BEST APRIL FOOLS DAY PRANKS 2015
“Dude Living Brings You The Anarchist’s Cookbook of April Fools Gags”
A month of few holidays, (save for the one with Jesus, colored protein and a rabbit, for some reason) April is scarce in the way of events worth getting excited over. 30 days of rain, balmy weather and NBA basketball as the only watchable sport on television is enough to drive anyone to depraved means of entertaining themselves.
I suppose it’s only appropriate to start a month like this with a day of often hilarious cruelty: April Fool’s Day.
A holiday of pranks that often sneaks up on us without warning, April Fool’s Day is a celebration of the worst of us, a day for our creativity in punking friends and family to reach a head, a full-force assault of all around douchebaggery. Though mean-spirited in some sense of the day’s transgressions, we can all agree things can get pretty comical when not on the receiving end.
No matter what you have to say about the first day of April, it sure beats Administrative Professional’s Day.
A Brief History Of April Fool’s Day
An age-old tradition passed down through many cultures, April Fool’s Day was assumed to have begun with the ancient Romans, who used April 1st as the date for the vernal equinox, symbolizing the start of Spring and the hope for escape from the weather. It was the start of a time for fools and a fools hope of a harvest to come of the icy ground. Though a changing of the seasons, the day soon began to take the essence of today’s spirit.
Some speculate when France switched to the Gregorian calendar, switching the beginning of the year from the last week of March to January 1st, those behind the times were considered fools, still celebrating the new year on April 1st like a bunch of freakin’ amateurs. Though fascinating in its heritage, the holiday as we know it today was first documented in the year 1700 in England.
The 18th century was a fine time indeed for pranks in the British isles, with Scotland even extending the holiday into a two-day period of prank-induced paranoia, beginning with a day of sending people on fake errands and followed with a tradition known as Tailie Day, where all the jokes involved people’s asses. Fake tails, “kick me” signs, all were fair game in the tyrannical prankisphere of 18th century England.
Pranks Of Note In Modern Times
A notable prank of modern times, Taco Bell tried to convince the public in ’96 it was sponsoring the Liberty Bell.
From the classic 1957 BBC prank regarding Switzerland’s record-setting spaghetti crop to Sports Illustrated’s discovery of the baseball pitcher who could throw 168 mph, April Fool’s Day has been taken into the mainstream, with many publications and businesses assuming the holiday has been such a commonly-celebrated tradition, any ludicrous news released at the start of April will not be taken seriously.
Spaghetti Crop Video
Though this has gone by the wayside somewhat, it’s still common for many of us to still take on the responsibility of continuing the tradition with our own friends and family.
Continuing The April Fools Tradition
Traditions don’t perpetuate themselves. They need people motivated by nostalgia to continue them, people enthusiastically practicing them and passing them on to the next generation to keep them going. When it comes to April Fool’s Day, there needs to be some sort of motivation.
For many of us, the joy of humiliating one of our coworkers by making them scream like a little girl or simply making them look dumb is enough of a carrot at the end of the stick to keep us pulling off these pranks. For the ultimate yield of hilarity, however, you’re going to need a quality prank.
Deciding on what type of antics you want to pull
You first need to decide on the nature of the prank you plan on pulling. There are three main types. Whichever you decide on is up to you—and the victim’s sense of humor, of course. These include:
- Scare Pranks: Freaking someone the hell out is always a classic route to April Fool’s delight. With some residual hard feelings afterward (at least once their heart rate goes down), this could be a good one for a quick laugh on your end.
- Gags: A buzzer in your palm on a handshake, a loose cap on a salt shaker, a water squirting camera, all are classic prop jokes good for a decent giggle. These are probably best for people who don’t mind stupid jokes, having their food ruined or are all-around easygoing people. Use discretion.
- Just Plain Mean Pranks: Only for use on close friends, family or your worst enemies, just plain mean pranks find their hilarity in the relationship between the target and the prankster. Shaving cream on someone’s hand while they’re sleeping, fake lottery tickets or serving people gross food are good places to start. Only use if you don’t mind potentially burning a bridge with somebody. (Note: don’t literally set a bridge on fire with your friends, that’s not a prank.)
