50 hours of 200 Pranks

1 year ago
155

On April 1, jokesters are at their best. With the help of these hilarious April Fool's jokes, you'll make sure that in 2023, you're the one getting played.
Every item we feature has been hand-selected by our editors and specialists. A commission from your purchases might go to us.

It's always nice to have a few practical jokes in your back pocket for parents, kids, partners, and friends—as well as some virtual gags you can do through text, whether you're a seasoned practical joker or fresh to the comedic game. Considering doing pranks based on your zodiac sign, or coming up with your own take on the antics you've seen in prank videos? That's all well and good, but bear in mind that we prefer April Fools' jokes that are smart enough to catch a friend or relative off guard while remaining harmless enough to not endanger anyone.

Pranks on April 1st have been around since the 1700s, and the occasion is also commonly known as All Fools' Day. The history of April Fools' Day is fascinating, in our opinion (many attribute its start to the people of Great Britain). Prepare plenty of April Fools' Day jokes for your loved ones. Consider these amusing suggestions as your only option.

Subscribe to Reader's Digest's Read Up email for weekly updates on humor, housework, travel, technology, and amusing facts.

Coffee conversation
We'll confess that this joke is on the verge of being cruel, depending on how dependent your April Fools' prank target is on their morning joe. Change the sugar in this tried-and-true ad to salt so that your target's first cup of coffee will surprise their tastebuds. Perhaps have a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee with sugar ready to go in case this one doesn't go as planned! These April 1st jokes, meanwhile, are certain to make everyone laugh out loud.

higher learning
Teachers always have the last laugh because of how much work they put in. At Virginia Wesleyan University, psychology professor Gabi Martorelli made the decision to pull a quick April Fools' joke on her students. She posted a link to her students' assignments last year labeled "Final Exam Answers." The link, however, did not in any way take me to the answers. Martorelli thinks this joke was especially apt during the epidemic, with so much remote learning happening, and students were greeted to a video of pop musician Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up" instead of the surprise help they had anticipated for their big test. You'll laugh out loud at these April Fools' Day memes as well.
READINGS FROM READER'S DIGEST CONTINUE ABOVE
The Origins of 13 Well-Known Easter Traditions
The Best 15 Carry-On Baggage Items Available on Amazon
With these 10 pop-up birthday cards, you can enhance anyone's celebration.
This is America's Best Discount Grocery Shop.
PB & chuckles
Smear crunchy peanut butter on a friend's shoe, and it will look, well, like something you might discover in the bathroom, if you want to temporarily freak them out with a clever April Fool's joke. Make the prank even funnier by giving the peanut butter a quick lick with your finger. If you choose to go for the lick, we would advise making sure you attempt this one on a shoe that is rather clean.

Doesn't add up
a content older woman uses a laptop in the garden
GetTY Images/OLIVER ROSSI

For the past few years, a large number of us have worked or attended school from home for a sizable portion of the time, and our computers and electronics have taken over our lives. But, internet businessman Mark Coster still finds it amusing to carelessly tamper with these screens. If a person is using Windows, he advises pressing the keyboard shortcut CTRL + ALT + Down Arrow while their computer is on and asking them to bring you something from another room (the farther away, the better). "Go to System Preferences on a Mac if they are using one. Click Display while holding down Command and Option, and then select the "180" option. Their computer screen will be turned upside down as a result. You'll have a joy watching them wrack their brains trying to figure out how to fix it on their computer, even though this innocuous joke has a simple fix.

Bug warning
To warn unwary guests, print out a sign that reads, "This home is infested with bugs," and attach it to your front door.

silly fool
Take a lollipop out of its packaging, swap the sweet for a Brussels sprout, and then rewrap it before giving it to your children. After the joke, indulge in genuine candies.

Shower soupy
In order to give your family member a shower that smells more and more like chicken as the water streams down, unscrew your showerhead and insert a bouillon cube.

Reverse mirror
This parent was pranked in such a unique way that it only made her adore her twins, who are 11 years old. The author, Dani LaBriola, claims that "they got together and utilized all the colored sticky notes in our house (and we have a lot), and they built a gigantic April Fools' creature over my bathroom mirror." Each Post-it note featured the word "Hello" along with a distinct face, eyes, mouth, and body. Every morning while I got ready, I had to duck around their monster since I didn't want to take it down. I accomplished it in December, finally.

Dispatch day
Stack of cardboard boxes at the patio door
GETTY IMAGES/ASBE

This would make a wonderful April Fools' joke for your partner or husband if you frequently receive deliveries (hello, Amazon Prime!). To make your partner believe you went on a shopping binge, save the boxes for a few weeks, then on April 1 arrange them all by the front entrance.

gummy ants
Buy in a bag of phony ants, then sprinkle some in your kid's school lunch. The only drawback is that you won't witness their amazement.

Squeal "oops!"


Put glue in an old nail paint bottle, shake it, and then pour the glue-filled container out onto parchment paper. Put it on the carpet once it has dried to give the impression that your target is dealing with a messy situation.

Monster Cookie
Replace the Oreo cookie filling with toothpaste after unscrewing several of them. To make the cookies look like a completely regular snack, sandwich them back together and serve with milk. It probably depends on the flavor of the toothpaste you pick for the prank how disgusted they'll be!

Dog and cat
A businesswoman using a mouse in close-up
POINTEEFECT/GETTY IMAGES

Good April Fool's jokes don't always involve food. Cut a very little piece of paper for this one so that it can be hidden beneath your target's computer mouse. Type "Gotcha! ". " on it, then use tape to attach it to the gadget. The mouse won't function when they attempt to use it. When they take a look at the bottom of their mouse, they will realize they have been tricked.

TV star
Pranks for April 1 don't always need a complicated setup. To play a practical joke on his lover, growth hacker and DotcomDollar founder Allan Borch simply required a bar of soap and a bottle of transparent nail paint. The bar of soap was taken from our bathroom, and after buying some clear nail paint, he explains, "I coated the entire thing entirely with the nail polish." "When she tried to use it, it produced almost no lather. Borch advises giving the nail polish some time to dry on the soap in order for this one to work, adding, "We had a few laughs and I got some praises for my attempt."

Face the front
Suction-cup a plastic face to a window from the outside so that when someone walks into the room, it appears that someone is looking through the window. Don't do this on somebody who has any health difficulties, as it might be rather frightening, and make sure to leave a note on the mask identifying yourself as the friendly perpetrator.

bad press
Archive of the Orange County Register
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER VIA GETTY IMAGES/MEDIANEWS GROUP/GETTY IMAGES

Put silly string all over a loved one's car after completely wrapping it in plastic wrap. It may seem like a lot of work to unwrap, but if you slice the silly string along the middle, it comes off quickly (but don't get it on the car because it could damage its gloss).

Cat dilemma
Even the family cat is not immune to amusing April Fools' jokes. This "Trap Your Cat in a Square" practical joke is shared by Derrick from Simple Cat Care. Using masking tape, mark the ground into a square. He says that when your cat enters there, it will become stuck since it will believe there is a barrier preventing it when there isn't one. These cat memes will make you chuckle every time. "It's a goofy little gag that might generate a laugh; of course, you can remove the tape to "let the cat out" once you've had enough fun."

Oh no!
Call your child while pretending to use the restroom and ask for toilet paper. Smear melted chocolate (which resembles excrement) on their hands "accidentally" as they pass you the roll of toilet paper when they enter the bathroom to do so.

Loading comments...