There’s been a pretty good run of pranks around lately. We noticed this little corker about a week ago just a few minutes before payoff. It looked kind of cutesy and whatever at first, but then the owner showed up and started spazzing out int he middle of the sidewalk, which made it worthwhile. THEN once he’d stopped sputtering “garblegarblemotherfuckers,” he went to unchain his ride and the whole thing came crashing down on him without warning. We aren’t really sure if this was factored into the original setup or just the result of the bike owner’s poor handling of the situation, but oh was it the icing on an already delicious prankcake.

Another recent goodie was the letter below. It exemplifies the key tenet that divides basic “ha ha” pranking from genuine hilarity: you have to approach it with the same degree of caution and attention to detail you would use working in a nuclear reactor. Every loose end must be so covered with real accurate info (contact names and numbers) and grounded in logic that the only way the victim could possible respond–other than exactly how you want him to–is by doing something equally over-the-top and hilarious (like fleeing the state). It’s tempting when you’re putting it together to make up little jokey names for people or streets or whatever, but these always end up giving away the game before it hits paydirt. It takes a real dedication to discipline to convince somebody to call up their local police and confess to doing blow months prior in a different state.