Week-before-last we challenged our Smart Masses to a test of speed and skill for a totally random prize.

What we didn’t know was that we were the real winners. You see, we added a question to this contest.

“Extra credit! Have you ever pulled off a good prank? Tell us.”

Whoo boy, did you tell us. Your answers were so good that you had us sputtering in laughter at the most inopportune moments.

We can’t keep these stories to ourselves. We must share the best of them with you right now.

Brace yourselves.

Rik T. – A most generous prankster

I was visiting my father in law who is an avid wildlife photographer. He was setting up all of his gear for a shoot when I subtly placed an (empty) Camera Lens Mug down near his assortment of actual lenses. I waited juuuuust long enough for him to be half looking in my direction when I bumped it and sent it falling to the ground. His stream of profanity and dive to try and catch it from about 12 feet away was amazing. When I picked it up, I calmly told him that I appreciated his concern, but it was empty and nothing spilled on his gear. I gave it as a gift as a way to apologize for the heart attack I had no doubt induced.

Amanda W. – The bacon always knocks twice

I passed out your Bacon Jelly Beans at work one day. Those who ate it without giving it a little sniff first, well… let’s just say I’ve never seen facial expressions quite like that before. People were so desperate to get the taste out of their mouths, they were spitting the bean out into their hands, spitting in the garbage can, and wiping their tongues with kleenex.

My sister-in-law, 14 at the time, thought it was actually pretty good — until 3 hours after supper when she burped and screamed, “”EEEWWW!! I still taste that jelly bean!”

Elyse H. – U Mad?

A couple of years ago, I acquired a couple of evil-trons. I just placed them on the fridge and dreamed of opportunities to use them.

The following summer, I moved to a new apartment, and while setting up my tower, I heard the “click of death” coming from the hard drive. I panicked, shut down the tower, and went to MicroCenter and bought a replacement “just in case”. I come back home, and before I have a chance to turn the tower back on, I hear the click. Took a while, but I finally traced the click to the evil-a-tron chilling in a box filled with kitchen stuff. At least I now have a back up hard drive thanks to unintentionally pranking myself!

Meghan D. – Duct tape truly is good for everything

I have both the evil-tron and the annoy-a-tron, but the evil tron seems to be the one that gets the most rises out of people. I had a co-worker who was CONVINCED that there were rats in the walls. I let the other 5 people working in the room with us in on the prank, and set the evil-tron to the scratching noises. She got so freaked out that she ended up duct taping the wall sockets shut and putting mouse traps around them. It was really hard for the rest of us to play along, but we pulled it off.

Rory G. – Devilish in his ingenuity

I bought a pair of Annoy-a-trons a couple of years ago. I cleverly hid one in my buddy’s office, and drove him crazy with it for a couple of days. Then I moved the Annoy-a-tron to a place where he could more easily find it… and find it he did. BUT… I also hid a second one in his office at the same time. So, just as he thought the problem was escalating (twice as many “chirps”), he had about 2-3 minutes of sheer joy after finding the first one… followed by the crushing defeat of the second one going off.

Bug Girl – Helping people make…friends.

I’ve not used any of your stuff to prank anyone, but I have put insect pheromones in someone’s hat. This surrounded them in a cloud of “interested” male moths.

Have you managed better pranks than these fine folks? Tell us in the comments. After all, April Fools day is coming up fast, and we could always use some inspiration that doesn’t involve insect pheromones.

EDIT!  Twitter smart masses chime in!

@Lunachique – Promoting Synergy

 Know that rubber gasket that prevents the doorknob from hitting the wall?  I’m duct taping an air horn to it in boss’ office!

@MrETwit – Tech based glee

I changed a roommates icon and home bar to look as if he was running 640×480. Drove him crazy trying to fix his resolution.