Episode 5: Phantom Planet

Sam meets a fellow driver who is fearful of the past.

Sam knew something crazy was going to happen when the couple got in and asked to go to Avenue Z; what eventually transpired was indeed crazy, but not at all in the way he was expecting…

Sam’s interactions with a passenger of uncertain means teaches him a valuable lesson.  Another clip from the live stage version of The Taxi Tapes, as performed at the People’s Improv Theater on November 12, 2011.

A group of drunken Brits guides Sam directly into the path of an oncoming MTA bus, with unexpected results.  This episode is an excerpt from the live version of “The Taxi Tapes,” as performed at the People’s Improv Theater on November 12, 2011.

One time Sam almost killed Jon Stewart with his cab.  An excerpt from the live version of The Taxi Tapes, performed at The PIT on November 12, 2011.

Actual audio from inside Sam’s cab, recorded live throughout a frozen February day in 2007.  There is some freestyle singing.

While driving along the Grand Central Parkway, minding his own business, a song by The Hold Steady blindsides Sam with the realization that the Plan may have gone horribly awry.

Sam makes a not-so-triumphant return to the Hilton, where an old nemesis rears its ugly head.

As his taxi dies on McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn, Sam recalls an orange naugahyde sofa, a pay-phone, and a river of chicken blood.

The perilous clutches of 31st Street interfere with Sam’s burgeoning confidence in himself as his first day of taxi driving draws to a close.