--- 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  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. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/30711/watch-new-yorkers-freak-out-when-a-taxi-driver-pranks-them-with-a-live-snake/","name":"Watch New Yorkers Freak Out When a Taxi Driver Pranks Them With a Live Snake"}}]}] ```