Gotcha! Gratified Pranksters Share Stories of Success
Pranks come in all shapes and sizes—and results may vary.
From harmless jokes to cruel tricks, bullies getting what they deserve to innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire, these Redditors share their most successful, creative, hilarious, and sometimes-regretful stories about pranks they have pulled or fallen victim to.
Sometimes, it’s the prankster themselves who ultimately learns a lesson.
1. Meteorological Machination
My late husband was a weather nerd and loved inclement weather. One time, I was home alone and a huge storm was imminent, so I taped the weather warnings. A few days later, it was a beautiful sunny day—not a cloud in the sky.
We were watching TV, and as soon as he walked into the kitchen to grab a beer, I started playing the recorded warnings.
It was so funny! He kept running outside to check the sky. I laughed so hard (and so did he when I confessed)!
2. Cans, Incognito
Back in university, my housemate used to live off of tinned food. He would have a massive variety of canned soups, curries, and veggies in his cupboards at all times. I’m talking dozens of tins, filling up the whole cupboard.
One day, I carefully removed the label off of a tin of chicken soup and stuck it onto a tin of value cat food I had bought expressly for that purpose.
That evening I somehow persuaded him to eat chicken soup and he didn’t suspect anything. He picked up a tin of soup, opened it, and it was—chicken soup. "Oh well," I thought, "another time." Two weeks passed, and I’d sort of forgotten about the disguised can. Then, one night when he was in the kitchen making dinner, it finally happened. We heard him say in an alarmed voice, “Hey guys...what do you think of this soup? Looks a bit funny to me! Tastes funny, too.”
At that point, I couldn’t breathe due to laughing so hard.
3. Playing With Fire
I managed to convince my sister's 9th-grade science teacher that my sister was an amateur arsonist. I had a study hall with Mr. D the semester before she started, and one day as he wandered by, he said, "
I have your sister in my class next semester, anything I should know?" I think he was just trying to make conversation.
I don't know where it came from, but I jokingly told him, "
Look, whatever you heard, it was completely blown out of proportion, no charges were ever filed, there haven't been any incidents in a couple of months, and besides some smoke damage, there's been no loss of property.
Maybe just don't sit her near the wastepaper, just to be safe." He laughed and continued walking.
I forgot about that exchange until the parent-teacher night the next semester, when my mother came home and asked me what I had told my sister's science teacher.
Apparently I played the defensive older brother act a little too well, as he spent the first three weeks of that semester with my sister under close scrutiny, and he even asked my mom about the validity of my claims.
I found out this past holiday that my sister had inadvertently helped the joke along that first week that she was in science! They had been lighting Bunsen burners, and Mr. D had asked if anyone knew how to use matches.
Given that we grew up with wood heat and camping, my sister's hand naturally shot up.
4. Christmas in July
One summer when my cousin was staying with us, he and I had a small “prank war.” After pranking each other got boring, we decided to put our talents together and try to prank everyone else.
We put small piles of flour on each blade of the ceiling fan in the living room, just enough to not be seen from the ground. A few weeks went by and nothing happened, we largely forgot about it.
But then, the day finally came. My mom had company over. I was in the kitchen, and I heard all kinds of shouting and screaming coming from the living room. My cousin ran up to me grinning and simply said, “It’s happening.” The living room looked like it had just snowed inside. Everything was coated in a fine dusting of flour. My mother was screaming, her guests were staring in confusion, and the dogs were running around in circles. It was so amazing—until we had to clean it all up.
