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22-640: A prankster is a person who enjoys playing pranks . Prankster may also refer to: Prank Practical jokes differ from confidence tricks or hoaxes in that the victim finds out, or is let in on the joke, rather than being talked into handing over money or other valuables. Practical jokes are generally lighthearted and without lasting effect; they aim to make the victim feel humbled or foolish, but not victimized or humiliated . Thus most practical jokes are affectionate gestures of humour and designed to encourage laughter . However, practical jokes performed with cruelty can constitute bullying , whose intent

44-677: A secretary or a personal assistant. In hospitals, concierge services are becoming increasingly available. A hospital concierge provides similar services to those of a hotel concierge, but serves patients and employees as well. This helps hospital employees who work long shifts and helps to provide work–life balance. There are numerous independent personal concierge companies that provide errand services and information services for their members. Services include informational requests, setting dinner reservations, making telephone calls, researching travel arrangements and more. Typically, concierge companies will bill on an hourly rate, and depending upon

66-489: A security guard over the late night shift . In medieval times, the concierge was an officer of the king who was charged with executing justice, with the help of his bailiffs . Later on in the 18th century, the concierge was a high official of the kingdom, appointed by the king to maintain order and oversee the police and prisoner records. In 19th-century and early 20th-century apartment buildings, particularly in Paris ,

88-468: A beautiful, determined Italian owner who's trying to turn the former bait shop into a romantic restaurant. The 2003 TV movie Windy City Heat consists of an elaborate practical joke on the film's star, Perry Caravallo, who is led to believe that he is starring in a faux action film , Windy City Heat , where the filming (which is ostensibly for the film's DVD extras) actually documents a long chain of pranks and jokes performed at Caravallo's expense. In

110-628: A best seller – not only in the United States but also in Japan. Moira Marsh has written an entire volume about practical jokes. She found that in the US males perpetrate such gags more often than females. University students have a long association with pranks and japes. These can often involve petty crime, such as the theft of traffic cones and other public property, or hoaxes. One classic target of student theft are traffic cones . The issue of

132-439: A class) on tourists , most of whom have never heard of the decades-old myth. In the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men , two neighbors and former friends, John and Max, play cruel practical jokes on each other. Their rivalry escalates when a beautiful new neighbor is involved as both set their sights on her. In that film's 1995 sequel, Grumpier Old Men , John and Max have cooled off their feud. They later play cruel practical jokes on

154-411: A desk with Christmas paper or aluminium foil or filling it with balloons. Practical jokes also commonly occur during sleepovers , when teens play pranks on their friends as they come into the home, enter a room or even as they sleep. American humorist H. Allen Smith wrote a 320-page book in 1953 called The Compleat Practical Joker that contains numerous examples of practical jokes . The book became

176-477: A head in the United Kingdom in the 1990s that it was brought up in parliament. In 2002, Fife Constabulary declared a "traffic cone amnesty" allowing University of St Andrews students to return stolen traffic cones without fear of prosecution. A police spokesman had said that the theft of traffic cones had become "an almost weekly occurrence". Other forms of theft that can cause safety issues include

198-486: A larger turtle for the original one. This continued for some time, with the surreptitious substitution of bigger turtles into the woman's apartment. The concierge , beside herself with happiness, displayed her miraculous turtle to the entire neighborhood. Peirce then replaced the turtle with smaller and smaller ones, to her bewildered distress. This became the storyline of the 1990 Roald Dahl children's book Esio Trot . Successful modern pranks often take advantage of

220-651: A service by financial institutions to their most valuable clients as way of retaining and attracting clients. Lifestyle and travel concierge companies often offer their service as a white-label or semi-branded product on a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) basis. Banks who currently offer concierge services to clients include Coutts , China Merchants Bank , RBC , and HSBC . Airport concierge services help travellers make it through security, customs, and immigration faster, and provide lounge access. The owners and operators of concierge, lifestyle management, and errand service businesses are supported and advocated by

