Johnny Monsarrat Pranks: Hall of Fame #5: The Wall of Wheat Puffs -- Johnny Monsarrat Pranks

October 14, 1995. I'm running a new computer games company, Turbine. We've just moved to an office in Providence, Rhode Island.

Having been up late working, I'm sleeping in. Suddenly I get a phone call from Jeremy Gaffney. "Jon, that interviewee, Dan O., has

They filled the office to the top.

arrived early and is already at the office! Wake up!"

It was my birthday, but I was too groggy to realize it. Hastily I got out of bed and ran downstairs, where Jeremy picked me up and we rushed into the office.

Hoping not to annoy the interviewee, we ran up the stairs, opened the door and... they had filled my office to the ceiling with breakfast cereal!.

I have rarely been so shocked in my life.

Some background explanation is in order. Just before moving to Providence, my Mom allowed us to use her house in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, for the company. A half dozen people were effectively living there. Others were commuting. We'd stay up late working until 4am, and sleep until noon.

Since there was no nearby source of food, often I'd go out and grab spaghetti or hamburgers or something for the whole team. One of the staple foods was "Shaw's Frosted Wheat Puffs", a breakfast cereal. Being mostly air, it was cheap, and we ate gross quantities

Jeremy, Kevin, and Jon. I can

of it. I'd even taken to stacking the cereal boxes in a huge pyramid.

Eventually, everybody got sick of the cereal, but we still had a dozen boxes of it. I wanted to use it up, but nobody had the stomach for it, including me. I even went so far as to jokingly offer stock for anyone who'd finish it off.

So when the idea for this prank came up, perpretrators Jeremy Gaffney, Kevin Langevin, and Jeff Langevin needed a large amount of some inert substance. Shaw's Frosted Wheat Puffs came to mind.

I shared an office with a huge plate glass window. They had taped together pieces of cardboard into one huge piece of cardboard. That went behind the window, leaving a one-inch gap. It was this gap they filled with wheat puffs, making it appear as if the entire office had been filled. As the gap got filled up, it started to sag, causing a wider space which demanded even more puffs. It took 40 boxes — meaning they had to run out at 2am to purchase more.

As a stood there gaping, it took a few seconds for me to figure out what they must have done. But even then, I was stammering, "But, but what about Dan O.? Is he here? Didn't he arrive early?" This kind of total surprise is what makes a prank worth it.

Frosted Wheat Puffs thus became a running gag at Turbine. (Note: It was a little sticky taking it down. Next time, they'll use unsweetened wheat puffs.)