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Produced by Charlie Todd and Matt Adams / music by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission we had several hundred agents spend a day at Coney Island / Brighton Beach wearing black tie attire. We covered a mile-long stretch of beach with a diverse group of people of all ages (from babies to sixty-somethings) laying out, playing games, and swimming in the ocean, all in formal wear. Agents were instructed to find cheap tuxedos and ball gowns at thrift stores for the occasion.

Shot by: Matt Adams, Jason Eppink, Keith Haskel, Erik Martin, Chloe Smolkin, Charlie Todd
Photography: Brian Fountain, Ari Scott, Katie Sokoler (full flickr sets for each photographer at the bottom of this post.)

pre-mission briefing

About a month before the mission, we sent out a notice to our New York Mailing List informing agents that for our next mission they would need to procure black tie attire that they didn’t mind ruining. We wanted to give folks a few weeks to check out some thrift stores or rummage through their grandparents’ closets.

The crowd of agents

We met at Seaside Park, which was conveniently located just across the street from the boardwalk, close to the border of Coney Island and Brighton Beach. It’s tough to say exactly how many agents participated, (if anyone wants to count heads in the photo above, go for it!) but we were thrilled with the turnout. Everyone managed to find awesome outfits, and most spent only a few bucks. The premise of the mission was to spend a day at the beach with absolutely everything being normal apart from our fancy dress. We also encouraged agents to bring normal beach accessories, to make the day more fun.

Scuba gear!

After we got organized, it was time to head over to the beach. I instructed the agents to spread out and approach the beach from different directions and over a period of time, so that we didn’t look like we were all coming from the same place. Also, Coney Island is infamously crowded, and we didn’t want to make the crowding any worse by showing up to the same spot. We ended up covering a pretty huge area, probably about a mile of beach.

Agents approaching the boardwalk

Agents begin appearing all over the beach

Taking a walk

Agent Diaz and her daughter

New friends

We had a really great range of ages participate. There were several toddlers and even some infants as well as folks in their sixties and just about every age in between.

Brighton Beach has a huge Russian population and a pretty heavy percentage of the folks who encountered us were of Russian descent.

A few minutes into the mission, I went on a walk by myself to survey the scene. Folks on the beach were just starting to notice that something was up, and an older woman in a bikini stopped me.

Woman: What is this?

Me: Excuse me?

Woman: Where are you coming from? We just saw someone else in a tuxedo as well.

Me: Oh, I’m just going on a walk. I just came here with my girlfriend. She’s back that way.

At this point a crowd of people started forming, listening to our conversation and laughing.

Woman: Are you going to swim?

Me: I’m not sure. Is the water cold?

Several others: No! It’s warm!

Woman: The other guy in the tuxedo was swimming!

Me: In his clothes?

Woman: Yes, you have to do it now too!

At this point the whole group started chanting “go! go! go!” and clapping their hands, pressuring me to jump in the water. I hadn’t planned on going in quite so early, but it looked like I had no choice. I handed my glasses to the woman I’d been chatting with, and a man stopped me to give me a Catholic Sign of the Cross before I went running in. Here’s a video of the encounter, captured by Agent Eppink:

It was a really wonderful moment. Everyone on the beach was so happy and supportive. An older Russian man quickly waded out to me with an iPhone 4 in his hands, determined to snap a closeup photo. After he was done he asked for my email address so he could send it to me, which I thought was really sweet. I watched him convert his keyboard from Russian to English to get my address, and then he emailed it to me right then and there. Nice guy!

the iPhone photo

Then a second man approached me in the water to take a photo with his camera. He had such a happy look on his face; I asked him if I could interview him with my waterproof flip camera. You can see the interview at the end of the main video up top. He was awesome.

More agents start swimming

All black tux and a boogie board

Our agents came up with a wonderful variety of activities to do during their day at the beach.

Chicken fights

Catch

Frisbee

Flying a kite

Kissing

Running

Metal detecting

Relaxing

Mud fights

Getting buried in the sand

Belly flops

It was fun to watch all the interactions between our participants and the other folks at the beach. When asked why they were dressed up, agents mostly responded that they were doing it “for fun” or that they “just like dressing up for the beach.” Of course, no one would admit to knowing the other dressed up folks. These responses frustrated some inquisitive locals, but most seemed to get the joke just fine.

