I need a good practical joke to play on my boss.  Any ideas?  Nothing
TOO serious or damaging....just to give you an idea, here's what's
transpired so far:

I switched the "N" and "M" keys on his computer....provided a few
laughs.

He put clear Scotch tape on the earpiece of my phone....spent a week
looking through the phone manual.

I retaliated with hiding a pickle (he hates pickles) behind a poster
on his wall.  Unfortunately, it dried up and didn't wreak havoc like I
intended.

He countered with clear Scotch tape over the ball underneath my mouse.
I rebooted my computer 3 times before I discovered it.  (Apparently he
likes the Scotch tape trick)
He also put coffee grounds in a bunch of my desk items....move my
stapler, out spills coffee.....open my drawer, out comes coffee...

He clearly has the upper hand, so I need some help!

ed

Hi esarkissian and thanks for the question,

First of all, let´s remember what was said in the Albuquerque New
Mexico Business Weekly online magazine.  Forgotten ?  let me remind
you:

“The best workplace pranks, experts and mere hobbyists agree, are
those that leave the victim feeling amused and uplifted, rather than
insecure or offended. “
“Done right, office pranks can even improve employee relations and
productivity, so some companies endorse the occasional gag. “
http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/05/13/focus1.html

OK, now for some suggestions, however you should click on the links
below each one as I have posted only suggestions I thought might be
sutable for you.

My personal favorite, change the mouse buttons on his computer so that
right is left and left is right.  Here´s how:
http://aitt.acadiau.ca/tutorials/Windows95/mousebutton.htm

The old favorite, duct tape:
“Sinking Chairs Here is a fun (and safe) prank to pull on co-workers
in an office setting. Most office dwellers have chairs that use a
pneumatic piston to control the height. They are also designed to use
a persons weight to effect the downward adjustment. While your
coworkers are away from their desk, take a strip of duct tape and tape
the height adjusting lever to the bottom of the seat. This effectively
locks the piston into adjust mode. When they sit down, their weight
will cause the chair to bottom out quickly. The looks of utter
confusion are priceless. Extra points to brave individuals who pull
this one on their boss”

“Desk Drawer Dilemma Duct tape is real handy for driving your
co-workers, or better yet, your boss, nuts. Only a few feet are needed
to tape someone's center desk drawer shut around the edges of the two
sides and the back. It's doubly exciting if the drawer is just
slightly open so that the victim can tell that the drawer can't be
locked, but can't immediately see or feel what is holding the drawer
shut if the tape doesn't cover the entire length of the drawer. At the
same time it doesn't do any permanent damage to the furniture. Works
best in conditions of reduced light. Avoid doing this to anyone who
may have a bad back. The drawer pulling response can get really
vigorous”
http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/joker/

Tape on the phone
“Roll up a piece of clear plastic tape with the sticky side out. Place
the tape in the earpiece of the phone handset.“
http://www.gwally.com/pranks/office/


Thanks for the question, and I hope these suggestions and links help
you to get the upper hand, and that you DON´T GET FIRED !

THX1138

Search Strategy:
“office pranks”
://www.google.com/search?q=%22+office+pranks%22&hl=pt&lr=&ie=UTF-8&as_qdr=all&start=30&sa=N

---

Request for Answer Clarification by esarkissian-ga on 12 Aug 2002 15:07 PDT

Ok, let's turn the "Evil" dial up a bit...

---

Clarification of Answer by thx1138-ga on 13 Aug 2002 07:55 PDT

Hi again esarkissian.

OK the ´gloves are off´

You mentioned that you had hidden a pickle behind a picture.  Bad
mistake....you should have taped a Prawn behind the picture, give it a
couple of days and he will be dreading going in to work.

Try a visit to dumbboss.com
http://www.dumbboss.com/dumbboss/even.cfm

Saran Wrap on the toilet is always good, but only if your boss has a
private toilet!

A sudden display of indoor fireworks can be quite a surprise too. 
Here are some suppliers:
http://www.go4worldbusiness.com/Fireworks

There is also a book available called:
"Two Hundred and One Ways to Get Even with Your Boss" for : $8.50 
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?endeca=1&userid=68XGFZIEMS&ean=9780806515700

Please remember DON`T GET FIRED !

Good Luck !

THX1138

I'm sorry, for the most part the suggestions were pretty lame.  A
couple decent suggestions though, but not what I was looking for.

Hello Esarkissian,

You can also try this:

- If you have access to his computer, hide the desktop symbols;
instead, put up a wallpaper which is a screen-shot of the desktop
before you moved around things. Now, your boss will be clicking on the
icons and nothing happens.

- Put a Post-It paper on his screen which is completely impossible to
decipher but appears to be very urgent. You can alternate same joke by
using a friends phone and speaking something nonsensical on the
answering machine with a major accent.

- Order a personalized fake newspaper starring your boss:
http://www.trixiepixgraphics.com/write_custom.html

- Save up some coffee, just like your boss drinks it, and let it cool
down. Once your boss leaves his coffee mug unattended for a minute,
replace his hot coffee with the cold coffee. If he doesn't realizes
what happens the first time, make sure to repeat until he does.

