When I was a senior in high school, I wanted to go to the University of Virginia. For some reason, my parents wouldn’t let me apply early decision. Apparently they didn’t want me to limit my choices.
Being the obstinate kind of guy I am, I only applied to UVa during the regular decision process. Which meant that if I didn’t get in, my only option would have been community college.
On April 1, the day letters were supposed to go out, I got a letter in the mail purporting to be from UVa, rejecting my application. It took me about 2 seconds to realize it was a prank by my dad (laser printers weren’t so good back then).
Not being one to let a good gag go to waste, I had my mom call my best friend and tell him I had gotten a letter from UVa and stormed out of the house without saying anything and ask if he had seen me. Then I showed up at his doorstep with fake tears (saline solution works great) and the crumpled letter in my hand, telling him my life was over and I didn’t know what to do. He read it and after about 5 minutes he said, “Could this be an April Fools joke.” I looked up at him and said, “Of course.”
We went through about 4 of my friends before we got bored with it.
There were lots of good pranks in my family. My older sister once kidnapped my little sister’s Cabbage Patch Kid and held it for ransom. We had to raid Monopoly and Life to get enough money to pay it off. The same Cabbage Patch Kid was placed on my chest with it’s little hands at my neck while I was sleeping the night after I walked out on a Chucky movie (I have a thing about dolls, OK).
This is the context in which you have to place the email I got from my little brother on April 1st last year announcing he was gay. I automatically filed it in the “Family Jokes” Outlook folder and didn’t think anything else of it. He didn’t realize the significance of the date he sent the email – turns out he ended up being very worried that when I didn’t respond. Even when my dad called to confirm, I didn’t believe it until I met his boyfriend.
Everything’s cool now – I like his boyfriend and he came to the family Christmas celebration.
Just a quick reminder to everybody that today is not the best day to deliver unexpected and shocking news to family members.
Dagonee
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Am I lame if I've never played an April Fool's joke before?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Yes. Yes you are. Posted by Strider (Member # 1807) on :
yes.
happy now?
Posted by Brinestone (Member # 5755) on :
Jon Boy, we're fixing this. Today. I don't know how, but I'll think of something.
Posted by Sal (Member # 3758) on :
But rest assured, Jon Boy. It has nothing to do with April 1st.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
*puts Sal on the "to be pranked" list*
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Jon Boy, I heard that professor is writing another book and wants you to edit it. This one is going to be even longer.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Dag this is the greatest thread ever. You are the best Hatracker I've ever read.
April Fools.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Luckily, according to the "Acceptable Use of Movie Review Quotations," I can now say "best Hatracker I've ever read!" - Dan_Raven.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
The joke's on you, Zan! I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks.
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
My son said all the kids in his organic chemistry class this afternoon were planning to NOT show up for class today. They are going to leave Dr. Boyle a plate of cookies and a nice note.
(Since he works for her too, though, I think he is planning to sneak in just after she realizes they are all gone, and make sure she doesn't count it against his grade)
Farmgirl
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Back in high school, my Physics teacher told us we were going to begin studying thermal expansion and such. I believe that year, April 1 fell on the Friday before Spring Break, so we weren't real happy about it.
Then he lit up the Bunsen burners and brought out the Jiffy Pop popcorn.
JB, is that a joke or did you really get a job?
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Yes, I really did get a new job. I mentioned it on the Job Boredom thread yesterday.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
I'm converting to Mormonism.
Hobbes Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
So am I.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Kat, I'm glad to hear that you've given up your evil, trollish ways and have embraced the truth.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
trollish...?? Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
Come, now. Repent of all your past trolling, Mormon-impersonating, and thread-deleting ways. Now is not the time for more lies and feigned ignorance.
[ April 01, 2004, 02:42 PM: Message edited by: Jon Boy ]
Posted by Olivet (Member # 1104) on :
When Ron and I had been married about six months, our first April Fool's day as a married couple came along. Heh.
Ron is a big joker-- he was always making things up, trying to get a rise out of me. I was gradually learning his Tells, so he was getting me less and less. Now he has to do it by phone or when I can't see his face well. But anyway.
