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There should be clear guide lines when playing a practical joke on April Fool’s day or at any other time.
Although the victim may be placed in a slightly embarrassing situation it is important that
1. At no time should the victim be placed in any danger where he or she will be injured in any way. (The only injury sustained should be to their pride.)
2. The enacting of a prank must not result in the permanent damage to the possessions of the victim or any other third party. If you are happy to see you own property, split, broken, stained or rendered useless in any other way, that is up to you.
3. If anything should go wrong, you must expect to take full responsibility.
Having laid down the ground rules, here are a number of practical jokes – April Fool pranks that should create a laugh without too much angst!
The first few ideas, (in heavy type) are Prezzie ideas. Which would suit any time of year but as Christmas is approaching it would seem to be a propitious time to think about what you are going to give your friend, loved one - or even someone you are less enamoured with - this Christmas.
BROKEN PREZZIE.
Either save broken glass from something you recently damaged or alternative deliberately break one or more glass items like say, a wine bottle.
Place the broken glass in a box and check that it sounds right when you shake it - nice and ‘broken glassy’!
Now cover the box in as elaborate a way as you wish, making the present appear to be very expensive. Choose who the victim will be and label the present accordingly. If possible wrap the real present in an identical fashion.
When handing you ‘victim the present, be careful to pick it up gently - don’t shake it or you will give the game away. Either fumble and drop it yourself or make sure you let go before the ‘victim’ gets a chance to hold it - timing is everything. Alternatively you may get an accomplice to hand you the present which you subsequently drop.
Look horrified, pick up the parcel and shake it,’ clink - clink’, broken glass. Make up a story about how expensive - or original - the item was.
Leave the victim on tenterhooks whilst you give other out other presents, then suddenly ‘magic up’ an identical parcel with the real present in it.
NEW PACK OF CIGGIES
Un peel the cellophane base of a packet of 20 cigarettes. Gently slide the pack out of the cellophane. Empty out the cigarettes. Either leave the pack empty or add some little surprise of your own. Make sure that anything added is not too heavy! Slide the pack back into the cellophane wrapper and seal the bottom with a small amount of sello tape. (this will not be noticed, as smokers are too intent on ‘unzipping’ a packet from the top, to get at the cigarettes, to worry about the base of the pack. Imagine their surprise when they unzip the pack and find it either empty or perhaps with a little note inside. Depending on who you are giving the cigarettes to, you might like to print, fold up and insert one of our
SPOOF ASBOs (Anti-social behaviour order) (For smoking)
GIANT TOOTHPICK
At some time during the year – even Christmas day – some one will give a member of your family a present in a lovely small presentation box. Save this box until needed. Obtain a 6 inch nail from someone you know and pack it in cotton wool in the ‘posh’ box. Print a label on a sticky label or good quality paper to the effect that enclosed is a super de-lux everlasting toothpick specially designed for the mouth that it has been purchased for. - or words to that effect, I’m sure you get the idea. Then wrap it and give it to your ‘victim’ Christmas morning. (In our own household it has become traditional for the person who received the toothpick to wrap it up the following year for someone else to open. Normally the time lapse between one Christmas and the next, means you forget who had it last year. To really confuse the situation get soemone else to send it the following year.
SPECIAL COMB FOR THE FOLLICALLY CHALLENGED.
Either save an old comb that is of no further use, or buy a cheap nylon/plastic comb and remove all but two teeth ( leave just one at each end.) As above, create a label advertising the virtues of the new scientifically designed comb for all those that find a conventional combs an embarrassment. Pack it in cotton wool in a ‘Posh’ box. And give it to a party who is short on hair.
DIY COMB.
Buy a comb, as above, remove all the teeth but save the teeth and the comb. Add a cheap tube of glue and place the lot in a presentation ‘posh’ box. Create a label advertising a comb for that person who has everything. Stick that on the outside of the box. Inside give instructions for the ‘DO IT YOURSELF COMB’
SEXY LINGERIE.
Take a large mans handkerchief and tie a knot in each corner, so that it resembles those, that the less discerning man will wear on his head when sitting on the beach.
Place the knotted hankie in a bo,x far larger than is needed and pack it accordingly. Print a label for the outside of the box advertising the latest in sexy nightwear. A frontless, backless, sideless, topless garment in the finest cotton. Then cover it in Christmas wrapping.
CHEERS
It is not difficult to soak off the labels from wine and spirit bottles. Remove the labels carefully, then stick them on the wrong bottles - a little ‘stick’ glue will do the trick. Once the labels are dry you can wrap the bottles and give them to the same or different individuals who will have fun trying to find out what it actually is they have been given. Alternatively soak off the labels and replace them with spoof labels.
SLEEPING PARTNERS 1
Draw humorous eyebrows and moustaches on your partner whilst the are asleep.
SLEEPING PARTNERS 2
Place a little ‘squirty’ cream on your sleeper’s fingers then tickle their nose with a feather or something similarly light.
SLEEPING PARNER 3.
Hide a ‘walky talky’ on the other side of the bedroom, leaving it switched on to. ‘receive mode’. Hide the other half of the ‘walky talky ‘ under your pillow. Give your partner a few minutes to settle down and before they are asleep start breathing into your ‘walky talky’ and then scratch or tap on it. Suggest that it is a ghost. A more elaborate joke is to get a friend to casually mention to your ‘victim’ partner that they had heard your house was haunted. Talk about it for a while and forget it for twenty four hours before practicing the above ruse.
