Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Prank

Feasibility of a ridiculous texting prank?

Askiba — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:28:24 -0800

What is the potential risk, and legality, of my idea for a prank: sending the entirety of Romeo and Juliet in text messages to a friend. The Prank Idea: using my iPhone I managed to copy the entirety of Romeo and Juliet into a text message. In total, this encompasses around 920 160char text messages. (it might be removing something at the end- no big deal, though). Send them all to a friend early in the morning.

The Disclaimer: I understand that this is a very stupid prank. I probably won't do it until I can be sure I would come to no nasty trouble, nor anyone else for that matter. I just want to know- if I did, how bad of an idea would this be? Would I get disconnected? Fined? Give me all the details.

The Etc.:
-I'd be sending over 900 messages in sequence over AT&T's network. Sounds terrifying already.
-I have unlimited texting.

DVD Fake-Out!

newfers — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 15:13:34 -0800

How can I make a phony DVD, that starts off promisingly, but eventually turns into something totally unexpected...with the intention of pranking a DVD thief? A friend of mine at work made a copy of a concert DVD for a friend... please attempt to disregard issues of legality and whatnot... Please?
Anyway, he left the DVD out for the friend, but it was eventually taken by an unknown person. And this is not the first time it has happened, sooooo.... we have a DVD nabber in our midst!

I had the idea of making a fake DVD, with the title of a tasty new release written on it, but at some point within the film, I'd insert either fake footage, something disturbing, or maybe even a personalized message to the DVD nabber...

I alternate between evil thoughts and simpler ideas, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how to pull this off, in order to legitimitely waste the viewer's time... I have visions of the guy (gotta be a guy, right?) bringing home the DVD to watch with his girlfriend, and then, 30 minutes into it....SOMETHING FOUL HAPPENS!

Any suggestions or ideas?

What is the REAL name of the Japanese pranks show people are calling "Panic Face King"?

phonepimpster — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:19:57 -0800

There is a video making the rounds that is supposedly from an extreme Japanese pranks show called "Panic Face King." I have been unable to find any additional information on this show, which leads me to believe this is not the real name (or not the correct translation). There is often a picture-in-picture of people in the studio audience laughing while the prank is being shown. I do not know if this is a device used on many Japanese prank shows, or if it's unique to the show I'm asking about (for instance, this article on Japanese Prank Shows seems to all be from this same show -- but they may be different).

At any rate, I'm trying to find the name of the show that aired this clip. Any help you can give would be appreciated!

How does Scare Tactics Work?

mazniak — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:49:35 -0800

How does Scare Tactics work? I find the show Scare Tactics fascinating, but I can't determine if it is legit. It seems to be a huge liability scaring people like that, especially in the States' litigation happy society. Also, if a person does not like how they reacted to the scare, can they refuse to sign over their right to have their likeness broadcast? I would imagine it would be a very risky procedure to set up and execute the scare if there was a possibility that something might go wrong or the target would refuse to sign over their likeness. Anyways, anyone has any other insider knowledge about the show I would love to hear it.

Go home, bunny!

shesbookish — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:35:31 -0800

How do I send this bunny home? Long story short, a friend of mine and I have been passing a small stuffed bunny toy back and forth for a few years now. He often returns the bunny by hiding it somewhere in my apartment when he visits. I just found the bunny a few days ago and I think it might've been here for a few months this time.

Now it's time for me to return the bunny and I need to come up with a funny way of doing so. I've seen this question about the lobster, but there are a few restrictions that rule out most of the ideas listed there. First, I don't have access to my friend's apartment and we rarely go over there. So, my options for returning the bunny are either to come up with an elaborate way to put it on his doorstep or in the bed of his pick-up truck. Second, I don't want to escalate things so much the he retaliates by, say, leaving a bunny on fire on my doorstep.

So, any suggestions for how to best return this bunny?

Prank a high school!

storybored — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:20:18 -0800

Do you have any ideas for a prank against a rival high school at our reunion? Our grad class is having a high school reunion. There is a longstanding rival high school which is about two miles away. Our class plans to walk over there and -----------.

Can you fill in the blank with a fun, harmless and neato idea?