Bizarrely, one man proposed marriage to one of the agents!

By the end of the day, agents and locals could be seen playing games together.

Black Tie vs. Skins

The police drove by a few times, doing their normal rounds. One cop reportedly said that he must have “missed the memo.” A police helicopter flew overhead as well. This was probably a routine occurrence, but a few agents reported the chopper lingering and an officer on board smiling and taking photos of them in the water.

Late in the day, a group of agents decided to all run into the water together.

There was no official end to the mission. Folks stayed as long as they liked. Some decided to go the amusement park.

All in all it was a great day at the beach for everyone involved!

Members of the IE video and photo crew pose for a shot post-mission

Mission Accomplished

- Agent Fountain’s set (89 photos)
- Agent Scott’s set (165 photos)
- Agent Sokoler’s set (146 photos)

Read the agent reports from hundreds of participants in the comments here.

If this is your first time here:
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-We have a book for sale!

Thanks to the awesome group of people who participated in today’s mission at Coney Island. If you were there, please leave an Agent Report in the comments. I know there are hundreds of funny stories waiting to be told. Also leave links to any photos you might have taken. Photos from our official photographers are posted below, and we hope to have our video up in a couple of weeks on our YouTube channel. (Subscribe to it!) When the video is posted, we’ll post our official mission report here. [UPDATE - video embedded above]

Photos:

- Agent Scott’s set (165 photos)
- Agent Sokoler’s set (146 photos)
- Agent Fountain’s set (89 photos)

For those of you who were not there– we had several hundred agents spend a day at the beach at Coney Island / Brighton Beach wearing black tie attire. We covered a mile-long stretch of beach with a diverse group of people of all ages (from babies to sixty-somethings) laying out, playing games, and swimming in the ocean, all in formal wear. Agents were instructed to find cheap tuxedos and ball gowns at thrift stores for the occasion.

The mostly Russian crowd of beachgoers appeared to have a blast watching the spectacle unfold, laughing, taking photos, and asking questions. (Brighton Beach has a huge Russian population.) My personal highlight involved a group of ten middle-aged Russian people chanting “Swim! Swim! Swim!” to me, not letting up until I belly flopped in the water in my tux. One of them then waded out in the water to take a photo of me, not for himself, but so he could email it to me.

Thanks again to everyone who participated! The official report and video will come out in a couple of weeks. Join/follow/subscribe our mailing list, Twitter, Facebook page, or YouTube channel to be updated.

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Enjoy this outtakes video from our Star Wars Subway Car mission.

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edited by Matt Adams / music by Gustav Holst, arranged by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission, we staged a reenactment of the first Princess Leia / Darth Vader scene from Star Wars on a New York City subway car. The white walls and sliding doors on the train reminded us of the rebel ship from the movie, and we thought it would be fun to see how people would react to a surprise appearance by the iconic characters. We spread out the actors along the train line, staging it so they would enter the right car at the right time. Enjoy the video first and then go behind-the-scenes with the photos and report below.

Shot by: Matt Adams, Jason Eppink, Erik Martin
Photography: Katie Sokoler (photo credit for all photos on this page.)
Cast:
- Princess Leia – Cody Lindquist
- Stormtroopers – Patrick Cassels, Brian Murphy, Josh Ruben
- Darth Vader – Alex Scordelis

Soaked Stormtroopers: Agents Cassels, Murphy, and Ruben

This mission took place on an incredibly rainy day. Fortunately we were going to be underground for most of it, but our intrepid Stormtroopers got a little bit wet on the way to the mission. The Stormtroopers were played by some of our friends at College Humor. They had bought the costumes for a couple of great videos they produced, and were nice enough to loan them (along with the Vader costume) to us for the mission.

The Vader costume was really awesome. It had like ten different components and included a remote control voice box that made the breathing sound effect. It was a bit of a puzzle getting Agent Scordelis dressed, but we finally figured it out.

We used our beloved 6-train stop at Brooklyn Bridge for the start of the mission. We staggered our agents, sending Darth and the Stormtroopers ahead on one train to meet up with Leia later in a second train. We planned to stage the mission several times over the course of a couple of hours. If you’ve got all those awesome costumes together, you better do it more than once!

