AS PUBLISHED IN THE DETROIT FREE PRESS
Thursday, March 30, 2006
By Julie Hinds
Free Press staff writer
You have two days left to prepare a decent April Fool's trick (and
no, "Is your refrigerator running?" doesn't count). Where to start?
These local experts in prankology can help.
Find a good prop
At Zakoor Novelty, every day is pretty much a fool's day. The beloved
Detroit store keeps a glass case filled with the classics: fake vomit,
dollar snatchers, stink bombs, whoopee cushions, magic ink, two-headed
pennies and more.
"We get a little extra push right around the 1st," says manager Barbara
Rakinic. "But this stuff is popular all the time."
Better yet, it's affordable. Many of the gags cost a dollar, and even
some more elaborate ones are a bargain, like the $2.50 pull-my-finger
Whoopee Pen.
P.S.: If Rakinic asks you to try the Shocking Lighter, trust us --
don't.
Zakoor Novelty, corner of Selden and Woodward, Detroit,
313-831-6969.
Work out a scenario
Voice actor Eric Harthen, 32, of Bloomfield Hills has hoodwinked the
best.
Two years ago, for WKQI-FM's "Mojo in the Morning," he convinced Jennifer
Granholm he was Arnold Schwarzenegger making
a guv-to-guv phone wager on the NBA championship.
Relatives are easy pickings, too. Once when his wife's aunt called
from Sarnia, he did a dead-on imitation of a recorded message: "Thank
you for calling. If you're Canadian, press one."
Harthen's tip: "It's not so much that the voice is believable, but
is the situation believable?" Play into the mindset of your subject.
Pile on the details. Contact your targets when they're likely to be
distracted (at work is best, but interrupting a shopping trip will
do).
Harthen called Andy Rooney a while ago and pretended he was Bill Clinton
chatting about his autobiography. "Hey listen, how many pages was your
handwritten manuscript?" Rooney quizzed. "Gosh, you're asking a guy
who wrote a 957-page book," the fake Bill replied. Good answer.
To hear samples of impressions, go to http://ericharthen.com/.
Make it Oscar-worthy
Kids who've grown up watching MTV's "Punk'd" know it's all about the
acting. So here's advice from Detroit teens from the Young Directors
program of the Matrix Theatre Company.
"Keep a straight face," says Siesha Blue, who's 14. Is that hard? "Not
for me," she says.
"Believe in what you say," says Onyx DeRamus, 15.
"Be confident and assured of what you're doing," says 17-year-old
Pavielle DeRamus.
And in the planning stages, another essential part is "not to brag
about it to everybody, because the word will get out," warns Blue.
Don't giggle, don't tell. And when your mom shouts on April 1st that
it's time for school, don't believe her. It's a Saturday.
To learn more about the Matrix Theatre Company's
youth programs, call 313-967-0999.