- Go to the post office and send him to work an important-looking, but
empty parcel.

- If he has a medium sized picture in his office, scan it, vertically
mirror it in a painting program, and color-print it again. Replace it
with the picture in your bosses offices, but hang it upside-down; now
wait until your boss fails to "correct" the picture by turning it
around.

- If he has a black-board in his office, soak its sponge in sugar
water. Now take the chalk to write something worthwhile erasing on the
board (like "Honey, I'm home!").

- Hide two very small alarm clocks in his office. Set them to go off
at a time where he'll pretty sure be there, but with a five-minute
interval between each other.

With all of this, make sure to be neither too close nor too far from
the scene of surprise -- you don't want to miss the look on his face
while it's still fresh!

Here are two more to try:

String all his paperclips together, so when he grabs one, they all
come out at once.

I tried this once with the co-operation of a few co-workers. On the
first day of our bosses vacation, we all called in sick to the
assistant. Then we showed up 5 minutes late with donuts. The look on
her face was priceless.

I think after the coffee grounds trick, you need some revenge that's a
bit on the icky side.

Spread some mayo on the earpiece of your boss' phone, give him a call,
and make sure you're close enough to catch the look on his face.  Not
a bad idea having a camera handy, either.

I have had good success with the old "Rattlesnake Eggs" trick.

http://www.suba.com/~neveu/project8.html

This is elegant in its simplicity, and very suprising to the recipient
(although you have to wonder about the sanity of anyone who would open
an envelope once they see the label that says "GENUINE RATTLESNAKE
EGGS.")

This is one you probably know and is also an excellent way to catch a
snooping employee:  purchase a fake but realistic rubber snake and
place it in a drawer where the employee is not suppoesed to be
looking.  When the offender opens it, you will usually have caught the
snooper because they will squeal with surprise.

When a friend graduated from high school lo these many years ago, his
sister and I filled his car with confetti filled balloons.  It takes
some planning and a couple co-conspirators, but the results are
hilarious.

My friend thought he was going to be a real smartie-britches and pop
the balloons to get them out.  He's probably still fishing confetti
from under the seats...


--Missy

Glitter.

Put glitter in some spot where it will get spilled on your boss's
clothing (or even better, in the boss's hair.) Glitter doesn't destroy
anything, but it is devilishly difficult to get rid of.

A good way to deposit glitter in someone's lap is to put the glitter
inside a greeting card. Victim opens the card, the glitter pours out,
mission accomplished!

Do absolutely nothing.

But spend the whole entire day watching him expectantly, baiting him
with unopened envelopes and serving him coffee with that "innocent"
look on your face.

Guaranteed to drive him crazy. 

--K~

I liked knowledge_seeker-ga's suggestion best.#
If he uses Word (or similar) put in some auto-correct entries for
words he types frequently. It's harmless as the auto-correction can be
undone by Alt-Backspace immediately after Word makes the correction. I
made one person's computer change "protestant" into "heretic". Or make
it so that every time he types his name, it's slightly misspelled.

I tried this one on a co-worker. Six months later we were married!
Therefore, be careful who you pull practical jokes on!

Next time your co worker wants you to pick him up some fast food, buy
a pack of Dentyne gum (or other thick gum) and jam one end of his soft
drink straw into the gum, and put that end into the drink. Then stand
back and get ready to laugh as he tries to take a sip of the drink and
the straw is plugged up. Then he'll move the straw around a little
thinking it's caught on a piece of ice and try again. Finally he'll
try to remove the straw, but if you put the gum on correctly (no fair
chewing it beforehand), the gum will pop off the end of the straw when
it hits the underside of the lid and he'll have no clue what's going
on. Hehehehee.

He then did this to me, but it didn't work, because someone else used
the restroom before I did:

Unscrew the bolts holding the toilet seat on to the toilet. When he
sits down, the seat will start shimmying around under his weight. The
more he tries to balance the seat so he can do his business, the more
it wobbles and scoots around. Hopefully it's one of those bathrooms
with only one toilet, so he has no choice but to slide around until
he's finished with his business.

Just before a major internal meeting, 
use a water pistol to wet his pants / trousers in the spot where it
looks like he's had an accident in the men's room.
Will work particulary well if he has to do a standing up presentation
;-0)

if your boss has a door to his office you can have loads of fun by
balancing a bucket of water on top of it with the door open a few
inches.  or less risky by putting a small plastic jar of glitter on
there. a big bag of feathers is absolutely hysterical to watch (and
harmless). if you want to get really complex, you can screw an eyelet
above his door and tape a string or thread between it as well as to
his door so that the bucket or container dumps as he opens the door.

I always love the autocorrect funtion on Word. Go into the auto
correct via the tools menu. Type in his name and have it auto correct
to "Me I'm a Freaking Idiot" everytime he types his name in.

Dear Sirs

.....In the event of a query please contact me, I'm a freaking idiot"

obviously, you can substitute the phrase for your level of
mirth...lol.