12 April Fools’ Day Pranks We Couldn’t Have Scripted

Neil Connery knows the day is coming when his coworker Steve will seek retribution for an April Fools’ Day prank.

And when you read what happened to Steve, and how long it went on, you may have a thought or two about what karma should look like for Neil. We started this conversation with an informal survey asking readers to tell us about epic April Fools’ Day stunts they’ve either pulled or been pranked in, and we’ll continue it in the comments at the end of this story.

April Fools’ Day, by the way, is this coming Wednesday, so wake up with a degree of skepticism.

Neil, a Warminster (Pennsylvania) Patch reader, is a maintenance mechanic at a wastewater treatment plant, where he shares an office with Steve.

For April Fools’ Day one year, Neil ordered a chirping cricket electronic gadget, set it to go off every 20 minutes and hid it behind a drawer on Steve’s desk.

“This went on for about a month, so Steve thought it was a real cricket. He started Googling how to get rid of or trap crickets. He went so far as setting traps of water bottles filled with sugar water, ’cause that is what he read online about how to capture them,” Neil said.

Steve was unrelenting in his mission to hunt down the chirper.

“Now, the batteries last for three years,” Neil said of the gadge “but I didn’t want to be listening to that sound for three years. So, after about a month, I had to let him know that it wasn’t a real cricket.”

Steve “was a little upset” initially but eventually saw the humor and accepted it — likely as he plotted how to get even, Neil said.

‘Much Cheaper And Very Creamy’

This stunt from Naperville (Illinois) Patch reader Janis is positively delicious and was seemingly scripted for internet virality.

“I pranked my group of nursing students by covering a can of tuna from Trader Joe’s with a label from a can of tuna cat food, also from Trader Joe’s. We were seated at a rectangular table. All students saw me peel back the top of the can and start eating from the can,” Janis said.

“It wasn't long before students started pulling phones out to sneak pictures. One student asked if I knew I was eating cat food. After another forkful, I replied, ‘Yes, of course. It’s much cheaper and very creamy.’ I heard one student gag. Then another,” she continued.

Once Janis reeled them in, she let them go, like catch-and-release fishing.

“I stopped and calmly pulled the cat food label off to reveal it actually was not cat food after all.”

Stage Shenanigans

Sandy D., a Berkeley (New Jersey) Patch reader, was the assistant director of a theater production that ran from mid-March to mid-April.

“On April 1st, I walked in on one of my cast members pacing around the room, going over and over the leading man’s lines. They then break the news to me that the leading man’s car broke down, and he was not going to make the show,” Sandy said.

But not to worry, the cast assured her. They had worked it out among themselves.

“The pacing actor was going to step into the leading man’s role, another actor was going to cover his role, and I was going to have to cover the third actor’s role,” Sandy said. “Of course, my brain panics because we don’t have stand-ins for any roles. I was going to have to go onstage with lines in my hand because this was one of the roles I had not memorized.”

With dramatic flair, Sandy said that “five minutes after my heart attack,” the leading man revealed the catastrophe with the cast was an April Fools’ Day joke.

“I chased them all with my shoe in my hand!” Sandy said.

Remember This At The Office

The thing to remember about pranking coworkers on April Fools’ Day can be summed up in two letters: HR.

These pranks seem harmless enough, and if any of them led to a stern look from the human resources director, the readers didn’t say.

Tampa (Florida) Patch reader Mara and her coworker have a long history of pranking each other.

“One day, I was able to make a copy of his car keys. During the next couple of weeks, I would move his car from one place to another in our parking lot, change his radio station, and change his seat position,” Mara said.

Mara’s coworker thought his ex-girlfriend was behind the mystery. She had enlisted others in her deception, and “for the grand finale, we left a bunch of things in the car — clothes, soda cans, a hat.”

They peeked out the window, watching for his reaction.

“Priceless,” Mara said.

She confessed when her bewildered colleague returned to the office. “We all laughed about it for weeks,” she said.

Juli, a Shorewood (Wisconsin) Patch reader, wrote and then installed a program on her receptionist’s computer that flashed upon start-up, “All your files have been

“She was then instructed to hit enter, which filled the screen with scrolling ‘April Fools!’” Juli said.

Abingdon (Virginia) Patch reader Betty told her former boss she had won tickets to a basketball game, but she wouldn’t be able to go, so he could have them.

“He was so excited, he was ready to jump in his car and drive from Jersey to Philly to get them from me, until I said ‘April Fools,’” Betty said. “We both laughed so hard and for a long time about that. He then tried to get me back, but was unsuccessful, lol.”

‘Let Me Call Your Doctor’

Ish chased her 15-year-old daughter out of the house after she got the punchline on this April Fools’ Day joke.

Her daughter announced she was pregnant.

“She had a whole story and all,” Ish said. “I tried so hard to be supportive. I said, ‘OK, let me call your doctor so we can confirm.’ I picked up the phone. Then she said, ‘April Fools!”

Hillary Ratigan, a Wantagh-Seaford (New York) Patch reader: “My ‘darling’ children put a rubber band around the handheld spray on the kitchen sink. When I went to do the dishes, I got drenched. I was laughing so hard, I couldn’t get the water turned off right away!”

Cyndi, a Laguna Niguel-Dana Point (California) Patch reader, pranked her kids by moving their cars to parking spots around the corner.

New York City Patch reader Christopher used wordplay in his April Fools’ Day stunt.

“I woke up my wife and told her we had a large leak in our bathroom,” he said, “When she investigated, she found a large green leek in the sink.”

Fool Me Once

As a kid, New York City Patch reader Laurel pulled the same prank year over year.

“I’d put salt in the sugar bowl and sugar in the salt shaker at breakfast,” Laurel recalled. “I fooled my dad and grandmother every time because they never realized the date.”

She added, “We always had a good laugh from this prank, but they didn’t really enjoy their breakfast.”

Whitefish Bay (Wisconsin) Patch reader Jane Suesskind fooled her husband year after year.

“I saved the morning paper one year and put it outside the next year for my husband to pick up and read in the morning,” Jane said. “He figured it out when he got to the sports section.

“I actually did this for a few more years until April 1st landed on a Sunday, and the paper size didn’t match,” she said. “I’d gotten him every year up until then.”

Hold The Mayo

Hanover (New Hampshire) Patch reader Heidi Newell, who lives in Nova Scotia, Canada, recalled a prank from her days working with high school students with special needs.

As part of their programming, the students pushed their coffee cart around the school and sold hot drinks and, sometimes, a selection of homemade baked goods, to staff members.

On April Fools’ Day, they didn’t know Heidi had conspired with a friend who bakes to make Boston cream doughnuts using mayonnaise as the filling. The friend went all out, topping them with colored salt.

“I put them on the cart. As the students peddled their coffee and tea, they innocently offered teachers a doughnut,” Heidi said. “Interestingly enough, one teacher said, ‘I know you are up to something,’ as I had a reputation around April Fools’ Day.

“She did not suspect the students, however, and when they asked if she would like a doughnut, she eagerly agreed, ‘Would I ever!’ and took a big bite!”

One interesting side note worth pondering: The women promptly threw their doughnuts in the trash after the students went on their way with their cart.

“But the male staff ate them,” Heidi said.

Now, join the conversation and tell us about a memorable April Fools’ Day joke or stunt in the comments below.