"Prank" redirects here. For the characters in the comic series Flash and Batman respectively, see Prank (The Flash) and Prank (The Batman).
Practical joke involving completely blocking someone's doorway with phone books
A hack in progress in Lobby 7 at MIT
Female Stone louse, appearing in the highly reputed German medical dictionary
Pschyrembel for 'quite a while'.
Shimer College students pushing a VW Beetle into a campus building
A practical joke is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion or discomfort.[1] A person who performs a practical joke is called a "practical joker".[1] Other terms for practical jokes include prank, gag, jape, or shenanigan.
Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks or hoaxes in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being talked into handing over money or other valuables. Practical jokes are generally lighthearted, reversible and non-permanent, and aim to make the victim feel foolish or victimized to a degree. However, practical jokes performed with cruelty or as part of the deliberate exclusion of someone from the in group can become bullying.[2]
In Western culture, April Fools' Day is a day traditionally dedicated to conducting practical jokes.[3]
Contents
- 1 Description
- 2 Famous practical jokes
- 3 Movies
- 4 Radio
- 5 Television
- 6 People
- 7 Fictional characters
- 8 See also
- 9 References
Description
A practical joke is "practical" because it consists of someone doing something physical, in contrast to a verbal or written joke. For example, the joker who is setting up and conducting the practical joke might hang a bucket of water above a doorway and rig the bucket using pulleys so when the door opens the bucket dumps the water. The joker would then wait for the victim to walk through the doorway and be drenched by the bucket of water. Objects can also be used in practical jokes, like fake vomit, chewing gum bugs, exploding cigars, stink bombs, costumes and whoopee cushions.
Practical jokes often occur inside offices, usually to surprise co-workers. Covering the computer accessories with Jell-O, wrapping the desk with Christmas paper or aluminium foil or filling it with balloons are just some examples of office pranks.[4] Practical jokes are also common occurrences during sleepovers, whereby teens will play pranks on their friends as they come into the home, enter a room or even as they sleep.[5]
American humorist H. Allen Smith wrote a 320-page book in 1953 called The Compleat Practical Joker (ISBN 0-688-03705-4) that contains numerous examples of practical jokes. The book became a best seller not only in the United States but also in Japan.[6]
Famous practical jokes
A practical joke recalled as his favorite by the playwright Charles MacArthur, concerns the American painter and bohemian character Waldo Peirce. While living in Paris in the 1920s, Peirce "made a gift of a very big turtle to the woman who was the concierge of his building". The woman doted on the turtle and lavished care on it. A few days later Peirce substituted a somewhat larger turtle for the original one. This continued for some time, with larger and larger turtles being surreptitiously introduced into the woman's apartment. The concierge was beside herself with happiness and displayed her miraculous turtle to the entire neighborhood. Peirce then began to sneak in and replace the turtle with smaller and smaller ones, to her bewildered distress.[7] This was the storyline behind Esio Trot, by Roald Dahl.
