Are we ever too old for a good April Fool’s prank?

April Fool’s Pranker

One time a few years ago I did one at trivia bar I frequent. I found a wig close to my own hair and a pal to play along. We pretended to have a big fight and things escalated while the bar got quiet.  At the right moment – voila! she tore the wig off my head.

The looks on everyone’s faces and their collected “OOOOOOOhh” was priceless.

April Fool’s Prankee

The world’s best April Fool’s prank was courtesy of my late husband. Michael noticed how creeped out I was about the Twilight Zone episode “The Fever” – a slot machine pursues a gambler to his death while repeating his name. It chases him until he jumps out the window.

The next time I turned on my home office computer, it booted up and said, “Okay, Virginia, let’s boogie!” I ran, scared and shocked, to Michael, who saw the look on my face and almost fell out of his chair laughing.  And after a second, I laughed too.

That’s the essence of a perfect April Fool’s prank.  It’s not mean, nobody gets hurt, and everybody laughs.

YOUR TURN

But that’s me. How about you?  What was a great April Fool’s prank you played or  had played on you? Tell us about it in the comments!

Virge Randall is Senior Planet’s Managing Editor. She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; her blog “Don’t Get Me Started” puts a quirky new spin on Old School New York City. Send your suggestions for Open Threads to her at editor@seniorplanet.org.