Update June 27, 2008 from Brad Carter:

Looks like someone put the below instructional to good use and drove the employees and manager of a Burger King nuts:

Burger King Drive Thru Takeover

via fitzmxr

Submitted by Brad Carter from Phone Losers of America, March 30, 2008:

Here’s a video that shows you how to modify an old CB radio to broadcast on fast food frequencies. The things said to the customers at the end of the video are hilarious. And mean. It’s a cool little hack, though.

This is an abbreviated version of OffbeatEarth’s DIY how-to instructional for embedding a keyboard and mouse in jello.

(more…)

From New Right Australia / New Zealand Web site:

The New Right is organised throughout Europe and beyond. We are strongly opposed to liberalism, democracy and egalitarianism and fight to restore the eternal values and principles that have become submerged beneath the corrosive tsunami of the modern world. The New Right has an interest in the various strands of thought connected with the Traditionalists, the Revolutionary Conservatives; the Nouvelle Droit; and the Eurasianists.

Humour as a Weapon
by Andreas Gaust
New Right Australia / New Zealand
May 8, 2008

This article has been researched and compiled for the purposes of educating New Right and N-A activists in the use of humour as a political weapon. There is a paranoid feeling amongst many on the New Right that the mass media is our greatest enemy. Not so. This article looks at the ways in which activists can use and manipulate the media, rather than the other way around.

As an example: mention the 1932 opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge to any older Australian, and the first image that will spring to their mind is a man on horseback, galloping forward to slash the ribbon with his sword, before the ‘official’ representative could get to it. The swordsman was a member of a political group called the New Guard. And while this stunt was not especially humorous, it was certainly eye-catching – it remains in the mass mind to this day. In that same city in 2007, the crew of television show The Chaser made world headlines when they infiltrated the APEC forum (one of them dressed as Osama bin Laden), making a complete mockery of the forum’s expensive security measures.

In general, the media doesn’t give coverage to alternative politics (the recent 9/11 Truth Forum in Sydney was completely ignored, even though one of the speakers was a prominent Japanese MP). But ‘fringe’ views can get past the editors if they are presented by means of some humorous prank or stunt. (more…)

Submitted by Steffani Martin and Peter Maloney:

April Fool! The Purpose of Pranks
by Benedict Carey
New York Times
April 1, 2008

Keep it above the belt, stop short of total humiliation and, if possible, mix in some irony, some drama, maybe even a bogus call from the person’s old flame or new boss. A good prank, of course, involves good stagecraft. But it also requires emotional intuition.

Psychologists have studied pranks for years, often in the context of harassment, bullying and all manner of malicious exclusion and prejudice.

Yet practical jokes are far more commonly an effort to bring a person into a group, anthropologists have found — an integral part of rituals around the world intended to temper success with humility. And recent research suggests that the experience of being duped can stir self-reflection in a way few other experiences can, functioning as a check on arrogance or obliviousness. (more…)

Editor’s note: Artist and pranks.com editor Joey Skaggs will be joining the online class the week of February 18. Check it out!

Tricksters and Pranks with R.U. Sirius - February 11 - March 23, 2008

Pranks and Pranksters, Tricksters & Tricks — the brilliant ones open up a space in the world for magic(k), ambiguity, and novelty. They encourage us to Question Authority and better still, they cause us to Question Reality.

In this course, we will discuss the history of pranks and pranksterism in the contemporary world. We will examine mythical and world historic tricksters like Coyote, Bugs Bunny, Crowley, Puck, Heyoka, Papa Legba, Lucifer, and more. And we’ll explore and discuss the role pranksters and tricksters play in cultures. I will also discuss some of my own pranks and tricks and legendary pranksters Mark Hosler of Negativland and Joey Skaggs will be dropping in on the course to answer questions.

Finally, we will plan pranks, make pranks, and maybe even leave the course with a dedicated prankster cabal. No fooling.

For more information visit the Maybe Logic Institute. If that link doesn’t work, go here.

Related links:

On January 30, 2008 the Decapitator returned.

From Scott Beale of Laughing Squid:

Remember “The Decapitator“, the guy who went around London altering advertising to give a gruesome appearance of a decapitation. Well he’s back, this time decapitating heads on ads in thelondonpaper. He’s even made a detailed video showing the entire hijacking, alteration and re-placement process.

Related link:

Submitted by Kate McCamy’s Dad:

If you are sitting next to someone who irritates you on an airliner, follow these instructions:

1. Quietly and calmly open up your laptop case.

2. Remove your laptop.

3. Start it up.

4. Make sure the guy who is annoying you, can see the screen.

5. Close your eyes and tilt your head up to the sky.

6. Then click this link at boortz.com

Writer, Destiny interviews RU Sirius about the online Pranks course he’ll soon be teaching:

On February 11 (Note new date), countercultural writer and historian RU Sirius is teaching an online course on Pranks, Pranksters, Tricksters, & Tricks for the Maybe Logic Institute, an online academy started by friends and supporters of the late Discordian legend Robert Anton Wilson. Sirius promises to teach trickster mythology and prankster history and to lead the class in planning and making pranks. Prankster legend/Pranks.com Editor Joey Skaggs, and Mark Hosler of Negativland, will both be dropping in on the course. I asked him a few questions about the upcoming class.

