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One example of a practical joke is to completely block a person's doorway while they are inside the room.

A practical joke or prank is a stunt or trick to purposely make someone feel foolish or victimized, usually for humor. Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks in that the victim finds out, or is let in on, the joke rather than being fooled into handing over money or other valuables. Since pranks are made to make people feel foolish or victimized, there is an inherent strain of cruelty in most practical jokes. There is a thin line between practical jokes and hooliganism, bullying, vandalism and sadism.

The term "practical" refers to the fact that the joke consists of someone doing something (a practice), rather than a verbal or written joke. A practical joke can be caused by the victim falling for a prank, the victim stumbling into a prank, the prankster forcing a prank on the victim, the prankster causing others to do something to the victim, or even causing the victim to do something to others. Sometimes more than one victim is used.

In Western culture, April Fools' Day is a day traditionally dedicated to performing practical jokes. Another day common for pranks and practical jokes is Halloween, in the form of trick or treating.

1 Famous practical jokes
2 In media
3 Famous practical jokers
4 See also
5 References

Famous practical jokes

The American humorist H. Allen Smith wrote a 320-page book in 1953 called The Compleat Practical Joker^[1] that contains many examples of practical jokes. A typical one, recalled as his favorite by the playwright Charles MacArthur, concerns the American painter and bohemian character Waldo Peirce. Peirce was living in Paris in the 1920s and "made a gift of a very small turtle to the woman who was the concierge of his building." The woman doted on the turtle and lavished it with care and affection. A few days later Peirce substituted a somewhat larger turtle for the original one. This continued for some time, with larger and larger turtles being surreptitiously introduced into the woman's apartment. The concierge was beside herself with happiness and displayed her miraculous turtle to the entire neighborhood. Peirce then began to sneak in and replace the turtle with smaller and smaller ones, to her bewildered distress. This was the storyline behind Esio Trot, by Roald Dahl.

Modern and successful pranks often take advantage of the modernization of tools and techniques, like the engineering prank at Cambridge University, England, where an Austin 7 car was put on top of the Senate House building.^[2] Pranks can also adapt to the political context of the era.^[3] Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are particularly known for their 'hacks'.

In media

Television Shows

Movies

April Fool's Day
Carrie (1976 film)
Porky's
Met At Work 1990 (film) with Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez

Radio

Books

Cubicle Warfare: 101 Office Traps and Pranks by John Austin (ISBN 978-0061438868)
The Compleat Practical Joker by H. Allen Smith (ISBN 978-0899669311)
The Practical Joker's Handbook by Tim Nyberg (ISBN 978-0740741982)
Prank University: The Ultimate Guide to College's Greatest Tradition by John Austin (ISBN 978-0307338433)
Prank the Monkey: The ZUG Book of Pranks by Sir John Hargrave (ISBN 978-0806527802)
The Complete Book of Outrageous and Atrocious Practical Jokes by Justin Geste (ISBN 978-0385230445)
Pranks by V. Vale and Andrea Juno (ISBN 978-0940642102)

Famous practical jokers

Real people

Fictional characters

Colleges and universities

References

^ The compleat practical joker [WorldCat.org]
^ From Hermes to bonsai kittens. What makes a jape great?, from The Economist, Dec 20th 2005. Discusses the origins and evolution of pranks.
^ Priceless pranks, from The Economist, February 21, 2006. Lists famous and successful pranks throughout history.

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Practical joke". Read more

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