Pranklopedia
Page 6
what you need
* Math homework handout (print the download for this prank found here: workman.com/ebookdownloads)
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Carefully cut out the math homework handout that you’ve printed.
2 Fill in your name and the date.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Give the fake homework sheet to a parent and explain that you are having trouble and would like some help. Keep a straight face when your parent starts struggling to figure out the answers. The problems all sound normal, but they’re actually impossible to solve!
2 You can add to your parent’s frustration by saying something like:
* “Our teacher said we should be able to do all of the problems in twenty minutes or less.”
* “Maybe you’re not reading the problem carefully enough. I think you’re rushing.”
* “Wow, now I know why I’m no good at math. It must be genetic.”
the prank
There are lots of websites that offer homework help, but only one that helps with homework pranks. Fake out your friends or siblings by sending them a link to this completely different homework site.
what you need
* Access to a computer for you and a friend or a sibling
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Wait for a day when you think your homework is particularly challenging or when you know your sibling has a difficult assignment.
2 If you want to see your victims’ reactions, send them the link when you are all in the same room with access to computers.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Send your friends or sibling an email saying, “I found this great website—workman.com/homeworkhelp—that helps you with homework.” When they go to the website they’ll be in for a big surprise.
the prank
Ice cream is like summer vacation: Just thinking about it can make you feel good—unless it’s this ice cream. It looks like the real thing—perfect scoops of chocolate and strawberry ice cream. But it tastes like something you might use to clean drains.
what you need
* Instant mashed potatoes (plain or garlic)
* Water
* A microwave
* Chocolate syrup
* Cocoa powder (optional)
* Cinnamon
* Nutmeg
* Worcestershire sauce (optional)
* Red food coloring
* Yellow mustard
* A microwave-proof bowl
* A teaspoon
* A serving spoon
* 2 bowls for serving
* Real chocolate or strawberry ice cream for you!
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Mix the instant mashed potatoes with water. (Follow the directions on the package.) Ask an adult to help you microwave the mixture for three minutes.
2 Let the mixture cool. While you’re waiting, decide if you want to make “chocolate” or “strawberry.” If you prefer to make both flavors, put half of the potato mix in a second bowl so you can create the flavors separately.
To make “chocolate ice cream”:
Mix the following ingredients into the potato mixture:
* A couple tablespoons of chocolate syrup
* 1 tablespoon cocoa powder (optional)
* 1 tablespoon of cinnamon
* 1 tablespoon of nutmeg
Stir and taste a tiny bit to make sure it’s awful. You can also add Worcestershire sauce if you have some.
To make “strawberry ice cream”:
Stir 1 drop of red food coloring and 1 tablespoon of mustard into the potato mixture. If the color isn’t red enough, mix in one drop of food coloring at a time until it’s the right shade.
PULL THE PRANK
1 When your victim isn’t around, use an ice-cream scoop or a spoon to shape the fake ice cream into scoops and arrange them in a serving bowl. Put some real ice cream in a similar bowl for yourself.
2 For added authenticity you can save an empty container from real chocolate or strawberry ice cream. Put your fake ice cream in the container and stick it in the freezer just before you’re ready to serve it. Make sure your victim sees you take it out and scoop it into a bowl. And be sure to take your serving from a container of the real stuff.
3 Serve your victim the ice cream and act completely shocked when she spits it out in disgust.
Improv Everywhere:
Everybody, Freeze!
Most pranksters work alone or with one or two co-conspirators. Improv Everywhere thinks bigger—much bigger. The group organizes hundreds of people to stage pranks in public places, usually to the delight of bystanders. Comedian and prankster Charlie Todd founded the group in 2001. In one of its best-known pranks, 207 people gathered at Grand Central Terminal, the world’s largest train station, in New York City. At a prearranged time, they all froze in place for five minutes. One prankster was in the middle of eating a hot dog. Two people were in the middle of a kiss. Commuters and tourists passing through the station were completely baffled. It looked like someone had pressed the PAUSE button on a video camera. Luckily, volunteers were busy pressing the RECORD button and they captured reactions. The prank has received more than 29 million views on YouTube, and it has been re-created in more than 100 cities around the world.
In another Improv Everywhere prank, the “Human Mirror,” sets of twins sat down across from each other in a New York City subway car, making it look like one side of the car was a mirror image of the other. The group also once turned a Little League baseball game in Hermosa Beach, California, into a major-league event. They filled the normally empty stands with rabid, paint-covered fans, printed glossy programs with photos of all the players, and got NBC Sports to install a Jumbotron screen in the outfield and send in a famous sportscaster to call the game. The prank was an out-of-the-park home run.
