--- title: Snake in New York Taxi Cab Prank by Jimmy Failla: Viral Video description: A New York City cab driver says his taxi license has been suspended after driving with a live snake in the vehicle, freaking out passengers. canonical: https://time.com/30711/watch-new-yorkers-freak-out-when-a-taxi-driver-pranks-them-with-a-live-snake/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-19T19:30:55.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:07:57.870Z og:title: Watch New Yorkers Freak Out When a Taxi Driver Pranks Them With a Live Snake og:description: The cabbie had his license revoked after pulling this prank og:url: https://time.com/30711/watch-new-yorkers-freak-out-when-a-taxi-driver-pranks-them-with-a-live-snake/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch New Yorkers Freak Out When a Taxi Driver Pranks Them With a Live Snake twitter:description: The cabbie had his license revoked after pulling this prank twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Watch New Yorkers Freak Out When a Taxi Driver Pranks Them With a Live Snake > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 19, 2014 7:30 PM UTC  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Mar 19, 2014 7:30 PM UTC A New York City cab driver has gotten his taxi license suspended for two years after publishing video of a prank in which a 14-foot Burmese python slithered into the back seat, freaking out passengers, [_Gothamist_](http://gothamist.com/2014/03/19/snake%5Fcabbie%5Fgets%5Flicense%5Fsuspended.php) reports via [TMZ](http://www.tmz.com/2014/03/19/snakes-in-a-cab-license-suspended) After the video was first published on YouTube last week, a spokesperson for the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission [told](http://gothamist.com/2014/03/11/snake%5Fcab%5Fpeta.php) the news website that the stunt was “monumentally poor judgement” on the part of the driver [Jimmy Failla](http://jimmyfailla.com), a comedian who did it to promote his new book _Follow That Car!: A Cabbie’s Guide To Conquering Fears, Achieving Dreams, and Finding a Public Restroom._ PETA’s communication director also said loud noises, like shrieking passengers, could be “extremely stressful” for live snakes and suggested using a rubber one instead. On Twitter today, jokester Failla confirms that his days as a taxi cab driver are hissstory: I'm headlining Taxi and Limousine Commission's Court Room at 10am and [@LevityLive](https://twitter.com/LevityLive?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) at 8pm. Free admission to either with promo code "snakes" — Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) [March 19, 2014](https://twitter.com/jimmyfailla/status/446258800538824704?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) In one hour I'm on SiriusXM with my boys [@CovinoandRich](https://twitter.com/CovinoandRich?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) It's my first interview as a suspended cabbie.[#followthatcar](https://twitter.com/hashtag/followthatcar?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) [#snakesinacab](https://twitter.com/hashtag/snakesinacab?src=hash&ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) — Jimmy Failla (@jimmyfailla) [March 19, 2014](https://twitter.com/jimmyfailla/status/446336093424992256?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) Calling the stunt and its aftermath “reptile dysfunction,” TMZ [reports](http://www.tmz.com/2014/03/19/snakes-in-a-cab-license-suspended/) Failla claims he has been approached by producers who want him to pull the prank in other places. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/30711/watch-new-yorkers-freak-out-when-a-taxi-driver-pranks-them-with-a-live-snake/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/30711/watch-new-yorkers-freak-out-when-a-taxi-driver-pranks-them-with-a-live-snake/"},"headline":"Watch New Yorkers Freak Out When a Taxi Driver Pranks Them With a Live Snake","datePublished":"2014-03-19T19:30:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:07:57.870Z","description":"Fasten your ssssseatbelts","url":"https://time.com/30711/watch-new-yorkers-freak-out-when-a-taxi-driver-pranks-them-with-a-live-snake/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Humor"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. 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