No, Prank You.

Remember when I said I’d begun a post about pranks? I wanted to write about humorous incidents, not cruelty-based practical jokes. My call for stories produced many results. You won’t see any of them on this blog. Human nature being what it is, I don’t want to encourage anyone to repeat or worse, build upon, the viciousness. (A lot of it was funny, but I feel guilty admitting that.)

I wanted “Animal House”-like memories of rambunctious teens, or more recent stories about merry adults who enjoy laughing. You know, like the people who populated 80s media, or Stanley Tucci movies. I should have realized how fictional that mindset truly is.

“If you slip on a banana peel, that’s comedy. If I do it, that’s tragedy.” I’ve heard this attributed to Mel Brooks amongst others. Aristophanes was probably the first to say it, or something like it. I bet Aristophanes was the biggest prankster in the agora.

What is a prank? There’s an element of irony, surely, in that expectations are twisted by the surprise. Sugar in the salt shaker is classic but not funny. Gelatin-solidified toilet water was considered a hoot when I was in college. Once upon a time, I sat in on the auditions for a play I wrote. A somber, Serious Actor delivered his lines dressed all in black with his fly open and his red undies showing. To this day I wonder if that was a prank.

I believe a prank should be funny, but I am a creature of the 70s and a product of network television. Reviewing the practical jokes I’ve been given makes me wish that real life could have a laugh track, so I wouldn’t feel as sorry for the victims.