21st century tape over the phone plug prank??

DetonatedManiac — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:24:51 -0800

Phone Prank Filter: I need to keep a co-worker's phone from ringing. I know the tape over plug technique but the trick is these phones have digital displays. Is there a way to cut the phone w/o cutting the power? The phone is a NEC Dterm 80 (I guess... that's the only markings on it), so if I put tape over the plug the main display goes blank, a dead giveaway it's not working. That will probably cause her to bug our tech guy rather than wonder why her phone does not ring.

Answer must be non permanent, non damaging to phone, non dangerous, and easy enough for an electrical idiot (me) to pull it off.

Low tech techniques are good too, but keep in mind that the co-worker uses a phone headset, so the tape over the Mic or tape over little button thingy the hand set rests on won't work either. Also, it would be good if the prank does not affect customers who call in, so keeping her from receiving calls is great (I can take them) but making her headset silent so the customer hears nothing is not so great

Other phone related phone pranks welcome. Or ways I could slow down her ability to answer the phone, or speed mine up (we are in a bit of a race to answer phones).

Become an online survey taker. Earn cash and rewards!

Area Control — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:37:11 -0800

Is BigSpot (as seen on TV) a major scam, a minor scam, or a good way for a bored person to make a few pennies skewing demographic research. Or other? Are there any reputable or recommendable companies of this nature? I don't want to make a living, I just want to choose your mayonnaise.

What are all of these illegal immigrants doing in my bed?

troika — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 18:02:01 -0800

Help my friends play an epic prank on their vacationing roommate! Ideas, please. He's gone for the next six weeks. The remaining two residents of the house want him to return to something truly awesome...but can't think of anything good enough. They just don't want to do anything smelly. Other than that, the sky's the limit. What would you do?

They want to do something to his bedroom, and they like this guy (so nothing mean....nothing too mean anyway).

I need to know who made this prank phone call!

lukeklein — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 10:52:19 -0800

Who made this recorded prank phone call? It's SO funny! When I was younger, I went to summer camp and a friend of mine had this HILARIOUS collection of prank phone calls by a group similar to the Jerky Boys, but I am almost certain that it wasn't them. Anyway, here is a little excerpt from what I can remember. I believe the premise is that a foreigner is calling a translation or international advocacy group, and the operator is having difficulty understanding the caller...

Operator: ...I'm sorry I don't understand.

Foreigner: Yes.

Operator: Can you call back on Wednesday?

Foreigner: Yes..... No. What? Wednesday what? What is Wednesday?

Operator: Can you call back on Wednesday, the day after tomorrow?

Foreigner: Tomorrow?

Operator: No, the day after tomorrow.

Foreigner: Tomorrow?

Operator: No, sir. The day after tomorrow.

Foreigner: Tomorrow?

Operator: ....Yes. Please call back tomorrow...

Foreigner: OK!!!

Anyway, the sketch in its entirety is GUT-BUSTINGLY funny. If anyone remembers this from their childhood and can remember who it is, please let me know!

How to involve a hotel in a toy ransom?

KathyK — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 07:50:15 -0800

Co-workers have been out of the office this week staying at a hotel on the other side of the country and I've kidnapped their toy for ransom. How to proceed using this third party? I've created a ransom note and will be sending it to them by anonymous email to their Blackberries. I want to contact them by leaving a fax or a message at the hotel desk and need it to be innocent enough not to create any alarms at the hotel. Any suggestions about how to proceed? They'll be back on Monday and I plan to send them photos of the Ice Cream Man in a secret location in the office. Thanks!

Trace a call that can't be traced?

hammerthyme — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:00:58 -0800

What can I possible do about someone that is repeatedly calling my place of employment and hanging up? I'm sitting here at my place of employment, a federally run "health clinic," and within the past hour have received 6 phone calls, all of which hung up after 2 seconds. This has been happening off and on for the past month.

The call goes like this:
- Phone rings
- We pick up and say, "Thank you for calling blah blah, this is blah blah, how can I help you?"
- 2 seconds goes by with a TV audible in the background, and then the caller hangs up

We've noticed that if a female picks up the phone, the caller doesn't hang up right away.

