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- :: P r a c t i c a l J o k e s ::
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-
- Party Line
- ----------
-
- Of all telephone pranks conceived, this perhaps is the most ingenuous, crafty,
- perplexing, bizzare and often hilarious. To execute this practical joke, a
- telephone with two eensions is required. The most easily adapted for this prank
- is the model with the buttons that are depressed to get a different line. (There
- is often a "Hold" button on these models as well.) By taking the telephone
- apart, the two lines can be connected so that two different outgoing calls can
- be connected so that two different outgoing calls can be placed at the saame
- time. (The details of how exactly to do this are going to be kept a secret. My
- intention is to amuse, not dismantle the nation's communications system.)
-
- Once the two lines are connected, you are ready to go. If you are working alone,
- you need only dial the first six numbers of one target's phone number, place it
- on hold, quickly dial the other target's number on the other line, then switch
- back and dial the seventh number of the first target's phone number. Then press
- down the buttons for both lines and listen to both phones ring. (Mechanical
- ingenuity can show you how this is possible.) If you are working with an
- accomplice, you can each dial on seperate extensions a different person at the
- same time, provided one of you has connected the two lines on his phone. Thus,
- you both dial your different numbers, and VIOLA, both phones at the other end
- begin to ring at the same time. Both persons who recieve the call think the
- other has phoned him or her. So, if one of you calls your mother and the other
- calls your father, both your parents will pick up the phone and ask why the
- other called. If a person has an answering machine at home, you can call him at
- work, while your accomplice calls your target's answering machine. The result is
- the bizzare experience of your target recieving a call from his own answering
- machine. You can connect old lovers, new lovers, students who cut class with
- their teachers, criminals with the police and any unlikely couple you deem fit.
- Remember, though, the persons you call can hear your voice on the line. You are
- essentially creating a conference call with your fiddling.
-
- See how practical these pran show how far this prank can be taken I offer the
- following true to life example, committed by two pranksters against an
- antagonist of theirs, here called Wanda... Wanda had just submitted her
- undergraduate thesis on barbecue (yes, a thesis on barbecue) to her professor,
- so John and Alan began by connecting Wanda to her teacher.
-
- :::::::::
-
- "Hello," said the professor.
-
- "Hello," said Wanda.
-
- "Who are you calling?" asked the professor after a pause.
-
- "Who are YOU calling?" asked Wanda.
-
- "Lady, you called me," said the professor.
-
- "No, I didn't. You called me," siad Wanda.
-
- "I certainly didn't. My phone just rang."
-
- "So did mine."
-
- "There must be some problem. Where are you calling from?"
-
- "Hunter County," said Wanda.
-
- "That's where I am," said the professor.
-
- "I'm in Hattersville," said Wanda.
-
- "So am I."
-
- "I'm calling from Monroe College," said Wanda.
-
- "I'm at the faculty building in my office."
-
- There was a pause.
-
- "Professor Burns!" said Wanda.
-
- "Who's this?" asked Professor Burns.
-
- "Wanda Adams."
-
- "Why did you call me?"
-
- "I didn't. My phone rang. I thought you called me," said Wanda.
-
- "I didn't."
-
- Another pause.
-
- "You have my thesis, don't you??" asked Wanda.
-
- "Yess, but I haven't read it. I only got it yesterday."
-
- "Right. I didn't expect you would have. All right good-bye."
-
- "Good-Bye," said the professor.
-
- John and Alan called Wanda back, connecting her this time to a pizza parlor.
-
- "Hello," said Wanda.
-
- "Hello," said an employee at the pizza parlor.
-
- "Yes?"
-
- "Do you want to order?" asked the voice.
-
- "Order what?" asked Wanda. "Who do you want to speak to?"
-
- "Nobody. You called here. We're a pizza parlor."
-
- "You called ME," said Wnada.
-
- "No, I didn't. You called me. The phone rang."
-
- "So did mine," said Wanda.
-
- "Lady, we're a pizza parlor. We don't call people to see if they want to make an
- order."
-
- "Forget it. Good-Bye." Wanda hung up.
-
- This time John and Alan connected Wanda to the college switchboard.
-
- "Who is this?" asked Wanda in perplexed tones.
-
- "Monroe College switchboard. Can I help you?" said a woman.
-
- "Why did you call me?" asked Wanda.
-
- "Madam, you called me. Can I help you."
-
- "But my phone just rang. Why did you call?"
-
- "Madam, the college switchboard does not make outgoing calls."
-
- After connecting Wanda to Alcoholics Anonymous. John and Alan called her
- directly.
-
- "This is the telephone company calling," said Alan. "We understand that you're
- having some problems with your line."
-
- "Thank GOD! Yes," said Wanda, relieved.
-
- "We're also told that you're playing some sort of prank on persons in your
- calling area. Would you please stop this immediately?"
-
- "I'm not playing any prank, I keep getting calls from people who say they're not
- calling me."
-
- "All right, whatever. We're going to do some work on the line in your area. For
- a few minutes the wires will be exposed to the lineman on the job. So, if your
- phone rings, please don't pick it up, since that could cause the lineman to be
- electrocuted."
