This is a list of

practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

topics (also known as a prank, gag, jape or shenanigan) which are mischievous tricks or

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...

s played on someone, typically causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort. Practical jokes differ from

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

s or

hoax A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into pu ...

es in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being fooled into handing over money or other valuables. Practical jokes or pranks are generally lighthearted, reversible and non-permanent, and aim to make the victim feel foolish or victimised to a degree, but may also involve

cruelty Cruelty is the pleasure in inflicting suffering or inaction towards another's suffering when a clear remedy is readily available. Sadism can also be related to this form of action or concept. Cruel ways of inflicting suffering may involve viol ...

and become a form of

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

if performed without appropriate finesse.

Practical jokes

0–9

2004 Harvard–Yale prank At the annual Harvard–Yale football game on November 20, 2004, Yale students, costumed as a Harvard "pep squad", distributed placards to Harvard fans for a card stunt. When the fans raised the placards together, they read "We Suck". The pra ...

A

* Alhokm Baad Almozawla *

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

List of April Fools' Day jokes By tradition, in some countries, April 1 or April Fools' Day is marked by practical jokes. Notable practical jokes have appeared on radio and TV stations, newspapers, web sites, and have even been done in large crowds. History * In February 170 ...

B

Berners Street hoax The Berners Street hoax was perpetrated by Theodore Hook in Westminster, London, England, in 1809. Hook had made a bet with his friend Samuel Beazley that he could transform any house in London into the most talked-about address in a week, whi ...

Bingo Shooting Device The Bingo Shooting Device is a small mousetrap-like device used in novelty pranks and magic tricks. The device, invented by Sam S. Adams for S.S. Adams Novelties in 1907, consists of a hinge that is closed over a spring-loaded hammer. When the ...

Black fax The term black fax refers to a prank fax transmission, consisting of one or more pages entirely filled with a uniform black tone. The sender's intention is generally to use up as much of the recipient's fax ink, toner, or thermal paper as possible ...

C

* Caltech–MIT rivalry *

Candid Camera ''Candid Camera'' is a popular and long-running American hidden camera reality television series. Versions of the show appeared on television from 1948 until 2014. Originally created and produced by Allen Funt, it often featured practical jokes ...

Capping stunt A capping stunt or capping is a New Zealand university tradition of student pranks wherein students perpetrate hoaxes or practical jokes upon an unsuspecting population. They traditionally take place in May during graduation. Capping stunts ha ...

* Josiah S. Carberry * Chewing gum bug *

Chinese finger trap A Chinese finger trap (also known as a Chinese finger puzzle, Chinese thumb cuff, Chinese handcuffs, and similar variants) is a gag toy used to play a practical joke on unsuspecting children and adults. The finger trap is a simple puzzle that ...

Chinese fire drill "Chinese fire drill" is a slang term for a situation that is chaotic or confusing, possibly due to poor or misunderstood instructions. Origins The term goes back to the early 1900s, and is alleged to have originated when a ship run by British of ...

Confetti egg Confetti are small pieces or streamers of paper, mylar, or metallic material which are usually thrown at celebrations, especially parades and weddings. The origins are from the Latin ''confectum'', with ''confetti'' the plural of Italian ''con ...

s/cascerones *

Culture jamming Culture jamming (sometimes also guerrilla communication) is a form of protest used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. It atte ...

D

Devil's Night Devil's Night is a name associated with October 30, the night before Halloween. It is related to the "Mischief Night" practiced in parts of the United States such as Philadelphia but is chiefly associated with the serious vandalism and arson seen ...

Devious licks A devious lick, also known as a diabolical lick, dastardly lick, or nefarious lick, amongst other names, was a viral 2021 TikTok challenge in which American middle or high school students posted videos of themselves stealing, vandalizing, or sho ...

Dribble glass A dribble glass is a drinking glass that has holes hidden in its etched design. The purpose of a dribble glass is for pranks. When a person tilts the glass to take a drink from this glass, they will end up spilling the liquid on their clothing as ...

