Practical joke

A practical joke or prank is a humorous practice (usually in action, not just in words) in which another person is fooled, annoyed, or embarrassed in what the perpetrator imagines to be a mild and light-hearted fashion. Some types of practical jokes include:

hoaxes, especially ones perpetrated on or by the media (See also: culture jamming).
physical types of practical jokes, such as causing someone to:
- trip,
- get wet (ex: using water-filled balloons),
- go on a fool's errand such as asking them to go to the store for striped paint,
- unknowingly wear embarrassing signs (ex: a 'kick me' note on the back),
- get soiled (saran wrap on the toilet seat) or
- produce unpleasant sounds (ex: a whoopee cushion)
forms of mild harassment (ex: soaping someone's windows, smearing toothpaste or peanut butter in recessed handles like those found on most cars, decorating the yard with toilet paper, sending them on a snipe hunt, sprinkling popcorn on the yard).

Practical jokes are features of various kinds of holidays, such as April Fool's Day, Halloween, and in Spanish-speaking cultures, the Day of the Holy Innocents. They also feature in various rites of passage, such as stag nights.

See also