# Greatest Pranks of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 16, 2013, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668 "2013-07-16T14:35:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/41 "2013-07-18T02:51:50Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Notre Dame playing in the Nat’l Championship Notre Dame went undefeated against a solid slate of competitors. They DESERVED to be in the championship game. As it turned out, they also deserved to get their butts kicked. So it goes. ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/42 "2013-07-18T06:05:14Z")
> [@JWT\_Kottekoe](#): > > [Lady Liberty on Lake Mendota](http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/Hoaxipedia/Lady_Liberty_on_Lake_Mendota/) As a native Madisonian and alumnus of UW, thank you for offering this one. Happened before I was born, but still makes me proud of my city and University.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/43 "2013-07-18T06:27:26Z")
While the hoaxes of Joey Skaggs were very good, the pranks of Dick Tuck were better. > **[Joey Skaggs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Skaggs)** > > Joey Skaggs (born 1945) is an American prankster who has organized numerous successful media pranks, hoaxes, and other presentations. Skaggs is one of the originators of the phenomenon known as culture jamming. Skaggs has used Kim Yung Soo, Joe Bones, Joseph Bonuso, Giuseppe Scaggioli, Dr. Joseph Gregor, and the Rev. Anthony Joseph as aliases. > In his youth, Skaggs studied at the High School of Art and Design and received a BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York. Between 1966 and 1969, ... > **[Joey Skaggs](https://joeyskaggs.com/)** > **[Dick Tuck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Tuck)** > > Richard Gregory Tuck (January 25, 1924 – May 28, 2018) was an American political consultant, campaign strategist, advance man, and political prankster. > Tuck was born in Hayden, Arizona, to Frank Joseph Tuck, a copper mining engineer, and the former (Mary) Olive Sweeney. He served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, in a bomb disposal unit. > Tuck first met Richard Nixon as a student at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1950, Tuck was working for Congresswoman Hele... [http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/tuck.html](http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/tuck.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/44 "2013-07-18T08:23:02Z")
How about [The Lazlo Letters](http://www.amazon.com/The-Lazlo-Letters-Don-Novello/dp/1563052857)? ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/45 "2013-07-18T13:18:24Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > That reminds me of one where they: > > 1. Call Chinese takeout and place order > 2. Call another takeout > 3. Ask first takeout to repeat order to second I rememeber this one … Howard Stern show? ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/46 "2013-07-18T13:22:57Z")
[Orson Wellesand an adaptation of H. G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_War_of_the_Worlds_(radio_drama)) But, then, also earlier radio event - [Ronald Knox - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Knox#Radio_hoax) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/47 "2013-07-18T13:37:13Z")
Pakistan sucking 10 years of money out of the US for arms and intel re: The Search For Bin Laden. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/48 "2013-07-18T13:59:55Z")
Was it last year, or two years ago when the family claimed their son was swept away in a balloon only to find he was hiding in their attic the whole time? ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/49 "2013-07-18T14:02:25Z")
> [@edwards\_beard](#): > > Was it last year, or two years ago when the family claimed their son was swept away in a balloon only to find he was hiding in their attic the whole time? 2009 > **[Balloon boy hoax](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balloon_boy_hoax)** > > The Balloon Boy hoax occurred on October 15, 2009, when a homemade helium-filled gas balloon shaped to resemble a silver flying saucer was released into the atmosphere above Fort Collins, Colorado, by Richard and Mayumi Heene. They then claimed that their six-year-old son Falcon was trapped inside it. Authorities confirmed the balloon reached 7,000 feet (2,100 m) during its 90-minute flight. The event attracted worldwide attention, and Falcon was nicknamed "Balloon Boy" in the m National Guard... ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/50 "2013-07-18T15:26:58Z")
Nobody’s mentioned The Jerky Boys yet? (I keed, I keed.) [I just saw this prank this morning.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8zTHS9r6E4)Not one of the “Greatest of All Time” but good for a chuckle this morning. It’s a Norwegian groom bungee jumping off a bridge for his bachelor party… or at least, that’s what he thinks he’s doing. Norwegians know how to party. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/51 "2013-07-18T15:36:14Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > The Patterson film managed to portray an odd creature that moves in an unusual way successfully, without a single point to spoil the illusion. I disagree. [Here’s 10 seconds of the film with the shaky camerawork rectified](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoyjTbhDdR0). It’s just a guy in an ape suit walking along. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/52 "2013-07-18T17:55:50Z")
The Léo Taxil hoax is by far the greatest - and most outrageous - hoax of all time. Hell, a fucking _Pope_ fell for it - and with him, a great deal of the worldwide Catholic public and press. ---
**Author:** ![JoseB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joseb/32/1530_2.png) [@JoseB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoseB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/53 "2013-07-18T21:00:49Z")
I shouldn’t be tooting my own horn, and I don’t think that it was in the epic scale of some of the ones mentioned here… But I have a soft spot in my heart for a prank I perpetrated when I was in University, 25 years ago… I already mentioned it here in the SDMB – [Here is the link to the relevant post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14562405&postcount=8) ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/54 "2013-07-18T21:03:11Z")
Paul is dead. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/55 "2013-07-18T21:06:45Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > I shouldn’t be tooting my own horn, and I don’t think that it was in the epic scale of some of the ones mentioned here… But I have a soft spot in my heart for a prank I perpetrated when I was in University, 25 years ago… > > I already mentioned it here in the SDMB – [Here is the link to the relevant post.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=14562405&postcount=8) Wow. That’s just fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/56 "2013-07-18T21:09:01Z")
[The Masked Avengers’ imposture of Nicholas Sarkozy on a call to Sarah Palin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masked_Avengers'_prank_on_Sarah_Palin)is right up there. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/57 "2013-07-18T21:18:07Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I think we need to define hoax and prank. Personally, I think of the Caltech stuff as pranks and the Patterson-Gimlin film as a hoax. I concur. A hoax is meant to be believed indefinitely, possibly for personal gain. A prank is meant to be believed briefly for humor. The 1930s stunt involving [Drake’s Plate of Brass](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drake%27s_Plate_of_Brass)was originally meant as a prank on historian George Barron, but it went over a bit too well and could more accurately be described as a hoax today. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/58 "2013-07-18T21:26:57Z")
[This one’s pretty good.](http://www.collegehumor.com/video/3922232/prank-war-7-the-half-million-dollar-shot) Dude makes his friend think he’s won $500,000 with a half-court shot. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/59 "2013-07-18T21:45:16Z")
> [@bup](#): > > I disagree. […] It’s just a guy in an ape suit walking along. Of course it is. But the person has a sufficiently unusual physique to not look quite like a guy in an ape suit, and the combination of distance, momentary obscurations and shakycam work all added up to something that had no immediate, superficial flaws. That’s why it’s been argued about for, what, 40 years. No zippers, no strings, no wristwatch or sneakers… it holds up just well enough to maintain the illusion. That’s a nice “undoing,” though and I hadn’t seen it before. Thanks. ETA: That’s a REALLY good piece of work, and shows how much the shaky camera added to the illusion. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668/60 "2013-07-18T22:20:47Z")
[MIT is known for lots of hacks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacks_at_the_Massachusetts_Institute_of_Technology) most famously the weather balloon planted at the 50 yard line of the Harvard Yale game. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/greatest-pranks-of-all-time/663668.md?page=4)