Twin pranksters turned a New York City subway car into a human mirror.
the prank
What’s more disgusting than finding a fly in your drink? Finding a mouse turd in your drink. This prank is a variation on a classic store-bought gag—a plastic ice cube with an insect inside. It works best if you put the ice cubes in water or a light-colored drink, so the “turds” really stand out.
what you need
* An ice cube tray
* A toothpick (optional)
* About 20 dried currants (Currants look like baby raisins. Look for them near the raisins at the supermarket. If you can’t find them, buy raisins and ask an adult to help you cut them into smaller pieces.)
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Fill an ice cube tray with water. Place it in the freezer and leave it until the ice cubes are half-frozen.
2 Remove the ice cubes from the freezer and use a toothpick or your finger to poke a hole in the top of each one.
3 Drop one or two currants or raisin bits into the hole. They should sink about halfway down.
4 Return the ice cubes to the freezer. When they’re completely frozen, it’s time to pull the prank.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Prepare cold drinks for yourself and your victim. Put regular ice cubes in your drink and put the “special” ice cubes in your victim’s drink.
2 Act really concerned and a little embarrassed when your victim notices the brown stuff in the ice cubes. Say something like, “Oh my gosh, you know we had a mouse problem for a while, but how could the turds have gotten in the ice cube tray?” Or say, “Oh, whatever, I’ll take those!” and spoon the icky ice cubes into your glass.
Alan Abel:
Indecent Animals?
During the 1960s and 1970s, prankster Alan Abel convinced people that hundreds of publicity stunts he made up were true events. One was a campaign to get animals to wear clothes. Abel wrote to several magazines and explained that he wanted to relieve animals of the shame they felt from living life in the nude. To his amazement, magazine editors took him seriously. So Abel kept going w
ith the hoax. He hired an actor to appear on TV talk shows as the president of the campaign. Abel received 40,000 letters of support before Time magazine finally exposed the prank in 1963. Besides entertaining the public, Abel had a message: Don’t believe everything you see, hear, or read.
Intelligence Test:
Do Pranks Make People Smarter?
Scientists are still learning how the human brain works. In 2010, a Polish neuroscientist discovered that pulling pranks can actually make you smarter. Dr. Fran Luschinsky has been studying the effects of pranks on the brain since 1999. Her research shows that people who pull at least one prank a week grow twice as many new brain cells as nonpranksters. They also have higher IQ scores, earn more money, and report being happier.
Luschinsky says that while doing her research, she discovered another way to make your brain cells grow faster that you can do at home. She says you may actually feel your brain getting bigger as you do it. Try it yourself:
1. Take a grapefruit, a large orange, or an apple and balance it on top of your head. This may take some practice.
2. Walk slowly back and forth across the room while saying the word knarp (pronounced KUH-NARP) each time you take a step.
How does this method work? Luschinsky offers a partial explanation: “The vitamins in the fruit are able to enter your brain cells because you are concentrating so hard,” she says, before collapsing in a fit of giggles.
the prank
In 1870 a man named Robert Chesebrough started selling a gooey substance called petroleum jelly as a cure for dry skin, diaper rash, and other skin problems. The stuff is so perfect for doing pranks, it’s hard to believe that’s not what Chesebrough really had in mind when he invented it. Petroleum jelly is slippery but it stays put, it’s practically colorless, and it feels gross when you touch it. Put it on something that a person touches every day without thinking—like a doorknob. Just be careful not to get it on fabric or anything else that can get stained.
BEWARE!
This prank may cause a mess. Be prepared to clean Up!
what you need
* A jar of petroleum jelly (Vaseline or another brand)
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Choose an object in the house to grossify. A doorknob, the refrigerator door handle, a hairbrush handle, or a toothbrush handle are all good candidates. The toilet seat is a classic target, especially for sleepovers.
2 Spread a thin coating of the petroleum jelly on the object.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Wait for your victim to touch the slimy stuff and scream (or come looking for you). A word of caution: If you slime the toilet seat, make sure you don’t forget an hour later and sit down on it yourself. You will become the “butt” of your own joke.
the prank
Without going to the trouble of starting a canned goods company, you can create new, “delicious” products to plant in your family’s kitchen cabinets. How about some Cream of Sparrow Soup for lunch, or a nice bowl of Cream of Pink Soup for dinner? Maybe your favorite pooch would enjoy a special treat of Sneaky Snacks Dog Food. These are truly one-of-a-kind taste sensations.
what you need
* Soup or dog food label (print the downloads for this prank found here: workman.com/ebookdownloads)
* Scissors
* Soup or dog food can
* Tape
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Choose which label you want to use (from the downloads that you’ve printed) and carefully cut it out.
2 Find a soup can in your kitchen cabinet that’s the right size for the label you want to use. Tape the label to the can.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Put the can back in the cupboard and wait for someone to discover the new variety of soup or dog food.
