I come from a very long line of pranksters, hams, wise-guys (and gals), jokers and all around good-time-Charlies. No, none of us has ever made a buck off of it, but a far better payday is knowing that you got someone good - real good!

Example: When I'd have a group of friends over as a teen, I'd pre-hatch a plan with my Mom whereby she'd storm into the room we were loitering in and just yell and scream and berate me whilst wielding a potato masher... ahhh... the look on their faces... priceless! Although that brand of humour might be somewhat, unconventional, isn't laughter the absolute best? A good laugh can break the tension, ease the pain, mend a wound, halt the tears, fill an awkward silence and just feels so darn-tootin' good. In fact, my desire to laugh is so great that if I look back over my entire lifetime and add up the number of non-funny friends that I have, it equals zero.

I don't trust people without laugh-lines. If you're over 30 and you don't have laugh lines, I'm asking for a Botox and Juvaderm receipt, or you're outta here.

In the absence of fun, I'm even willing to just make stuff up. When my husband was still my boyfriend, he came to visit me in my 1-bedroom apartment where I happen to have had my dear, sweet (prankster) Grandma visiting from Montreal. He had just flown in from who-knows-where, still drunk off of the sweet taste of victory at a high-profile curling bonspiel (and rum), when he happened to nod off in front of my dear, sweet Gram. When he awoke, we had him 100% convinced that he spent the entire slumber expelling horridly foul gas....he was mortified... still is. (Shhhh...this joke is going on 15 years old and it's not over!)

If the idea of joking around appeals to you, or you haven't laughed in eons, or you've had fillers and people don't trust you to be fun / funny, then April 1 is a great time to test the comedic waters and bust a gut. I scoured the Internet in search of some good clean prankster fun (no verbal abuse or potato mashers) and here are some easy-to-execute doozies:
 

1. Freaky toilet surprise

Freaky toilet surprise

Find a scary face on the Internet and print full size. Tape it to the underside of the toilet seat and shut the lid. The next person to use the washroom might poop their pants...but it'll be worth it!
 

2. Don't cry over spilled milk

Aprl fools spilled milk

Get yourself some good quality white craft glue and generously poor it out onto some waxed paper in a spill pattern. Let it dry (takes about 12 hours). Gently scrape it off and place it onto the keyboard of the victim's computer (goes over best on a tightly wound type A personality). Place next to an empty glass or mug and get the swear-jar at the ready!
 

3. There-she-blows

Visit your local Canadian Tire and shell out $27 on a blow-horn. Duct tape the blow-horn to the underside of an office chair (the kind that adjusts up and down). Secure it so that any amount of pressure from the seat will set it off (will require a bit of Macgyver-ing). Your coworkers will not be buying you lunch that day...or maybe they will! If you don't have coworkers (I feel your pain) do what I've been doing: hide behind a door in the dark and when someone walks passed you, let that son-of-a-gun rip! (away from ears!)
 

4. Yummmm.. .mayo!

So easy and so gross. Empty a jar of mayonnaise out and fill to the brim with vanilla yogurt. Grab a spoon, shovel it in and tell everyone how you've just read about the incredible health benefits of eating a tub of mayo/day... so much protein, so many omega-3 from the eggs and oil... yummy! People will recoil in horror.

Keep laughing!