The city is probing a comedian who has been using a taxi to terrify passengers for a YouTube hidden-camera video called “Snakes in a Cab.”
Jimmy Failla, who holds a taxi license, picks up passengers, pokes a live python at them and records their horrified reactions.
“This was monumentally poor judgment on the driver’s part, and we are clearly going to actively question this person’s suitability to continue holding a TLC license,” said Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman Allan Fromberg.
The two-minute “Snakes in a Cab” — a take on the cult movie “Snakes on a Plane” — opens with a woman screaming at Failla after spotting the 10-foot albino python in the taxi.
“You should have told me you didn’t like snakes!” Failla says to her.
The video then shows passengers shrieking and cursing as the snake slithers through the taxi partition. Others lose it when they open the door and find it in the back seat.
“What kind of cab is this?” one woman yells at him.
Failla draws upon his experience as a former cabby in his comedy routines. He performs at the Gotham Comedy Club and Comic Strip Live.
He rented the cab for the gag from a medallion owner. He said he never turned on the meter in hopes of keeping himself out of trouble with the TLC.
“We’re trying to promote a book and have fun,” he said.
According to TLC rules, drivers cannot harass or abuse passengers, but none of the riders in Failla’s video filed complaints against him.
If the TLC does want to revoke his license, an Office of Administrative Trials and Hearing judge will make the final call.
But Failla, 37, said he’s not too worried because he hasn’t been a working cabby since 2010.
“I don’t care,” he said. “It’s the worst job in the world.”
Animal rights group PETA blasted Failla’s antics and suggested he use a rubber snake for future pranks.