# Can this work? good prank if so **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111 "2000-06-30T03:24:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/1 "2000-06-30T03:24:22Z")
I recall an episode of Moonlighting once where Maddie and David were escaping from some goons, and they shoved a bunch of pennies between the door and doorjamb, on the knob side of the door, rendering it near impossible to open, with goons being on the un-openable side. Can this really work? If so, I know a few people I would like to “jam” up. lol ---
**Author:** ![Minxsmom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Minxsmom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minxsmom)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/2 "2000-06-30T03:31:12Z")
It’ll work, but IIRC, the pennies need to be on the hinge side of the door. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/3 "2000-06-30T03:33:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > I recall an episode of Moonlighting once where Maddie and David were escaping from some goons, and they shoved a bunch of pennies between the door and doorjamb, on the knob side of the door, rendering it near impossible to open, with goons being on the un-openable side. Can this really work? If so, I know a few people I would like to “jam” up. lol > \*\* Tried that. One real good shove and it will open, tearing the hell out of the wood and requiring cosmetic repairs to the jamb. ---
**Author:** ![NickyLarson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b2d939/32.png) [@NickyLarson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NickyLarson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/4 "2000-06-30T03:34:54Z")
Works best on the knob side, you may need a hammer. (Take THAT sentence out of context, I dare you…) ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/5 "2000-06-30T03:36:27Z")
Ok, hinge side, but is that on the side of the door where the hinge pins are visible or the other side? And if it’s a metal dorr with a metal frame, I imagine it would be extremely difficult to open. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/6 "2000-06-30T03:42:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Ok, hinge side, but is that on the side of the door where the hinge pins are visible or the other side? And if it’s a metal dorr with a metal frame, I imagine it would be extremely difficult to open. > \*\* The side where the hinge pins are visible. True, a metal door would suck trying to open after this (Anthracite digs out her cordless Dremel with cutting bit, her MAPP gas torch, and her Lok-Breaker™ and starts to go to work…) ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/7 "2000-06-30T04:06:09Z")
Um, pardon me for stating the obvious, but aren’t both sides of the door the “knob” side? Wait, lemme check. Yep. All the ones around here have knobs on both sides. Makes it much easier to get in and out of rooms. ---
**Author:** ![MagicalSilverKey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@MagicalSilverKey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicalSilverKey)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/8 "2000-06-30T04:17:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Um, pardon me for stating the obvious, but aren’t both sides of the door the “knob” side? Wait, lemme check. Yep. All the ones around here have knobs on both sides. Makes it much easier to get in and out of rooms. > \*\* Ok, then, correction, the EDGE with the knob. ---
**Author:** ![FreakFreely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@FreakFreely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreakFreely)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/9 "2000-06-30T04:28:46Z")
If the knob is on the edge then how the hell do you close the door? ::ducking and running:: ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/10 "2000-06-30T11:41:27Z")
The best way to make this work is to tape two stacks of about 5 pennies each together…get a friend/accomplice, and while one of you leans on the door HARD, the other slips the penny stacks between the door and the jamb. I once pennied in an entire dorm…the folks on the first floor had to climb out their windows and start letting everybody else out. ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/11 "2000-06-30T14:23:16Z")
A most excellent and evil trick. Heavy doors and metal door frames make for a a mini prison. Done properly(with the right amount of pennies) the door can’t be opened from either side. It would take a screwdriver and the previously mentioned leverage on the door to free the occupants. We did this in college. We were up drinking late one night and decided to penny two guys into their room. Well, we put an exceptional amount of pennies into the space between the door frame and the door. Once we completed that we resumed our drinking festivities and promptly forgot about those two guys. It was Summer School so nearly everyone had early class and got up and left. Being Summer School the University had decided in their infinite wisdom that we did not need phones in the room. So these two guys are stuck in their room on the 2nd floor with no one to help them and no bathroom. I think someone returned around 1 pm to finally let them out. In short if you do this and don’t hate the people you are doing it to, remember to let them out after a little while. ---
**Author:** ![Jman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jman/32/4416_2.png) [@Jman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/12 "2000-06-30T14:37:39Z")
As funny as it may seem…don’t every do this to someone who isn’t on the first floor. If for some freak reason, a fire were to break out, you’d have the rest of your lives to contemplate the fact that you killed a bunch of people as a prank. Jman Sorry to bust the fun of this thread, but it really is something people don’t think about. If you penny someone in a 6th floor room and you forget about them, and a fire breaks out, they’re dead. ---
**Author:** ![ponch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@ponch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ponch)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/13 "2000-06-30T14:51:30Z")
> [@](#): > > If the knob is on the edge then how the hell do you close the door? It’s easy, you just have to realize that the door is not there. ---
**Author:** ![FreakFreely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@FreakFreely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FreakFreely)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/14 "2000-06-30T16:34:52Z")
“Hey, there ain’t no door here! That’s ajar!” Buddubump-ptshh! ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/15 "2000-06-30T16:48:58Z")
It’ll work. It was done to an acquaintance of mine in high school. Boy, was he pissed. ---
**Author:** ![SwimmingRiddles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SwimmingRiddles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SwimmingRiddles)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2000, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-this-work-good-prank-if-so/24111/16 "2000-06-30T17:01:12Z")
Related hint: Sticking a wedge in the OTHER side of the door (the non-hinge-pin side) keeps doors open. Very helpful when you have a door that swings shut and locks itself.