Agent Lindquist waits for the first train to depart

Stormtroopers and Vader riding the staging car to their assigned stops

The mission started when Leia entered her train. She had two full stops by herself before the other actors entered.

I created a book for Leia to read using a template I found online. I printed out the fake cover and attached it to one of my favorite prank books, which just so happened to be the right size and color.

Agent Lindquist got a few funny looks from the passengers around her. She was unmistakably Princess Leia with her hair buns and white robe. Yet seeing one person in a costume on the subway isn’t all that strange. Maybe she’s going to a party? Unless you took the time to notice the book she was reading, you might not think too much of it.

The Stormtroopers got a nice reaction when they entered. The car wasn’t very crowded the first time we did it, but those who were there were laughing, particularly when the Stormtroopers grabbed Leia.

At the next stop, Vader’s entrance got a great reaction. Agent Scordelis entered the car with force and authority, but unfortunately didn’t account for the height of his helmet. He knocked his head on the door when he entered! It was hysterical, and we should have video of it in an upcoming “outtakes” video.

The people on the train went crazy for Vader. I think they thought the joke was over once the Stormtroopers got on, but Vader just topped it so well. One thing we learned is that almost every human will immediately take out their camera when they see Darth Vader. We’ve done lots of crazy missions on the subway over the years, but I have never seen so many people taking photographs of our performance. How can you not take a photo of Darth Vader? It’s impossible to resist!

Leia being taken away, after her intense scene with Vader

A guy snaps one last photo of our cast

After the agents exited, we reset to stage the mission again. We were now closer to midtown, so we knew we’d have a larger audience for the next run.

Leia about to enter her train for the 2nd run

This guy was completely perplexed (as seen in the video)

Stormtroopers wait for the passengers to exit the train before entering. Proper protocol!

My job during the mission was to act as Vader’s handler, making sure Agent Scordelis was where he needed to be. He didn’t have great visibility out of his mask, so someone needed to be there in case he needed help. It felt like the two of us were on our own mini-mission. It was hilarious to see Darth Vader standing all by himself at the end of a subway platform, patiently waiting on the train.

Vader got all kinds of funny looks from people as they passed by or gawked at him from across the tracks. At one point, a young guy came up to him and said, “Sith Lord, would it be OK if I took your photo?”

Vader’s entrance the second time went much more smoothly (he remembered to duck!) and the crowd roared when he appeared.

A guy takes a self-portrait with our Stormtroopers

We staged the mission around four times in total, heading uptown as far as 125th Street, and then back down to Union Square.

It was fun watching the reactions of the passengers, young and old. We encountered a few kids throughout the day, and not surprisingly they seemed to be the most excited by the mission. Some seemed flat out amazed.

Watching the characters walk away

Stormtrooper Graveyard

We finally made it down to Union Square and the actors got out of their costumes, helmets littering the station floor. It was a really fun afternoon. It’s always satisfying to see a subway car full of strangers come to life when something hilarious unexpectedly happens. Folks were laughing and chatting with other passengers while they snapped away on their camera phones. A good time was had by all.

Mission Accomplished

- Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set

If this is your first time here:
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idea by Jeff Greenspan / edited by Matt Adams / song by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission, we created separate walking lanes for tourists and New Yorkers on a Fifth Avenue sidewalk. Department of Transportation “employees” were on hand to enforce the new rules and ask pedestrians for their feedback on the initiative. Enjoy the video first and then go behind-the-scenes with the photos and report below.

Idea by: Jeff Greenspan
Shot by: Matt Adams, Jason Eppink, and Keith Haskel
Photography: Katie Sokoler and Scott Beale
DOT Workers: Dan Black, Don Fanelli, Jeff Greenspan, Cody Lindquist

Agent Greenspan came up with the idea for this project earlier this year and did some experimenting with different types of chalk and line drawing machines. When he told me about the project, I immediately fell in love with it and asked him if he would like to collaborate and turn it into an Improv Everywhere mission. To my delight, he was down.

To make it work as an IE mission, I knew we’d have to add a performance aspect to create more of a scene. We came up with the idea of having agents pose as Department of Transportation employees directing pedestrian traffic to really bring the lanes alive.

