8 readers share their favorite April Fools’ Day pranks
"The trick is getting the joke in early before the victim realizes the date."
Whether you love or hate them, there’s something satisfying about seeing a good prank executed well, and April Fools’ Day is a day for celebrating the cleverness of a great prank.
The MIT hacks are among the best in the Boston area and are a favorite of one reader, Amanda from Stoneham.
“Just about anything MIT does. They are the best,” she told Boston.com. “Nerd crossing is still my personal favorite.”
But the pranks that stick with us the most are the ones we experience more directly, so ahead of the holiday, we asked Boston.com readers to share the best and worst April Fools’ Day pranks they’ve either pulled off or fallen victim to. Below you’ll find stories from eight readers about their most memorable pranks.
The family prank aficionado
“I don’t know when it all started but here are a few of my finest pranks. All were believed until I said April Fools.
- I told my daughter who was a sophomore in college that we could no longer help with her college tuition, etc. because her father had a gambling problem and lost all of our money.
- I told my husband that the (elderly and ailing) cat was dead down in the basement and that he had to take care of the body before our grown daughter came over to do laundry. I thought I’d just yell down that I had gotten him for April Fools, but he went downstairs and the cat was asleep on a pile of towels. When he went to ‘take care of the body,’ the cat ‘meowed’ and scared the daylights out of him. I couldn’t have planned it better!
- I called our son, age 22, ‘crying from jail,’ saying that I had been arrested for a DUI and I needed him to bail me out because I didn’t want to tell Dad.
- When they were in grade school, I regularly told our son and daughter they didn’t have to go to school for one reason or another. I got them every year.
The trick is getting the joke in early before the victim realizes the date. Unfortunately, no one will take my calls on this day anymore.” — JoAnne D., Lowell
‘Shock, fear, dread, elation, and confusion‘
“I came home from work one April 1 evening and greeted my son. He promptly congratulated me on becoming a grandfather! I stood there for (a very painful) 15 seconds trying to figure out if my 17-year-old son standing in front of me and his girlfriend had gotten pregnant, or my 23-year-old daughter and her obnoxious fiance had done so. Before my brain could sort the options and seek clarification, he announced that I had fallen victim to the day. He got far too much enjoyment from the look of shock, fear, dread, elation, and confusion that flashed across my face.” — Michael, Quincy
March 32
“Teacher, here. At the start of each school day, I put the date up on the board. On April 1, if it’s a school day, I write March 32. Invariably, there will be at least one student in every class that wants to mock me for having the wrong date. They are often recklessly disrespectful, so much so, that as much as I don’t like pranking people, I approve of this one, as it works as a clever lesson in their learning to think twice before shooting their mouths off. I don’t laugh or correct them, I just stare at them as they up their protests. I don’t even have to say, ‘April Fools!’ (Plural, as there is generally more than one). It works really well.” — John, Beacon Hill
‘I got over 50 of my friends with that one’
“I’ve been civically involved in Waltham for a long time. A few years back I made an image and a slogan and announced a run for mayor of the city. Before then I had mostly said I’d never run for office, so it caught my friends off-guard. But what I remember most is the dozens of people who posted messages of enthusiastic support! These included political and organizing friends from around Massachusetts and beyond. I think I got over 50 of my friends with that one. So I guess if I ever do run, I’ll have to announce on a different day. And it is nice to know I’d have a bunch of people behind me if I did decide to run!” — Scott, Waltham
A salty start to the day
“Every year I would switch the sugar bowl with salt…I loved watching my husband’s face every year on 4/1 taking his first big sip of the salty coffee.” — Deb, Easton
“I put salt in the sugar and my brother put it in his coffee. I then proceeded to put black electrical tape on the fountain thing by the sink so when he spit out the salt in his coffee and turned on the sink, he got sprayed.” — Elizabeth W.
Beef showers
“My daughter once put a beef bouillon cube in my shower head as an April Fool’s Day prank and I found myself bathing in beef broth early in the morning — we still laugh about it.” — Kellie V., Wells, Maine
Calling for Mr. Lyon
“After working at a Vermont bank for over 24 hours on an ATM project in the late 70s, I was waiting for a return call from a company in Mass. I returned after a couple hours nap and was told by my coworkers that I had missed a call from Mr. Lyon at a Mass. number. When I called, still half asleep, I asked for Mr. Lyon but was asked twice who I was looking for? I explained my situation only to be told that I had called the Stone Zoo! My coworkers got me.” — GP
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