Destiny: Your course covers Pranksters and Tricksters. Is there a difference between them?

RU Sirius: There’s a lot of crossover, but yeah, they’re different. For starters, obviously the trickster is a mythological concept — or a series of mythological figures — and a prankster is a real flesh and blood mortal. Trickster activities generally take place among the gods. Tricksters prank powerful, otherworldly beings while pranksters prank schmucks who think they’re in control. (more…)

[Editor’s Note: Joey Skaggs will be dropping in to RU Sirius’ online class during the week of February 18, 2008 (Note new date). So, if you’re registered, you’ll have an opportunity to ask questions and share comments with him.]

An invitation from RU Sirius: I’ll be teaching a 6 week online course at the Maybe Logic Academy February 11 - March 23, 2008 (Note new dates). Join us!

Pranks and Pranksters, Tricksters & Tricks

The brilliant ones open up a space in the world for magic(k), ambiguity, and novelty. They encourage us to question authority and better still, they cause us to question reality.

In this course, we will discuss the history of pranks and pranksterism in the contemporary world. We will examine mythical and world historic tricksters like Coyote, Bugs Bunny, Crowley, Puck, Heyoka, Papa Legba, Lucifer, and more. And we’ll explore and discuss the role pranksters and tricksters play in cultures. I will also discuss some of my own pranks and tricks and legendary pranksters Mark Hosler of Negativland and Joey Skaggs will be dropping in on the course to answer questions.

Finally, we will plan pranks, make pranks, and maybe even leave the course with a dedicated prankster cabal. No fooling.

Course texts:

Check here for information about the Maybe Logic Academy and an explanation of how their online classes work.

RU Sirius is co-editor of 10 Zen Monkeys and author of Counterculture Through The Ages: From Abraham to Acid House. He was a Yippie! in the early 1970s, Editor-In-Chief of Mondo 2000 in the early ’90s, and is currently hosting two attempts to create political organizations — QuestionAuthority and Open Source Party at MondoGlobo.net.  

How to shoot through a bottle cap with a finger:

Funny Kung Fu Magic Trick - video powered by Metacafe

via Neatorama

From Eepybird.com: What happens when you combine 200 liters of Diet Coke and over 500 Mentos mints? By Fritz Grobe (the short one) and Stephen Voltz (the tall one). Music by Audiobody.

This is the video that started it all: a backyard experiment became a cultural phenomenon. We couldn’t believe the reaction! The video even won the Webby Award for best viral video and was nominated for an Emmy Award for outstanding broadband content.

We’ve since taken Diet Coke & Mentos madness onto the Late Show with David Letterman, the Ellen Degeneres Show, the Today Show, and performed live around the world, from Istanbul to Paris, even in Las Vegas!

Click here to read more of the amazing Diet Coke & Mentos story. Click here for a free download: EepyBird’s Diet Coke & Mentos How-To (pdf).

How to make blood appear on your body without a wound:

Via Neatorama and Metacafe. Thanks Don!

Submitted by Kurt Kohl:

Architectural Light Graffiti: Projection Bombing Images on Urban Surfaces

Have you ever considered the possibility of graffiti without vandalism? There is an impressive variety of legal urban street art, from light art to reverse graffiti. There are also eco-friendly leave-no-trace forms of illegal urban expression, such as urban exploration or guerilla gardening. Architectural light graffiti, or projection bombing, falls somewhere curiously in between. (more…)

From Kenrick E. Cleveland of maxpersuasion.com

Gaslighting: Stirring Up Doubt And Positioning Yourself As An Ally
August 12th, 2007

Here’s a great example of a powerful strategy called gaslighting and how to use it in your persuasive situations with the affluent…

I was flipping through the channels a few nights ago and I stopped on an old episode of M*A*S*H. It was the episode where BJ is bored and in an attempt to entertain himself he decides to have a little fun at Winchester’s expense.

He takes a pair of Winchester’s pants and replaces them with a much larger pair. When Winchester puts them on, BJ casually asks if Winchester is feeling okay, mentioning that lately he’s looked a little sickly. Maybe he’s not eating enough to keep up his energy, and oh boy, does he look way too thin!

A few scenes later BJ replaces the pants with a much smaller pair and when Winchester tries them on, BJ again casually “notices” how much weight Winchester has gained, which sends the vain Winchester into a dieting frenzy.

Having observed this all, Hawkeye asks BJ, “What’s next?”

BJ simply responds, “Tomorrow he gets taller.”

This is an example of gaslighting as a harmless prank, but the technique has far more nefarious potential and conversely when used ethically, some positive potential as well. (more…)

Submitted by Wayne Zebzda:

A funny, yet informative video about how to make prison wine by Andrew Hart. Watch the movie here.