It’s April Fools’ Day…every day
One day my dad woke me up and told me that the fields outside our house were on fire (I was a girl who grew up on a farm, so we were literally surrounded by fields, with neighbours a good 5 minute walk away) only I found that they weren’t. Noting the look on his face, laughing uncontrollably at our looks of shock, excitement and disappointment all in one realising moment, I found myself a fan of practical jokes from here on in.
Never more were they left only for the one acceptable day of the year for said shenanigans (April Fools’ Day if you have to be told) I was never happy unless I was pulling somebody’s leg, especially when it came to my sister…
They started with the odd silly story… I once told her a little bird was flying around the garage and she had to go and help or it would injure itself… queue hysterics for HOURS, watching her hunting on hands and knees for this nonexistent bird, peering under cars and in cupboards and between shelves.
She attempted many times to copy me and get me back, but as I had started that one, I always knew it was her way of trying to get revenge… that was, until the day there actually WAS a bird in the garage and it dive bombed me a fair few times, as I ran screaming and tearing my hands through my hair in panic. It was far from hilarious… for me at least!
We also had a lot of pets as kids, rabbits and guinea pigs especially, which when cleaning them out on a weekly basis, induced lot’s of practical jokes in between shovels of straw and poop. We used to tease each other that we had seen a mouse or rat, screaming and jumping around to freak the other out… hours of amusement right there.
However, not so funny when there actually was a mouse in there and when we went to chase it, we lifted a straw bale and between 80-100 baby mice came STREAMING out. We ran faster than we will ever run again.
I then spent most of the last 10 years or so scaring my boyfriend by waiting until he is drifting off to sleep, getting in his face and shouting his name to jerk him awake (“I’m not sleeping, honest” I would get ). Jumping out at him from behind doors or around corners, making him scream like a girl, throwing his hands up in the air, catching him unawares and watching him drop the contents of his hands in fear… evil I know. But oh my goodness, ever so funny to watch a grown man scream hehe. Funny until he started to reciprocate…
From this amusing history of japes and bants, I’ve learnt that watching practical jokes is a much better way to amuse yourself, as karma doesn’t seem to catch you as quickly. And you still get to laugh and make yourself feel good at other peoples’ gullibility.
This week has been a classic example of this. I haven’t laughed so much in ages, it was needed, both for myself and my colleagues in my day job. I can’t take credit for this either, it was the brainchild of my desk buddies, but I enjoyed the laugh nonetheless.
There is a running joke that our boss recently looks like a spitting image of Angelos Epithemiou (Comedian from *Shooting Stars* fame) ever since he bought himself his *trendy* black framed spectacles in order to see properly… He doesn’t really look like him, but it winds him up slightly and he gives as good as he gets on the joking front.
A colleague decided to make him a new door access badge, with a few cut and paste skills on the computer. He managed to get a big gurning photo of Angelos on it in place of his own mug shot with a few quips underneath his name in place of his job title. He didn’t notice for an entire day, until we had to tell him, following a meeting with HIS boss (who didn’t notice it either, much to our further amusement). We stifled fits of giggles for the entire time he was oblivious to this, walking around chatting to other teams, it was really rather comical in an otherwise stressful day.
Now to hold on to my hat and see what karma might bring my way – hopefully a big spoon of nothing! But if it does, I am happy in the knowledge that I will make somebody else’s day and put a much needed smile on their face too.
I used to think that practical jokes were cruel, mean, unfair, but do you know what?… So long as you aren’t hurting anybody or offending them in a way that will upset them, I say go for it.
Why do we all have to be so stiff and boring as adults, we need a little bit of fun from time to time surely? If they are good enough for George Clooney, then they are good enough for the rest of us!
We would love to hear the best practical jokes you have ever concocted or fallen victim to… do share below! And if you don’t fancy trying one yourself, have a read here at some of the best practical jokes from around the world.
Let’s see…
Sealed an inward opening door of a housemate’s room with newspaper and stuffed it full of newspaper balls. Satisyfing *whooooooosh*…. “sigh” in the morning.
Ate all the chocolates in an advent calendar before giving it to housemate.
Sellotaped toothbrushes to ceiling and claimed to frustrated housemates “look, I definitely saw them in there this morning” when they couldn’t find them.