Communication is a Virus: The Four Stages of a Fool.

Recording the four step-by-step stages for each of the April Fools' practical jokes for our Communication is a Virus booklet...

-THE BANANA SPLIT-

1. thread a needle and start to pull through the banana (peel still intact). ensure the thread travels through the banana with the needle.

2. continue this motion backwards and forwards through the banana and wiggle the needle ever so slightly right and left when in the banana for extra slice definition.

3. continue until you read the end section of the banana, and pull the needle and thread out.

4. leave the banana in a usual place and await a hungry and unsuspected victim to find this sliced surprise!

-RUDE AWAKENING-

1. Collect and gather as many alarm clocks as possible- the more alarm clocks the funnier the fool!

2. Set the time on the alarm clocks to closely setting off times- two or three minutes apart.

3.Hide the alarm clocks around your "victims" room- discreet places that might be hard to access work best.

4. Avoid the room for the rest of the evening- act natural and wait for the alarm clocks to cause havoc!

-A WEIGHTY ISSUE-

1. Ensure you have at least two drinks on your table.

2. Make the bet to your friend/prankee "I bet that you can't drink these when they're placed on top of your hands at the same time"  

3. Set the fool by putting the two full drinks on top of their hands.

4. Leave the table/them as the realise that it cannot be done without dire (and soggy!) consequences- and come back when your laughter has subsided. 

-FAUX GATEAU-

1. Gather all your necessary items to make the faux gateau- your cardboard box, cake frosting and decorations.

2. Cover the box in the frosting and decorations- make it look as natural and delicious as possible!

3. Ask an easily fooled friend to cut the cake for you "I'm so bad at cutting evenly!" and other excuses work well to mask the fool.

4. Look on and laugh as they greedily cut through...to discover a cardboard interior.

-POLYSTYRENE FALLS-

1. Gather the polystyrene/substitute item- scrunch into balls (for newspaper, etc) if necessary.

2. Wrap the "prankees" outside doorframe in cling film (attaching with sellotape at the sides) with a gap at the top to drop your items into.

3. Stuff your cling film with your falling items.

4. Leave the scene of the crime, and wait for the laughter to commence when the items fall through the doorframe.

-MONEY DOESN'T GROW ON PAVEMENTS-

1. Gather your necessary items- strong solvent glue and your coin and travel to your fools' destination.

2. Glue money to a pavement or noticeable pedestrian area where many people would travel past.

3. Find a hiding spot or somewhere you can observe from.

4. Chuckle on as you witness the failed attempts to agilely collect the coin.

-A KICK IN THE BUM-

1. make sure the room you set the fool up in is quite and reasonable empty so you don't get caught!

2. Prepare your sticker/paper (use a solvent binder on the paper if you don't have a sticker- PVA glue or double sided tape would do the trick). Write a funny message on the sticker for extra laughs if you wish.

3. Leave the sticker or sticky paper sticky side up on the seat you expect your "prankee" to sit on.

4. Find a good hiding place to witness your fool in action.

-DOPE ON A ROPE-

1. Gather all willing friends and stooges to participate in your fool- preferably eager actors or people who aren't afraid to exhibit themselves!

2. Between two of you, pretend you are holding a taught rope across a wide length- "gripping" and "working together" to keep it balanced.

3. Encourage your "stooges" to dodge over and limbo under the rope- perhaps pretending to slightly trip on the rope, etc.

4. Look on as people curiously stare at the "rope" and watch as they follow suit- ducking and diving under the "rope", presuming their eyesight just isn't what it used to be.

-WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE- AND EVERY DROP TO DRINK-

1. Ensure that the prankee you want to play this fool on is asleep and in their bed.

2. Lay cups out across the floor- at this point giving you enough room to manoeuvre around them. 

3. Fill all the cups to the brim with water (be careful not to spill any!) until the entire floor is covered in the filled cups.

4. Leave the room as quietly as possible and wait for havoc to commence!

-THE PENNY DROPS-

1. Gather your materials together- a penny and charcoal or ink.

2. Colour the edge of your penny with the charcoal or ink- try to be as neat as possible.

3. With a gullible friend on sand-by tell them "apparently, it's impossible to roll a penny from the top of your nose to the bottom without it falling off as the edge is not completely rounded" ...etc.

4. Enjoy a good chuckle as they go on to roll the penny up and down their nose, and gain an attractive stain line from the messy art materials!