April Fools’ Day is a prime day to have an office job, thanks to the vast amount of pranks you can pull on your coworkers and employees. We scoured the Web for the top office pranks, finding everything from the advanced building of a fake wall to block off the executive offices to the super simple, strategically placed whoopee cushion.
We stuck with the simpler variety of top office pranks for you to try, even ranking them on their level of simplicity and chances of backfiring.
Cell Phone in the Ceiling
- Difficulty: Easy to medium (depending on the height of the ceiling)
- Backfiring chances: Low
If your office has tiled ceilings that have easily removable tiles, you have a ready-made place to hide your coworker’s cell phone. Wait until the person leaves his or her desk with the cellphone on top of it. Then pop the cellphone up into the ceiling by gently lifting up the corner of one of the tiles. When the person returns, call the cellphone repeatedly, and watch the coworker go nuts trying to find it.
The Highly Contagious Illness
- Difficulty: Easy
- Backfiring chances: Low
This prank works especially well if you have a coworker who happens to be a germophobe, although it can do a good job on just about anyone in the next cubicle. Your job is to cough, sniffle, constantly blow your nose and otherwise act as if you’re suffering from a cold.
Have a spray bottle of water handy, then let out a huge sneeze just as you spray the water over the top of the cubicle wall toward your coworker’s desk. Apologize profusely as you try not to laugh at his or her grossed-out reaction. Keep this up all day or until the person looks ready to explode, whichever comes first.
The Really Big Delivery
- Difficulty: Medium
- Backfiring chances: Medium to high
This prank requires a big, big cardboard box – and an employee who can fit in the box to hide. Taller boxes are more effective, allowing the person to crouch down in the box with the top loosely folded shut. Keep the box in the reception area where deliveries are normally left, then call a series of people up to reception, one by one, to pick up their delivery.
Their first inclination will be to open the box top, at which time the person pops up and scares the heck out of them. This is one of the top office pranks that could backfire, depending on the recipient’s reaction. If they’re freaked out enough, they could end up shoving the box and knocking it over.
The Cubicle Coating
- Difficulty: Low to High (depending on efforts)
- Backfiring chances: Medium
The easy version of this prank involves sticking a Post-It note on every single item in the cubicle or office, labeled accordingly. The more challenging version involves coating the entire cubicle and its contents with the coating of your choice. You could wrap each item holiday gift wrap, tinfoil, Xerox copies of a strange image or actor, hundreds of Post-It notes, pictures of Dwight from The Office or any other paper product that catches your fancy. Backfiring chances come from using up an expensive or in-demand paper product that you actually need around the office.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Backfiring chances: Low
Six More Funny Office Pranks
Disappearing staples: Choose one coworker’s stapler or target all staplers throughout the office, leaving each with only a few staples and then emptying them out every time they’re refilled.
Banana taping: Tape an old, really ripe and really stinky banana to the underside of someone’s desk. You can start with a new banana, and let it ripen and stink in its own sweet time.
Phone muting: Place a piece of clear tape over the mouthpiece speaker part of your coworker’s phone, causing them to yell into the mouthpiece if they hope to be heard.
Phantom paperclip: Make a dozen or so copies of a single paperclip, then place those copies into the paper drawer of the copy machine. Every copy someone makes will appear with a paperclip in the middle of it, driving them mad looking for the phantom clip.
Eternally ringing phone: Place clear tape over the pop-up button in the phone’s cradle, causing it to ring and ring even after it’s picked up.
The dead mouse trick: Stick a Post-It note over the bottom of someone’s computer mouse. The mouse will still merrily click away – but it won’t move on the screen.
No matter what prank you choose, remember they’re all meant to be in fun. And they’re all meant to be done on someone other than your boss. Happy April Fools’!
