'I can mimic that sound perfectly': 20+ Crafty workplace pranks that totally fooled coworkers

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 7, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Boring workplace? Time to liven it up with a few pranks! That's what these people did, and they shared the resulting hilarity with r/AskReddit.

If you've ever gotten to prank your coworkers, you know how funny it can be. If you're on the receiving end of a stapler encased in jello, you might be a little miffed. But everyone around you will remember your surprised face, and they'll get a great laugh out of it too. It's an entertaining way to build camaraderie. And for a lot of the people below, it was also a way to subtly get back at their most annoying coworkers. 

Having good coworkers and bosses is key in jobs. You spend a lot of time with them. While you might get to know them over time, you'll also come to discover all of their habits, good and bad. It's not so easy to just tell your coworkers to stop these annoying traits, though. You might have to prank them into stopping, as the people below did. Other people shared their harmless pranks like switching the m and n keys on people's keyboards. I wonder how long their coworkers managed to type like that before they noticed! 

Check out this fun thread from r/agjimenez, who requested to hear about the pranks people love pulling at work. Next up, this couple got some satisfying revenge on their HOA, saying, "I was just doing what you told me to do." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 9919204352
    via John Schnobrich on Unsplash
  • 02
    During meetings, my straight- faced brother will produce subtle humming deep in his throat that sound like a phone vibrating. Hilarity ensues as people nervously glance around and tap their pockets. So Reddit, what pranks do you love to pull at work?
    via u/agjimenez
  • 03
    stryrker as a prank, my co-worker put a one of those walgreens motion detector halloween things that said "Where you going!", "hey!", etc when you walked by his cube. He took it apart so you couldn't see it at all.
    via u/stryrker
  • 04
    I shot the motion detector with a laser pen from across the lab ~100 feet away, setting it off over & over. He would reposition each time, and after a while, he took it down, thinking it was malfunctioning. I'll tell him some day.
    via u/stryrker
  • 05
    deherazade My last job was in a stuffy corporate office. I tried to see how many Flanders-isms I could fit into conversation. Strange thing is, I was never called on it and people seemed to like me more. Honeydoodle of a melon- scratcher there.
    via u/deherazade
  • 06
    drfunkenstien014 We have a life sized cut out of Dewey from Malcom in thr Middle, which we hide around the office in random places to scare the out of unsuspecting folks.
    via u/drfunkenstien014
  • 07
    [deleted] I like to put 45 cents in the candy vending machines coin return; everything in there costs 75 cents, so I put the money in there with the idea that most people use a dollar and get a quarter back, reach in the coin slot, oh wow I guess I get two candy bars instead of one, but then they realize they are 5 cents short, the look of dissapointment is priceless.
    via u/deleted
  • 08
    onctech I can imitate a police siren without opening my mouth or making any change in facial expression. Since the sound only comes from my throat and sinus cavity, it's muffled and sounds like the siren is outside the room/vehicle. I mostly use this when I'm a passenger in a lead-footed coworker or friend's car to make them slow down. But one time when I was working at a pizzeria a
    via u/onctech
  • 09
    guy told me he was nervous because he had warrants out. I spent the whole shift messing with him and watching as he ducked behind the counter or hid in the storeroom. Making the sound was easy. Not laughing was hard.
    via u/onctech
  • 10
    Godolin First off: These are all magnificent. Now, this one isn't mine. It's my dad's. My dad can whistle like a god. When we go to pet stores, he regularly "talks" to the birds, which gets us some pretty great reactions.
    via u/Godolin
  • 11
    Back when he worked in a call center, he would randomly start whistling bird calls when he wasn't on the phone. After a couple weeks of this, he overheard one of his coworkers tell his manager "I think there's a bird trapped in the office, someone should do something about it." He took this as a challenge.
    via u/Godolin
  • 12
    After four years of working there, he had his entire shift convinced there were at least half a dozen different birds in the building. To this day, only one of his coworkers ever found out.
    via u/Godolin
  • 13
    JohnnyDollar I take meetings sometimes much to my displeasure. Sometimes they are large ones. And never productive. So a few minutes in I'll let out a huge yawn complete with all the physicality of it. And then I wait. And watch my yawn go around the room.
    via u/JohnnyDollar
  • 14
    Gseventeen Not at work but my friend is able to make his own stomach growl. Back when we were in class together, he would occasionally go ask the teacher something and make his stomach growl over and over. The majority of the time the teacher would let the class out early because he felt bad my friend (who was actually super skinny) was really really hungry.
    via u/Gseventeen
  • 15
    hairnetnic Swapping the n and m keys on someones keyboard never fails to amuse me.
    via u/hairnetnic
  • 16
    Capt_Ido_Nos I too have been blessed with this gift. I can produce a deep rumble that sounds exactly like a cell phone's vibrate, especially if I have heard their phone at least once to compare. It's every bit as wonderful as you can imagine it to be. My friend will even know I'm doing it, and still fall for it each time.
    via u/Capt_Ido_Nos
  • 17
    [deleted] Back when I was an IT monkey at a big loan firm I once got locked in one of the risers by a stupid user. The door for the risers was in the communal kitchen on each floor and while I was innocently patching some computers in I was locked in by some placing a full bottle from a water cooler against the door. Unable to identify my assailant I decided to get my own back on the entire floor; I took a paper clip and
    via u/[deleted]
  • 18