Dutch oven A Dutch oven (not to be confused with masonry oven) is a thick-walled cooking pot with a tight-fitting lid. Dutch ovens are usually made of seasoned cast iron; however, some Dutch ovens are instead made of cast aluminium, or ceramic. Some metal ...

E

Exploding Cigar advert - Popular Mechanics 1917

Egging Egging is the act of throwing eggs at people or property. The eggs are usually raw, but can be hard-boiled or rotten. The egging of politicians is a well-known form of protest, and egging cars or houses can be done as a form of vandalism, with ...

Elbow grease Elbow grease or elbow oil in French is an idiom for manual labour and the process of working hard to accomplish an objective. It is a figure of speech for indicating that nothing other than one's own labour is required for a task, capable of bein ...

Email spoofing Email spoofing is the creation of email messages with a forged sender address. The term applies to email purporting to be from an address which is not actually the sender's; mail sent in reply to that address may bounce or be delivered to an unre ...

Exploding cigar An exploding cigar is a variety of cigar that Explosive material, explodes shortly after being lit. Such cigars are normally packed with a minute chemical explosive charge near the lighting end or with a non-chemical device that ruptures the ciga ...

F

Fake denominations of United States currency Promotional fake United States currency is faux "currency" that makes no assertion of being legal tender. This money is often created by individuals as a way to promote practical jokes, or social statements. It is legal to print so long as it ma ...

Fake vomit Fake may refer to: * Deception, an act or a statement intended to deceive ** Charlatan, a person who practices deception to obtain money or other advantages ** Counterfeit, a reproduction of an item, intended to deceive ** Cover-up, an attempt to ...

Father Pat Noise The Fr. Pat Noise plaque is a hoax commemorative plaque installed by two brothers on the balustrade of O'Connell Bridge over the River Liffey in Dublin, Ireland. It is about a fictitious Priesthood (Catholic Church), Roman Catholic priest name ...

* Flagging

G

Vermin Supreme glitterbombs Randall Terry

Gag name A gag name is a pseudonym intended to be humorous through its similarity to both a real name and a term or phrase that is funny, strange, or vulgar. The source of humor stems from the double meaning behind the phrase, although use of the name wit ...

Glitter bombing Glitter bombing is an act of protest in which activists throw glitter on people at public events.Vinciguerra, Thomas (August 27, 2011)Glittering Rage.''The New York Times'' Glitter bombers have frequently been motivated by, though not limited to, ...

Googly eyes Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate eyeballs. Googly eyes traditionally are composed of a white plastic or card backing covered by a clear, hard-plastic shell, encapsulating a black plastic disk. The comb ...

Golden rivet A Golden Rivet refers to the claim in naval folklore that every ship is built containing a single, commemorative "golden rivet", an idea seemingly derived from the commemorative golden spike that was temporarily driven at the completion of the U.S ...

* Great Rose Bowl Hoax *

Great Stork Derby The Great Stork Derby was a contest held from 1926 to 1936. Female residents of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, competed to produce the most babies in order to qualify for an unusual bequest in a will. Background The race was the product of a scheme ...

Groucho glasses Groucho glasses, also known as nose glasses, the beaglepuss, or the GM 20/20s are a humorous novelty disguise which function as a caricature of the stage makeup used by the comedian Groucho Marx in his movies and vaudeville performances. They ...

H

Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Hacks at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are practical jokes and pranks meant to prominently demonstrate technical aptitude and cleverness, or to commemorate popular culture and historical topics. The pranks are anonymously installed a ...

Harisen The is a giant paper fan, usually made in a closed fashion. It is most traditionally used as part of a act, in which the straight man () smacks the funny man () in response to their jokes or idiocy. In popular culture *The character Kazuo ...

Henryk Batuta hoax The Henryk Batuta hoax was a hoax perpetrated on the Polish Wikipedia from November 2004 to February 2006, the main element of which was a biographical article about a nonexistent socialist revolutionary, Henryk Batuta. History The perpetrators o ...