242-636: A similar prank, placing an Austin 7 car on top of the University's Senate House building. Pranks can also adapt to the political context of their era. Students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have a particular reputation for their "hacks" . Not unlike the stone louse of Germany, the jackalope in the American West has become an institutionalized practical joke perennially perpetrated by ruralites (as

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264-425: Is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the errands of private clients. The concierge serves guests of an apartment building, hotel, or office building with duties similar to those of a receptionist . The position can also be maintained by

286-404: Is to harass or exclude rather than reinforce social bonds through ritual humbling. A practical joke is "practical" because it consists of someone doing something that is physical, in contrast to a verbal or written joke . For example, the joker who is setting up and conducting the practical joke might hang a bucket of water above a doorway and rig the bucket using pulleys so when the door opens

308-496: The UK, a group that calls itself Trollstation plays pranks on people, including police officers and government employees. They record their escapades and upload them to YouTube. In one such video, one of the groups actors poses as a palace guard. Some of the actors have been fined or charged. Spirit of Detroit statute takes a midnight stroll... Concierge A concierge ( French pronunciation: [kɔ̃sjɛʁʒ] )

330-563: The bucket dumps the water. The joker would then wait for the victim to walk through the doorway and be drenched by the bucket of water. Objects can feature in practical jokes, like fake vomit , chewing-gum bugs , exploding cigars , stink bombs , costumes , whoopee cushions , clear tape , and Chinese finger traps . A practical joke can be as long as a person desires; it does not have to be short-lived. Practical jokes often occur in offices , usually to surprise co-workers. Examples include covering computer accessories with Jell-O , wrapping

352-424: The concierge was known as a "Suisse", as the post was often filled by Swiss people. They often had a small apartment on the ground floor, called loge , and were able to monitor all comings and goings. However, such settings are now extremely rare; most concierges in small or middle-sized buildings have been replaced by the part-time services of door-staff . Some larger apartment buildings or groups of buildings retain

374-748: The modernization of tools and techniques. In Canada, engineering students have a reputation for annual pranks; at the University of British Columbia these usually involve leaving a Volkswagen Beetle in an unexpected location (such as suspended from the Golden Gate Bridge or from the Lions Gate Bridge ). In response, other students at that university often vandalize the engineering students' white and red concrete cairn. Engineering students at Cambridge University in England undertook

396-663: The non-profit International Concierge and Lifestyle Management Association (ICLMA) and the National Concierge Association. The French word concierge is likely derived from the Old French cumcerges , itself related to the Medieval Latin consergius or the Latin conservus ("fellow slave"). Another possibility, suggested by French authors as early as the 19th century, is that "concierge"

418-651: The theft and misuse of traffic cones by students has gained enough prominence that a spokesperson from the UK National Union of Students stated that "stereotypes of students stealing traffic cones" are "outdated". Some universities have gone as far as to devote entire pages of legislation and advice for students with regards to the consequences and laws involving the theft of traffic cones. Misuse of traffic cones in Scotland has even resulted in serious physical injury. The traffic cone theft issue came to such

440-404: The theft of stop signs. One practical joke, recalled as his favorite by the playwright Charles MacArthur , involved American painter and bohemian character Waldo Peirce . While living in Paris in the 1920s, Peirce "made a gift of a large turtle to the woman who was the concierge of his building". The woman doted on the turtle and lavished care on it. A few days later Peirce substituted

462-512: The type of task, fees can vary drastically. Other companies bill a flat monthly fee based upon the number of requests a member is allowed to place each month. In the United Kingdom, since the year 2000 and as of 2010, concierge has become a key marketing and loyalty tool in the banking sector and offered as a benefit on luxury credit cards . This service offering is also known as lifestyle management. Concierges also entertain their clients. Additionally, concierge services are now frequently offered as

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484-415: The use of concierges. The concierge may, for instance, keep the mail of absented dwellers, be entrusted with the apartment keys to deal with emergencies when residents are absent, provide information to residents and guests, provide access control, enforce rules, and act as a go-between for residents and management when management is not on-site. A modern concierge may also serve as a lifestyle manager, like

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