

Let us celebrate this juvenile tradition with guffaws and gritted teeth. Some of them are compilations, some are here for historical purposes, some are painful, some are mean, some are delightful, and some are very, very dumb. So here are the 45 best prank calls on the Internet. We listen as our fellow man sinks into anger, confusion, bewilderment, and anxiety-and we laugh.

It’s a pure, straightforward interplay between human beings. You confront everyday people with unimaginable, unforetold pressure and see how they react. The controlled chaos of a particularly well-executed prank elicits a delicate, hilarious terror you can’t find anywhere else. I read the New Yorker, all that good stuff.

I consider myself a fairly well-adjusted person.
