Great practical jokes

[bradrick]

87 Sky Ryders - the WSS year.

Final run through before going to finals.

End of the Rumble - white horn block converges with black horn block while Tony and Maria run to each other and Tony is shot and killed.

The young lady that played the Wicked Witch of the West from 86 runs through the converging black and white block with her fire cape, shreiking, stops between Tony and Maria and screams, "I'm Melting, I'm Melting". The entire corps just lost it, and that was pretty much it for the run through.

That may be the single funniest on-field moment I've ever experienced. That was SUCH a serious moment in our show. The moment when Tony gets shot! Hearing her screaming exactly as she had in 86 "I'm melting!! I'm MELLLLL-TING!!" at that point in "The Rumble" was absolutely surreal. Too funny!

It was like the entire corps had a hit of laughing gas simultaneously. And I actually think the entire staff busted out into laughter... for a while. (For a few of them, it may be the only time I saw them laugh all season.)

Another 87 prank - and horn line member and I bunched the low brass instructor. His underwear tore in the process. We are screamed at and told to get him a new pair that second, which we did. A few days later, we are both doused in baby powder walking out of the shower by the instructor.

I remember that was Mr Lindey. He was ahem... NOT amused by that wedgie... Not one bit...

I also seem to remember stuffing one guy into a sleeping bag that had a draw string top, closing it tight, and taking him and leaving him in the street. The guy was the absolute master of the pun, would not stop, and we had had it.

That was 88 and that was Bert. And THAT was totally warranted and necessary, IMO. You just had to be there. He would NOT stop with the puns. They were relentless! It was like, his quest or something, to see if he could cram a pun into every single sentence that he uttered. We all have our breaking point... I guess. And that day, after MUCH warning, he ended up being carried out in his sleeping bag and deposited where no one could hear him. It was the Sky Ryder equivalent of being "rode out of town on a rail" or something... I guess.

Edited January 10, 2006 by bradrick

[Rawtv_JohnChristensen]

My video staff and I played a great joke on Rick V. from SCV a couple of years ago. I had an assistant act as if she had a twin sister. At one camp she was Amy, the next camp she was Jamie. Rick totaly bought it and the rest of the staff was in on it. I even created a digital photo to support the joke. We had him going for weeks!!!

We had her play mean and tough when she was Jamie and sweet and nice when she was Amy... hehehe.

[tgk2779]

Possibly, the one of the best EFFECTS on the field ever, started as a practical joke amongst the Bayonne Bridgemen. I've been told this story too many times, from too many Bridgemen members for IT not to be true.

The year was 1976, the year of the famous "FAINT" at the end of the show! During a swing through Boston for CYO's and World Open, the Bridgemen were suffering through that New England torrent humidity...(Remember DCI last year?). As like any other corps, their staff kept running "Run It Again",.."One More Time",... "A-Gain Please".. and "Just a Few More Times, Please!".... (We've all experienced those!)

As either a joke to the staff, a protest from the membership, or Both!... members decided to show the staff that they were really spent at the end of a long hot rehearsal day. They decided to "Faint" after the last note of the show. The staff laughed like ####, and decided; "Enough was enough... that's a wrap!"

A few weeks later, as we were all getting ready for DCI in Philly; legend states that Bobby Hoffman added that 2-week old practical joke as an ending for FINALS ONLY. I will never forget one of the loudest ovations I've ever heard in my life.

Finals, Franklin Field, Bridgemen bodies strown all over their ending set, People Screaming at the top of their lungs...... and we (27th) were in the tunnel waiting to go on next, with no idea of what had just happened!

[madcontra99]

I am sure many of you know this by now, but the company front that we did in the Madison 97 show with the 33 second chord was actually a practical joke that Bob Guinn played on us in our final run throuhg, which turned out to be a practical joke based on the Scouts 1980 finals performance in which the drum major held up the Championship flag from 1975.

[XtyleramaX]

My drum instructor told us that when he was a rookie in 94 with the Glassmen, a staff member mooned the drum bus when they passed each other. Being the strong-ego'd rookie, he mooned them back on the next pass. He was then made to do shups while everyone watched at the next rest stop. I got a good laugh out of that one.

[Mordomer]

One pre-show rehersal, during the traditional hat toss at brass caption head, said caption head was hit with a shoe in the head and chased down the offender with that shoe, exacting revenge.

[kmanv]

Then there was the annual bus wars - high speed water fights between busses on the highway, at rest stops, etc.

kinda sucked having a window that did not close easily..

or waking up on the bus and everyone is GONE...at least it was easy to find my sleeping bag(it was all by itself in the lot.)

[markdewine]

Please forgive the fact that this was a Sr. corps practical joke, against another Sr. corps. But it was reeeaaly

funny....

In 2000, my corps used a working, remote controlled traffic light as a prop on the field. We had just unloaded it from the trailer and set it at curbside. Within seconds, the equip. truck of our arch-rivals was coming up the street. With the remote, someone switched the light from green, to red.

That truck sat there for the better part of five minutes, before our giggles became guffaws. The guys in their truck realized they'd been duped, and laughed just as hard! They were great sports about it! b**bs

[torn8o]

What great practical jokes have you witnessed (or perhaps executed) upon your hapless management or staff members? (Please mention ONLY if those who were the butt of the joke thought it was funny themselves.)

In 1976, I was outside The Cavaliers' practice site during free time in Racine, WI when a police car with lights flashing pulled up in the school parking lot. The concerned corps manager walked towards the car while those corps members at the site gathered around. The back door opened and three members of the corps got out, and I must admit, they were three one could imagine getting into trouble. The manager got to the car just as the members turned around, yelled, "Thanks for the ride," and we heard the policeman yell back, "Any time" just before the door shut...as he turned off the flashing lights, laughed and pulled out of the parking lot.

It was a classic and brilliantly conceived moment.

:lolhit:

[torn8o]

In 1989 during #### week (finals week), we were practicing geting into this tight box formation. This was the same year that Garfield introduced us to the slow motion drill (thanks Hop!). We had been practing this drill move a hundred times, and the staff kept saying, one more time (which always means there are several more times).

Anyway, the hornline got together and instead of stopping at the "tight box", we kept going a few more counts, accept we did it animated slow motion. Describing it here doesn't do it justice. It was classic!

Would you hunt me down with secret service if I told you I have it on video? :P