I got home from work before he did, and I put a bandaid in the bend of my right elbow. Then I put my sweater back on and made dinner.
That night when we were getting ready for bed, he noticed the band aid and asked about it. I was reluctant to tell him, so he had to pry it out of me. I told him I'd passed out at work, and that my supervisor, Linda, had made me go to a Doc in the Box. I told him they did a blood test and that I was pregnant.
He took my hand, led me into our spare room and just held me. We were in this dinky appartment, just starting out. We had nothing. I waited for him to speak. Finally he said, "We can do this. We have time to prepare..."
I finally said April Fool and we had a lovely pillow fight. It was the first time I'd ever 'gotten' him, so he was okay with it. Looking back, I realize how mean that was. I don't do April Fool's jokes on him anymore. Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
JB, I didn't read that one because I'm just soooo happy with my job, I didn't think it applied to me.
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Oh, gotcha. Don't worry. All that action will continue.
</oversensitive>
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I have almost no sense of humor for practical jokes. They always annoy me, and I never recripocate.
I guess I'm on the lame train with Jon Boy.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Someone needs to come up with a really great one to pull on my roomate.
Hobbes Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
Olivet - That is a great one!! I had thought about pulling a similar prank on slacker today, but I don't think I can pull it off, so I won't.
Today, one of the guys at Honeywell tried to tell me that a forklift had run into my truck and damaged it. For the first second, I believed him, but then thought better of it. Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I was always told using pregnancy as a practical joke (or April Fool's Joke) is off-limits -- bad idea.
I was never brave enough to find out.
Farmgirl
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
I put a roll of TP on Amka's, Speeds, Zevlags, and Raventh1's door last night. And waiting to hear if they found it or not is getting slightly frustrating.
Also, Jon did last night mean nothing to you? How can you say that you have never done an April Fools Joke after last night? -- We TP'd Pat.
Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
What are you talking about? I have no recollection of said toilet papering.
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Nathan, please tell me that you don't really think putting a roll of TP on someone's door is TP'ing.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I am debating putting out a blanked e-mail to my company asking someone to stop the woman in the office next to me from flashing the world. I could complain that she's sitting in her office topless and doesn't seem to realize it. I could e-mail everyone but her.
Hmmm. This has possibities.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
No, not really. Amka had her lights on, Mark goes to work late at night, Speed's neighbor was up and watching me through a window. Zevlag I should have done, and would have been fun, but it was late and I was tired. Pat though, we got.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Well, I need something to interrupt my "precious" work, so I'll tell you the funniest April Fool's joke in my life:
I went to a physics national contest. We returned, of course, the night of March 31st to April 1st, in the same train as a group from another department. We had one accompanying teacher, the others had two female teachers (let's call them A & B). As one of them fell asleep (A), what did our teacher think ? Since we just entered April 1st, why not give poor A something to remember ? So he got B and one of her students in a separate compartment and than woke up A saying B and the student got off at the previous station to buy something and the train left without them... Poor thing... She didn't know what to do (it was just a little past midnight, and she'd just woken up !!)... Finally, she tried to pull the cord and sound the alarm. That's when our teacher told her it was an April Fool's joke. She took it pretty well, hugged B when she saw her, and well, we woke everybody up on the train with our laughs ! Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
I feel better. I thought the youth of America had gone and gotten soft or something. Keep up the good work.
Posted by msquared (Member # 4484) on :
I'm pregnant. Shh, don't tell my wife.
msquared
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
*sigh* One of the few times I was truly taken and appalled by an April Fool's Joke was the Ender's Puppy Debacle on Pweb. I was horrified. Oh my word.
Where's Amka?
[ April 01, 2004, 03:13 PM: Message edited by: katharina ]
Posted by Alexa (Member # 6285) on :
On my mission I wrote a letter on April Fools about how I fell in love with someone who did not speak english. It was like a 5 page letter, front and back, describing how I looked forward to family life, whether I was going to come home or not after mission, whether I was going to try and bring my fiancee over--but for sure I was leaving my mission early.
It was very realistic and included pictures and everything (I took with a stranger before I wrote the letter). The last line was "April Fools."