Choosing A Prank For The Right Situation
People’s senses of humor are always different and, like the clothes they wear, one prank doesn’t necessarily fit all. You wouldn’t pie a 5-year-old kid in the face any more than you would prank call your grandfather (That’s something I can actually see myself doing). Choosing the right prank for the right person can be a challenge. Finding any sort of etiquette in pulling a cruel trick on a person is hard enough in the first place, but knowing how to prank somebody without destroying your friendship is a trial of a whole other level.
Navigating these complicated social constructs take too long to learn on your own. So we’ve compiled a number of the finest pranks for every situation to experiment with. Marriage counseling and medical bill financing not included.
Pranks At Home
Coming up with a diabolical prank to pull at home should take advantage of a key attribute of the situation: everybody living there more or less knows their environment down to the last creaky floorboard. Interfering with the consistency of that environment is likely the best way to mess with somebody living in the house as it is most likely to catch them by surprise.
Pranks for the home are about catching somebody at their most vulnerable—completely oblivious to the possibility of getting pranked and pranked good. Here’s a few ideas to get started.
Mess With The Food
The last thing anybody ever expects is pouring ketchup onto their hot dog only to realize it’s red acrylic paint. In somebody’s home, there are a few things one would expect to remain sacred: their room and their food. This idea will catch them totally unaware. This April Fool’s Day, try buying a bottle of food coloring and go experiment a little.
Set Booby Traps
If there’s one thing no long-residing home occupant will never take for granted, it’s the layout of their house. Many people would notice so much as a fork out of place if anyone moved it, so you’re going to have to be a little bit creative if you want to really get ‘em. We suggest setting booby traps.
From glitter bombs atop slightly ajar doors to saran wrap covering a doorway or toilet seat, the number of ways you could mess with people in your home setting booby traps is endlessly hilarious. Even something as simple as putting tape over the faucet can bring the mood of your day from 0-60 in no time.
Start Dialing
Imagine answering the door to a pizza delivery you never initiated. Now imagine, ten minutes later, a plumber coming over to fix your garbage disposal when you don’t even have running water. Than, for the sake of this example, let’s say you’re a guy and some random man walks in and starts dancing, asking for payment an hour later.
If you really want to screw with somebody good, call a bunch of places, order stuff and services and send them over to somebody else’s house. Even if it ends up costing you money, it’d still be a delightful way to make someone’s day just a little bit weirder.
Pranks At Work
Office politics are a volatile, complicated network of relationships April Fool’s Day’s founders could never have anticipated. The tiptoeing around human resources, the dodging of foul public opinion, all present dangers enough to decimate any fun to be had on the holiday.
If your coworkers aren’t a bunch of weenies, however, we have some pranks you can try.
Bake A Cake For The Office, Make It Taste Terrible
What better Trojan horse for office trickery than disgusting flavors hidden under the guise of being a delicious baked good? Bake a cake, make it look absolutely delicious, and spike it with cayenne pepper, Worcestershire sauce, anything you can imagine would belong in anything other than a cake. It’ll get them every time.
Replace Printer Paper With Construction Paper
The constant whirring of the printer and fax machine are the monotonous tone of many office settings. Depressing, inhuman and unrelenting, many approach these machines with the expectation of consistency, with the belief the only thing that could go wrong is a paper jam or worse—having to change the toner.
So how surprising and hilarious would it be if they went to get their printing job and the product came out on construction paper? Hilarious.
Of course, you could also go with the classic gag of printing out a sign that says “This machine now voice-activated” and tape it to the copier. That could potentially get pretty funny if you’re simply looking to make people feel dumb.
Pranking the Car
The car is the bloodline of any working professional, or any person really. They connect people to places far away, help them keep pace with their busy schedules and generally make people’s lives livable in today’s giant world.
Wouldn’t it be silly if you messed around with that?
Fill The Window Washer Fluid Tank With Something Weird
Chemically speaking, we are not qualified to comment on what could potentially destroy the inner workings of your window washing system. But adding food coloring to water and filling the tank with that could make for a pleasant surprise upon activation.
