April Fools’ Day

Good prankster knows his holiday.

Although not a holiday in its own right, is a notable day celebrated in many countries on April 1. The day is marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication on friends, family members, enemies, and neighbors, or sending them on fool’s errand, the aim of which is to embarrass the gullible. Traditionally, in some countries, the jokes only last until noon: someone who plays a trick after noon is called an “April Fool”. Elsewhere, such as in Ireland or France, the jokes last all day.
The origin of April Fools’ Day is obscure. One likely theory is that the modern holiday was first celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar; the term referred to someone still adhering to the Julian Calendar which it replaced. In many pre-Christian cultures May Day (May 1) was celebrated as the first day of summer, and signalled the start of the spring planting season. An April Fool was someone who did this prematurely.[citation needed] In the eighteenth century the festival was often posited as going back to the times of Noah. An English newspaper article published on April 13th, 1789 said that the day had its origins when he sent the raven off too early, before the waters had receded. He did this on the first day of the Hebrew month that corresponds with April. A possible reference to April Fools’ Day can be seen in the Canterbury Tales in the Nun’s Priest’s tale, a tale of two fools: Chanticleer and the fox, which took place on March 32nd.

And now, the practical part

I know what you are thinking “it’s not too early to start”, but look at it this way the best pranksters know that preparation is key to a successful prank. In fact, a lot of these pranksters take extra time and effort to ensure that their pranks happen without a hitch. Whether your motive is revenge, hatred, or boredom, pranks are a good way to get back at people who’ve done something to you or those whom you don’t like very much.

So, if like a lot of pranksters, you have a lot of time and energy to spare, then you should definitely pull a really good online prank.

Here are some suggestions of practical jokes for this years April fools:

• For The Uninspired (A standard joke)

Surfing the net is a good way to look for pranks. There are several websites where users or commenters suggest pranks or talk about them. If you’re still too lazy, you can just download online pranks and follow instructions that come with what you downloaded. One of the best resources for pranks is Zug.com. The site is dedicated to the art of comedy and to pranks and has several prank stories that could inspire you to pull a stunt of your own.

• Yellow Journalism

If you have a talent for creating a webpage for a short period of time, then you won’t have a hard time doing this one. Create a page with strange facts and stories about someone you want to prank and make it look like he or she actually created the page. Create an email account and use it to send the new website to your victim. You could attach a note that summarizes the site a bit.

• Strange Red Button

For someone you know is curious and is not supposed to be doing stuff other than work, this is the best prank. The added bonus is that the red button can be seen from a couple of cubicles away so you can watch your victim try several times. Just Google the term ?strange red button?.
To make it funnier, hide a video camera to record your victim’s facial expression.

• For Those Like to Watch

If you’re not the type who likes to plan something elaborate for the sake of a prank, you could just compile the latest prank videos or prank contests online. Hey, It’s almost as good as a prank, right? Besides, you won’t get a vendetta for this one. Or, this could be a prank itself. laugh hysterically during lunch break and tell them about this prank you saw or read and promise to share the site. Send your co-workers a link that says ?awesome pranks? but have these links lead to something scary or very very strange: think two girls in a cup.

That’s all folks. But beware: the bigger the idea, the harder the prank would be to pull. Then again, strong efforts reap huge rewards and in the world of pranks, nothing is more rewarding than the helpless laughter, disbelief, and desperate screaming of your prank victim. 