Modern and successful pranks often take advantage of the modernization of tools and techniques. In Canada, engineering students have a reputation for annual pranks; at the University of British Columbia these usually involve leaving a Volkswagen beetle in an unexpected location (such as suspended from the Golden Gate Bridge[8] and the Lions Gate Bridge[9]). A similar prank was undertaken by engineering students at Cambridge University, England, where an Austin 7 car was put on top of the Senate House building.[10] Pranks can also adapt to the political context of the era.[11] Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are particularly known for their "hacks".[12]
Not unlike the Stone Louse of Germany, in the American West the jackalope has become an institutionalized practical joke perennially perpetrated by ruralites (as a class) on tourists, most of whom have never heard of the decades-old myth.[13]
The 2003 TV movie Windy City Heat, consists of an elaborate practical joke on the film's star, Perry Caravallo, who is led to believe that he is starring in a faux action film, Windy City Heat, where the filming which is ostensibly for the film's DVD extras actually documents the long chain of pranks and jokes performed at Caravallo's expense.[14]
Movies
Films featuring practical jokes include:
- One Hundred Men and a Girl (1937)
- Carrie (1976)
- Porky's (1982)
- April Fool's Day (1986)
- Men at Work (1990)
- Grumpy Old Men (1993)
- Watch It (1993)
- Grumpier Old Men (1995)
- Dirty Work (1998)
- Super Troopers (2001)
- Jackass: The Movie (2002)
- Big Fat Liar (2002)
- Windy City Heat (2003)
- Jackass Number Two (2006)
- Jackass 3D (2010)
- The Prankster (2010)
- Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa (2013)
Radio
- The Howard Stern Show
- The Jerky Boys
- The Phil Hendrie Show
- Rickey Smiley
- Roy D. Mercer
- Touch-Tone Terrorists
- Tube Bar prank calls
- Elvis Duran and the Morning Show
- The War of the Worlds (radio drama)
Television
- America's Funniest Home Videos
- America's Funniest People
- Beadle's About
- Boiling Points
- Candid Camera
- Crank Yankers
- The Dudesons
- Fonejacker
- Friends
- Game For A Laugh
- Girls Behaving Badly
- Hi-Jinks
- Howie Do It
- Impractical Jokers
- Jackass
- Just For Laughs
- The Jamie Kennedy Experiment
- Joe Millionaire
- Just For Laughs Gags
- Loiter Squad
- Naked Camera
- Our Gang shorts
- Teacher's Pet
- School's Out
- Love Business
- The Office
- The Office (UK TV series)
- Prank Patrol
- Pranked
- PrankStars
- Punk'd
- Rad Girls
- Room 401
- Scare Tactics
- The Tom Green Show
- Trigger Happy TV
- TV Bloopers And Practical Jokes
- What's with Andy?
- Wild Boys
- truTV Presents: World's Dumbest...
People
Some people have developed reputations as practical jokers in addition to other work; others have made pranking their primary work. Many practical jokers are comedians or entertainers, while others engage in pranks connected to social activism or to protest movements.
- Alan Abel – practical joker, satirist
- Roman Atwood - prankster who gained recognition on YouTube
- Ken Babbs – writer, famous member of Merry Pranksters group
- Sacha Baron Cohen – comedian, writer, actor
- Jeremy Beadle – British television personality
- Jello Biafra – musician, political activist
- Cyrus Broacha – Indian comedian
- George Clooney – film actor
- The Diggers – social activist group, originated Free Stores in the 1960s
- Rio Ferdinand – footballer
- Richard Feynman – Nobel prize winning physicist, teacher
- fouseyTUBE – YouTube personality
- Allen Funt – producer of television show Candid Camera
- Rémi Gaillard – French humorist, practical joker
- George Gamow – physicist, teacher, science writer
- Mel Gibson – film actor, director
- Eddie Gossling – comedian, writer
- Tom Green – actor, comedian
- Abbie Hoffman – political activist, leader of the Yippies, writer
- Janoskians – Australian web-based comedy group who deal with pranks and stunts
- Andy Kaufman – comedian
- Ken Kesey – writer who organized the Merry Pranksters group
- Jimmy Kimmel
- Ashton Kutcher – host, executive producer of Punk'd
- Tom Mabe – comedian
- monochrom – Austrian art pranksters
- Odd Future – rap crew
- Keith Moon – former member of The Who
- Jim Moran – publicist, publicity-stunt promoter
- Camille Paglia – feminist writer, teacher
- Jack Parsons (engineer) – rocket scientist, co-founder of Jet Propulsion Lab, Thelemite occult religious writer
- Sean Penn – film actor
- Penn & Teller – comedians, magicians
- Boyd Rice – avant-garde musician, practical joker
- Darren "Whackhead" Simpson – South African radio host, prank caller
- Joey Skaggs – practical joker, culture jammer
- Vivian Stanshall – English singer-songwriter, eccentric, worked with Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
- Carl Dean "Alfalfa" Switzer – child actor
- Hugh Troy – painter, Cornell student practical joker
- Dick Tuck – political practical joker against Richard Nixon
- The Yes Men – practical jokers, satirists of corporate behavior
- Darryl F. Zanuck – film producer and director
- Anton LaVey – occultist and writer
- Vitaly Zdorovetskiy - Russian prankster who uploads pranks to YouTube
Fictional characters
- Al Bundy, on Married... with Children
- Alex Russo, on Wizards Of Waverly Place
- Andy Larkin on What's with Andy?
