People who don’t cover their nose when they sneeze are rude. But when you shower “snot” on the back of someone’s neck, you are simply a good prankster. This prank is guaranteed to get a shriek. It works best on someone whose neck is exposed, so choose a victim who has short hair or their hair up in a ponytail.
what you need
* Water
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Make sure you pull this prank in a place where you have easy access to water. Do it in the kitchen when you are hanging out with friends. Or carry a water bottle with you so you can pull the prank when you’re walking with your victim.
2 Look for an opportunity to get your hand close to the back of your victim’s neck without drawing too much attention—when you are standing just behind the person or sitting side by side.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Casually mention that you have a really nasty cold. Cough, sniffle, and blow your nose a few times.
2 When you’re ready to strike, dip your fingers into the water or pour a little water out of a bottle onto your hand. Then “sneeze” loudly as you flick the water onto the back of your victim’s neck. Timing is important, so it’s a good idea to practice this prank on a friend first to get it right.
Benjamin Franklin:
America’s Founding Prankster
Benjamin Franklin is famous for helping to write the Declaration of Independence, inventing the lightning rod, and coming up with many other bright ideas. What most people don’t know is that he was also a lifelong prankster. Franklin pulled one of his most successful hoaxes in 1722 when he was only 16. Pretending to be a middle-aged widow named Silence Dogood, he wrote a series of letters to a popular newspaper. He gave the widow’s opinions on everything from religion to fashion. Readers loved the letters. In fact, a few men were so delighted with Widow Dogood that they sent her marriage proposals before young Ben revealed it was all a joke. Like Franklin’s later pranks, this one had a social purpose: In the letters, Franklin poked fun at snobs and tried to make people think about how they treated others.
Benjamin Franklin
Animals Pull Pranks, Too!
Only humans pull pranks, right? Wrong! In 2009, a scientist named Dr. Sheila Getchew was studying hyenas at an animal preserve in East Africa when she observed something truly remarkable. Early one morning, Dr. Getchew was watching a group of hyenas resting outside their den. She noticed a young hyena leave the group and go inside the den. Soon it returned, carrying in its teeth a small plastic ziplock bag filled with air. It dropped the bag on the ground next to the other hyenas and sat nearby to watch. Moments later an older hyena trotted over to join the group. It sat down on the bag, without noticing it, and a loud farting sound shot out from his hindquarters as the air was forced out of the bag. The other hyenas immediately started howling hysterically and pointing at the older hyena, who covered its face with a paw, as if embarrassed.
Dr. Getchew realized she had just witnessed something no scientist had ever seen before: a wild animal pranking another animal. She theorized that the young hyena had found the plastic bag in a trashcan on the preserve and somehow managed to inflate it.
In 2010, Dr. Getchew published her observations in the Journal of Hyena Studies. Her article, “Practical Jokes in the Hyena Population of East Africa,” is still talked about among zoologists. You can find it in the book Scientific Hogwash: Questionable “Discoveries” in Science.
A wild hyena laughs at a prank.