-
- "All right," said Wanda reluctantly.
-
- Then, as you no doubt have guessed, John and Alan called her back. (See "Reach
- Out and Torture Someone II or The Wichita Lineman Is Dead on the Line.") After
- failing to respond on several occasions, Wanda finally gave in and picked up the
- phone.
-
- "Aaaaiieeeeeee!" screeched Alan, in a highly realistic impersonation of a
- lineman being electrocuted.
-
- Wanda screamed and dropped the phone. After a few minutes, they called Wanda
- back.
-
- "This is the telephone comapny," said Alan. "Did you answer the phone?"
-
- "Yes," said Wanda weakly, "I thought--"
-
- "The lineman we told you about has been severely electrocuted."
-
- "Oh, no."
-
- "Oh, yes. We and lawyers will be in touch with you soon, you can be sure." Alan
- hung up.
-
- Next they connected Wanda with the REAL phone company.
-
- "Hello," said Wanda, tiring rapidly.
-
- "Hello," said a man at the phone company.
-
- "Who is this?" asked Wanda.
-
- "It's the phone company."
-
- "I'm so glad you called back. What's going on?"
-
- "Ma'am we didn't call you. You called us."
-
- "No, I didn't. My phone just rang. Aren't you calling about my broken phone?"
-
- "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we have no way of knowing a phone is broken unless a
- customer calls us."
-
- "But you just called me about the fellow being electrocuted."
-
- "I'm afraid we didn't," said the man, convinced he had some loony on the
- phone--which was not far from the truth.
-
- When that conversation ended, John and Alan connected Wanda back to the pizza
- parlor, a crisis hotline and finally back to her professor Burns.
-
- "Hello," said the professor.
-
- "Hello," said Wanda.
-
- "Adams, what is it now?"
-
- "Professor Burns--"
-
- "Wanda, I have not had time to grade your thesis, so you needn't call me."
-
- "But I didn't call you. My phone rang. Something crazy is going on."
-
- "Get some sleep, Adams."
-
- "Professor, I didn't call you."
-
- "Okay. Good-Bye."
-
- Finally Wanda was connected back to the phone company. In the midst of that
- conversation, though, Alan let go a burst of laughter which in an instant
- identifed him to his target.
-
- "Alan!" Wanda screamed.
-
- The pranksters fled to their rooms. (They were working out of the student
- newspaper office.) Five minutes later, John recieved a call. It was Alan.
- "John," came the plantive whisper.
-
- "Alan?"
-
- "Yes."
-
- "Why are you whispering?"
-
- "I'm in my closet."
-
- "Why?"
-
- "Because Wanda is outside my room pounding on the door and won't stop."
-
- "Oh," said John. "Well, you can do one of two things. One,
- tell her it's part of a psychology experiment on stress. Two, tell her the
- truth."
-
- Alan ended up lying. Wanda never spoke to him for the rest of the semester. John
- told the truth and was forgiven--or partly forgiven.
-
- Another Tap
- -----------
-
- So, you have an enemy who talks behind your back, eh? Or, maybe you just would
- like to "listen" in on your friend's conversations? Well, if you have 2 phone
- lines and call waiting on one of them, you are in luck. (Only one problem: your
- friend must also have call waiting!)
-
- Procedure:
-
- [1] Call up your friend with the phone you want to listen with. When he
- answers call waiting (he's already on the phone, and you are the 2nd caller),
- then you either sit there or say: sorry, I have the wrong #.
-
- [2] Next, you wait until he goes back to the other line (puts you on hold).
-
- [3] Then, pick up your other line and call ->YOUR<- call waiting.
-
- [4] Answer call waiting
-
- [5] Then go back to him. (Answer, and then click back.. Click ->2<- times
- Answer, and go back..)
-
- [6] Hang up your second line
-
- [7] You are now on the line!
-
- [8] Listen and be Q U I E T ! He can hear you!
-
- Techniques I use to prevent noise or confusion:
-
- If you have call forwarding, turn it on and forward calls somewhere before you
- start listening. If a call comes through on your call waiting circuit, the
- people talking (your buddie and his pal) will not hear anything, but after you
- answer call waiting and come back, they will hear the other call hang up (two
- clicks).
-
- If you don't have call forwarding, I suggest you get it if you are going to make
- a habit of this, because it will become a major pain in the ass. When your call
- waiting rings, you are removed from the "listening" conversation and placed back
- on his hold circuit. In order to get back on, you must answer the phone and wait
- for your party (when you answer the phone, tell the guy you are in a hurry and
- you have to go or you'll call him back later or something) to hang up. When he
- or she hangs up, you will be back on the conversation. Then, one of your pals
- will say: What was that? (because of the clicks).. So, try to use call
- forwarding if you can.
-
- Remember: Have fun, and don't abuse it. I am not sure about it, because I just
- discovered it. It is illegal (what isn't these days) because it is "invading
- privacy". I don't know if the phone company just did not realize there was a
- flaw in it, or that was planned for line testing, I am not sure. Have fun!
