Fools’ Gold: Tomorrow’s the day to play
By Michael Marotta
The Boston Herald, March 31, 2008

When Mike Delehanty’s friend walks to his car late tomorrow night, no one will be around to shout “April Fools’! ” But when he sees his BMW filled to the roof light with $80 worth of U-Haul biodegradable packing peanuts, it should dawn on him just what day it is.

You made it through the Ides of March, but are you ready for April Fools’ Day tomorrow? From small inter-office tricks to more elaborate schemes, the three components of a successful prank are preparation, delivery and old-fashioned cruel fun, according to local tricksters.

“We’re gonna leave a ransom-style note down by the gas pedal, so that’s the last thing he finds,” said packing-peanut mastermind Delehanty, 28. “He’s not going to be able to get into his car. He’ll have to get another ride home or hang out until 2 or 3 in the morning. It’s all out of love.”

Not every prank is on the brainiac level of students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who in 1998 famously hacked the school’s Web site and announced MIT was being sold to the Walt Disney Co. for $6.9 billion and moving to Orlando, Fla.

“I’ve always been a fan of the small pranks,” said comedian Chris Coxen of West Roxbury. “Get outside your comfort zone and ask ‘What is gonna blow their mind?’ Not necessarily injure them, but screw them up mentally for the next week.”

Musician/comedian Robby Roadsteamer, who is appropriately releasing a CD on April Fools’ Day at Allston’s Great Scott, said the key to prank-pulling is simple.

“Feed into someone’s hopes and dreams,” Roadsteamer said. “The closer to the bone, the bigger the laugh.”

While Coxen enjoys messing with co-workers’ day planners, adding random, ridiculous to-dos, Roadsteamer suggests faking an interest in “American Idol” around co-workers, and then when they get worked up about the previous night’s episode, “let them know you were just kidding.”

Sometimes, a simple e-mail can cause havoc when recipients don’t notice the tell-tale time stamp.

Masha Josefson, 32, of Swampscott, recalls her mother’s sobs over the telephone almost six years after she sent an e-mail to friends and family detailing her “change-of-life” plans to move to Paraguay for missionary work.

Josefson pulled April Fools’ Day pranks as a child - from replacing water bottles in the fridge with vodka and switching the contents of the sugar and salt containers - so she fired off her “goodbye” e-mail without thought of repercussion.

“And then, the moment forever etched in the profound guilt section in my book of life - my mother calls,” she said. “How do you tell your mother you were only kidding?”

Naturally, effective pranksters don’t limit shenanigans to April 1.

“This April Fools’ thing sounds like a Hallmark invention to me,” Coxen said. “I don’t believe in saving all your dirty desires for one day. Spread it out.”

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