How To Become A Legendary Prankster After Suffering Relentless Uni Pranks

Uni is riddled with pranksters, new flatmates making exciting new targets to plot against. But some people are just born to be pranksters, whilst others lack the creativity or courage to really be successful. So how do you go from being the victim to being the most respected prankster in the group?

I’d like to tell you it’s easy, but it’s not.

Unfortunately, you have to suffer the cling-filmed room, the room filled with cups of water, the rice-filled shoes, the subtle re-arrangement of furniture…in order to learn that the most valuable skill when it comes to being a successful prankster is lying. Whether it’s adamant denial or believable persuasion, lying is the key ingredient to pulling off a great prank (of course it helps if you have a gullible target).

It’s all about causing confusion

Creating a sense of paranoia and double, even triple, bluffing so that the prank subject has no idea of the true prank play important roles in the success of the prank as a whole. Dropping hints is what pranksters enjoy the most, and what prankees find the most infuriating. Have they really got into my locked room? Why won’t they send me photographic evidence? Did I forget about finishing my juice? Questions I asked myself time and time again as I vowed to never live with these people again…

OR, plotted my revenge…

I wish I could say I had an elaborate scheme planned throughout the course of the year, however, this was not the case at all. In fact, this simple, but hugely effective prank occurred quite by accident! After the latest prank of a series of ‘mysterious thefts’, I seized my opportunity to steal something of theirs. In a rushed panic, I took a duvet of all things (not the easiest object to conceal) and attempted to hide it in someone else’s room to escape the blame…

When the theft was discovered…

Every flatmate was a suspect, given the pranking nature of the flat. Still, to this day, I have no idea how the duvet was not spotted when it was in plain sight and every one of our rooms was searched, but somehow it went unnoticed. Being the novice prankster that I was, I found myself riddled with guilt that my flatmate spent the night without a duvet, but the thought of all the pranks I had suffered kept me from confessing.

The prank had crossed a line

Since I’d taken it this far, I had to keep up the denial. Of course, nobody else confessed, so the entire group was left puzzled and speculative as to the identity of, who came to be known as, ‘the duvet thief’. It remained an unsolved mystery, with theories of ghosts and intruders being put forward – it became the most talked about topic within the group. In order to not be discovered, it was necessary to place the blame on others, contribute to theories and state valid reasons why it couldn’t have been me. If I learned one thing during my time at uni, it was how to lie.

The hardest part

I couldn’t share the hilarity it brought! Anyone outside the group trustworthy enough to be told couldn’t fully appreciate the pleasure this prank was giving me. But best of all was the moment of reveal. I waited a whole two years, until our uni journey together was ending, to confess to being ‘the duvet thief’. The dumbstruck silence that met the confession, followed by genuine applause and admiration was far from the angry reaction I expected, proving how pranking the pranksters is worthy of the utmost respect.