According to the telecommunications chief, who works in a different building but is responsible for our telephone system, there is nothing that can be done. Additionally, we're on a multi-line system so caller id isn't possible. Phone junkies, are you out there? Is this a shot in the dark or can I do something?

Office Enhancements

kenbennedy — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:29:29 -0800

My co-worker was just granted US citizenship and is out of the office today, in what crafty ways can we "enhance" his office while he is out... We have only the resources in our office (printer, office supplies, etc) and maybe the CVS nearby.

He previously held dual citizenships in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Any ideas besides plastering his office with American Flags?

And this is URGENT since he will be back on Monday, we have to do it this afternoon....

Customized net prank

newfers — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:23:00 -0800

Where can I find a list of "prank" websites that use customization to put the name of the victim somewhere within the site? My google-fu is failing me, dear mefites. A friend send me the following link earlier, using my name, and the link shows a clever video using my name as a potential presidential candidate. (I doubt you will see MY personal video, but you can easily test it out, using your own name). The resulting video is cute, particularly the end section with the tattoo... I will admit to laughing out loud!

Anyway, I was wanting to find other, similar links, which use a person's name in a fake newspaper article, or flash site, or perhaps something even more creative. I seem to remember a great flash site that used the person's name in the address, something like my.name.sillyflashsite.com.

Has anyone bookmarked anything similar, or would you please help me find others?

Not so itsy bitsy.

thisisnotkatrina — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 17:21:47 -0800

Where (online) can I find a toy camel spider or something that looks remotely similar? Can't believe I'm wasting a question on this.

A friend is currently stationed in Afghanistan. He's expressed the desire for me to find a big plastic spider (as big as a baseball, he specified) to send to him to play jokes on people with. He said if I can't help him scare people over there I'm going to have 4 months of being scared to put up with when he gets home. Eek!

I have looked everywhere imaginable and googled every possible string of words I could think of and I'm coming up empty handed.

The best I can find is this. It's about the right size but a little too dark, (I'm guessing), I'm afraid to look at more pictures of camel spiders to check their colors though, haha, so I'm not sure if they vary.

Any leads would be greatly appreciated!
Just think, by helping you are really and truly supporting the troops. Haha, well, one of them, not the unlucky victims of his jokes.

I got TP'ed. It's time to return the favor.

niles — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:09:07 -0800

After having my yard toilet papered and forked (not my yard in the link), it's time to get back. Unfortunately, the soon-to-be-victim's yard has almost no trees, so returning the TP favor is out. One idea we're throwing around is attaching a giant cardboard movie cutout to to roof. We'll probably go with that, but in the spirit of going big or ~~going~~staying home, I'd like to hear about other pranks in the same spirit. This is a pretty good sized yard, if it matters.
Apologies if this falls under ChatFilter, but this will be put to practical use, so as I understand it this should be good.

Office War!

Jofus — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:33:38 -0800

How do I start a good natured inter-office war? At work we have a life sized, pose-able foam mannequin with a storm trooper's helmet on. (Hey! Guess which industry I work in!) We leave him downstairs by the front doors- which we have open at the moment as the sun is shining.

The unit next door just posted a letter through the door, in cut up newspaper letters with a photo of our stormtrooper attached to it. It said that unless we buy them 10 ice creams, they're going to do something terrible to him.

So, great. They have a sense of humour.

We've had a lengthy internal meeting about this and decided to escalate this without hesitation or further thought.

Suggestions from the hive mind please on fun ways to get back at them. Your limits are, say a £50 budget and no one must actually be killed.

(Pics to follow)

There's a joke in this negative space, I just know it...

mysterious1der — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 10:02:08 -0800

I'm looking for fun things to do with a soda machine sized nook. Our office had, until recently, a soda vending machine (the wide, squattyish kind). The machine is now gone, and I've heard that we'll be getting a new one (switching from a good-ol'-boy-friend-of-a-friend deal to a real Coke distributor). Until then, there's a "hole" in the side of the hallway that my whole workplace walks past every day. It's probably 5 feet wide, maybe 6 or 7 deep. I've made a few wisecracks since the machine left ("I heard the next new hire has to use this as his office") but I'm looking for weird stuff to do with/put in this space. I'm willing to put in a fair amount of elbow grease into a worthy project.