Hot foot The hot foot is a prank where the prankster sets the victim's shoe laces or shoe on fire with a match or lighter. There are several other versions of the hot foot prank, but all involve using a source of flame near a victim's foot. Other versi ...

I

Indian burn An Indian burn, also known as a Chinese burn, is a pain-inducing prank, where the prankster grabs onto the victim's forearm or wrist, and starts turning the skin away from themselves with one hand, and with another hand towards themselves, causing ...

Itching powder Itching powder is a powder or powder-like substance that induces itching when applied onto human skin. This is usually done as a practical joke or prank to an unsuspecting victim. Description and uses The cause of the irritation can be mechanica ...

J

* Joy buzzer

K

* Kancho * Kick me -note *

Knock, Knock, Ginger Knock, knock, ginger (also known as ding, dong, ditch in the United States) is a prank or game dating back to 19th-century England, or possibly the earlier Cornish traditional holiday of Nickanan Night. The game is played by children in many c ...

L

Lace card A lace card is a punched card with all holes punched (also called a whoopee card, ventilator card, flyswatter card, or IBM doily). They were mainly used as practical jokes to cause disruption in card readers. Card readers tended to jam when a ...

Latex mask A rubber mask is a mask made of rubber. Typically, these are made of latex or silicone rubber and designed to be pulled over the head as a form of theatrical makeup or disguise. The theatrical makeup used by Michael Crawford when he played the ...

List of frivolous political parties A frivolous party or a joke party is a political party which has been created for the purposes of entertainment or political satire. Such a party may or may not have a serious point behind its activities. This is a list of frivolous political par ...

List of Google April Fools' Day jokes Google frequently inserts jokes and hoaxes into its products on April Fools' Day, which takes place on April 1. 2000 Google's first April Fools' Day hoax, the MentalPlex hoax, invited users to project a mental image of what they wanted to ...

List of Google Easter eggs A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...

M

Milkshaking Milkshaking is the act of throwing milkshakes and other drinks at targets as a means of political protest in a manner similar to egging or pieing. The target of a milkshaking is splashed or splattered with a milkshake that is thrown from a cup ...

Mischief Night Mischief Night is an informal holiday on which children, teenagers and adults (both young and old) engage in jokes, pranks, vandalism and/or parties. It is known by a variety of names including Devil's Night, Gate Night, Goosey Night, Moving Nig ...

Mooning Mooning is the act of displaying one's bare buttocks by removing clothing, e.g., by lowering the backside of one's trousers and underpants, usually bending over, and also potentially exposing the genitals. Mooning is used in the English-speaking ...

Muck-up day A senior prank, also known as muck-up day in Australia and the United Kingdom, is a type of organized prank by the senior class of a school, college, or university. They are often carried out at or near the end of the academic year and are part ...

N

No soap radio "No soap radio" is a form of practical joke and an example of surreal comedy. The joke is a prank whereby the punch line has no relation to the body of the joke; but participants in the prank pretend otherwise. The effect is to either trick someo ...

Non-human electoral candidates Non-human electoral candidates have been found in a number of countries. Often, the candidacies are a means of casting a protest vote or satirizing the political system. At other times it is simply done for entertainment value. Electoral regulat ...

Noogie {{Short pages monitor * Saluting trap *

Senior prank A senior prank, also known as muck-up day in Australia and the United Kingdom, is a type of organized prank by the senior class of a school, college, or university. They are often carried out at or near the end of the academic year and are part o ...

Shaft passer A shaft passer is a hypothetical device that allows a spoked wheel to rotate despite having a shaft (such as the axle of another wheel) passing between its spokes. The device is usually mentioned as a joke between nerds, in the manner of a fool's ...

* Shanghai Fugu Agreement *

Shocking gum Shocking gum is a practical joke device that delivers a mild electric shock. The victim is offered what appears to be the last stick of gum from a box, and touching or pulling this triggers the shock. A few novelty companies have produced these ...