Since I wrote it and mailed it on April fools, she did not get it unitl 2 weeks after. She was so upset she only read half of the letter. She talked to the bishop and other family members and cried an awful lot.
It wasn't until I called a 2 months later (I had a habbit of breaking a lot of the lesser mission rules), worried because I had not heard from her, that I found out she held onto the letter for 3 weeks before she read the rest of it.
*giggles*
Mom still hasn't forgiven me.
[ April 01, 2004, 03:17 PM: Message edited by: Alexa ]
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
She = Mom?
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
Alexa Posted by Alexa (Member # 6285) on :
She = MOM...I have since edited my last post for clarity.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
I just recieved an email from our Human Resources person. Apparently, one of our employees--Ron Dover, just had a child. The new boy's name is Benjamin Dumas Dover.
Yeah Right. Someone is going to name their son something thats sounds that bad. Ben Dover, or all three names is even worses.
Posted by peterh (Member # 5208) on :
That's funny Alexa!
I have two brothers who are 15 months apart. (Brad and Jeff) Brad was coming home on April 1st so for to meet him at the airport, we'd picked up a piece of posterboard and decorated it all up and it said "Welcome Home Brad" on it.
About 2 hours before we left for the airport, I had an idea. The posterboard had two sides and Brad is a big practical joker, and our mom was always confusing Brad and Jeff's names (as parents do) when we were growing up, so I took out our big Marks-a-lot pen and wrote "Welcome Home Jeff" on the other side of the posterboard. It was very plain and had no decorations.
When Brad finally got off the plane (he waited to be the last one) I held up the sign with "Welcome Home Jeff" facing out. He took one look at it, smiled, and turned around and went back up the jetway.
He turned around after about 15 yards and came back and I turned my sign around too.
Posted by Corwin (Member # 5705) on :
"Count of Monty Crisco... By... Alexandre Dum-ass. Dum-ass ?!" Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
These are all good stories. The problem is, none of them lead to me having a great joke to play on my roomate.
Hobbes Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
You could dip his hand in warm water tonight after he goes to sleep.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Buy a cheap hard drive, install DOS and Win 3.1 on it, and replace his HD with the new one. Then listen for his screams.
Dagonee
Posted by jeniwren (Member # 2002) on :
My son is planning to leave his plastic scorpion in my mother's bed tonight. I don't think that will get her again.
I wish this had happened on April Fools day, but it was funny anyway... My little dog loves my son's plastic toys. She picks them up and carries them around in her mouth for a while, then drops them places. One time, the plastic scorpion was the toy of choice, and she carried it around, ultimately dropping it on the floor of my mother's bathroom. Shortly thereafter, my son was watching TV in her room and inadvertantly left his rubber snake on her bed, just poking out from under the pillows. I think he did it inadvertantly, but you never know with him. Mom came home from work, went into her bathroom and caught the scorpion just out of the corner of her eye. Scared the tar out of her. The rubber snake wasn't quite so bad. We still laugh about that.
One place I worked, the owner was a real prankster. One year, he bought an absolutely enormous mechanical rat. It made chewing sounds and thrashed around when you triggered its sensor by getting too close. He left it under his assistant's desk.
She had a good sense of humor. Fortunately. She still works there.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
what's he done now, hobbes?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I once tied the doorknobs of two suitemates' rooms together (they were directly across from each other).
The key was to allow enough slack so they could have a tug of war while they tried to figure out what was happening.
Also, equal parts ammonia and iodine make a nice little contact explosive...
Dagonee
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
Smoked pot all the time and come home when I'm asleep to make himself food Steal my batteries Break several promises to me Keep pot in our room Give my prized sticks away to some unknown women
Hobbes Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Meet the roomate in the hallway, and start apologizing about the fire.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Replace his pot with oregano.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
*has no idea what your talking about*
[ April 01, 2004, 03:46 PM: Message edited by: celia60 ]
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Replace his pot with something that looks kind of pottish.
Like oregano.
[ April 01, 2004, 03:48 PM: Message edited by: zgator ]
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
What the heck did you do with them anyways Celia?
And it does little good to edit after you've put the evil smilie up there.
Hobbes Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Inform your roommate that your years of undercover work are done. You have enough evidence to start prosecuting. He has the right to....
