Practically Joking

In Practically Joking, the first full-length study of the practical joke, Moira Marsh examines the value, artistry, and social significance of this ancient and pervasive form of vernacular expression. Though they are sometimes dismissed as the lowest form of humor, practical jokes come from a lively tradition of expressive play. They can reveal both sophistication and intellectual satisfaction, with the best demanding significant skill and talent not only to conceive but also to execute. Practically Joking establishes the practical joke as a folk art form subject to critical evaluation by both practitioners and audiences, operating under the guidance of local aesthetic and ethical canons. Marsh studies the range of genres that pranks comprise; offers a theoretical look at the reception of practical jokes based on “benign transgression”—a theory that sees humor as playful violation—and uses real-life examples of practical jokes in context to establish the form’s varieties and meanings as an independent genre, as well as its inextricable relationship with a range of folklore forms. Scholars of folklore, humor, and popular culture will find much of interest in Practically Joking.

Chocolate sponge brownies? Check. Beetroot rat infestation? Check. Fresh breath cookies? Check. There's nothing more fun than fooling your friends and family! With step-by-step instructions and guided photos, readers will have no trouble whipping up their next prank to pull. This collection features sidebar text on how to pull off the perfect practical joke and additional safety and clean-up tips. Get ready to fake out your friends with simple, funny tricks and practical jokes!

Contains a collection of practical jokes for you to pull, such as eating a 'worm' sandwich, changing a pair of shoes for two left foot shoes, make chocolate covered pickles and much more.

The newest title in the coolest series around. From word jokes and computer jokes, to jokes to play on your brothers and sisters. But beware that the victim doesn't play a joke on you!

Meet Dick and Dom, TV legends, creators of Slightly Naughty but Very Silly Words and authors of the world's* best Big Fat and Very Silly Joke Book! But now it's time for . . . (drum roll, please) . . . Dick and Dom's Whoopee Book of Practical Jokes! Fool your friends, trick your teachers and prank your parents! Packed with rip-roaring practical puns, side-splitting jokes and nuggets of complete and utter madness, if this book doesn't tickle your funny bone, you're probably dead! *In our opinion. Other opinions are available.

This hilarious illustrated catalog contains practical jokes from offices, hospitals, colleges, parties, schools, and weddings . . . for in-laws, bosses, scheming colleagues, rude neighbors, and ex-lovers. Plus, much more! Containing pranks and stunts for every occasion and classics from the pantheon of pranksters, The Complete Book of Outrageous and Atrocious Practical Jokes will show how to write the memo that will have scheming colleagues hiding under their desks while you squeal with laughter; how your stereo system can be adapted inventively to deal with noisy neighbors, professors, and roommates; how to take the air out of assorted stuffed shirts at dinner parties with creative use of fishing line and insects; and how husbands and wives maintain their version of marital harmony using nail polish and the insinuation of shoplifting.

The Prank Cookbook: 100 Pranks, Gags & Practical Jokes contains 100 of the best pranks, cranks and gags. It’ll tell you exactly what you need to become a master prankster, and the instructions are as easy as a cookbook’s! Soon, you’ll be getting your parents, your friends and even your worst enemies to fall for everything in the book! (Or, in this book at least.) The Prank Cookbook contains pranks that can be done at home or in the office—food pranks, practical jokes and some computer pranks too! Joe Wilson, the author, gives you all of the ingredients and how to prepare each joke like a meal. It’s 100 different ways to prank your friends and family! And hopefully, this book will give you all the ideas you need for thinking of new pranks in the future too!

Looking for ways to bring levity to your mundane existence? Want new ideas to pay back a menacing practical joker? Nyberg, best-selling humor author and longtime practical joker, delivers the goods! Featuring some of the best and the funniest practical joke and prank ideas gathered from jokesters around the world, this devious little handbook offers a hilarious collection of tips and tactics for bringing humor to your home, office, school, car, and even your favorite dining establishment. Book jacket.

An invaluable guide on how to "lighten up" from a distinguished pro who has provided laughs for JAY LENO, BILLY CRYSTAL, STEVE MARTIN, ROBIN WILLIAMS, BRAD GARRETT, WHOOPI GOLDBERG, AND MANY MORE. Who hasn't wished for the perfect withering comeback line, a clever tension-breaking quip, or a winning flirtatious remark? Being funny is hard work and not everyone is a natural. How to Be Funny is a witty guide that teaches readers precisely how to be funnier in everyday life. It's a must-read for anyone who has to speak in public, be engaging and funny at work or at play, or who hopes to one day go out on a date. Jon Macks, a comedy writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, the Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards, Hollywood Squares, and the nation's top comedians, politicians, and corporate leaders, knows his funny business. Here he demystifies the process of making people laugh, breaks down the basic building blocks and types of humor -- which include self-deprecation, misdirection, deadpan delivery, sarcasm, and "the reverse" -- and reveals the best approaches to use in common situations. How to Be Funny features helpful (and hilarious) tips and anecdotes from the comic legends Mack's worked with -- including Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall, Gilbert Gottfried, Billy Crystal, Rita Rudner, Dave Barry, and Carrie Fisher -- in his eleven years as one of the nation's top television writers. Whether the goal is to give a memorable public address or deliver a killer line with friends, How to Be Funny is a charming, instructive, and practical read.

A treasury of practical jokes features 144 ingenious tricks and pranks designed to confound friends, family, and other unsuspecting victims