* Shoe-lacing * Skyhook (cable) * Snake nut can *

Sneezing powder Sneezing powder is a group of powders or powder-like substances that induce sneezing when someone is exposed to them. This is usually done as a practical joke or prank to an unsuspecting victim. Sneezing powders containing ''Veratrum album'' alkal ...

Snipe hunt A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke or fool's errand, in existence in North America as early as the 1840s, in which an unsuspecting newcomer is duped into trying to catch a nonexistent animal called a ''snipe''. Although snipe are an actua ...

Spaghetti Tree Hoax The spaghetti-tree hoax was a three-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools' Day 1957 by the BBC current-affairs programme ''Panorama'', purportedly showing a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the family "spaghetti ...

Spit ball shooting Spit may refer to: Common uses * Spit (archaeology), a term for a unit of archaeological excavation * Spit (landform), a section of land that extends into a body of water * Spit or rotisserie, a rotating device used for cooking by roasting over ...

Stink bomb A stink bomb, sometimes called a stinkpot, is a device designed to create an unpleasant smell. They range in effectiveness from being used as simple pranks to military grade malodorants or riot control chemical agents. History A stink bomb ...

Student prank A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

Streaking Streaking is the act of running, often naked, through a public area for publicity, as a prank, a dare, or a form of protest. Streaking is often associated with sporting events, but can occur in more secluded areas. Streakers are often pursued b ...

Swirly School bullying, like bullying outside the school context, refers to one or more perpetrators who have greater physical strength or more social power than their victim repeatedly by acting aggressively toward their victim. Bullying can be verb ...

T

Taro Tsujimoto Taro Tsujimoto (Japanese katakana: ツジモト　タロウ; hiragana: つじもと　たろう; kanji: 辻本太郎) is the name of a fictitious ice hockey player who was "selected" by the National Hockey League's Buffalo Sabres as the 183rd overa ...

hoax *

The Jerky Boys The Jerky Boys are an American comedy act from Queens, New York City, New York, whose routine consists of prank telephone calls and other related skits. The duo was founded in 1989 by childhood friends Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed. After Ahme ...

Toilet papering Toilet papering (also called TP-ing, house wrapping, yard rolling, or simply rolling) is the act of covering an object, such as a tree, house, or another structure with toilet paper. This is typically done by throwing numerous toilet paper rolls ...

Towel snap A towel is a piece of absorption (chemistry), absorbent cloth or paper used for drying or wiping a surface. Towels draw moisture through direct contact. In households, several types of towels are used, such as hand towels, bath towels, and kitche ...

Travelling gnome prank The travelling gnome or roaming gnome is a garden gnome lawn ornament brought on a trip and photographed in front of famous landmarks. The practice is called gnoming. Some instances have become national and international news stories, where peopl ...

* Trick candles *

Tube Bar prank calls The Tube Bar prank calls are a series of prank calls made in the mid-1970s to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, in which Jim Davidson and John Elmo would ask "Red," the proprietor of the bar, if they could speak to various non-existent customers. The g ...

Tickling Tickling is the act of touching a part of a body in a way that causes involuntary twitching movements or laughter. The word evolved from the Middle English ''tikelen'', perhaps frequentative of ''ticken'', to touch lightly. In 1897, psycholo ...

U

Kazuo Uzuki Kazuo Uzuki is the subject of a baseball card issued by Topps as an April Fools' Day hoax. The card was released on February 6, 2008 of a supposed high school superstar named Kazuo "The Uzi" Uzuki. In Japanese, Kazuo Uzuki means "the first son of ...

V

* Valentine Phantom

W

Wedgie A wedgie is the act of forcibly pulling a person's underpants upwards from the back. The act is often performed as a school prank or a form of bullying. Wedgies are commonly featured in popular works, either as a form of low comedy or as a be ...

Wet willy {{Short pages monitor