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
That means he's also broken a promise to me. My vengence shall rain down upon him.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
What would be best it to combine those last two ones, find some way of making Bill look like an investigator and have him read Dave his rights for illeagly buying and owning pot.
Hobbes Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Call him and tell him your in jail because of his pot and he needs to bail you out.
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
To be fair, he didn't tell me... he just told everyone else on the floor...
I found out somehow.
Hobbes Posted by Speed (Member # 5162) on :
[transplanted to another thread]
[ April 01, 2004, 05:44 PM: Message edited by: Speed ]
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Does your manager have call display? Could present a problem.
Posted by Boon (Member # 4646) on :
My boss is great! He's our Area Manager...
This morning, he sent out a very official looking e-mail about how he and his wife were going to wait until after the 15th to tell us, but they had to answer the rumors going around. They bought the company.
It went on to reassure us that not much would change, etc. etc....
I sent back a reply that said something like, "Yeah, you just happened to have about $40 million dollars laying around and thought, why not?"
Immediately after, (I'm the Office Supervisor) the guy I have down at the other location calls me...
He doesn't say "Hi, it's L, how's it going?" like normal. He says, "Uhhh...what am I reading here?" L
"L, what's the date today?"
"Oh no, he didn't. He got me. Oh! I am not talking to him for the rest of the day! He totally GOT me!"
.
.
As if that weren't good enough, I talked Boss into another one. I had him call L to tell him to get over here to the store ASAP because I was in labor and was waiting for a ride. When he got here, I was sipping some ice water and surfing the 'Rack. Who's in labor? Not me!
I can't believe he didn't even call to see if it was true! Goober. I love that guy though, and he takes it well.
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
If you rub a hot glue stick on his windshield it makes a thick, hard to get off substance. That way when he goes to his car, April Fool's! Your car's all screwed up!
Or you can unscrew a light switch socket and put a cricket in there. They have them at bait shops. That's a pretty good one.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Speed: secret santa mailing list.
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
Yeah, so clever I decided to do a string of attacks ranging from Provo to Ogden. Its nice to know that I can get to 5 different houses in about 3 hours.
Posted by Zamphyr (Member # 6213) on :
quote:I just recieved an email from our Human Resources person. Apparently, one of our employees--Ron Dover, just had a child. The new boy's name is Benjamin Dumas Dover.
Yeah Right. Someone is going to name their son something thats sounds that bad. Ben Dover, or all three names is even worses.
I actually knew a kid named Benjamin Dover. Met him after I heard his name announced over the PA system at a Little League game. All I could say was "Cruel, cruel parents...."
As to April Fool's, nothing beats a good, well-placed whoopi cushion. Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
What about TWO well placed whoopie cushions?!
Posted by MidnightBlue (Member # 6146) on :
quote: I actually knew a kid named Benjamin Dover. Met him after I heard his name announced over the PA system at a Little League game. All I could say was "Cruel, cruel parents...."
There's a freshman at my school named Michael Jackson. And a sophomore names Christina Aguliera (I think I spelled that completely wrong.) but she pronounces it differently. Oh, and there's also a sophomore named Ben Stein. I have a very odd school. With very uncreative parents.
[ April 01, 2004, 05:59 PM: Message edited by: MidnightBlue ]
Posted by T_Smith (Member # 3734) on :
At my school, we had a Carmen Rasmuessen.
If anyone knows that, I'll TP Email you.
Posted by Trogdor the Burninator (Member # 4894) on :
We are actually having Honor Code prosecutions at my school right now. So, when my friend tells me that I have been accused of cheating on my last paper, even though I am completely innocent, I think, "dang! some busybody is gonna fill up my time with crap like this. Great!" now I have a REAL Honor Court problem for beating the %&*# out of him.
funny, but NOT funny.
Posted by Zevlag (Member # 1405) on :
ROFLMAO!!
I haven't laughed so hard in weeks!!
Nate, I have been trying to find out ALL DAY LONG where in the world those came from, and why the heck they weren't all over! LOL.
That was just awesome. I so should have checked here first.