SLEEPING PARTNER MARK 4
Whilst your partner sleeps the sleep of the innocent, cover their face with red spots and scream with fear the following morning when you see their face. You might even have mentioned in passing the previous evening, how you went to visit a friend who had this very contagious disease and that they were covered in bright red spots which were very painful for several days. You believe it was called something like Brakefellow’s disease. Let them draw their own conclusions from the previous night’s conversation.
A REAL GHOST.
Record the sound of clanking chains and ghostly sounds and voices on to a tape recorder. Then hide it in a suitable place. Hidden in a vase or bucket or any other resonating object will make it more difficult to tell where the sound is coming from. If you have a tape recorder that is acted by remote control then you can activate it whenever the moment seems right. Alternatively you can set the tape recorder to start via a time switch at a predetermined time when you think your victim is most likely to be around.
BEST OF FRIENDS
You have friends coming round. Before they arrive, get the assistance of an accomplice to record derogatory comments about you friends, in quiet conspiratorial voices, like,” That Mary Biggins, what a loser. And what about that boy friend of hers?” “Oh you mean Ugg, “ “Is that his name ?” “No that’s what I think every time I see him.” You get the idea. Rewind the tape and hide it somewhere. You will need say 25 seconds of blank tape before the recording because when your friends arrive, you will make an excuse to leave the room for a minute, as you go, flick the switch to set the tape going, then leave the room for about 1 minute. Just long enough for the tape to be playing. Now comes the tricky part. Trying to persuade them that it was a joke. Mind you if you have any sense, you will say something to that effect at the end of the recording so that your friends know they have been ‘set up’.
WHAT WAS THAT?
I suppose it’s naughty but wouldn’t it be nice to eaves drop on your friends? You can either hide a tape recorder in your own home, or if you have one of those small dictating tape recorders that slip in your pocket, you can surreptitiously switch it on and place it somewhere it will pick up conversation, then leave the room. It works best if the room you leave is full of friends of the opposite sex. It is surprising what they will say when the opposite gender is (supposedly) out of earshot.
COMPUTER 1 (Mouse trick)
Fix sello tape to the ball of a mouse and watch the frustration of the computer operator as they try to activate the cursor. This can be done at home or at the house of a friend. Particularly if they happen to leave the room for a moment whilst using the computer. On their return . . . one dead cursor !
COMPUTER 2 (Mouse trick)
Without anyone seeing you, leave a message on every computer operators desk saying that a new sophisticated virus has been discovered that interferes with the function of the computer mouse. It makes moving the curser very difficult. Leave it a few hours or maybe overnight, then when the time is propitious, stick one or more of the mouse balls with sello tape. It is more effective if only one or two are done, this appears more realistic and may take longer for the trick to be discovered.
COMPUTER 3 (Mouse trick)
Prepare a note similar to above saying that a mouse virus is causing cursors to react in an unpredictable way. Where there are two computer close enough to exchange mouse plugs. Disconnect your colleagues mouse and plug your mouse plug lead into their computer. Be sitting at your computer when they start operating the mouse. As soon as you see them operating the mouse. Start moving your mouse. The more your colleague moves their mouse the more you move yours. They will get so frustrated and assume they have the ‘mouse bug’
COMPUTER MARK 4 ( Keyboard swap)
If two computers are close enough in an office, school or evening class. Without being observed, disconnect the keyboard of an adjacent computer and plug your keyboard in, in its place. When the victim sits at their computer and starts to type nothing will happen for a few seconds, but by then you will have typed something on your key board like. “I wish you wouldn’t bang so hard on my keyboard you are giving me screen ache” or “I don’t feel very well today, I think I’ve caught a virus” You get the picture !
COMPUTER 5
Some computer programmes allow you to reverse the text. When writing a letter reverse the text before you print it, so the letter is back to front. If all else fails the recipient will be able to read the letter when held up to a mirror.
COMPUTER 6
Let it be known via whatever method is most believable that the company computer system has been struck down with a computer virus that is activated when a particular word or letter is typed on the computer (word or letter could be directly related to the business the company operates)
THE TALKING DOG.
There are many variations on this theme but the basic premise is that an animal or bird etc talks to the victim. Hide one half of a ‘walky talky’ under or close to an animal or bird. It may be in your home, another persons home, in the park or the zoo. Keep your distance and wait for a ‘victim’ to appear. When they show an interest in the bird or animal, say something appropriate like “Ooo that’s nice. “ Or “I hate people who do that!” and be ready to film their startled look.
SYNCHRONISATION.
This one will only work in a room with a number of people, in school, at work etc. Discuss with two or three friends or colleagues a strategy for suddenly all of you doing the same thing at precisely the same moment. The actions will depend on where you are but it could be, coughing, scratching the same part of you face, dropping an article like a pencil, ruler etc. turning round, taking a sip from a glass or cup. The possibilities are never ending. You might agree on a number of different actions to be done over a period of time. The leader to give a signal or sign that the others recognize and launch into whatever action has been decided on.
ONE FOR TEACHERS.
Having marked the results of a test or exam, inform the students that you going to collect the papers and give them their results. Leave the room and return a few minutes later very grave. Inform the students that there has been an accident, all the exam papers have been collected up and inadvertently been burned, or, shredded or in some other way destroyed so it is with deep regret that you must inform them that they will have to take another exam/test.
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