2 If you want to hurry things along, tell your parent you really want to have soup for supper or that the dog seems very hungry.
the prank
This prank is perfect for anyone you know who is always rushing around—especially in the morning, racing to get to work or school on time. Force your victim to slow down and smell the roses—or at least smell his sneakers, as he struggles to put them on.
what you need
* Your victim’s lace-up shoes or sneakers
what you do
THE SETUP
1 When your victim isn’t around, sneak into his room and find a pair of his favorite lace-up shoes or sneakers. Pull the laces until the shoes are closed tight.
2 Tie a small knot in each lace near the eyelet where your victim won’t see it.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Watch as your victim tries to loosen the laces to put on the shoes—it will knot be easy!
the prank
Food companies are always “improving” their products and adding labels to tell you how much tastier, healthier, or cheaper the newest version is. These new and improved product labels will make everything in your kitchen “NEW!” “IMPROVED!” and “RIDICULOUS!”
what you need
* “Loony Labels” (print the downloads for this prank found here: workman.com/ebookdownloads)
* Scissors
* Tape or glue
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Carefully cut out the “Loony Labels” that you’ve printed.
2 Tape or glue the labels on milk cartons, cereal or cookie boxes, or other packaged foods in your family’s kitchen.
PULL THE PRANK
1 If people fail to notice the new, improved labels, get their attention by holding up the product and saying something like, “I wonder if this tastes different now that they got rid of the spider eggs.”
the prank
Some people demand a lot of attention the second they enter a room. This prank is perfect for pulling on friends or relatives who think they should be greeted with fanfare. All you need are some pots and pans and string to make your victim’s entrance a smashing event.
what you need
* String
* Scissors
* 3 or more pots and pans that have a hole or loop in the handle (or use other nonbreakable objects you can tie a string to)
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Choose a room that your victim walks into a lot. Make sure the room has a door that your victim will pull, not push, to open.
2 Take the string, scissors, and pots and pans into the room and close the door. Place the pots and pans on tables, chairs, or shelves in the room, not too far from the door.
3 Cut a piece of string for each pot. The string should be long enough to reach from the pot to the doorknob—plus about 12 inches extra.
4 Tie one end of each piece of string to the doorknob. Tie the other ends to the pots. Make sure the string is slightly loose so it doesn’t yank the pot off its perch.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Wait for your victim to walk into the room and unleash a cacophony of crashes. If you can’t stand waiting and your victim is within earshot, call out that you need help with something and to come right away.
VERY IMPORTANT PRANKS
V.I.P
Car Trouble
James Thurber is considered by many to be the funniest writer America has ever produced. He was also a practical joker, possibly thanks to his mother and his brother, Roy, both of whom loved inventing pranks. One of Roy’s best jokes took advantage of the fact that his father was very nervous about the family’s car. Whenever they went for a drive, he worried that the engine would suddenly explode. One day Roy gathered up every metal pot, pan, knife, fork, and other kitchen utensil he could find. He wrapped them in a piece of canvas, which he attached to the bottom of the car with a piece of string. He got into the driver’s seat, holding one end of the string, and the family took off on their drive. As soon as he saw his father relax and close his eyes, Roy twitched the string. The metal clattered to the street with a deafening noise. “Stop the car!” the father yelled. “I can’t,” Roy answered. �
��The engine fell out.” “Almighty!” the father gasped.
the prank
It’s your lucky day. You just won $3,000 and an all-expenses-paid trip to beautiful, historic Transylvania! Use the “winning” ticket to fool your friends into thinking you have exceptional good luck.
what you need
* “Winning Lottery Ticket” (print the download for this prank found here: workman.com/ebookdownloads)
* Scissors
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Carefully cut out the “Lucky Lottery Ticket” that you’ve printed.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Run up to your victim waving the fake lottery ticket in one hand and act very excited. Make up a story about how a relative gave you the ticket as a present and when you scratched off all the numbers, you found out that you won $3,000 and a trip for two to Transylvania.
2 If you’re feeling really generous, you can offer to invite your victim along so she, too, can enjoy a private dinner with Dracula, a stay at Transylvania’s top school for vampires-in-training, fang implants, and all the blood smoothies she can drink.
the prank
Hearing your parents cry over spilled milk is no fun. But watching them cry over fake spilled milk is pretty entertaining (for you, at least). Just use puff paint from a craft store and glue to mix up one big, fake mess.
what you need
* White puff paint
* White glue (Elmer’s glue or a similar brand)
* A disposable cup (paper or plastic)
* A stick or plastic spoon
* Waxed paper
what you do
THE SETUP
1 First make the “milk.” Mix together about ¼ cup puff paint and ¼ cup glue with a stick or a plastic spoon in the disposable cup.
2 Carefully pour some of the paint onto a piece of waxed paper until you have a small puddle. Place the cup on its side at the edge of the puddle so it looks like the liquid just spilled out.