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Comment by actusual | Hacker News Reader

My favorite jackass prank was the Valentine's day card pasted to the hotel wall. The gag was simple, but incredibly well executed. The Valentine's day card was supposed to be written to Jackass stars from someone staying in the hotel, and the hand written scrawl would get progressively smaller as the "writer" ran out of room on the card, which caused the reader to lean in closer and closer to finish reading it. Then WHAM a giant boxing glove would fly out of the card, punching the reader in the face.

Long live Johnny Knoxville, American hero.

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That one really is a gem, but what gets me about it is why it's funny. It's so darned simple, yet the video has nearly every person from the crew get punched in the face and it's funnier each time (to me at least). And it seems to be funny to a lot of different people too. I could show it to my mother and she'd be horrified, but also laugh.

I feel like Jackass, with that prank and others like it, tapped into something a little bit deeper in the psychology. That's where the genius of it lies.

Are you giving them a bit too much credit? It's essentially a pie in the face gag or flower that squirts water gag. Those aren't things you would describe at genius.

I think the difference the commenter is describing though is between any pie-in-the-face gag and this particular pie-in-the-face gag. What is the nuance that gives this particular one such extra broad appeal and replay value.

Not that pie-in-the-face gags don't generally have broad appeal, but this one is arguably on a different level.

Can you argue why this on a different level? It's the same joke but a more violent version. I'm not arguing that it's not funny but that it's not that unique and isn't genius by any definition.

A raunchy teen fan message in some random hotel with a boxing glove going through the wall. That is unique. Hell, my first thought was who was going to patch that hole they just made. Then I thought, oh they have millions of dollars. But the approach, to get them to read closer and closer then pop. Way better than any dumb pie in the face, an crusty old idea that was only funny in the 1920s.

Like the flower that you smell which then squirts water in your face. I'm not convinced it's genius.

Hadn't seen that before!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PocAbbm9GnA

I haven't laughed that hard since I saw that 5 years ago

Great, not I have an irrational fear of chairs in hallways.

Jesus that was way better than I thought it was going to be.

Usually I absolutely abhor prank stuff, but this one was alright hehe

This type of prank would be rotten except these guys are happily in a prank war by agreement. Like when good friends mock each other, it's mutual and funny for both sides.

I always think the required point of a prank should be all people involved are laughing almost immediately after. Otherwise it's just being nasty to people.

The genius of Jackass is that the joke is always on them. When the public is involved they are there as participants to witness something insane. The butt of the joke is always one of the crew.

They don’t punch down, they punch each other.

This one demonstrates a key aspect too: after the prank ends, they're laughing together.

I think that was the biggest difference between Jackass and everything after. Most of the copycats just felt mean, because they didn't have the comradery.

Ryan getting immediately hit without even saying a word makes me laugh every single time.

The end when Bam is losing it with Acuña on the chair had me rolling. Wish Bam was in a better place :(

I knew he had issues with alcohol from way back, but I looked up to see what you meant. Wow indeed, that's so incredibly sad. That he harbors such a disdain towards his old friends and all is what kills me.

I don't think anything will ever beat the steve-o ceiling fan stunt for me, it's just so stupidly absurd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPkf6DTG8wQ

Is there a way to view this youtube video without creating an account?

Hmm, not sure but if you search for "steve-o ceiling fan" you should find it pretty quick.

I have an account and it's age-gating me.

No youtube, you can't have my driving license...

Not the same as punching someone in the face, but in my high school yearbook I signed something to everyone that got smaller until it was illegible. It turns out some people go back and read their yearbooks 20+ years later, ask me what I wrote, and we get a laugh that it was on purpose.

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