    poked a tiny hole in the bottom of random polystyrene cups for the kitchen. They had pre bought hundreds and stored them in our risers. For months you would occasionally see someone wandering out of the kitchen on that floor with a little stream of tea happily out of the side of their cup.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 19
    NotYourEveryday posted in a recent thread, but it fits better here. I have downloaded an app called "mobile mouse" on my iPhone as well as the software to go along with it. But the software is on my cube mate's computer who is an older guy (maybe 50) who slacks off all day on the internet, but complains when work is directed his way. Now the app doesn't doesn't allow me to see his computer screen, but it does tell what program is active (internet
    via u/NotYourEveryday
  • 20
    explorer, Microsoft Office, etc..) So throughout the day I'll randomly scroll down on his internet page, blindly click/right click, and while he's hunting and pecking at the keyboard I'll add characters to whatever it is. Now, what makes it hilarious is how clueless he truly is. The computer he works on is kind of sluggish anyway so he blames all of it on that. He'll literally storm out frustrated that he can't send an email to his sister-in-law about
    via u/NotYourEveryday
  • 21
    the vacation house. All the while I sit back and watch it unveil through a perfectly placed empty picture frame. For the people curious about the app, it is great for those who have a laptop connected to their TV (HDMI/RCA) and want to watch/browse from the couch.
    via u/NotYourEveryday
  • 22
    windrunner1 Facebook used to have this anoying "POP" when u get a new chat message. I can mimick that sound perfectly and used to sit behind my FB addicted friend and repeat it constantly. He would go trying to figure out why his goddam FB chat service was going nuts. I let my manager in on it and he watching it. near cried
    via u/windrunner1
  • 23
    r3dwash Back in high school a buddy of mine used to put his head down on his desk whenever the class. was just talking and getting stuff done. He would make this really quiet whistling noise that sounded like there was a kettle in the next room somewhere. No one would ever notice it at first, but after ten minutes without fail everyone would shut up and start looking around wondering what the that noise was.
    via u/r3dwash
  • 24
    I work at a roofing company and it's great fun to prank my co- workers with caulk. One will be in a man lift and toss down his bottle for me to get him some more water. So it's my opportunity to cover this bottle in caulk and throw it up to him and listen to all the cussing when he grabs it.
    via r/AskReddit
  • 25
    [deleted] Well, we used to just set one another's desktop backgrounds to ridiculous when somebody would leave their laptop/desktop unlocked, but that became too easy to fix. For awhile, I've been covertly joining people to various groups on the company's social network, since we don't often look at our own pages on there (it's more of a contact information directory...with social groups). One guy's been a member of Team Jacob for at least 6 months, and still hasn't noticed.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 26
    [deleted] Work in a doctors office and we regularly have to order old charts from storage. I change my name every time. At first I would just use a weird by altering one letter in an ordinary name for example, Kevin becomes Krevin. But as time went on I got bored with that, so when the storage company would ask for my name I started making weird noises and then attempting to spell them out. Example of conversation: "Can I have your name please" "Sure it's
    via u/[deleted]
  • 27
    Meeeeeiiiiiiirrrneeeeeeey" "Can you spell that?" "Sure it's spelled MRRRNE" "THanks Mrrrne we'll send it out" I've come to notice that people never call you out on your name in professional situations as long as you say it confidently and seriously. It's some sort of politeness loophole. For a while it was regularly the best part of my day. I encourage everyone to try it. Best part was, when we got the charts back the
    via u/[deleted]
  • 28
    chart would be addressed to that name. My cousin once suggested I used the name Clinkay (worked No questions asked) TLDR; I make noises as my name and when said confidently no one questions it.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 29
    [deleted] If someone is talking into their mobile phone or handset pull it gently but firmly away from their face. They will automatically fight it. Let go and they will smack themselves in the head but will still have to angrily continue their conversation.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 30
    stryrker Plug an additional USB for a wireless mouse into a coworker's computer. Torment him with the second mouse in the empty cube next to him.
    via u/stryrker
  • 31
    [delete... I like to add "Sent from my iPhone" to the bottoms of emails that I'm sending to people across the room, or with extensive attachments, or if they're in my cube and I'm sending them a reminder or something. I'll also sometimes write it on memos. I think one time I said it out loud. More of a dumb joke than a prank, really. Still, I've gotten some hilarious confusion out of it.
    via u/deleted
  • 32
    DuffmanOhhYeah I think about this often but am not brave enough to do it: we have a loud speaker where people page other people and sometimes I wish I could pull a Bart Simpson and page ridiculous, unrealistic but ill-sounding names.
    via u/DuffmanOhhYeah
  • 33
    lopo4 I work on a dock where spider webs crossing the main pathways are common. Instead of knocking them down I walk around them and get on a nearby boat. Then I yell for the new guy to come help me with something on the boat. 90% of the time he runs through the spider web and flips the out. Im a terrible person. TLDR: Spider bomb a
    via u/lopo4
  • 34
    JesusInABox Whenever I would find someone with their computer unlocked, I would go into the sound option in the Windows control panel, and make it so whenever they opened a program, closed a program, maximize, minimize, or select it would play that horn from inception. That was a very funny week of scaring the people. out of
    via u/JesusInABox
  • 35
    Ender Wiggin3rd I can vibrate my hands and I press them on the under side of the table and people sitting at the table where I am sitting feel it and they look around for a phone on the tablethats going off
    via u/Ender Wiggin3rd

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