Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share The Best Harmless Pranks They've Ever Pulled Off

People Share The Best Harmless Pranks They've Ever Pulled Off
Image by Amber Avalona from Pixabay

Make us preferred on Google

Pranks can be a lot of fun––depending on which end of the prank you're on. There's even a whole "holiday" made just for them, though I'd caution you all to make sure that the pranks you do pull off are totally harmless! There's something very satisfying about pulling off a good one, especially if you have the opportunity to get a bit creative.

People shared their best ones after Redditor mricefreezer asked the online community,

"What are the best harmless pranks you can pull?"

"Somebody did this to me..."

"Put a large zucchini in somebody's mailbox. Somebody did this to me years ago, I never found out who, and I still think about it all the time."

Chassman8

"I have placed..."

"I have placed 9 lollipops in various places in a colleague's cubicle and numbered them 1-10 obviously skipping a number. Drives them crazy not being able to find the last one."

terribleblueberry

I thought this was about pranks, not psychological torture?!

Either way, well done.

"There was..."

"There was that one on here a few years ago where the guy kept a hidden bottle of ketchup and would refill the empty bottle just enough to have ketchup for the next day until his wife thought they had a magic ketchup bottle."

RearEchleon

I'll take any other magic condiment other than ketchup... sorry to spoil your party.

"Unbeknownst to me..."

"My three-year-old 'found' my car keys three days in a row. Unbeknownst to me, she was hiding the keys, so she could be the hero. I was pranked by a toddler."

Ineedzthetube

That toddler is clearly going places... they have a bright future as a car salesman!

"I used to take spoons..."

"I used to take spoons from the cafeteria and slip them into people's pockets throughout the day. I once got 5 In the same pocket."

savageotter

"Similarly..."

"Filling a room/backpack/whatever with a lot of the same object. Usually something small and weird.

For example, I read a story of students who did their senior prank to their principal by having everyone shake his hand and hand him a small plastic camel. So by the time they were done the guy just had a lot of plastic camels. Similarly, I've also read a story of someone filling a room with a lot of rubber ducks."

thatonewonder

"I got the edited painting..."

"My family has a portrait of an ancestor of ours that was painted by a fairly famous painter hanging up in their dining room. So I found an electronic copy of the painting online and did some quick photoshopping to switch his face with my own. I got the edited painting printed at Staples and replaced the original one night. Then I just sat back and waited till someone noticed."

nonetonothing

This is ingenious. I salute you.

"When you finish a jar of mayonnaise..."

"When you finish a jar of mayonnaise, rinse it out as best as you can and fill it with vanilla pudding. Bring it to a public setting like a park or a library, and just eat it with a spoon."

cornshartz

My stomach did a flip flop while reading this, but there is no denying the brilliance of this prank.

"For example..."

"I don't have a specific prank, but rather a rule for all pranks. It's only a prank if both parties are laughing afterward.

For example, if someone asks you to take their photo, start taking photos immediately and make sure you get some good shots. Then when it's time for the posed shot, take one with everyone's head cut off. They will initially be startled, but then you can show the twenty other candid photos and all will be well."

cisco54

"My father and I..."

"Buy fake cockroaches. My father and I have a 2-year long war of placing them where the other one will find them and trying to startle each other."

LowGlucose_

Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there! Buy some rubber ducks! Get some fake cockroaches. Pretend to break into someone's home (actually don't do that, that would be bad). The sky's the limit.

Have some suggestions of your own? Feel free to tell us about them in the comments below!

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

George Santos; Kalshi app
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images; Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images

George Santos Just Became The First Person To Get A Lifetime Ban From Kalshi—And He's Getting Roasted Hard

Disgraced former New York Republican Representative George Santos was widely mocked after the prediction market betting app Kalshi handed him their first ever lifetime ban after he bet on his own attendance at President Donald Trump's State of the Union address.

Santos, whose political career was derailed by allegations of fabricating his background, misusing campaign funds for luxury items and Botox, and leaving a trail of victims behind him as a known fraud and identity thief, has been soapboxing significantly since Trump commuted his prison sentence in October 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
MapQuest logo in office; Donald Trump
Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post via Getty Images; Samuel Corum/Getty Images

MapQuest Downloads Soar After They Refuse To Bend The Knee To Trump Over Lake Ontario—And We Love To See It

The 30-year-old navigation company MapQuest is topping the download charts after not following Google's lead and following President Donald Trump's order to change the name of Lake Ontario to "Lake America."

In a post on Truth Social, Trump claimed that the United States was considering "changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don't expect to [be] doing much business with Ontario any longer."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; Donald Trump
MeidasTouch Network; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

AOC Trolls Trump With Brilliant Suggestion After He Tells Americans To Stop Complaining About AI Data Centers—And We're So Into It

New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked President Donald Trump after he was criticized for telling Americans to stop complaining about AI data centers being constructed in their communities.

Data centers—vast, industrial buildings packed with servers, networking hardware, and storage systems—form the physical backbone of modern computing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kelly Clarkson
The Kelly Clarkson Show/YouTube

Kelly Clarkson Just Performed 'Golden' As Her Final 'Kellyoke'—And She Absolutely Crushed It

After seven years of performances, guest, laughs, and sharing her fans' living rooms, The Kelly Clarkson Show has come to an end.

Back in February, Clarkson made the announcement that the show would come to a close at the end of the Fall 2026 season, so she could focus on her two children, 12-year-old River and 10-year-old Remy, after the death of their father and her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock.

Keep ReadingShow less
John Galliano presents the British Emerging Talent Menswear award on stage during The Fashion Awards.
Tristan Fewings/BFC/Getty Images for BFC

2027 Met Gala Theme Canceled After Designer John Galliano Drops Out Due To Backlash Over Past Antisemitism And Racism

The 2027 Met Gala is still eight months away, and somehow, the controversy has already arrived fashionably early.

When John Galliano: Horizons was announced on July 31, Galliano was set to join a remarkably short list. Only Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Comme des Garçons designer Rei Kawakubo in 2017 had been honored with exhibits while still living. Well, he was supposed to be.

Keep ReadingShow less