Approximately 200 people gathered to celebrate three hours of pantslessness Sunday.
In an effort to get a few laughs on a bitter winter’s day, people from the Chicago metro area, including a handful of Northwestern students and staff, rode the El from the Loyola to Roosevelt stops sans pants.
The 9th Annual No Pants Subway Ride was inspired by Improv Everywhere, a New York-based comedy group devoted to causing “scenes of chaos and joy in public places.” The first No Pants Subway Ride happened in New York City in 2002.
Though Improv Everywhere only has a New York branch and does not sanction events in other cities, unaffiliated individuals have coordinated an annual half-naked subway ride in Chicago since 2002.
Lisa Currie, director of Health Promotion and Wellness at NU, heard about the New York event when she lived on the East Coast but was never able to participate. When she heard the idea had come to Chicago, she was happy to hop on, she said.
“I just think it’s funny, to be honest,” Currie said. “It’s such an unexpected thing for people to see, especially on a cold winter’s day. It’s a way to have some good, clean fun, meet new people and have a laugh.”
Participants met at the Loyola stop at noon to board the Red Line. The group split into small teams, and each was assigned a stop at which to “de-pant,” making it seem like more and more people were pantsless as the ride went on.
“I was in the first group to de-pant, and I was a little nervous, but I plowed through it,” Currie said. “It’s an odd sensation at first, but after a while it feels quite normal. As people were getting on the train, I found myself looking to see if they had pants on, and if they did I was disappointed.”
Teams were told to act normally and casually and not to acknowledge the other pantsless people around them. When Medill sophomore Zach Wichter rode the El with four pantsless friends, a stranger asked him why he wasn’t wearing pants. Wichter casually answered that he “forgot” his pants, causing the stranger to walk away confused.
Wichter, who participated in last year’s Chicago event, said he wore his favorite and most comfortable underwear: yellow boxer briefs with blue horizontal stripes.
“I just think it’s a lot of fun to be pantsless in public,” he said. “It’s not something you get to do every day.”
The group rode the Red Line all the way to the Roosevelt stop, at which point all who had shed their pants exited the train.
After some singing and camaraderie at the station, the group returned to the Loyola stop, where they were treated to a pants-free and cost-reduced meal at Five Guys.
“It’s my favorite day of the year, and I can’t wait to do it again,” Wichter said. “Next year we’re hoping that Morty will join us.”
