high school stunts & shenanigans

[Carroll]

I had a junker of a car in high school, but I kept it in mechanically good shape. We had a stoplight in our little town that sometimes worked. When my buddy and I happened to get stopped by the redlight, we would jump out and open the trunk. I kept a box of parts in the trunk and we would quickly dump them out on the pavement under the car. I would lie there on my back (pretending to work under the jalopie) until one of our two police cruisers drove up. Then, when the officer asked if we were having trouble, I would start handing parts to my accomplice. Out would come pistons, a flywheel, ring gear, u-joints... whatever. I would comment "I don't think I need this" and my pal would toss it in the trunk. After we cleared up the debris, we would close the trunk, start my car and drive away. We would always leave the officer standing there shaking his head.

I also had an AM General right drive delivery van. I took the steering wheel off and used a pair of vise-grips in the steering hub. Then my friend would sit on the left hand side (normal driving side) with the wheel. He would hold the wheel out the window and feign panic, or get up and walk to the back of the truck, or pretend to pass out... you get the picture.

On my fast car, I wired all of the tail lights to individual switches under the dash. That way if I ever was being pursued, I could get out of sight for just a second and change the look of my back end. I might get pulled over for broken lights, but not identified as speeding.

[tubafatness]

Being a current high school sutdent, I have a few to add to this list.

-A few days before a band concert, my band director has a couple of the senior kids move the risers down a two-part flight of stairs to the auditorium. With the stairs ending backstage to the auditorium, where no-one ever walks, a friend of mine thought it would be fun to ride a riser down the stairs. He did ride it, it did look like fun, and he did crush a plastic garbage can that was in the way. No damage to the riser, however.

-On the same set of stairs, a 7-foot tall set of metal shelves was slid down the stairs. Probably the loudest noise I've ever heard.

-A back room that was attached to the auxillary band room was, until last year, home to the flag squad's equipment. Last year, due to no-one trying out, the flag squad was discontinued. The equipment and other stuff wasn't cleared out for two months, so the job fell upon me and the other students who were in the honors band class. Seeing a room full of metal poles, fake plastic swords and cowboy hats is a great thing. Seeing that room full of stuff getting destroyed is even greater. Particularly fun was the game of baseball we played; the bat was a pole, and the baseballs were the old flag squad trophies. Not all of them were detroyed, though. I'm still the proud owner of a "Finalist in SuperSectionals-Dance, 1998" plaque.

-This one was recent. There is a room in the hallway between the two main band rooms, and it is called the "Jazz Hole." As you would guess, it is mainly for the jazz students, and we noticed one day that there was no piano in there. I actually brought up the fact that there was two upright pianos in the auditorium, one of which is actually used fairly frequently. Being the enterprising students, we decided to "borrow" the unused piano. The only problem is, the two rooms were seperated by a floor and several steps. That, and the piano only had one set of wheels. The whole way, though, no-one even stopped to ask why we were taking a piano; in fact, the policeman and the security guard actually helped us get it to the faculty room elevator for easy moving.

[Wes Krygsman]

This is nothing compared to you guys but I think it's my best prank.

Background info: High school marching band trip 2000 to Quebec, Canada for the Carnivale. The band had a tradition of traveling so the band director after some experience got the door tape idea, basically after the kids are shut in, a chaperone comes and places a piece of masking tape over the door and the frame so it is extremely obvious if someone were to sneak out. Messed up tape usually was a ticket home.

I brought duct tape on this trip, because, well it fixes everything. The last night my roommates and I wanted to play a prank on the chaperone assigned to us as well as the band director. After much deliberation I finally came up with the plan. Duct tape a wall in front of their doors.

So the night was filled with sneaking around just out of the view of the chaperone on watch taking the tape off of every door so we couldn't be blamed and then came the duct taping. We got our chaperone's door completely done and our band director's door mostly covered. We left the little pile of everyone's masking tape right in front of the band directors door as a little mocking gesture. The next morning in the group breakfast, nothing was mentioned to the band (a big disappointment for us) but the chaperones were all laughing at the band director and our chaperone's story.

The rest of the years were filled with little pranks. I had many things placed and thrown in my sousaphone bell(who hasn't had dead animals, fruits, coins, and anything that would fit shoved down there).

I have poured full water bottles down trumpets, trombones, euphs, and tubas(actually I poured 2 gallons into one once). When the players pick them up, it's great to see their reaction to how heavy they are and then they try to play and it's usually the best part when they let out their spit for a few minutes straight to get everything out.

