Quick, I need prank ideas!

February 9, 2019 7:13 PM

I'm going to a friends house to let their dog out in a couple hours. They wistfully reminded me last time we hung out how that the job we both worked at, everyone used to prank each other. I would like to start the prank war; need some ideas that I can put together on short notice.

It has to be fun and joyful as opposed to mean-spirited. I want them to smile, and not say "what the fuck, ICNH?".(They are someone that appreciates a good prank; we used to get in a lot of trouble together, so I'm not worried there.) They also has a key to my place so I need to keep in mind retaliation. I only end up letting their dog out once or twice a year, and just thought of this now, so don't want to wait until next time (when I forget all about it until a couple hours before).

Their dog is totally chill and won't care what I'm up to. Could possibly be part of the prank as long as, you know, she's getting her belly rubs.

posted by [insert clever name here] to Grab Bag (30 answers total)

Look at the fridge, make a note of what's where, empty it, and put everything back in, backwards. So often-used items are now at the back. Only mildly annoying.

If their kitchen sink has one of those little spray thingies that pulls out on a hose, wrap it in tape so that when your friend next uses the sink, they get sprayed.

If they have picture frames on their walls, replace all of them with astronaut sloth (classic) or pictures of yourself or french toast or something.
posted by snerson at 7:22 PM on February 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Learned this one from a fellow mefite:

You know those greeting cards that play a recording when you open them? Get one. Maybe an obnoxious tune, maybe one that has a voice greeting, player's choice. Find a door in the house that regularly sits open against a wall (bathroom is great). All the way up at the very top at the hinge point, tape one side of the card to the door and the other side of the card to the wall.

When the door is open, the card is closed. As soon as your buddy gets home and goes to use the pranked room and closes the door, the card will open and the sound will play.
posted by phunniemee at 7:24 PM on February 9, 2019 [28 favorites]

I came to say replace only some photos with ones of Nic Cage but astronaut sloth or french toast would be good.

TBH if you swapped out just *one* of their wedding photos for one of Nic Cage (if they are married and if they wouldn't be super pissed) that'd be even better
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:24 PM on February 9, 2019 [7 favorites]

on preview i like phunniemee's idea better

please get one that shrieks "pocket full of sunshine"
posted by Hermione Granger at 7:25 PM on February 9, 2019

Take all the raisins out of their box of Raisin Bran.
posted by alex1965 at 7:28 PM on February 9, 2019 [5 favorites]

Move all the furniture (or as much of it as you can manage) a few inches to the side.

Swap two kitchen cupboards.

Gift wrap a few random items.

Fill the shower with blown-up balloons.
posted by stormyteal at 7:34 PM on February 9, 2019 [3 favorites]

Individually wrapping every single thing in one of the rooms in either saran wrap or aluminum foil is classic, but I'm not sure how much time you want to spend there executing the prank.
posted by Weeping_angel at 7:34 PM on February 9, 2019

There isn't a chance you'd have ready access to adhesive googly eyes, is there? Or somewhere you could stop on the way to get them?

Random things throughout the house (that they will come across here and there over time) suddenly having eyes might be fun.

See these previous two previous AskMes for ideas:

#1: I have purchased a package of 500 pairs of self-adhesive googley eyes in various sizes. Help me figure out what in my house to stick them on.

#2: 1) Big, round, colorful vegetables are starting to grow in my wife's garden. 2) She'll be gone for the next two weekends. 3) I've got a bag of 1000 googly eyes. Question: How can I make this prank work without ruining her harvest?
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:36 PM on February 9, 2019 [7 favorites]

Here are some photos from that first AskMe about the googly eyes.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 7:38 PM on February 9, 2019 [6 favorites]

Short-sheeting, an easy, quick, annoying classic.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:40 PM on February 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

Help them out by decorating for Abraham Lincoln's birthday (Tuesday).
posted by teremala at 7:48 PM on February 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

Get a big bag of old fashioned green army men toys, or farm animals or what have you, and arrange an assault on the blender or toaster.
posted by vrakatar at 8:23 PM on February 9, 2019 [11 favorites]

Go to the dollar store and buy some calendars, maybe some puppies, or David Hasselhoff. Tape a page to the inside of every cabinet in their house
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 8:39 PM on February 9, 2019

Dress the dog in their clothes and send photos?
posted by BoscosMom at 9:22 PM on February 9, 2019 [2 favorites]

If you go with phunniemee's idea, which I very much hope you do, I want you to know that I recently found a musical greeting card that played All Star by Smash Mouth. So please, please, search for that one!
posted by just_ducky at 9:24 PM on February 9, 2019 [1 favorite]

Toilet paper spider. Simple but effective.
Some of these are good.
posted by BoscosMom at 9:42 PM on February 9, 2019 [3 favorites]

Old classic of short sheeting their bed
If they have a pantry full of canned goods, remove the labels from the canned goods - they go to open Tomato Soup and get lima beans, laughs ensue
posted by drinkmaildave at 10:07 PM on February 9, 2019

Arrange a couple of stuffed animals in suggestive poses on their bed.
posted by SLC Mom at 10:31 PM on February 9, 2019 [4 favorites]

Buy a bunch of small toys at the dollar store and hide them all over the apartment. I've seen this as an ongoing thing at multiple unrelated friends' apartments, one involved I think it was beanie babies, another we were finding small plastic dinosaurs all over the place. Bonus: If you do a good job, they'll be turning up for months, and you can always hide more every time you go back!
posted by yeahlikethat at 12:25 AM on February 10, 2019 [5 favorites]

Short sheeting only works if the person in question makes their bed...

