Easy pranks will get you laughs without having to work too hard for them. The 11 pranks and practical jokes listed here take less than five minutes to set up, and you can do most of them with things you probably already have around your house. Time to start pranking!
1. Easy Prank With Hairball on Deodorant
This is a really good prank that will make it look like someone with a very hairy armpit used the prank target's deodorant and left a little something behind. It looks really gross, but it definitely gets laughs.
- After the target of your prank has gone to bed for the night, collect some hair from their brush and wad it into a hairball.
- Put the hairball on top of that person's open deodorant stick or roll-on and then put the cap back on.
- Make sure you're up early enough the next morning so you're awake to hear the commotion when that persons tries to use the deodorant. You really don't want to miss the reaction, plus you may need to make a quick exit once you start laughing like a hyena and give yourself away.
2. Fake Dead Bug in the Underwear Drawer Prank
This is an easy prank to do at home on your sister or another family member who's squeamish about bugs. You just have to be super sneaky while you're setting it up.
- Get some kind of fake or toy bug such as a creepy roach, fly, or spider. A cute butterfly or something similar is not going to get the reaction you're looking for.
- Place the bug under a pair of underwear or in its folds. If it's a very realistic looking bug, you could even leave it on top of the underwear to get a quicker reaction.
- Listen for the squeal when your victim opens the drawer and finds the bug among their undies.
3. Super Easy Fake Turds Prank
This gross-out prank is best done if you don't have pets that will get blamed for the mess before you have a chance to confess.
- Warm two or three Tootsie Rolls in the microwave for just a few seconds to soften them a little.
- Shape them like turds and leave them where your target will find them, like by their pillow, around the toilet, on the kitchen counter, or on the floor.
- Wait for the reaction when that person finds the Tootsie turds and thinks they're real. If you want to take the prank a step further, pick up one of the fake turds and give it a sniff. If it's been some place safe, like the kitchen counter, take a bite out of it and watch the person you're pranking freak out! Tip: if you want to use this as an April Fools prank on your teacher, create your tootsie turds at home before school and leave them his or her desk. Just be prepared to explain yourself to the principal later on.
4. Hilarious Mustard-Filled Donut Prank
For this funny prank, you'll need one cream or fruit filled donut, but you could easily substitute with any cream-filled dessert cake or cupcake you might have on hand. The original filling will help hide your prank filling.
- Use a butter knife to scrape out that bit of original filling that shows on the side of the donut and set it aside.
- Using a mustard squirt bottle, insert the tip into the filling hole and squirt some mustard inside.
- Place the original filling back in the hole to hide the mustard, offer the donut to the person the prank is intended for, and wait for them to bite into the mustard.
5. Meatball Cake Pops Prank
You've probably seen cake pops before. For this prank, you'll need a few pre-cooked grocery store meatballs, a can of frosting, some candy sprinkles or sugar, and some toothpicks.
- Cover about four meatballs with frosting and then roll them in the sprinkles or sugar to decorate them.
- Stick a toothpick into each fake cake pop.
- Put the pops on a small plate. Tell the people you're pranking this is your first attempt at making cake pops and ask them to try them. Enjoy the look on their faces when they bite in and realize they're eating something entirely unexpected.
6. I Cut My Finger Off Prank
This is another shock prank, so you'll need to use the element of surprise to fake out your intended victim.
- Smear some ketchup on a paper towel, slice off a bit of hotdog so it looks like the tip of a finger and lay it on the ketchup.
- Add more ketchup to another paper towel; use enough so it soaks through and then wrap it around your "injured" finger.
- Let out a yell and run to the room where the person you're pranking is and show them the paper towel with the bloody piece of finger you just cut off.
- Once you convince them you really hurt yourself, yell "Gotcha!" and pull the other paper towel off your finger so they can see you're just pranking them.
7. Spider in the Toilet Prank
You can do this quick and easy prank with tape, some clear plastic wrap and either a rubber spider or one drawn with a black marker.
- Lift the toilet's lid and seat and spread the plastic wrap tightly across the toilet. Tape it securely on the sides.
- Either set the fake spider on top of the plastic wrap, or carefully draw a spider on the wrap with a marker.
- Close the toilet and wait for the eventual scream when the next person uses the bathroom. Then you can laugh yourself silly.
8. No Chips for You Prank
This is an incredibly easy prank for kids to pull.
- Remove the lid from one of those tubular containers of snack chips.
- Apply glue around the inner edge of the lid and put the lid back on the chips. Give it time to dry.
- Offer your victim the can of chips and watch as they struggle to remove the lid without any luck.
- Try to stop giggling long enough to tell them how they've just been pranked.
9. I Just Spent $3,000 Prank
Kids love to play pranks, but this one is for the grown ups.
- Tell your spouse excitedly that you ordered a brand new set of living room furniture and it's schedule to arrive on their next day off.
- Mention that you got a great deal because it was marked down to $3,000 on clearance, so there's a no return policy.
- When your spouse begins to sputter and turn red, yell "Gotcha!"
10. Kitchen Sink Surprise Prank
This is a clean and easy prank to do on your family that delivers a swift and surprising spray of water at them.
- At your kitchen sink, place a rubber band around the sprayer nozzle and its handle so it will spray automatically when the faucet is turned on. It's best if the band is the same color as the sprayer so it's not so obvious.
- Aim the sprayer toward you while you're standing at the sink to make sure it will spray toward the person you plan to prank.
- Hang around in the kitchen, wait until someone turns on the tap, and enjoy the hilarity. Then wipe away the water and the two of you can wait together for the next person to turn on the tap.
11. Rubber Banded Keys Prank
If you save rubber bands at your house, this is another quick and easy prank that's perfect if you happen to be in a prank war.
- Take your victim's key chain and wrap multiple rubber bands around all the keys. It should look like a rubber band cocoon when you're finished.
- Put the keys back where you found them and wait until the person you're pranking reaches for their key chain.
Easy Pranks Just for Laughs
The next time you want to play a practical joke on someone, give one of these pranks a try. Just know that while you're going to laugh immediately, the person you're pranking might take a moment or two to realize how funny your joke really was before they start laughing with you. Chances are good you'll find yourself on the receiving end of one of their pranks before you know it.