Comedy: Fool Disclosure

Comedy: March 25, 2026 Issue [#13658]


 


Fool Disclosure
       Editor: cathartes02
                   More Newsletters By This Editor  


Table of Contents
1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions


About This Newsletter
Some people can't be fooled on April Fool's Day because they were fooled too many times during their entire lifetime.
         ― Akash B Chandran

I'm not a fan of April Fools' Day. I can take a joke; I just don't want to BE the joke.
         ― Stewart Stafford

Reader, if you wrest my words beyond their fair construction, it is you, and not I, that are the April Fool.
         ― Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia and Last Essays of Elia

Letter from the editor
It's late March, and you know what that means.

That's right; it's time for my annual discussion of Comedy Christmas, or, as it's more commonly known, April Fools' Day.

Note the position of the apostrophe there: it is a day to celebrate all fools (hence its other name of All Fools' Day), not just one fool. So the apostrophe goes after the s. No fooling.

The defining feature of AFD (as I will call it henceforth, for I am lazy) is the prank.

Now, there are only two types of pranks: good ones, and bad ones. Good ones are the ones played on someone other than me. Bad ones are the ones played on me.

Okay, no, not really. There's pranks that don't hurt someone, and pranks that hurt someone. The latter are the bad ones.

Still, there's not a well-defined line between them. Take, for example, my favorite prank (at least on a conceptual level; I've never actually done it and never will): the air horn toilet prank.  

Seems innocent enough, right? And it usually is. But it's all fun and games until someone gets a heart attack.

For the record, though, I'm unaware of any recorded instances of someone suffering a coronary because an air horn went off when they sat on the can. Still. It's a gray area. Because if you're going to die of a heart attack, the worst possible place to do so is on the commode. Yes, worse than while driving. At least if you're driving, your junk's not hanging out. Usually. I'm not kink-shaming here.

Consider also this list   of pranks, which demonstrates that there are good pranks, bad pranks, and just generally annoying pranks. The first one there, for example: "The sign them up for a mailing list prank." That's not harmless, even if it's not dangerous.

The next one is "The say 'Come over to the window and look at all these deer!' prank." That's just lame. Also, like the boy in the fable, eventually you're going to see a really cool deer (there's a white one that comes round my backyard sometimes, for instance), and want to share it, but your target will be like "Nah, fool me once..."

There are more at the link, and some pranks are funnier to think about than to actually do.

I'll just wrap this up by saying that I don't condone playing AFD pranks. But if you do, I want to hear about them.


Editor's Picks
Some comedy, no fooling:
 
Mustard Misfits  [E]
An Improv group goes on script.
 Three Pigs And A Permit   [13+]
You can try something new, be prepared to be criticized and possibly fail.
 
The Cookie Rookie  [E]
Said the cookbook, “They're specially nice, If you add in your favourite spice"
by ovid
 
Publishing Genius  [E]
When I publish a book, I'd love to do this.
 Test Question  [E]
Daily Flash Fiction 7/10/20 300 W/C
 
Doughnut: Count Down Ten to One.  [E]
A poem, maybe clever, maybe not, but sweet and tasty all the same
Bunny's Mistake  [E]
Easter time is a time for choccie, but someone forget to tell the Easter Bunny.
 
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Word from Writing.Com
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Ask & Answer
Last time, in "The Trouble with February" , I complained about February.

 mwayne: I have always thought of February as a sludge month. So past few years I have always tried to start a new hobby in February. Not that it would go much further but it would occupy the month.

          That sounds productive and useful, which I can't bring myself to be in February.

So that's it for me for March! If we both survive April Fools' Day, you'll see me again next month. Until then,
LAUGH ON!!!

 

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