-
- Practical Joke Pentathalon
- --------------------------
-
- A group of Boston pranksters included five different pranks in this one stunt
- practiced against one of the perpetrators' roommates during her freshman year.
- As Cyndi Lauper would say, "Girls just want to have fun."
-
- The ingredients for this prank were:
-
- A large piece of plastic
- Copious amounts of Jell-O
- Marshmallow Fluff
- A hideously ugly, hairy mask
- Scotch tape
- About ten pennies.
-
- While Lynn peacefully slept, her roommate Donna quietly left the room. Waiting
- outside were her fellow "floor mates" with the tools and accessories. First, one
- person quietly entered the room and turned the main electrical switch in the
- closet off--effectively cutting off all power in the room. The cord connecting
- the handset to the rest of the phone was removed, and the dial tone button was
- taped down. Marshmallow Fluff was smeared on the mouth-piece and earpiece. Out
- in the hallway, a pile of Jell-O was dumped on the plastic and dragged quietly
- into the room and placed by the target's bed. Next, one of the collaborators
- donned the ugly mask and slipped into the bed Donna had vacated, while the
- others stood outside the door and "pennied" the two inside the room. (As old as
- short-sheeting a bed, "pennying a room" involves squeezing pennies between a
- door and it's frame. By creating enough pressure, the door cannot be opened from
- the inside.) The prank was then set in motion. From next door, one of the team
- called Lynn's room, while the others listened outside.
-
- The phone rang. Lynn got up to answer it--stepping into the warm, slimy,
- slippery Jell-O . . . screamed . . . went to answer the phone . . . picked up
- the phone, smearing her face with marshmallow fluff . . . the phone continued to
- ring, since the dial tone button was taped down . . . Cursing, Lynn went to the
- wall and turned on the light switch . . . the room remained dark . . . she
- called her roommate to get some help . . . no responce . . . leaning over her
- roommate's bed she hollered . . . but, alas, rising from the bed was the hideous
- masked face, reflected in the dorm-room window . . . With a shriek Lynn bolted
- to the door, which wouldn't open . . . more shrieking and hollering . . . until
- the masked monster removed her disguise and asked, "Was it somthing I said?"
-
- More Shaving Cream
- ------------------
-
- You are the victim of a cheap, unprovoked practical joke. Moments ago you were a
- law-abiding citizen with a respect for other persons and the law. But now you
- want swift revenge. But your tormentor is hiding behind a sturdy locked door.
- There is little you can do at the moment unless there is a small gap between the
- bottom of his door and the floor. Well, no problem. Simply take a large manilla
- envelope and fill it with shaving cream. Place the open end of the envelope
- under the door. Jump on the envelope near it's end, and you will propel a steady
- stream of foam across your enemy's room. If this irritating person is laughing
- him or herself to sleep, you may wish to substitute whipped cream or topping,
- which, unlike shaving cream, will start to turn rancid by morning!
-
- Stool Pigeon
- ------------
-
- An editor for a publishing company has set the tone for his department using
- this prank as an introduction to new employees. Our editor Jim approached a
- young man the first day he arrived at the company and said, "Hello, I'm Ted
- johnston from personnel. Glad to have you here. Sorry to have missed you earlier
- at your first personnel meeting. Welcome to (NAME OF COMPANY). I don't know if
- anyone's told you, but you will be getting a company physical--a full once
- over--and we'll need some stool samples as a preliminary today to rush over to
- the lab so that they can schedule your appointment. So I'll leave these paper
- cups with you and this paper bag. When you're finished, take the samples down
- to the personnel office and put then on Mrs. Peacock's (the personnel manager)
- desk when you're ready." Jim swears this has worked.
-
- Generic Title
- -------------
-
- For someone u hate...Take a ciggarette lighter and put it under the handle of
- his car door for about 5 min, then hide around a corner and wait for a minute,
- until he comes, listen, when you hear the LOUD "SHIT!!" it worked!
-
- The Come-Home-to-No-Home Trick
- ------------------------------
-
- Do I exist????
-
- One of the lesser-known but classic practical jokes is the room-vanishing act.
- While at college, Fred decided to spend the weekend visiting his girlfriend at a
- school in the next state. That saturday his neighors in the dorm obtained a key
- to his room and removed the door from it's hinges. Plaster-board was put in it's
- place, the edges were sealed with putty and the entire wall in the hallway was
- given a fresh coat of paint. Any trace of a room having been there had vanished.
- When Fred returned he spent hours walking up and down the hall wondering what
- had happened to his room. The effect of this elaborate but remarkable prank is
- disorienting, especially if played on philosophy students who, after going from
- floor to floor trying to figure out where exactly they are, will ask themselves,
- "Do I really exist????"
-
- A Tight Squeeze
- ---------------
-
- Owners of Volkswagens and other small cars have often found themselves able to
- squeeze into parking spaces owners of larger cars cannot. This ability is
- tested, however, when the small car is parked in a lot with a car on each side.
-
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