The Art of Pranking
Have you ever heard of Karl 'Fat Neck' Power? This master prankster, managed by his lifelong mate Tommy Dunn, has pulled off some of the greatest stunts in history. He was the legendary '12th man' in a Manchester United team photo, taken before their Champions League game against Bayern Munich in 2001. He walked out to bat with the England national cricket team. He's even played on Centre Court. And all without being invited to a single, solitary second of any of them...
Your stag party pranks might not quite reach these dizzy heights, but with a little Dunn-and-Power-style preparation, you can pull off some pretty special tricks!
Follow my advice, and remember: it's meant to be enjoyable. Which reminds me - the most important piece of stag pranking advice is up first:
Safety first
Pranking is all a bit of fun. No-one's supposed to lose a leg. As Dunn and Power themselves have said, 'we're not ... out to harm anybody.' Successful stag party pranks work when everyone can have a laugh about them afterwards, not when the groom ends up in hospital. Or prison. Or both...
Planning is everything
Ah, Hannibal. If ever there was a dude whose book it was worth taking a leaf from, it's the silver-haired tactician from The A Team. Dunn and Power have the same obsession with planning, only the two pranksters take things to a whole new level. Their stunts can take up to two years to cook up, and they only move when every last detail is perfect.
Take the Man U photobomb. Dunn and Power studied the teams' pre-game ritual obsessively, looking for the perfect moment to get Fat Neck onto the pitch. They turned up in Munich with three full replica kits - home, away and third. And they waited in position for 45 minutes before putting the Mancunian into the frame...
Breaking the law is a bad idea
Dunn and Power have never broken the law - just circumvented a few security cordons. Actively step over the line between silly and illegal, and you could be opening your best buddy up to some serious repercussions. Like the feller I blogged about recently who got banged up for skinnydipping in a Bratislavan fountain. There's funny, and then there's just plain dumb.
Remember, some countries have much stricter laws than others. And some just don't see the funny side of anything at all. Russian art pranksters Voina, for example, graffitied a massive dick on a drawbridge opposite St Petersburg's Federal Security building. Every time the drawbridge raised, so did the willy. Two 'members' of the pranking organisation have been arrested. Fortunately, uber-prankster Banksy is bankrolling them, and some of his money was used to bail them out...
Detail pays off
American trickster Joey Skaggs has been making fun of the media for years, creating plausibly crazy stories that get taken as real. His secret? Building incredibly detailed scenarios, including fake companies, actors, phone lines dedicated to taking interview requests. The more detail you put into the setup, the more likely it is that your mark will believe everything you tell him.
That's why the sexy hitch hiker prank works so well. The stripper doesn't just get in and get naked - there's a whole convincing back story, and the driver's in on the act too. By the time she gets her boobies out, everyone will believe everything she says. Well, actually by the time she gets her boobies out no-one will be concentrating that hard anymore, but if they were, then they would:
Your mark wants to be pranked
Most people who get taken in by a prank really want to be tricked. At least that's what Michael Caine says in The Prestige, and who are we to argue with Charlie 'You Were Only Supposed to Blow the Bloody Doors Off' Croker? The point is, pranks work best when you target someone who's already open to being tricked. Like chaps on a stag party. You can cut it any way you like, at the end of the day a man on his last weekend of freedom wants to see naked ladies. Make it seem like you tricked him into it, you'll be revered for the rest of your days. Way to get the big man out of a sticky situation with the wife, fellers.
Need some help coming up with an epic stunt? If you don't want to go to the lengths of Tommy Dunn and Karl Power, we'll do it for you. Give Off Limits a call on 01773 766 007, and prepare to be hilarious.