::still laughing::
Posted by Tstorm (Member # 1871) on :
Attack of the Nerds: I had 3 roommates one year of college. This wasn't April Fool's, but it qualifies as a good practical joke.
One of my roommates ordered a new hard drive. I think it was Maxtor, 30GB ATA100. He actually received the package and left it alone on his desk after dinner. Looking back, that package was like a beacon, screaming, "Screw with your roommate's head! I can help!"
I used an old hard drive from an IBM System36 server. Gosh, how to paint this in understandable terminology. Dagonee, it makes Windows 3.1 look modern. Instead of a normal 3.5" drive, this is an 8" monster. It weighs close to 8 pounds. Obviously, there was no way this thing would fit in his standard ATX-style computer case.
Upon returning, he sat down to open the package, and remarked that "it looks like it's been opened." (well, duh ) He opens it up, and just stares at the monstrous leviathon that looks nothing like a normal hard drive. It's a funny, shocked kind of stare, almost like he just zoned out trying to figure out exactly what that giant drive was and where it came from.
He said, "This wasn't what I ordered." We said, "Guess you better call the company that sold it to you." He grabs the phone, and we hand him the actual drive. Posted by knightswhosayni! (Member # 4096) on :
So, can we hear the story of the stick, now that it's gone? Please?
Ni!
Posted by Hobbes (Member # 433) on :
It's not gone, Celia has it. Though maybe she disposed of it, I don't know. Nor will I believe her whatever she says she did with them (there became a second one).
Hobbes Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
I didn't dispose of them, I released them back into the wild. Though, since your grubby little hands had been all over them, I don't know if they'll be accepted back by the other trees.
[ April 02, 2004, 07:59 AM: Message edited by: celia60 ]
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
(Pssst...Hobbes. Balogna on his car.)
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
I hear if you put transmission fluid on someone's exhaust it makes a hellluva lotta smoke.
Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
He doesn't have a car, and if something happens to mine I would consider it crossing a line from which there is no going back.
Posted by PSI Teleport (Member # 5545) on :
Ooh, ooh! Or...you could poke a few tiny holes in his brake line with a pin, so that his fluid doesn't all leak out at once. That way he has to depress the brake several times before he loses all pressure...you can make sure he's really up to speed before his brakes give out!
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
quote:My son said all the kids in his organic chemistry class this afternoon were planning to NOT show up for class today. They are going to leave Dr. Boyle a plate of cookies and a nice note.
This particular April Fool's joke worked out extremely well for my son yesterday. Since he always works for this professor (as R.A.) he was talking to her when time came for class. She asked him to walk with her to class to continue the discussion (remember -- he know that everyone else has skipped class as an April Fool's Joke on her).
They get to the classroom, there is no one there, and just the plate of cookies and a note from the pranksters.
Said professor just says, "oh, those kids!!" and giggles. Then she gives half the cookies to my son!
How lucky can you get?
Farmgirl
Posted by Bob the Lawyer (Member # 3278) on :
Man, when I showed up the class I TAed in costume for Halloween *I* didn't get any cookies.
Clearly your son goes to a cooler school. Or maybe organic chemists are more giving than biochemists.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I know it is way late to do any pranks. I just got wind of a good prank by my friend Brian's wife. With him in the room when the call was made. His wife called her sister and told this tear streaming story of how she had caught Brian in bed with another women. After a few more comments (and some by the sister) she said "April Fools". Her sister was pissed. Posted by knightswhosayni! (Member # 4096) on :
oh, fine.
But can we hear the story of the stick anyway?
Ni!
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote: Or maybe organic chemists are more giving than biochemists.
BtL, that's not it. Organic chemists know how to cook.
Biochemists wouldn't give cookies, they'd give fruit. Or maybe "golden" rice. Posted by celia60 (Member # 2039) on :
Yes, Hobbes, do tell.
Posted by saxon75 (Member # 4589) on :
Once again proving that my presidency of the Retarded Monkeys Club is well-earned, yesterday I was completely taken in by this.
Posted by Book (Member # 5500) on :
I honestly can't think of that many pranks that don't involve damaging property in some kind of way.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Taunt]](graemlins/taunt.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
L![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
Who's in labor? Not me!