Maybe because during so much of his childhood, the young future Blog was on the receiving end of too many pranks, aka: bullying.
At their worst, pranks are mean spirited and cruel.
Funny only to the assholes who perpetrated them.
At best, they just aren't very funny.
Unless....
They are super, incredibly, totally awesome!
Your average April Fools prank is lame, trite and annoying.
Allen Funt's classic TV show, "Candid Camera," did pranks right.
Ashton Kutcher's "Punk'd" was just mean and ugly. Although, the fact that he limited his pranks to fellow celebs sort of made it okay.
Pranks and practical jokes work best if every one involved is playing the game.
The cast of "M*A*S*H*" were famous for pranking each other.
George Clooney, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and the rest of the "Ocean's" bunch make movies together, primarily, to provide a venue for one upping each other. Getting a movie made was just a bonus.
Your Uncle PC, himself, once perpetrated a prank on a TV star that, IMHO, was legend... wait for it... ary.
It went... something... like this...
The core of the prank was a gradual "gas-lighting."
The small thefts and eventual returns of little things.
A pen, here.
A script, there.
A cell phone that went missing for an hour, only to return to the exact spot where it was last seen.
The same with a pair of sunglasses.
It escalates...
A car parked in a spot on the opposite end of the parking lot than where "the mark" parked it that morning.
*Say what you will about Hollywood Teamsters...
Not only can they repair a damaged transmission in less than an hour...
They can also hot-wire a douchey SUV.*
The PC, with a little help from his friends, spent about a week perpetrating prankster foreplay.
I was not inside "the mark's" head. But, the purpose was to get the victim to start doubting her own sanity. All a build up to the "piece de resistance."
A couple sentences above, The Blog gave high praise to Hollywood Teamsters, a union that is often the butt of insider jokes, but are, never the less, awesome.
Now, here is some praise for two other, generally ignored, Hollywood professions...
Set construction and props.
These guys and gals refused an offer of a generous check, for the opportunity to participate in the TV set prank of the decade.
They came to the stage over the weekend and built a false wall and placed plants and artwork in front of the door to the star's dressing room, making it look like the room never existed.
I wish we had camera phones in those days. Because the reaction of the star who misplaced her dressing room was priceless.
To her credit, when the prank was revealed, she laughed harder than the rest of us.
The PC not only kept his job...
The "mark" gave me a nice little gift, accompanied by a note that read...
"Good one! Well played! Watch your back!"
The show was canceled before her revenge could be served.
I still look over my shoulder, now and then.
Because I know that "revenge is a dish that is best served cold."
But, I have, seriously, digressed from my original topic..
As The Blog mentioned in a recent post, a remake of the classic movie "Carrie" will be released in the next couple of weeks.
The studio behind the new film produced the most amazingly awesome prank/publicity stunt, ever.
Look at the faces of the victims.
Most of them are too young to have been there for the release of the original "Carrie."
But they have seen Sissy Spacek's original, telekinetic meltdown. On video or cable.
Their visceral reaction may be subconscious.
But, they recognize it. And underpants were soiled.
The. Best. Prank. Ever.
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