NYT
April 1, 2008
Mind
April Fool! The Purpose of Pranks
By BENEDICT CAREY
Keep it above the belt, stop short of total humiliation and, if
possible, mix in some irony, some drama, maybe even a bogus call from
the person’s old flame or new boss. A good prank, of course, involves
good stagecraft. But it also requires emotional intuition.

“You want to play on people’s weaknesses or dislikes, but not go too
hard,” said Tommy Doran, a fireman and paramedic in Skokie, Ill., who
as a rookie in Montgomery County, Md., was lured into the station’s
kitchen and blasted with multiple cream pies. “For me it’s just the
sort of dark humor we use to cope with the job and each other. Nothing
dangerous or illegal.”

Psychologists have studied pranks for years, often in the context of
harassment, bullying and all manner of malicious exclusion and
prejudice.