Reddit To Subway Dancers: 'Everyone In New York Hates Showtime'

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — New Yorkers are tired of getting kicked in the face, according to Reddit.

Video of a subway pole dancer was posted to the subreddit “interestingasf---” on Monday, but it had soon garnered more than 1,000 comments from city dwellers who disputed its categorization as “interesting.”

“Belongs on r/annoyingasf—,” wrote Reddit user winstonknox96.

New Yorkers united in a shared annoyance with "showtime" performers — a name which references the dancers' habit of shouting, "It's showtime!" before beginning their pole acrobatics — by detailing their horror stories.

“Was once kicked in the face by some 'performers' and he still had the audacity to flip over his hat to ask for donations,” wrote Dosesandmimosas. “Super annoying.”

“I once seen some old lady get hit in the head cause some idiot thought he was cool doing flips like that on a packed train” added Dignified31.

“Some guy on the Q did this and kicked a little kid in the arm,” wrote iia. “The mom told the guy to watch out and he said 'f--- you b----' and moved on to the next car.”

Reddit users also complained of interactions that did not involve foot-to-face contact.

One user witnessed a showtime dancers’ shoes flying across subway car and dropping into a woman’s lap. Another watched as a showtime dancer landed face-first on a J train floor.

Several users reveled in the opportunity to critique the performers, noting the difficulty of complaining to the performers themselves.

“They inevitably get into fights with innocent people who are just trying to get to work but get kicked in the face by these douchebags,” wrote user --__--__---__--___--.

Redditer Wickedflex posted video of a group of showtime dancers screaming at an entire car of subway passengers with the message, “And THIS is what happens when these innocent ‘performers’ get angry.”

Pole dancing arrests dropped from 680 in 2014 to just 203 in 2016, according to Politico, after Mayor Bill de Blasio and former NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton garnered criticism for promoting broken windows policing and doling out jail time for quality-of-life offenses.

The city responded with a new policy in 2014 and police officers began encouraging the showtime dancers to take the performance above ground, according to the New York Times.

But encouragement from the NYPD has not stopped a slew of the showtime performers from taking the readily accessible subway poles, much to the annoyance of Reddit.

“They always laugh after and say 'and no one got hit in the face yayyy' like that’s supposed to be funny,” wrote Phillyfreak5. “Showtime is the worst thing about moving around the city.”

Wrote dtlv5813, “Yeah the HBO dancers are much more considerate.”

Header photo courtesy of the MTA