When you hear the words “opera singer,” you probably don’t think “brilliant prankster.” But the inspiration for this prank will make you think again! Many years ago, one opera singer decided to punk another during a performance. The victim had to sing onstage while holding a muff—a tube-shaped piece of fur that women and girls used to carry to keep their hands warm. As she sang, the victim stuck her hands in the muff—and suddenly started reeling around the stage, flapping her arms. The prankster had placed a piece of mushy, overripe banana inside the muff. When the victim touched it, she was horrified! Fortunately, you do not need a muff or an opera singer to pull this prank—just an old banana and a friend who likes to show off his biceps.
what you need
* A piece of mushy, gooey, overripe banana
what you do
THE SETUP
1 Put the piece of banana in the palm of your hand.
2 Cup your hand a little so the stuff stays put—and out of sight.
PULL THE PRANK
1 Challenge your friend to an arm-wrestling contest. When he clasps your hand, he’ll have a gooey surprise waiting for him! An added bonus: You will very likely win the contest!
Art Pranks
For many people, art is serious business—certainly not the place for pranks. But some artists like to combine making art with making mischief. Here are three artfully artful capers.
Sketches of Audubon’s fictional fish.
FUN WITH FISH
During the late 1700s and early 1800s, there was a mad rush among amateur scientists to discover and name new species of plants and animals. A naturalist named Constantine Rafinesque eagerly joined the search. While he accurately named about 30 new species, he sometimes went a little overboard: He would write about new creatures based on very little evidence. If he read about an exotic animal in a travel book, for instance, he would give it a scientific name and describe it as if it were fact. Rafinesque’s sometimes sloppy science made him an easy mark for a prank by the famous wildlife painter John James Audubon.
In 1818 Audubon made drawings of about a dozen fictional fish species, including one he called the devil-jack diamond fish. He described it as having hard, bulletproof scales that a woodsman could use with a piece of flint to start a fire. Rafinesque swallowed Audubon’s story hook, line, and sinker. He gave the “new” fish the Latin name Litholepis adamantinus, which means “unbreakable stone scales,” and published it along with Audubon’s other made-up fish as new species.
Museums go to great lengths to make sure no one steals paintings off their walls, but no one usually worries about people putting paintings on the walls. No doubt that made it easier for the British graffiti artist known as Banksy to pull a series of heists in reverse.
In 2005 Banksy walked into four major museums in New York City and quietly hung his own paintings on the walls, without anyone noticing. One painting stayed up for six days before workers realized it didn’t belong to the museum. Later that year, Banksy hung a fake “prehistoric” cave painting in the world-renowned British Museum in London. The painting showed a cave person hunting while pushing a shopping cart. Bansky included a caption that read: “Early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds.” A couple of days passed before museum workers discovered the prank. They seemed to have a good sense of humor about it, though: They decided to keep the painting in their permanent collection—something many artists would kill for!
EAR THIS!
In 1935 the Museum of Modern Art in New York City hosted a rare exhibit of Vincent van Gogh’s paintings. Thousands of people flocked to the museum. Some wanted to see the art. But many who went were more interested in the shocking story that van Gogh had cut off part of his ear—at least that’s what illustrator and prankster Hugh Troy believed. Troy was irritated that the crowds kept him and other art lovers from getting a good look at the art. He reportedly devised a devilish prank to solve the problem. He created a fake ear out of dried beef. He placed it in a velvet-lined display box and left it on a table in the exhibit, with an official- looking sign explaining that it was the actual ear that van Gogh had lobbed off. Soon the crowds were gathered around the fake ear, and Troy could finally see the paintings. There is some debate about whether or not Troy actually got his “ear” into the museum—but the story has entered pranklore, perhaps for its sheer genius. (You can read more about prankster Hugh Troy on page 35.)
Vincent van Gogh