Cast and crew getting organized in Madison Square Park

Landscape Chalk

Agent Greenspan designed the stencils and ordered all of the equipment online. It was important to us to use chalk and not spray paint. For IE missions, we always attempt to leave no trace behind once we disappear. Although the chalk would still be up after the mission, it would wash away after a heavy rain. Even though we were using water-soluble chalk, we were still nervous about getting in trouble with the police. The NYPD has a history of arresting activists, artists, and even six-year-old girls for using chalk on the streets (in all cases charges were eventually dropped.)

Agent Greenspan hid his stencils in the bottom of two boxes. He definitely attracted attention from passersby when he began spraying. Fortunately, the boxes helped disguise his actions a bit, and the orange vest gave him the appearance of authority. He laid the stencils down on both sides of the block.

Agent Fanelli guards the stencils as the chalk dries

Agent Greenspan sets up the line machine

Agent Black clears the way as the line is drawn

Complete!

Agent Black directs pedestrian traffic on the south end

Agent Fanelli on the north end

Clearly tourists

A group of women from Spain came by and loved the lanes. This woman posed for a photo.

One of many who stopped to take a picture

Laughing at the lanes

One dog was from out of town

iPhone listening New Yorker

After a while we figured it would be better if Agents Black and Fanelli stood together rather than on opposite ends of the block. It was hilarious watching them interact with pedestrians and riff off of each other. The video was only able to capture a small fraction of the comedy that came out of their mouths.

Agent Lindquist positioned herself about twenty feet past the stencils near the corner of 23rd Street and stopped pedestrians to ask for their feedback. She explained that she worked for the Department of Transportation, that this was a test block, and that the lanes would be painted on every block in the city by the end of the summer.

She received a wide variety of feedback. Many people thought it was hilarious and were skeptical of it being legitimate. Others bought into it, especially tourists. The most common complaint was that part of the fun of visiting New York is experiencing the hustle and bustle of the sidewalk as you walk amongst New Yorkers. Some were upset at the idea of the new lanes taking away from that experience.

Agent Lindquist’s feedback form

Several New Yorkers gave the lanes high praise, perhaps frustrated with the slow walking tourists they encounter on their daily commute. This guy loved it so much he insisted upon giving Agents Fanelli and Black high fives.

The mission lasted about an hour before we packed up and disappeared. The lanes, of course, remained on the street so the prank continued. We were very curious if the project would make it’s way to the Internet before we could edit and post our video. Three full days passed and all was quiet. But then…

New Yorker Mark Armstrong took a single photo of the project and put it on his Tumblr blog. The post was “liked” and “reblogged” nearly 500 times. It quickly attracted the attention of larger blogs like The Awl and Gothamist.

It then started popping up on blogs all over the place and spreading through twitter and facebook. The next morning, both the New York Post and the New York Daily News had stories in their paper and online.

The Post even produced a video:

As more local TV and radio media started picking up the story that day, Mayor Bloomberg was asked about it at a press conference. The mayor chose to spin the tourist lane positively, saying it was clear that it was a “nice thing to do” for tourists and that he thought it was “very cute.” He went on to say that anyone who saw an anti-tourist message in the chalk had to be a “sick person.”

As the media tried to figure out who the anonymous artist was, The New York Times City Room blog wondered out loud, “Maybe it’s Banksy.”

The project even got the remix treatment.

Later that day, the real Department of Transportation buffed the chalk clean. It stayed up for four days, but ultimately could not survive the media attention.

New York Magazine put the project in their weekly Approval Matrix graphic. They classified it both “brilliant” and “highbrow.” Though we shouldn’t toot our horn too much, as the same graphic shows our Ghostbusters mission in the “despicable” and “lowbrow” section! I mean, I get that guys running around in silly costumes is pretty lowbrow, but despicable? Lighten up Approval Matrix!

The whole thing was a very unique experience for us. Typically our missions don’t get blog and press coverage until after we post them on our site. It was fun to watch people speculate as to who was responsible and what his motives were. In the end, The Tourist Lane is not a pro-tourist or anti-tourist project. It just is.

