Panty-wearing pranksters ride Jerusalem light rail

Some light rail train riders had no problem being caught with their pants down Sunday evening in Jerusalem. In fact, they purposely dropped trou as part of an improvisational performance planned to coincide with similar pranks happening the same day in other cities all over the world.

Apparently oblivious to the 4° Celsius (40° Fahrenheit) temperature outside, around 50 young people traveled back and forth from one end of Jerusalem’s light rail route to the other wearing nothing but skivvies on their bottoms. Reading books, chatting with friends, checking their smartphones, they looked like regular commuters—except for the fact that some of their clothing was missing.

The No Pants Subway Ride is an international event staged annually in January since 2002 in cities with subway and light rail systems. Originally conceived by Improv Everywhere, a New York-based prank collective, the event has taken place in Jerusalem for the last three years.

“Actually, we just found out that this is the fourth consecutive year, not the third,” said Božo , one of the prank’s organizers. “It happened four years ago, but only three people showed up that time.”

Božo, a 30-year-old animator who divides his time between Jerusalem and Berlin, is part of Improv Israel, a group of like-minded people who connect via social media, and whose only major improv performance so far has been the No Pants Train Ride.

Clad in wild and playful winter hats, sweaters and scarves to complement their equally colorful undergarments, the participants said they liked the event because it was about nothing other than having fun.

“The point is that there is no point. It’s the only pointless, nonpolitical activity people have had in Jerusalem for some time now,” Božo said, referring to the Israeli capital’s reputation for contentiousness.

‘It’s about nothing more than just laughter, foolishness and bringing a smile to people’s faces’

“It’s about nothing more than just laughter, foolishness and bringing a smile to people’s faces,” said another organizer known as Kwak, who came from Sde Warburg, a moshav north of Kfar Saba, to ride the train pantless. (Kwak’s affinity for unusual stunts is not surprising; Sde Warburg held the 2007 Guinness World Record for making the world’s largest salad.)

The pantless riders may have acted like regular commuters once they boarded the train, but the atmosphere beforehand at the group’s gathering point in Zion Square, and later on the Jaffa Road platform, was decidedly party-like. The riders, some having already peeled off their trousers, danced to loud music as they waited for the train.

Neither the cold nor Jerusalem’s predominant modesty-minded ultra-Orthodox community were of concern to the pranksters.

“It’ll be warm in the tram and we have beer,” said Helena, a 26-year-old landscape architect visiting from Berlin as she smoked a hand-rolled cigarette.

‘There’s a big modesty trend going on here, but the Haredim have a sense of humor…I hope’

Shaily, 23, who has participated twice in the No Pants Subway Ride in Chicago, was excited to be doing it in Jerusalem, which she acknowledged is a conservative place.

“There’s a big modesty trend going on here, but the Haredim have a sense of humor…I hope,” she said as she showed off her blue-with-pink polka dots boy shorts from Victoria’s Secret.

Both on the platform and in the train cars, the improv group’s members’ bare legs were largely met with looks of bewilderment rather than hostility.

When an incredulous teenager heard one member of the improv group ask the others on the platform if they all had tickets, he excitedly exclaimed, “Never mind train tickets—you people don’t even have pants!”

It appeared that few of the people on the train actually interacted with the pantless pranksters. Some stole glances at them and whipped out their smartphones to take pictures and immediately post them to social media. A pair of blushing female soldiers shyly checked out some of the naked legs on some of the young men. A male soldier ogled the women’s gams while texting about the spectacle.

Several older ultra-Orthodox men appeared to purposely try to direct their gazes away from the pantless commuters, though only one actually got up and changed his seat so as to move away from some half-dressed young women.

‘Good for them for overcoming the cold for the sake of their art’

A couple of Orthodox teenage girls dressed in long black skirts were unfazed by the half-naked people waiting next to them at the Mount Herzl station, where the group got off to change trains at the end of the line.

“Good for them for overcoming the cold for the sake for their art,” said one.

“The way they are dressed is okay. It doesn’t bother us. We’re used to this kind of thing from the way people dress in the summer,” said the other.

Some riders were even oblivious to the entire performance. One woman, when asked by this reporter what she thought of the pantless commuters, said she had not even noticed them.

On the other hand, an elderly man had noticed some young men taking their jeans off right in front of him. He warned them to be careful that no one took off with them while they weren’t wearing them, leaving them exposed to the elements for longer than planned.

While most train patrons appreciated the intended lightness of riding the rails in one’s underwear, one man was dismayed that the pantless group was not trying to make more of a statement.

“Initially I thought there was more of a point to this. Then I realized it was just silliness,” said Esteban, a tourist from Argentina who evidently expected a bit more seriousness from Jerusalem’s young people.

‘It’s part of our saying that we are not giving up on this city’

Yissi, 25-year-old student from Jerusalem wearing black boxer shorts and a furry panda hat, considered the No Pant Train Ride to be part of young people’s efforts to revive and strengthen secularism and pluralism in Jerusalem.

“It’s part of our saying that we are not giving up on this city,” he said.

At the same time, Yissi said he was aware that there are more sensitivities to take into consideration in Jerusalem than in say, New York or London. It is hard to ignore the city’s huge ultra-Orthodox community, which includes the family in which Yissi himself grew up.

“My mom would be shocked if she knew I was riding the light rail in my underwear,” he said.