In this special 25-minute episode, Ken distills the highlights of recent North American college and university pranks and hoaxes for April Fool’s Day (and his producer, John, plays pranks on in post-production.)
There are 10 popular targets for higher ed April Fools hoaxes:
Name Changes Mascots Improbable Infrastructure Celebrity Students Cats! Absurd New Programs Campus Security Millennial Students The Language Itself Deep Anxieties
Ken also offers 5 tips for would-be pranksters:
Credibility: Suspend disbelief with credible spokespeople and professional production values. Credible Details: Weave in facts that sound almost believable. Absurdity: Gradually the facts and sound bites should get more and more absurd. This is the payoff for your joke, so make it good! Puns: It would seem most people can’t issue an April 1 media release without tons of wordplay. Reveal: Don’t hit us over the head; let us have the fun of gradually realizing that this is a hoax.
Here are some of the videos featured in this episode:
Calvin College security - https://youtu.be/XGOWClLLrXw
Biola University math prof - https://youtu.be/blOrY-nEGaE
BBC spaghetti harvest - https://youtu.be/tVo_wkxH9dU
Pittsburg State name - https://youtu.be/medsLfL7rec
Luther College “fighting gnomes” - https://youtu.be/O7p8uIfsGl8
Missouri State’s “Scrapper Squirrel” - https://youtu.be/epMg7r9KAnY
University of Findlay monorail - https://youtu.be/Mrk9zm4lJDQ
University of Nebraska–Lincoln Feline Recruitment Studies - https://youtu.be/EUJewvx6Szw
Colgate University School of Dentistry - https://youtu.be/psO-hLMJUGc
University of Michigan School of Public Health - Hipstera - https://youtu.be/O8T2-FVYPMA
Brigham Young University Hotel Harold - https://youtu.be/57dSOhALb-c
And our absolute favourites:
Berklee College of Music adds the membranophone - https://youtu.be/Rx17-Axqtt4
Simon Fraser University “Healthy Campus Initiative” - https://youtu.be/sMWCw9G8Txg
Simon Fraser University “Satellite Campus” - https://youtu.be/ZjF7pmcAm-c
Simon Fraser University “Campus Traffic Management” - https://youtu.be/U0UqHM6qOFg
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