- BJ Hunnicutt, on CBS's sitcom M*A*S*H*
- Bart Simpson, on The Simpsons
- The Comedian, on the comic book series Watchmen
- David Brent, on BBC's sitcom The Office
- Dean Winchester, on the CW's Supernatural
- The Electric Company regulars Francine Carruthers, Manny Spamboni, Danny Rebus, Annie Scrambler, and Gilda Flip
- Emil i Lönneberga, the title character of Astrid Lindgren's fictional children's novels
- Hawkeye Pierce, on CBS's sitcom M*A*S*H*
- Jim Halpert, on the US sitcom The Office
- The Joker, the DC Comics super villain
- Jokey Smurf, on the comic book and animated series The Smurfs
- Naruto Uzumaki, the main protagonist and titular character of Masashi Kishimoto's anime and manga franchise
- Megan Parker, on the show Drake and Josh
- Pinkie Pie, animated show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
- Prankster (comics), the DC Comics super villain
- Tim Canterbury, on BBC's sitcom The Office
- Trapper John McIntyre, on CBS's sitcom M*A*S*H*
- Tricky Dicky from The Topper had been a practical joker as his main trait.
- Valentina La Paz, on The Sopranos
- Fred and George Weasley, Harry Potter series
- Hermann Fegelein, (not the real SS Obergruppenführer, but his counterpart in the Downfall parodies, played by Thomas Kretschmann).
- Heinrich Himmler, (not the real SS Reichsführer, but his counterpart in the Downfall parodies, played by Ulrich Noethen).
- Felicity Merriman and Elizabeth Cole from the American Girl series.
- Tyler Lewis, from Tracy Beaker Returns and The Dumping Ground who is the troublemaking young man who moved to Elmtree house when burnywood burnt down.
See also
- Dreadnought hoax
- Gag name
- George Hayduke (author)
- List of practical joke topics
- Pieing
- Practical joke device
- Prank call
- Pranknet
- School prank
- Senior prank
- Snipe hunt
- Student prank
- The Yes Men
- Yippies
References
|
Look up prank in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pranks. |
- ^ a b "Practical joke". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 2012-05-27.
- ^ Kádár, Dániel Z. (2013). Relational Rituals and Communication: Ritual Interaction in Groups. p. 156. ISBN 0230393055.
- ^ "Japes of the great (book review of April is the cruellest month: The history and meaning of All Fools' Day)". The Economist. April 2, 1988. Retrieved 2011-04-18.
- ^ "Funny Office Pranks". Weirdomatic.com. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
- ^ "Funny Sleepover Pranks". Terrysblinds.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
- ^ Publishers Weekly 209. 1976. p. 2:24 https://books.google.com/books?id=jAtFAQAAIAAJ.
- ^ Fun Fare: a Treasury of Reader's Digest Wit and Humor. 1949. p. 36.
- ^ Curiel, Jonathan. "Beetle Overboard! / VW hung off GG Bridge in prank", San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 2001, accessed March 9, 2011
- ^ Wood, Graeme. "UBC dean says punishment uncertain for botched Volkswagen Beetle stunt", The Vancouver Sun, February 5, 2009, accessed March 9, 2011
- ^ From Hermes to bonsai kittens. What makes a jape great?, from The Economist, December 20, 2005. Discusses the origins and evolution of pranks.
- ^ Priceless pranks, from The Economist, February 21, 2006. Lists famous and successful pranks throughout history.
- ^ Kravets, David. "April 1, 1998: Disney to Buy MIT for $6.9 Billion" Wired, March 31, 2010, accessed March 10, 2011.
- ^ Deutsch, James (2014). "Jackalope". In Levine, Timothy R. Encyclopedia of Deception. p. 555. ISBN 1483306895.
- ^ Hyden, Steven (2013-11-12). "The Greatest Trick Comedy Ever Pulled". Grantland. Retrieved 2015-01-23.
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