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Jed Boal and Andrew Adams reporting Pranksters plan to pull off their pants Saturday for a bare-legged TRAX ride in downtown Salt Lake City.
Call it a craze, or just plain crazy; flash mobs, or impromptu assemblies for unusual expression, are a diversion with no real agenda. The group organizing the 7th Annual No Pants Subway Ride is called Improv Everywhere. It's actually a national practical joke, happening in 10 cities.
Participants in Utah will meet at the Triad Center across from the Arena Station at 3 p.m. Saturday. After they're on the train, some passengers will part with their pants on purpose, for the sake of performance art.
A handful of people called UTA Friday morning, upset about the planned spectacle. "We're not sponsoring it. We're not promoting it. We're not suggesting it by any means. But according to the people who are doing this, it doesn't look like they're going to be breaking any laws," explained UTA spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware.
Improv Everywhere's Web site says the national group regularly creates scenes of chaos and joy in public places. The local organizer says it's just for a laugh, and she hopes for a good turnout so she doesn't end up pants-less alone. "When people ask, you know, 'Why don't you have pants on? 'then I reply with something like, 'You know, I'm late for a meeting and I just forgot to wear my pants,'" Ashley Merrill said.
Videos on the site show a variety of gatherings from a cell phone symphony to redheads on their way to protest a Wendy's commercial, and "No Pants" rides from the past.
"I personally wouldn't participate, but it sounds funny," TRAX rider Julie Primanti said.
The Web site lists two requirements for the pants-less event: one, you must be willing to take your pants off on the TRAX train; and two, ride the train with your pants off and keep a straight face.
The site instructs pants-less participants to wear modest underwear--a thong, for example, might test the transit police rules of engagement. "Nothing that specifically says you can't not wear pants, but yet wear underwear. There's a gray area there," Bohnsack-Ware said.
None of the TRAX riders Eyewitness News spoke with said they were ready to drop their drawers. "I don't think it's a good idea, but whatever floats their boat," TRAX rider Craig Brown said.
Extra transit cops will be onboard to keep an eye on everything. "Just to make sure nothing gets out of hand and there is no overexposure," Bohnsack-Ware said.
No pants were actually removed in the writing of this story.
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