We used ICY HOT (like Ben Gay) to burn a little and Oragel (or something else that numbs lips) on a few trumpet players' mouthpieces during concert band and of course they sounded horrible and we couldn't stop laughing.

My friends and I also played a few very immature but fun verbal games. The penis game was most frequent, start out saying "penis" randomly in band class and the person you were vs. had to say it a little bit louder and it went back and forth until both were screaming penis at the top of their lungs.

The other verbal games were trying to mask swear words by splitting them between 2 people. Example: some one hushes really loud and long "SHH!!!" until someone comes in with the "It". Person one: "shut the fuh" Person two: "Cup." This works best from across the room.

We had fake slapping fights that many people outside of band thought were real, as well as us faking bumping into doors and street signs. We really got good enough at the timing and the look of these fake hits that alot of people thought they were real and we were all really clumsy.

Then of course there's all the random mooning that went on, whether it was laps around the band field, getting ready to get on stage for a wind ensemble concert, or just riding around a movie theater line, we couldn't resist showing our bare asses for some reason.

If I remember anything else, I'll post more, high school was all about shenanigans.

[Albertibass]

This is nothing compared to you guys but I think it's my best prank.

We used ICY HOT (like Ben Gay) to burn a little and Oragel (or something else that numbs lips) on a few trumpet players' mouthpieces during concert band and of course they sounded horrible and we couldn't stop laughing.

My friends and I also played a few very immature but fun verbal games. The penis game was most frequent, start out saying "penis" randomly in band class and the person you were vs. had to say it a little bit louder and it went back and forth until both were screaming penis at the top of their lungs.

I dont know how you could get away with something like that. But yeah, very very clever.

We also play the penis game here. suprising how popular it is.

[bububassboner]

Here's a few good ones.

There was this drama kid who would always park in the band directors spot. So one day the band director got mad and told the low brass to "deal with it". So about ten of us picked up his car(it was really small) and we put it in the dug out. It took him two days to find it and the only reason he found it was because there was a story on the school news about a car in the dug out.

Then one time we made a "rope fort" in the ceiling of the band storage room. It was great, you could hold 7 people in it. But then the janitors fould while replacing the lights during the summer. Good thing I was away at Drum Corps.

Then during halloween this last year there was a kid who was using the midi lab for recording and we wanted to mess with him. So we got into the ceiling of the storage room and cralwed over on top of the midi lab. Then we started to drop fake blood down the ceiling vent onto him. Man did he freak out.

[JB]

When a trumpet is sitting unattended on a trumpet stand, remove the mouthpiece and slip a small golf pencil (or pencil of similar length) down into the leadpipe. Replace mouthpiece.

The horn will still play -- sort of. Usually the result is a player sounding like it is their first time trying to make a sound on the instrument.

Particularly effective in "low profile" public performances to shrink the inflated ego of first trumpet "owners."

[Wes Krygsman]

Glad to see so many tuba players think the same way as me. I thought of another mini prank. I would take the trombone's slide sprayer/spritzer, walk up to someone facing away from me, and fake sneeze sounds on the backs of their necks while spraying them with the water. This would usually be random people in the hallway but I did get a couple of band kids with it...at least the ones that never saw me do it. The disgusted reactions to my "sinus explosions" were amazing.

[Brucom]

Not really a prank, and not in high school, but . . . . .

I was in the band at Keesler AFB, 1974-76, when many of my
band mates had joined to avoid the draft. Some members
constantly pushed the limits of authority to show that they
didn't really want to be there.

Every Thursday at 4:30 we marched up to the base HQ
building, played a couple marches, played "Retreat" and Taps
so they could lower the flag and fold it.

One airman had a large lunch at a mexican restaurant, then
wore no underwear to Retreat. When the band marched
away, we left a steaming pile in front of base HQ. Three
days later that man was a civilian.

[tbn.al]

Not HS but college. When I was a sophomore I was allowed to move into an upperclassman dorm with suites of 4 rooms around a cental hallway leading to a common bath. My suitemate, John Littlejohn, was an unbelievable poker player and a full blood Cherokee Indian. After a high stakes, for us, poker game where he took all their lunch money, an ajoining suite threw a smoke grenade into our unoccupied suite. The laundry bill was in the hundreds. They of course denied everything. John, true to his heritage, took his bow and flaming arrow with laundry bill affixed, into the adjacent ROTC drill field and proceeded to stick it into their door. Since it was 2 AM, they didn't answer the door right away and he almost burned the place down. This brought no immediate response, so not to be deterred we attacked the next night. After picking the lock (John again), we penciled them in their rooms, turned off the main water suppy to the bathroom and stole all the fixtures. After a couple of weeks we got our laundry money, put back the toilet and sink and they had to pay the school for the door.