Glitter Bomb The Air Conditioning
Imagine turning on the A/C on a hot summer’s day only to have the whole thing blow up in your face in sparkly goodness. Include a lint brush in the back so they have a way to get all of the glitter out after the chest-bursting laughter subsides.
Hack The Soundsystem
If your friend’s car has Bluetooth compatibility, this might be a fun one. Link yourself to the sound system and play police siren sounds as they drive around. They’ll tell you it was funny later. After they’ve changed their pants, of course.
Put On A Questionable Bumper Sticker
Sometimes, people don’t pay attention to the finer details of their vehicle like, for instance, their bumper. Put on a sticker that completely contradicts who they are as a person. For added laughs, make it something controversial, like a pro-choice supportive sticker on a hard right leaning person’s car. The laughs won’t stop until the razor blade has scraped off every last bit of adhesive.
Pranks On A Kid
Some may say pranking a child is cruel. Those people have clearly never had kids of their own. Messing with your kids is probably one of the more rewarding parts of parenting—they’re the long-forming gag, one your kids won’t fully understand until they’re fully grown. Though cruelty is not recommended (unless your kid is definably a ‘little s—‘) these pranks could do the job just as well.
Switch Sibling’s Beds While They’re Sleeping
This one could be a classic if you have two young children with separate rooms. Pick them up when they’re sleeping, switch their beds and laugh as they wake up to a strange setting for some reason they can’t explain. Then act clueless.
Make Them Believe In ‘The April Fool’
Fabricate a myth about a leprechaun who breaks into people’s houses on April Fool’s Day to mess with their stuff. Plant evidence and say if they find him, they get a reward. Make it super realistic and intense, only to have the reward be something lame, like a plate full of broccoli. Priceless.
Fill Their Cereal Box With Packing Peanuts
If anyone isn’t a morning person, it’s a child. How pissed off do you think your kid will be to pour lucky charms into his cereal bowl just to be greeted with packing peanuts.
Replace Their Video games With Copies Of ‘The Longest Day’
Because dammit, these kids need some culture in their lives.
Pranking In College
If there’s any better time to be a prankster, it’s college. While there are many priceless gags you can pull on your roommates, the truly great college prank is often pulled on the college itself. So, rather than giving you specific pranks to pull, we’re going to give you some pointers.
Symbolism is a major element of the college prank. Defiling a mascot, TP’ing the president’s office for doing a ‘shitty job’ or even replacing artwork with crude drawings of someone’s genitals could all prove to be solid college pranks. A successful gag also relies on exposure. You have a massive audience of like-minded peers who are likely tuned into a similar sense of humor as you. Find ways to market your gag to this massive audience, either by committing the deed in a prominent area or doing it through campus press, such as the radio, television or newspaper outlets.
The classic flyer for a fake event on campus could also prove to be a good gag. Information spreads through college campuses in ways nobody could ever hope to predict reliably. Your prank could eventually blow up to unprecedented levels with the correct finesse.
Pranks On Your Spouse
Some say online quizzes are the real test of a strong relationship. We think the best test lies in the trials of pushing someone’s sense of humor to the edge. Reaching a level of comfort in your relationship where you can prank your spouse is a truly beautiful thing indeed. If you already have a lawyer or a couch to sleep on for the night, here are a few pranks you may be able to pull off.
Have Your Friends Text You Romantic Messages
And then leave your phone in clear sight. Hell, look at it while you’re out together. You’ll get in an argument and you can yell ‘call the number if you don’t believe me.’ When your friend answers, you may get slapped in the face, but boy-oh-boy will it be a hoot.
Buy Them Chocolates, Replace The Chocolates With Vegetables
Sure, it’s a cheap gag, but at least you’re helping them stay healthy right?
Borrow A Friend’s Pet Or Kid, Say You Adopted It As A Surprise
Because if there’s nothing anybody loves, it’s surprises.
Though this is as comprehensive a guide as we can imagine, keep in mind. We DO NOT do damage control. All of these pranks will be perpetrated at your own risk, and mindfulness and tact are always the stick used to draw the line in the sand. You should never cross this line, but toeing it? It’s only fun until somebody gets hurt, keep that in mind because that’s what great pranks are all about.
Happy April Fool’s Day, everybody.
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