Agents Black, Fanelli, and Tourist Lane creator Jeff Greenspan

Mission Accomplished

- Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set
- Agent Beale’s Flickr Set
- Similar Projects: Joey Skagg’s Walk Right, Banksy’s Fat Lane, Joshua Kinberg’s Bikes Against Bush

I debuted the video at the Mashable Media Summit in NY:

Agent Greenspan put together a video that shows the evolution of the project:

If this is your first time here:
-our over 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
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edited by Matt Adams / song by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission, we brought the movie Ghostbusters to life in the reading room of The New York Public Library at 42 Street. The 1984 movie begins with a scene in the very same room, so we figured it was time for the Ghostbusters to make an encore appearance. Enjoy the video first and then go behind-the-scenes with the photos and report below.

Shot by: Matt Adams, Brian Fountain, Erik Martin, Caleb Heller, Kristopher Knight, and Ariane West
Photography: Katie Sokoler and Brian Fountain
Ghostbusters: Kevin Hines, Rob Lathan, Justin Purnell, Alex Scordelis
Ghosts: Ben Rodgers, Amos Vernon, Tyler Walker

Agents Hines, Purnell, Lathan, and Scordelis

The New York Public Library approached us about a month ago and asked if we would want to stage an Improv Everywhere mission on their property. The library is facing serious budget cuts, and they thought having us do something awesome there might serve to remind people of how great the NYPL is. We couldn’t say no to the opportunity to do something in their gorgeous, 100 year-old Rose Main Reading Room.

Panoramic photo by David Iliff

It actually wasn’t the first time we staged something on the NYPL grounds. Back in 2002, we held a ridiculous protest claiming to be a group called Writers Against Piracy. That mission was, of course, unauthorized. It was nice to get invited by the library this time around and to have their permission to set up our cameras. When brainstorming ideas for the mission, I immediately thought of Ghostbusters. The NYPL is heavily featured in the beginning of the movie, opening with a crane shot of the lion statue outside and cutting to the reading room. The thought of bringing the Ghostbusters back to the library 25 years later cracked me up.

Agent Lathan and his binocular glasses

Agent Purnell puts on his fake mustache

Showing the ghosts a map of the reading room

We met on the steps out front and got organized. Agent Adams came up with a plan to spread our team of six camera people discreetly around the room. Most of our operators used DSLR cameras, which allowed them to blend in perfectly with the constant stream of tourists taking photos of the historic room. I went over all of the blocking and timing with the actors. They then headed inside to a staging area and got into costume.

Agent Rodgers was the first ghost to enter. He grabbed a book off of a shelf on the way in and started heading for a seat. He was quickly stopped by a security guard, who had no idea what was going on.

Guard: Sir, what are you doing?
Rodgers: Um… haunting the library.

The guard allowed him to take a seat, and then went over to the information desk to laugh about it with another employee.

Rodgers takes his seat. Notice the girl in pink’s reaction (behind the girl in white)

The first ghost got some nice reactions from the folks he sat by, but they eventually went back to working when it became clear the ghost was just going to sit and read a book. That is, until ghost number two entered.

Agent Walker enters as the second ghost
(note the same guard reacting in the background)

Ghost working in the middle of the crowd

Closeup of the ghost’s computer screen

After about five minutes, the final ghost made his entrance. He walked down the aisle and headed over to the dictionary stand.

Agent Vernon

With three ghosts spread out in the reading room, who you gonna call?

Ghostbusters surveying the room

Tourists and library patrons take notice (and photos!) of the Ghostbusters

The first ghost reads, unaware of the danger he’s in

As soon as the Ghostbusters spotted the ghosts, Agent Lathan shouted, “Get ‘em!”

The ghost leaps to his feet

All three ghosts leapt up and immediately started running around and making ghost noises.

Agent Hines finds the computer-using ghost

While the ghost-phase of the mission was pretty low-key, as soon as the chase started the room came alive. The room full of library patrons and tourists all started laughing, smiling, and frantically getting out their cameras and camera phones.

It was cool to see tables full of people taking off their headphones and laughing with each other.

Agent Scordelis follows a ghost out the door

The whole chase lasted less than a minute, as we didn’t want to be too disruptive to the people trying to get their work done. The Ghostbusters weren’t able to get their hands on the ghosts and ended up following them out of the reading room. After they left, the room broke out in applause.