I've thought of hanging a random human skeleton model (like jr high science class had) behind some cardboard "bars" to make the whole thing look like a jail cell with a sign on it ("The last one who griped about the AC"). Too bad we're so far from halloween.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

Need a scientific explanation of how the Confetti Bomb Prank works

phonepimpster — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:54:50 -0800

I'm looking for a scientific explanation of how this "confetti bomb" prank works. It uses compressed air squirted inside a film canister, then quickly filled with confetti and sealed. After a few seconds, the canister explodes. Why? I know they use an extremely cold liquid in compressed air containers, and holding the can upside down discharges the liquid. Air contracts when cooled, so the effect is actually technically an "implosion" of the lid being sucked into the film canister. Is this correct?

Also:
- What is the liquid in the compressed air container?
- Why does it squirt out as a liquid when the can is upside down?
- Why is this prank so much fun?

pass the lobster?

genmonster — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 18:50:29 -0800

help me with an ongoing prank involving a large plastic lobster so several years ago i found a large (24in) plastic lobster at a garage sale and put it in my mom's refrigerator. she responded by hiding it in my car, and we've been passing it back and forth ever since. i mailed it to my little brother for his birthday, my dad hid it deep in my kitchen cabinets when he helped me move into a new place.
now i want to kick it up a notch by foisting it off on them in a new, totally unexpected way. so far i've thought of sawing it into little pieces and mailing them a chunk every day, but i do want to preserve the integrity of this treasured family heirloom. where in my parents' house/vehicle can i put it and/or what's a clever way i can get it to them?

Irish dog license prank call

Ohdemah — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:26:08 -0800

Irish prank call help! Does anyone know where I can find the recording of a man prank calling someone in (Cork?) Ireland regarding a dog license? The man is irate and claims that he has no dogs, then one barks in the background. I heard it this summer and thought it was a beaut, but I'm unable to find it online. Thanks.

"An intellectual carrot! The mind boggles!" / [If you're going to grow that stuff, make sure there's enough for everybody]

kurumi — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:12:51 -0800

Has a film ever told a completely different story in its subtitles compared to the audio track? It would be a prank, but a clever one to pull off: the audio has the "real" plot, while the subtitles graft another plot onto the visuals. Two movies in one.

The closest thing I've seen is Mad Movies in the '80s, where new lines were dubbed over old movies, and some bad subtitling that drifted from the plot.

O Caption, My Caption

Terminal Verbosity — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:57:41 -0800

Caption my colleague, please. A coworker of mine and I have had a prank war going on for the last few months. On her last day, she papered my desk with photos of herself with the caption, "Miss me yet?" She believes she struck the final blow, but her going away party is tomorrow night and I intend to have this picture duplicated and pasted to popsicle sticks for all attendees to hold mask-style. The beauty of this particular photo is that she has her mouth open in drunken revelry, ripe for speech balloons.

So, I need some quotes to attribute to her. Things like, "I have a wide variety of STDs" and "I will do anything for a free drink." Fear no raunch; her sense of humor knows no bounds.

Revenge for prison phone scam?

Work to Live — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 13:42:30 -0800

Scam revenge/prank filter: I fell victim to the prison phone scam. I have a phone number for one of the perps (the one calls are forwarded to). I've already reported this to the FTC, but what else can I do to speed some karmic payback their way?

What's a fun way to get these guys to stop calling me?

gum — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:48:06 -0800

How can I prank this evil debt collection company? Six weeks ago, Academy Services of Philadelphia (215-320-0424) called my number in search of someone else (same last name) who they are pursuing for debt collection. Wrong number, I said -- but they called me again the next morning on the same mission. Stop calling me, I said -- and the caller got rude and hung up.

These guys are evil. I no longer answer their calls, but they've left more than two dozen threatening voice mails over the last six weeks. I know I could probably get them to stop by threatening legal action in a certified letter, but that doesn't seem like enough fun.

What prank would you pull if my phone number was yours?