More Practical Jokes

Magic Button Radio by Scot Scobee

I used to have a Jeep with a radio resting between the driver’s seat and the door, which was out of view for the passenger. The dashboard was very plain; in fact many of the accessory holes were plugged. The joke was to turn on the radio by passing your hand over one of the dashboard plugs. Each time, the passenger was amazed at the “new technology”. Usually they would ask, “How do you change the station?” I would say, “”Pass your hand over that plug over there and point to a different plug.” When they would pass their hand over the plug, I would reach down with my left hand and push one of the old style radio buttons and the station would magically change.

Amazed, they would ask, “How do you change the volume”? I would point to another plug and say, “Pass your hand over that one.” The joke went on and on. Some people would try to memorize which plug controlled which function. To this day, some of my friends still ask about the “Magic Button Radio”.

Graveyard Ghouls by Scot Scobee

There was an old graveyard on a hill outside of town that was spooky and had these sunken graves. We dropped off a friend there and went into town to pick up some girls. We found a couple of them and took them out there for a little scare.

We got to the graveyard, and we started walking the girls to the area where our friend was laying in a grave. As we got closer to rose up and started making the noises. We all started screaming and ran to my old jeep. I had flipped the shut-off switch on purpose when getting out of the car. We jumped in and I tried to start it. As the ghoul came closer, I was turning the ignition and the car wouldn’t start. The girls were screaming as they looked back at the ghoul approaching the car. Finally, I flipped the shut-off switch on and started the jeep. We shot out of there just as my friend the ghoul was getting to us. We were driving back and my friend cut through the woods. As we came around a curve, he jumped out of the woods in front of the jeep. The girls screamed again. We drove past as the girls continued to scream.

My friend and I got a good laugh, and the girls got a good scare.

The Floating Plastic Cup by Scott Scobee

My roommate Glenn used to talk to me as I was getting ready for bed. He’d be lying in bed just jabbering away, usually with his eyes closed. I turned off the bathroom light and in the dark of the room I saw his big plastic glow-in-the-dark cup filled with water glowing on his dresser.

I started sneaking across the floor as Glenn continued to talk. Every so often I would throw my voice back toward my bed. I picked up the cup from behind so Glenn couldn’t see my hand and started moving it slowly toward his bed. I started raising it up over him when he opened his eyes. He started going, “No, no, no,” as if seeing a ghost. I started tipping it over him when I began laughing. End of the joke, but good for many years of retelling.