It's back!
As part of Improv Everywhere's "Ninth Annual No Pants! Subway Ride," this Sunday will be the second annual "No Pants AZ Light Rail Ride."
Not familiar with the event? No problem -- the concept is simple. First, you get on the light rail, then you drop trou, and finally, you sit there and act normal as everyone else on the train tries to figure out what the fuck is wrong with you. If done properly the other passengers should feel like they're in some humorous episode of the Twilight Zone.
Organizers of the event say all you need to do is "act normal -- stay with your group. Sit in the car like you normally would. If questioned, tell folks you 'forgot to wear pant and yes you are a little cold.' Insist that it is a coincidence that others also forgot their pants. Be nice friendly and normal."
The event is part of a national movement that has been going on in other cities with a mass-transit rail system, like New York, Boston, and Buenos Aires, for nearly a decade. The antics have left strap-hangers aghast each and every time. Check out a video here.
The Phoenix event is being hyped by social media superstar Jeff Moriarty, who was the subject of a New Times feature titled Home Tweet Home.
Moriarti uses social media to organize jaw-dropping events all around town, including an "Epic Superhero Battle" that played out at Scottsdale's posh Fashion Square. He hopes to use the events to create a new identity for the Valley -- an identity he feels is currently absent.
"Phoenix has a reputation," Moriarty tells New Times during an August interview. "Joe Arpaio. Dry heat. That kind of junk. It's not a personality, and I think it's because so many people come here from somewhere else."
Agreed. A pants-free mass-transit system is a much classier reputation to have than being the city that allowed Joe Arpaio's crusade against the First Amendment and Mexican immigrants to go on for for so long.
The pantless action begins at 2 p.m. Sunday. For more information, click here.
