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 HIM in post-production.)
There are 10 popular targets for higher ed April Fools hoaxes:
1) Name Changes
2) Mascots
3) Improbable Infrastructure
4) Celebrity Students
5) Cats!
6) Absurd New Programs
7) Campus Security
8) Millennial Students
9) The Language Itself
10) Deep Anxieties
Ken also offers 5 tips for would-be pranksters:
1) Credibility: Suspend disbelief with credible spokespeople and professional production values.
2) Credible Details: Weave in facts that sound almost believable.
3) Absurdity: Gradually the facts and sound bites should get more and more absurd. This is the payoff for your joke, so make it good!
4) Puns: It would seem most people can’t issue an April 1 media release without tons of wordplay.
5) 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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