Tag Archives: practical joke

Dropbears in Australia

The Informant

RF is an Australian young adult born and raised in New South Wales.

The Text

Dropbears are known to only attack foreigners, ambush those standing under indigenous Australian trees, falls from branches and grab onto the victim’s neck. Said to attack based on accent, especially Yanks, when foreigners are speaking badly about Australian food. Deterred by putting a fork in your hair or smearing vegemite behind your ears or both. It’s considered every Australian’s duty to warn foreigners of these dangers.

Analysis

The “dropbear” is a rather interesting cultural phenomenon where the entirety of a nation agrees to gaslight any and all foreigners about Australian wildlife as a practical joke. For the fooled foreigners, the “dropbear” appears to be a plausible urban legend until they realize it’s a practical joke. The specificity of accents seems to reflect a sense of pride Australians may have about their uniquely recognizable accent, and similarly, the utilization of an animal may reflect a pride or at least a sense of self-aware humor surrounding the reputation of Australia’s native wildlife, which is required for the victim to believe in the joke. Additionally, the specificity of “Yanks” indicates a tongue-in-cheek distaste of Americans, particularly with an association that they’re loud and annoying and complain too much whenever they visit. This practical joke may have been more effective before the age of the internet when the victim could not simply fact check the existence of this “dropbear,” and given that it’s “every Australian’s duty” to uphold this urban legend to foreigners, several have likely worn forks in their hair in public for the amusement of all the locals around. As with the nature of most practical jokes, once the victim has been played for the fool and realized the prank, everyone has a good laugh with no real hostility as the foreigner now becomes in on the joke and take up the “duty” of warning other foreigners of this danger.

R2D2 “Hack” at MIT

Text: In May 1999, MIT students pulled a prank that involved making a building resemble R2D2.

Minor Genre: Prank, Practical Joke

Context:

When the Phantom Menace opened in May of 1999, students on the MIT campus colored fabric panels to make a building resemble R2D2, a beloved droid from the Star Wars universe. According to L, who witnessed the building, “MIT is very proud of its prank culture.” Such pranks were common on campus and encouraged among students. They were dubbed “hacks” among those involved, and “hack culture” was widespread at MIT. Part of hack culture was to “do no damage,” which is a potential reason why the administration allowed for such a mischievous culture to thrive.

When the R2D2 “hack” took place, L described that “campus was buzzing. It was the kind of feeling like ‘it’s cool that I go to a school where people do stuff like this thing.’” The prank made national news because it happened at a time when “everyone was going crazy about the Phantom Menace.”

Analysis:

“Interesting Hacks To Fascinate People: The MIT Gallery of Hacks” is a website created by those involved in “hack culture” intended to document the history of pranks at MIT. The website describes the meaning of the word: “the word hack at MIT usually refers to a clever, benign, and ‘ethical’ prank or practical joke, which is both challenging for the perpetrators and amusing to the MIT community (and sometimes even the rest of the world!).” (https://hacks.mit.edu/) Although hacks are not officially sanctioned by the university, the culture built on clever practical jokes has had a significant impact on broader MIT student culture.

The R2D2 hack described by my mother is officially catalogued on the MIT Gallery of Hacks as the “Great Droid.” It stood in place from May 17th through the 18th in 1999 on the Great Dome building. The “Great Droid” is a prime example of how pranks can utilize popular culture to inspire excitement and a sense of unity within a community. It also provides insight into the values of MIT as a whole; due to its overall high level of safety, the hack received praise from an MIT security officer and the administration initially declared they would allow it to remain in place for three days. The MIT “hack culture,” therefore, was based on intellectual and thorough planning to create large-scale, harmless pranks.

Icup Joke

Text: “Spell Icup”

Context: I guess I use it with friends to say “gotcha.” I probably learned it on the playground in the first grade or so from another kid saying it to me. The goal is to get someone to say “I see you pee” and then you can kinda laugh at them. I don’t really use it anymore just when I was a kid. I guess it’s kinda funny in a stupid way. If I ever used it now it would be ironic not really an actual joke.

Analysis: This phrase is an example of a catch/practical joke or “dupe.” It is an innocent and unassuming way to be able to laugh at someone and somewhat insult them without being subject to criticism for being rude. This joke also coincides with Freud’s Theory of Humor which claims humor begins with repression, where people must “swallow” emotions such as aggression or sexuality because they are not socially acceptable. Repression is followed by sublimation where people release this repressed energy often through humor because joking about these things is seen as more acceptable. This specific joke is possibly an example of sublimating repressed anger or insecurity towards someone else through insulting them or embarrassing them.

John’s Mom Riddle

Text: John’s mom has four kids: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. What was the name of the fourth? (Answer: John)

Context: I would tell this if one of my peers asked me to tell a riddle. I learned in like elementary school, maybe fourth grade. I’ve seen it on Instagram before. The hope would be that whoever you’re telling it to says Thursday, and you would say “Ha! You’re wrong.” I feel accomplished when I use it.

Analysis: This riddle is an example of a “joke” or “catch” riddle because it is like a practical joke that has an expected response. This riddle was popular with kids because it empowers kids to have knowledge over others in this area, since they don’t have the upper hand of knowledge in most other areas. This riddle also correlates with the “rule of three” in American and Western culture which explains how many ideas and entities in folklore come in groups of three. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday is a clean and matching group of three, and when John is added to make four, it seems illogical and unexpected.

Secret Finger Jutsu

Text:

LP reports that in elementary and middle school it was popular to prank fellow classmates with the “secret finger jutsu,” typically learned from the anime, “Naruto.” This involves folding both hands together with the index and middle finger out, sneaking up behind someone, and stabbing their buttocks with the extended fingers.

Context:

LP is a college graduate who grew up in Beverly Hills, CA, attending the public schools in the area.

Here, LP was describing what pranks he would witness in elementary and middle school. He recalls that after one boy, who had watched “Naruto” and learned the behavior from the show, started doing it, the prank was adapted several other members of the group, even those who had not watched the show and did not know its origin. This was practiced exclusively by boys to other boys, LP reports. While he did not take part in the prank itself, he says that he was wary of situations where he might be vulnerable to those who do, especially climbing stairways.

Analysis:

The “secret finger jutsu” is directly linked to the influence of the anime, “Naruto,” meaning it comes from an official source. However, its implementation into the social dynamic of American school children was largely unstructured. Its spread and adoption by other members of the group underscores the rapid transmission of folk behaviors within a peer group and the pressure to be aware of these fluid changes. The gender specificity of this prank suggests certain expectations within this community about which behaviors are acceptable among boys and which may cross the line when it comes to girls. In accordance to Freud’s theory of repression and sublimation, boys in this peer group were using the shared humor learned by this TV program to act on aggressive urges in a way that simultaneously relieved them of said urges and affirmed their standing in the social order.