You could send them on a scavenger hunt in their own house. Remove batteries from their remote(s), leave a note in the remotes to look in the fridge (or wherever) and then a note to look in the towel closet, etc. How many spots they have to search for the batteries is up to you and your guess as to when it will move from "funny" to "annoying" to "nuclear option retaliatory prank." Or, you know, they just shrug and get new batteries.

It's too bad you don't have time to get one of these for their dog.
posted by jzb at 5:45 AM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

My friend Josh and I babysat for some friends of ours. The baby was already in bed and sleeping, so we just had to hang out for a couple of hours. We took my fuji instax camera and took funny pictures around their house, like pretending to drink the expensive bourbon, model posing in their bed, nothing too weird or gross. Then we labeled the pictures 1/10, 2/10, etc and hid the photos in relatively easy to find places all over the house. We only took 9 pictures though, so 4/10 didn't exist. They loved the pictures and spent a week looking for the one that didn't exist.
posted by August Fury at 7:03 AM on February 10, 2019 [11 favorites]

Are they a bit OCD? Do you know if they line up their DVDs in a a particular way?

I'd suggest making 80% of the paintings/photo frames wonky and changing the order of several of the DVDs.

Just thought of another one.... if they've got tins in the kitchen that says tea, coffee or sugar on, empty them into a bowl and then put sugar in the coffee tin and coffee in the tea tin etc.

Can you let us know how it goes?
posted by sockpim at 11:40 AM on February 10, 2019

I know nobody has seriously suggested it, but don't prank/prank-with the dog. While a dog might be initially okay with a costume, while you were there, it might go badly after you left. Don't leave a prank that is likely to interact with the dog.
posted by the Real Dan at 12:32 PM on February 10, 2019

Syrup in the hand soap.

This takes 2 visits: if they use makeup, scope out the brand/color and replace with a slightly different shade. This works best with foundation/base makeup; lip colors are too obvious.

Place a large piece of furniture in the bathroom. Bonus if it requires a specific angle to get it out.

There is a flavorless food additive called Thick-It. Turn beverages into gels. Could probably do the same with cornstarch. Works great at the office, too, if you ever pick up coffee for your coworkers.

I do not recommend: driving on their lawn and spraying their cars with mud, stealing a road sign and planting it in their front yard, or liberating 3 stand-up paddle boards from somewhere in the neighborhood and placing them in their living room. These are just a few of the reasons that we no longer have a prank war with some friends that live nearby. I’m still pissed about discovering the mud all over my car.
posted by ortoLANparty at 12:37 PM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

I used to have a key for a friend's place because I also took her dog on walks during the week. On April Fool's one year, I "dognapped" her dog. I let myself into her place around 5 in the morning. Dog was more than happy to follow me out the door.

My phone also has dual SIM card capabilities, so a few days before, I went and got another cheapo pay as you go SIM card. This was the dog's "number."

Another friend and I then took the dog on a massive tour of Chicago the morning of April Fool's. We went to the Art Institute, took a photo of the dog posing with the lions there, and texted my friend with a nice little note from the dog. We then did the same thing at the Bean, the lakefront, Oz Park, Wrigley Field, Carol's Pub, the Shit Fountain in Wicker Park, and Goose Island. The whole thing ended with a text and photo from the dog saying, "It's been a great adventure this morning, but I'm ready to be back with you! Please let me in again. I'm downstairs!"

Everyone had a great time, dog included.
posted by astapasta24 at 6:03 PM on February 10, 2019 [3 favorites]

I was always a fan of taking a ridiculous amount of post-it notes and labelling (or mis-labelling) everything in the house. Not so much a prank as an overwhelming w-t-f when you get home to an ocean of yellow, green and orange labels helpfully informing you regarding "toilet", "pineapple", "hand soap".

Bonus points for well-hidden ones that turn up months after the event.
posted by inland400 at 10:47 PM on February 10, 2019 [1 favorite]

We stayed overnight at my in-laws' house a few months back when we were passing through town and they were visiting family elsewhere. I drew faces on all the eggs in the fridge, and the Mr set the child lock on the TV to lock out Fox News (he used the same code as their wifi password).
posted by telophase at 11:48 AM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

yeahlikethat: "Buy a bunch of small toys at the dollar store and hide them all over the apartment. I've seen this as an ongoing thing at multiple unrelated friends' apartments, one involved I think it was beanie babies, another we were finding small plastic dinosaurs all over the place. Bonus: If you do a good job, they'll be turning up for months, and you can always hide more every time you go back!"

We did this once with a few rolls of pennies. By buddy _moved_ and he was still finding the occasional penny (and of course the victim is never sure whether any penny they find in the future is part of the prank).
posted by Mitheral at 12:54 PM on February 11, 2019

My ex's sister announced her pregnancy once just before we visited her. We got a bag of 6 plastic babies and hid them all over her house. Plastic dogs or dozens of army men would also be effective.
posted by bendy at 4:00 PM on February 11, 2019 [1 favorite]

In my old office we had a small rubber mouse, that I think was from the dollar store. We'd take turns hiding it on each others' desks, usually behind something else. It was always fun to wait for the moment when they found it.
posted by beandip at 9:17 AM on February 15, 2019 [1 favorite]