The Ghostbusters chase wasn’t quite over yet. They followed the ghosts down the stairs and out the front door of the building!

The chase continues down Fifth Avenue

The Ghostbusters rounded the corner onto 42nd Street and disappeared out of view in pursuit of the ghosts. My guess is that they were successful, as the Ghostbusters were spotted later in the day in good spirits posing for a photo with a young fan.

Mission Accomplished

- Agent Sokoler’s Flickr Set

If this is your first time here:
-our over 100 other missions can be seen here: Missions
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(Watch No Underwear Subway Ride Uncensored in HD on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams / song by Tyler Walker

For April Fool’s Day this year, we uploaded a new video that made it look like we had staged a No Underwear Subway Ride (in the tradition of our annual No Pants Subway Ride event.) The video was a hoax. Although we claimed that 1,000 people had exposed their genitals on the train, we actually just filmed 20 actors wearing skin-colored underwear, and then pixelated the footage to make them look naked. The “uncensored” version of the video embedded above will show you what we actually looked like.

Playboy falls for the hoax

We were pretty surprised at how many people actually fell for it. We saw several major news blogs around the world reporting it as fact. I think most folks who fell for it assumed that it was an April Fool’s joke on the people riding the train, not on them. We post prank videos year-round, so for April Fool’s Day we like to change things up and try to fool our online audience. Last year we acted like we had staged a prank at a funeral.

Filming the beginning of the video in an empty park with Agent Adams

The real mission briefing

Agents arrived at the meeting point wearing two pairs of underwear. One regular and one skin-colored pair underneath. A few of the agents gave us staged reactions for the video, posing as regular train riders. Of course, we were still walking around the train in our underpants, so we got plenty of reactions from actual strangers as well.

Agent Haskel did an excellent job pixelating the video, and Agent Gross did some great color-correcting for the agents whose underwear didn’t quite match their skin tone. Agents Nicholson and Sokoler expertly pixelated their photos for the mission report.

For reference, here is the original hoax video:

(Watch No Underwear Subway Ride in HD on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams with Keith Haskel and George Gross / song by Tyler Walker

If you haven’t figured it out by now, The No Underwear Subway Ride mission was staged for April Fool’s Day. The participants all wore skin-colored underwear that made it look like they were naked when pixelated in the video. On Monday we’ll post an “uncensored” version of the video that will show what we actually looked like. [Update: watch it here.] Our apologizes to those who were fooled into thinking we had lost our minds and done something this disgusting. If you haven’t read the comments yet, do yourself a favor and read a few. They are probably funnier than the hoax itself. WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?

And here’s the original video in case you missed it:

(Watch No Underwear Subway Ride in HD on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams with Keith Haskel and George Gross / song by Tyler Walker

Note: This is a fake mission we staged for April Fool’s Day 2010. We posted it on April 1, fooling thousands of people into thinking we actually rode the subway with exposed genitals. We pulled this off by wearing skin-colored underwear that would blur in a convincing way. You can also see the “uncensored” version of the video that shows what we actually looked like. Be sure to check out the comments from the people who were fooled below.

(No Underwear Subway Ride in HD on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams with Keith Haskel / song by Tyler Walker

For our latest mission, over 1,000 people rode the subway without underwear or pants in New York City. Our annual No Pants Subway Ride has been a tradition for years, and we decided it was time to up the ante. Riders spread out over four different subway lines to surprise and delight everyday New Yorkers riding the train. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos. We have blurred out the private parts of all the riders to keep the documentation safe for work.

Train Captains: Agents Fiedler, Lathan, Lindquist, Todd
Digital Video: Agents Adams, Nicholson, Haskel, Gross
Digital Photography: Agents Nicholson, Sokoler

The crowd at Foley Square

I was a little nervous about this idea, as I could definitely see how some people might think it was pushing things a bit too far. Improv Everywhere is about giving people a positive experience and a great story to tell, and I really had to think through whether or not this was the best idea. After sending out an email to a group of small senior agents, I was comforted by the fact that they all thought it was hilarious and were eager to participate. There is definitely a huge difference between being in your underwear and totally exposing your genitals, so even the most senior “No Pants veterans” were a little nervous about pulling this off. I was also concerned about the legality. In 2006, No Pants was stopped by the police and six people were handcuffed in their underwear. But that case was dismissed and we couldn’t find any law on the books or MTA regulation stating that nudity wasn’t OK, so we figured we were in the clear.

