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To learn more about the wild world of pranks, we reached out to comedian, YouTuber and expert prankster Tom Mabe. Tom was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda, sharing that he got into pranking at a young age.
“When I was 8 years old, I built a man out of snow, standing tall in our front yard. I went to bed and woke up to find he was dead. Someone ran him down with their car,” Tom says.
After crying about the tragedy, Tom and his mother rebuilt the snowman. But soon after, they found that he had been run over again. “And right then and there, I knew just what I had to do,” the prankster said. “I had a perfect view from my bedroom of the wreck, the lights and sirens. Revenge is sweet because snowman number three was built on top of a fire hydrant. Bam. First prank ever.”
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“I love pranking people who deserve it,” Tom shared. “Standing up for the little guy who's tired of being victimized by bullies: ‘Comic With A Cause.’”
The comedian also says that a great prank is one that has a purpose. “For the longest time, I only pranked people who deserved it,” he said. “And if I'm pranking just to be pranking, I try to make it fun-loving and not hurt anyone. I try not to make it mean-spirited, where we both have a good laugh.”
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Tom also shared a few stories of some of the best pranks he’s pulled off in his time. “When a Telemarketer called me from a cable company, I convinced the guy that he had called a murder scene and that I was a homicide detective and he was our main suspect,” he told Bored Panda. “I kept him on the phone for several minutes and told him to stay put because his local police were on the way to his work to bring him in for questioning.”
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On another occasion, Tom decided to teach a friend a lesson after he had gotten 5 DUIs. “Once, after passing out drunk, we transported him to a fake hospital room which was made to look just like a real hospital room,” he shared. “We had nurses, fake doctors and everything. When he woke up, we had told him that he had been in a coma for 10 years following a wreck he had while drunk driving.”
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Another wholesome prank Tom pulled off involved two homeless men that were sitting outside of a fast food restaurant. “From my car, I called the burger joint and told them I was calling from the local law enforcement agency and that we had two undercover agents outside disguised as homeless people doing some undercover surveillance work,” he explained.
“I asked if they could possibly bring them some cheese burgers and coffee because they would be out there for a few hours. I told them I could send an officer over later to pay for the food but they were insistent to do it for free and were happy to help,” Tom continued.
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“I told the person on the phone to just lay the food next to them and not speak with them because we didn't want to blow their cover,” Tom continued. “Five minutes later, an employee of the restaurant brought them food and coffee. The homeless guys were very happy.”
If you’d like to check out even more of Tom’s pranks, be sure to visit his YouTube channel Mabe in America!
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We were also lucky enough to get in touch with artist, activist, educator, and notorious media prankster, Joey Skaggs. Pranking is a very different endeavor for Joey than it is for a lot of other people.
"As a kid, I pulled pranks on family and friends just for fun. But as I grew up, it became something else entirely – a way to challenge what I perceived to be status quo thinking that perpetuated prejudicial and small-minded ideas," he shared.
"At a very early age, I knew I was an artist. As a young man the 1960s, I was extremely distressed by social and political issues of inequality, racism, sexism, war, greed, environmental destruction, etc., and I felt compelled to speak up," Joey told Bored Panda. "Not willing to wait for the art establishment to catch up with me, I took to the streets."
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"My first unsanctioned in-your-face multi-media performances put me at odds with the authorities but also landed me in the news," Joey shared. "Realizing the impact I could have, and the megaphone the media provided to me, I never looked back."
"Within a few years, I began to use the news media itself as my artistic medium, creating plausible but non-existent stories on a wide range of subjects, sometimes with an elaborate performance and sometimes with just an alias and a press release," the prankster continued. "Journalists from the world’s most prestigious news outlets fell for every single one of them. I made such good copy for them that it took a while for them to 'get' that it was me behind it all."
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"Not surprisingly, the issues haven’t changed, and decades later, I’m still driven to speak up," Joey shared. "I love reaching someone in a way they haven’t been reached before. Turning on someone’s light, possibly exposing them to a prejudice or a bias and helping them question why they believe what they believe."
And as far as what makes a good prank, Joey says the best ones are smoke-and-mirror illusions that change peoples’ perceptions. "It is the manipulation of ideas and emotions in order to shift focus onto otherwise hidden agendas," he explained. "For me, it’s a provocative story with great visuals that’s outrageous but totally plausible. And the success comes from the surprise element when people realize they’ve been fooled."
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The expert prankster added that he's not in it for the money or to embarrass people. "I measure my success by the impact of the commentary I’m making. I not only strive for the initial media coverage, but I also seek the opportunity to reveal the truth, to explain my reason for doing it in the first place," Joey says. "I want people to question why they believed it and, if they believed this, what else do they believe that is totally ridiculous."
"Having said that, I don’t take money, and I try to stay out of the legal system," he added. "It’s hard to be effective when what you are doing is either a scam, illegal, or dangerous to other people."
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We were also curious if Joey was partial to any of his pranks. "Some of my performance pieces are quick and some take a couple of years to develop," he shared. "I confront issues that run the gamut from absurd to profound, and sometimes both. Some require just me, and some are done with scores of co-conspirators. But to me, all of my creations are like children. You don’t want to have a favorite."
If you'd like to check out even more of Joey's brilliant pranks, be sure to visit his website!