Gourt > Society > Holidays > April Fool's Day > Pranks
A practical joke or prank is a situation set up usually to produce what the perpetrator imagines to be a humorous physical outcome at the expense of the target. Since the set-up or deception is generally eventually revealed to the victim, the butt of the joke is thereby made to feel foolish or victimized. It can be argued, therefore, that there is an inherent strain of cruelty in most practical jokes. However, some groups, such as the New York based Improv Everywhere merely aim to bring humour into the lives of strangers, without humiliating or hurting anyone. Practical jokes are also distinct from slapstick or knockabout, where the goal is to make physical events appear miscalculated, inept, or accidental. The term practical refers to the fact that the joke consists of someone doing something (a 'practise'), rather than the common sense of the word ('useful or sensible'). Well-known practical jokers include the illustrator Hugh Troy and the publicist Jim Moran.
Types of practical jokes include:
- False signalling, such as a 'kick me' note stuck on someone's back, an 'automatic door' sign on a normal swinging door, or dropping an empty carton on someone's foot after pretending it is heavy;
- Removing someone's clothing so that it exposes a private body part or their undergarments, particularly in public;
- Surprise disruption, employing (for example) trip-wires, whoopee cushions, peanut butter or fecal matter on the inside of a car door handle, punctured ketchup packets under the toilet seat, or a three-legged podium for a public speaker;
- Visual deception, such as water-filled balloons, plastic wrap on a toilet seat, 'apple-pie beds' which have had the top blanket artfully folded back so the victim cannot get all the way in, loosening the tops of salt shakers, causing its entire contents to spill on one's meal, fake flowers in the lapel which squirt water, rubber fruit and guns which unfurl a flag saying 'bang';
- Fool's errands such as sending someone to buy striped paint, water-proof towels, or read-only CD blanks (see also: snipe hunt);
- Hoax stories or situations perpetrated on or by the media such as fabricated UFO landings and fake celebrity interviews involving rude or ludicrous questions (see also: culture jamming);
- Spontaneous impersonations, such as taking an order for takeaway food from someone who has actually dialed a wrong number;
- Verbal and typographical pranks, such as printing a block of text so that the first letters of every line spell out an irreverent message (see also Acrostic), or teaching someone a purportedly useful phrase in another language which transpires to be an insult (such as "Tu es une vache", which means "You are a cow" in French.)
"Best Office Pranks of All Time" http://j.mp/2ggelh
MakeShiftMonty0 (MontyMonty) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:25:58 -0000
"Best Office Pranks of All Time" http://j.mp/2ggelh
Saw "Paranormal Activity" last night. The pranks I could pull on my friends after they've seen it. hehe. If only I were more evil.
Viktorlarsson (Viktorlarsson) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:24:08 -0000
Saw "Paranormal Activity" last night. The pranks I could pull on my friends after they've seen it. hehe. If only I were more evil.
Watching Ownage Pranks Live show http://www.stickam.com/OwnagePranks
_MarcuzB (Marcus Bennett) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:03:32 -0000
Watching Ownage Pranks Live show http://www.stickam.com/OwnagePranks
RT: @GuyKawasaki: Most creative office pranks of all time http://om.ly/bTpt | LOL
zozua (Joshua) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:03:00 -0000
RT: @GuyKawasaki: Most creative office pranks of all time http://om.ly/bTpt | LOL
Loved the One with Post Its RT @GuyKawasaki: Most creative office pranks of all time http://om.ly/bTpt
Aaragorn1984 (Abhijeet Gandhi) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:59:48 -0000
Loved the One with Post Its RT @GuyKawasaki: Most creative office pranks of all time http://om.ly/bTpt
RT @OwnagePranks: live pranks!! checkkk it out now http://www.stickam.com/OwnagePranks HOP IN!
Zachsb (Zach Solomon-Beloin) Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:59:37 -0000
RT @OwnagePranks: live pranks!! checkkk it out now http://www.stickam.com/OwnagePranks HOP IN!
The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time - An illustrated list, by Alex Boese.
Meta Description: [ A reference guide to hoaxes, pranks, practical jokes, frauds, tricks, and other forms of deception. ]
All-4-Free Freebie Tree - Provides pranks, jokes, and downloadable freebies.
Meta Description: [ Play a harmless trick on someone you know this April, with our collection of free pranks, tricks, jokes, downloads, and other hilarious freebies. ]
April Fool's Day Prank Software - Offers free harmless joke and prank software.
Meta Description: [ RJL Software provides many Windows freeware joke and prank programs for you to download. Perfect for April Fools day, or if you want to play a gag on someone in the office. These practial jokes and gags are the highest of quality and the best this is they are all FREE. ]
April Fools on the Net - An archive of net humor, pranks, jokes and foolishness.
Meta Description: [ April Fools on the net ]
April Fools Practical Jokes Gag Gifts - Contains a list of pranks from 1990 to present day. Also includes ideas for gag pranks.
Meta Description: [ April Fool's Day practical jokes, gag gifts and holiday pranks are featured along with some funny stories and humorous tomfoolery. ]
April Fools' Special: History's Hoaxes - National Geographic compilation that includes explanation of how some hoaxes were done, how they were spread, and eventually debunked. Includes definition and history.
Meta Description: [ At first glance, the headlines sound plausible: Shark leaps from ocean to attack a hovering helicopter. Alabama legislature votes to change the value of the mathematical constant pi. But they are lies. Happy April Fools' Day. In celebration of the day, National Geographic News has compiled... ]
Microsoft Buys the Open Directory -- or Not - Information about 2002 acquisition of the ODP by Microsoft. Includes a screen shot of what the main web page looked like.
Meta Description: [ Microsoft buys the Open Directory. ]
The Kremvax Hoax - Describes story of how the USSR joined the Internet in 1984. Include original usenet posting and followup. Maintained by the perpetrator himself.
| 'SAW' Prank Call Caused Stroke | |
| Next Video | |
