No Pants, thanks, this is #DesignIndaba

Improvisation can land you in trouble, as participants in the recent “No Pants Gautrain Ride”, organised via social media to co-inside with the global “No Pants Subway Ride”, found out the hard way.

News reports suggest that the management of the Gautrain prescribes a dress code these days (participants were fined R700 each for wearing the “wrong clothing”) and doesn’t take kindly to people who believe a bit of public theatre every now and again can contribute to our social space.

They probably won’t be amused to know that Charlie Todd, the founder of Improv Everywhere, the group behind “No Pants Subway Ride” and a host of other public theatre performances, is visiting the country as a speaker to the annual Design Indaba where he will be delivering a much-anticipated talk at the end of the conference’s opening day.

Charlie Todd: I think it’s a bit of both. I come from a theatre background, so when I started Improv Everywhere in 2001, it was very much about creating theatrical moments in unexpected places. The reason I’ve kept doing it for 10 years is because it’s a tremendous amount of fun.

Todd: I think the indirect message of Improv Everywhere is that creative expression in the public space is a good thing. Citizens should be allowed to create art, comedy, etc in public places without permit or permission, assuming it is done in a way that harms no one. I stay away from adding any direct messages to our projects, as it tends to make them less interesting, in my opinion.

Todd:I’m excited about the proliferation of the iPhone and similar devices. I think at some point in the near future we will be using GPS and other technologies embedded in phones to organise and implement our projects. I’m also excited about Internet-connected television. I look forward to the day when there is no distinction between content created for the web and content created for television.

Todd: I think when authorities try to crack down on peaceful public expression they end up looking foolish. There were No Pants Subway Ride events in almost 50 cities around the world, so when the Gautrain authorities became the only ones to react negatively, it made them look pretty lame.

Obviously, laws and societal norms vary in different cities, but it’s funny to me that anyone would feel the need to detain someone in their boxer shorts. We had the same thing happen to our No Pants ride in 2006 in New York, so I guess you can run into someone without a sense of humour anywhere.