[Alex Reeder]

This brought no immediate response, so not to be deterred we attacked the next night. After picking the lock (John again), we penciled them in their rooms, turned off the main water suppy to the bathroom and stole all the fixtures. After a couple of weeks we got our laundry money, put back the toilet and sink and they had to pay the school for the door.

What do you mean "penciled them in?"

[Carroll]

What do you mean "penciled them in?"[/quote]

This can also be done with pennies. While pushing on the door to open a gap between door and door facing, shove pencils (or pennies for smaller gaps) into the opening. When you release the door, the latch plunger will be so tightly jammed against the striker plate that the door will be very difficult to open.

[Albertibass]

smack in the face to administrators:
Right now myself and my tuba friend are sitting at a school computer. we just returned from an afternoon out. Piano class is watching fiddler on the roof, so we decided we would walk to the pizza parlor a mile away. So at about 1100, we left school. No pass, or anything. We ran across the highway, and we were passed by 2 cops. when we got to the pizzaria, we ate lunch with a local cop. Little did anyone know, we were skipping school. So after our tuba-tummies were full, we decided that the biggest smack in the face for the school was for us to be able to not only leave school, but leave and return. So we were running back across the highway, and on the other side, we paused to formulate a plan of attack on the school. we would take the far north east side of the school, to by pass the rotating cameras, and slip by the stationary cameras. When we went to make our first apporoach to the east side of the school, we saw in the distance a janitor and administrator chatting outside at the east side loading dock. We then back tracked and planned a new way of attack. In the distance we could see the north east door open ajar. so we came upon this door, and ran right through the camera sight of one of the stationary cameras. when we got to the door, we could hear our 9th grade government teacher talking on the other side. So we waited for her to return to her classroom, and when we heard the door close we ran in the door quickly, and found that the hall was empty. we made it into school, the last part was getting past the subsitute. We had nothing to worry about, he was sleeping like a baby, drooling on the desk. we felt so proud, that we thought we would tell all of our tubenet friends.

[windshieldbug]

Don't districts employ Truant Officers anymore?

Only for Orchestra members!

[Brassdad]

As far as pranks go, I'm a big fan of, "Let 4 pigs loose in the halls, numbered 1, 3, 4, and 5. Mock staff as they search for 2." (I just love having friends with farms.)

Now THAT is good!!

[SplatterTone]

At my first college (Oral Roberts University, no less!) a rival dorm floor filled our hall with trash. I got up a 2AM, filled their bathroom heater and ductwork with limburger and sardines, and wired the heater on high.

[tbn.al]

This brought no immediate response, so not to be deterred we attacked the next night. After picking the lock (John again), we penciled them in their rooms, turned off the main water suppy to the bathroom and stole all the fixtures. After a couple of weeks we got our laundry money, put back the toilet and sink and they had to pay the school for the door.

What do you mean "penciled them in?"

Those old solid oak dorm room doors had a small gap between the door and the door facing. You could wedge a #2 lead pencil iin there, or better yet drive it in with a hammer, and it put so much pressure on the lock that they couldn't open the door. It is a very quick and effective way to seal a sleeping college kid in his bedroom. After 20 or 30 minutes of banging you could shatter the pencil and escape.

[TMurphy]

Not really a stunt, but I guess it counts as a shenanigan....


In my old high school, due to some silly scheduling, the last week or so of school took place *after* final exams. On the day immediately following final exams, teachers were required to turn in their final grades and attendance records. This means that for the last week of school, a student:

A.) Could not be graded on anything, and thus could not alter your grade positively or negatively.

B.) Could not be penalized for a cut, as there was no official record kept of who was in class.

So, we left. We would show up for homeroom, so our it would not count as a total absence from school (those records were still maintained), and then, we would *all* go home. The school even tried to position the security guards by the doors to keep us from leaving. That worked, to a point. What they neglected was to position anyone at some of the less accessible doors, like downstairs by the home ec. department. That door was left unguarded every time.

[Brucom]

Hey Murphy, do you know what a Yankee is?
It's like a quickie, but you do it yourself.