Johnny Monsarrat Pranks: Hall of Fame #3: Free Ice Cream -- Johnny Monsarrat Pranks

March 5, 1994. It's Tim Brennan's birthday. Tim is a good sport, so I thought he'd appreciate a practical joke. He'd been morose recently about not having a girlfriend, so I had an idea along romantic lines.

When Tim woke up, his roommate Adam Smith handed him a packet of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream coupons I had purchased. "Here, you'll need this." Adam said without explanation.

Tim didn't know what to think. So he went about his business, getting dressed and ready for class.

Arriving in the classroom, no sooner had he sat down when somebody came up and said "Happy Birthday!". That was nice. But then the somebody just sort of stood there, expectantly.

"Don't I get a free ice cream coupon now?" he asked.

Tim discovered that the previous night, I'd gone to every dorm on campus and put up big posters, with funny pictures of Tim. "It's Tim Brennan's birthday!" they read. "If you tell him Happy Birthday, you get a free ice cream coupon. If you give him a kiss, you get two!"

Suddenly, everyone in the room wanted to wish Tim a happy birthday. He was mobbed the entire day. He went through 250 ice cream coupons in about 6 hours.

Of course, it was cruel to make the prank so public... fortunately Tim has a great sense of humor and really enjoyed the attention. In fact, instead of becoming a hermit he bravely went to the student cafeteria for dinner. A group of us followed. I'd prepared by putting a copy of the poster on every dinner table, and tacking a big one to the cafeteria front door after Tim went in. It said "He's in here, right now!"

Then I went around to every table in the cafeteria announcing his location in the room.

Needless to say, a long line formed! Tim got a lot of kisses that day. Some people substituted a little dance or singing to get the two coupons. My brother got three coupons just by threatening to kiss Tim.

An expensive prank, but definitely worth it.