Tips for fooling around today

By Joanne Santomauro

April showers bring May flowers, but even more importantly, April signals the onset of one of our nation's most cherished holidays: April Fools' Day, the day when people all around the world abandon all sense of maturity and civility to play practical jokes on friends and strangers alike. Origins of April Fools' Day are unknown.

Some speculate that it originated from a Persian tradition of playing pranks on one's loved ones, a tradition that can be traced as far back as 536 B.C.

Others theorize that April Fools' Day originated when King Charles IX of France changed the first day of the year from April 1 to Jan. 1. An "April Fool" would have been a subject that continued to use the old calendar system.

Whichever way you look at it, this holiday has been around for quite a long time. If you ask me, it would be disgraceful not to continue this tradition.

Out of ideas? Here's my list of Top Ten April Fools' Day Pranks for your entertainment.

10. Offer your friends lollipops with bugs in them. Not real bugs, obviously. Find them in The Cellar Market for less than a dollar.

9. Fake desktop wallpaper. The possibilities are endless. Take a screenshot of your victim's desktop, set it as the wallpaper background and hide the taskbar and desktop icons. They're sure to be stupefied and frustrated when they discover their icons are un-clickable. Or, download "broken screen" wallpaper, sit back, and watch panic ensue.

8. Put honey in your victim's shampoo bottle. Self-explanatory. Sticky, icky.

7. Saran-wrap the toilet seats. This one is especially easy if you live in a dorm. Unfortunately, you won't be able to witness your vicitim's reaction, but it'll probably be satisfying enough to press your ear against the bathroom door and listen to their screams.

6. Put a whoopee cushion on your professor's chair. Because we're mature college students.

5. Salt your roommate's toothbrush. Dorm life presents a myriad of opportunities for easy, close-proximity pranks.

4. Glue pennies to the ground. Laugh as people break their fingernails trying to pry the coins off.

3. Download the iFart app on your iPhone. Plant your phone anywhere -- in your victim's purse, a corner of the classroom, under the library table -- set the timer, and you can guess the rest.

2. Go Comcasting. This one requires a universal remote. Privacy invasion without the breaking and entering. Change the channel on other people's televisions through the window. They will have no idea what hit them.

Freshman Paige Sandhu considers this prank one of her favorites.

"My friends and I used to go Comcasting around Palo Alto all the time," she said. "It's especially funny when they're snoozing on the couch and wake up because the channel changed. For more fun, we'd wear all black and pretend we were ninjas."

1. Prank call. Always a classic. Try anything from "You've won American Idol!" to "Did you order a pizza? Yes, you did. You definitely did." For an interesting -- and cruel -- variation, call your victim's parents. "Hi, this is Greg from Campus Safety, calling for your son..."

There are some tricks that you shouldn't try.

One sophomore who wishes to remain anonymous played a joke on his girlfriend -- he told her he wanted to break up. Needless to say, she wasn't laughing afterward, and the "April Fools!" punch line at the end didn't help much either.

Look out for freshman Aniya Chowdhury today.

"I like being sneaky, so when I see one of my friends about to sit down on a chair, I'll pull the seat away right from under them so they fall on their bum," she said.

April Fools is celebrated all around the world today. In the UK, Australia and South Africa, the jokes only last until noon. However, in Canada, France, Ireland, the U.S. and many other countries, the jokes last all day.

So prank away, Broncos. Above all, remember to play safe -- or at least try.

Happy April Fools' Day!

Contact Joanne Santomauro at jsantomauro@scu.edu or at (408) 554-1918.