sense rules

1) Please don’t wear thong or see-through underwear to this event. For the most part guys are pretty safe, but make sure whatever you’re wearing (no matter the gender) shows off nothing more than a typical bikini bottom.

2) If you are asked by Metro police to put your pants back on – do it immediately. Again, the indecency laws are subjective so if someone has a problem with what’s going on we need to be respectful of that. As long as everybody follows rule 1 though I doubt this will be a problem.

3) Bring a bag or a friend with a bag to shove your pants in. They should be accessible to you at all times in case of any of the above.

4) You must be 18 or older to participate. I don’t want any minors taking off their pants for legal reasons. My apologies to the younglings wanting to participate.

This is always a blast, and we look forward to seeing you there. You may bring along friends if you like, but make sure they get a chance to read all of these instructions.

See you on the 10th!

**PLEASE NOTE – WE’LL NEED AT LEAST 25 PARTICIPANTS TO MAKE THIS WORK. RZL WILL ABORT THE MISSION IF THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH PARTICIPANTS TO FULFILL THE MISSION