Giving instructions to the crowd

I was careful to instruct all of the participants to be as respectful as possible. This was not about offending people. We wanted to give those who saw it a memorable experience that they’d be laughing about for the rest of their lives. Logistically the event worked much like No Pants. We separated into four different train lines, and divided up into ten cars on each train. I figured it would only be fair if I went first on my car.

No one reacted when I removed my pants, but I heard a few gasps and yelps when I removed my underwear. Pretty quickly the other riders started laughing and talking to each other.

At the next stop Agent Shafeek stood up and removed his pants and underwear as well on the other side of the car. You could see people in the middle doing double takes looking back and forth at both of us.

Agent Shafeek removing his underwear

Agent Lindquist was next. She was a little nervous, being the first female participant to de-underwear.

Agents Lindquist and Shafeek acting like they don’t know each other

It was funny to see the reactions on the train. This guy found himself sitting right in between two half-naked Improv Everywhere agents. He couldn’t help but sneak some looks.

Agent Lathan was hilarious when he clumsily took his underwear off. He then went to go check the subway map, leaning in very close to a woman who was laughing hysterically at him.

One thing that was different than No Pants is that we had participants transfer from the undressing car to the “target” car as a big group. We thought it might be a little unsafe to have people waiting on the platform alone with their genitals exposed. There was safety in numbers.

Our participants got some great reactions when we were waiting on the platforms. There were so many laughing and smiling people passing by.

A laughing MTA employee comes out of his office to check us out

Once everyone transferred to each “target” car on their second train, things got really funny. Imagine the doors opening and 30 half-naked people getting on your car.

All of the train lines converged on Union Square at the end of the mission, which means that within a short stretch of time 1,000 pantless and underwearless people passed through the station’s exit turnstiles. We hope to make the No Underwear Subway Ride an annual event, just like No Pants. If you’re interested in participating next year (or starting one in your own city), be sure to sign up for our mailing list. We’ll announce the date of next year’s ride shortly after next year’s No Pants.

Mission Accomplished.

Chad Nicholson’s Flickr Set
Katie Sokoler’s Flickr Set

UPDATE: Uncensored version:

(Watch No Underwear Subway Ride Uncensored in HD on YouTube)
edited by Matt Adams / song by Tyler Walker

Read the Behind-the-scenes report on how we actually did this.

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-our other 100+ missions can be seen here: Missions
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John “Wimpy” Ward, one of Improv Everywhere’s most senior agents, passed away today. John was an incredibly kind, warm, and hilarious man, and we are all lucky to have known and worked with him. I first ran across John when he started taking classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2003. I approached him one night and asked if he would be interested in playing a prank at a Barnes & Noble where he gave an unauthorized reading as long dead playwright Anton Chekhov. Although he had never met me and had never heard of Improv Everywhere, he instantly said, “Sure. That sounds like fun.” John was the kind of guy who said yes to life and jumped head first into new things.

Over the past six years, he has participated in nearly every Improv Everywhere mission. He danced in a window for Look Up More, stood still for Frozen Grand Central, pretended to be a Best Buy employee, and played Santa Claus in the very first Mp3 Experiment, to name just a few. In 2006, he figured out a way to sneak Improv Everywhere onto daytime television by using his position as a contestant on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? as an opportunity to play a prank.

John was adored by many Improv Everywhere fans, who were quick to celebrate his appearances in our videos in YouTube comments. He was a vital member of our group and the New York comedy community at large, and he will be missed greatly. Below are some videos and photos of some of John’s more memorable moments with IE.

John passing out candy canes on 8th Avenue for the first Mp3 Experiment

John enjoying a drink while playing Ted’s grandfather at Ted’s Birthday in 2007

John hugs and kisses a total stranger at JFK for the Welcome Back mission in 2008

John holds a sign in the subway for High Five Escalator

John Ward t-shirt

Finally, here’s a hilarious sketch John starred in that was written by IE Agent Ari Scott and staged at the UCB Theatre.

Rest In Peace, John Ward. We miss you.