The Ridiculous Things We Said During Prank Calls as Kids

Bad accents, fake pizza orders, and unstoppable giggle fits made us feel like comedy legends.

Before smartphones and caller ID ruined all the fun, there was a golden era of childhood hijinks: the art of the prank call. For those of us who grew up in the ’80s, prank calls were practically a rite of passage. They were our collective comedic debut, our first foray into unsupervised mischief, and, let’s be honest, our favorite way to kill a boring Friday night.

Armed with nothing more than a rotary phone and a list of local numbers, we transformed into pint-sized comedians, dialing random strangers and delivering the kind of jokes that felt hilarious at the time but now seem… well, let’s just say we’re lucky TikTok didn’t exist to immortalize our antics.

Let’s revisit the absurd, ridiculous, and occasionally genius things we said during those glorious prank calls—and why, for better or worse, we’ll never forget them.

The Classics: “Is Your Refrigerator Running?”

If there was a Mount Rushmore of prank call jokes, “Is your refrigerator running?” would be front and center. For those who’ve forgotten (as if), the setup went like this:

You: “Hi, is your refrigerator running?”
Unsuspecting Victim: “Yes…”
You: “Well, you better go catch it!”

Cue uproarious laughter, followed by a hasty hang-up before the victim could deliver a well-deserved lecture. It was the kind of joke that wasn’t funny because it was clever but because it wasn’t.

Other classics in this category included:

• “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”
• “Is there a Mr. Wall there? No? How about Mrs. Wall? Then what’s holding up your house?”

These jokes were old even then, but that didn’t stop us from delivering them with the confidence of a stand-up comic headlining at the Apollo.

The Obvious Fake Names

No prank call was complete without a fake name, and let’s be real: the dumber, the better. We were amateur wordsmiths, crafting masterpieces of absurdity that went something like this:

You: “Hi, is Seymour Butts there?”
Victim: “Seymour Butts?”
You (barely holding it together): “Yeah, I need to see more butts!”

Or:
You: “Can I speak to Al?”
Victim: “Al who?”
You: “Al Coholic!”

And who could forget the classics like Anita Bath, Harry Pitts, and I.P. Freely? These names were pure gold to our adolescent brains. The fact that anyone ever fell for them remains one of life’s great mysteries.

The Giggle Giveaways

Here’s the thing about prank calls: half the fun wasn’t in the joke—it was in trying (and failing) to keep a straight face while delivering it. No matter how much we rehearsed our lines, the moment the other person answered the phone, the giggles would start.

You’d hear someone on the other end of the line say, “Hello?” and suddenly, your friend would snort. You’d try to shush them, but by then it was too late. One suppressed laugh would snowball into a full-blown giggle fit, leaving you gasping for air while the confused adult on the other end repeatedly said, “Hello? Hello?”

Honestly, we were our own worst enemies. But somehow, that just made it all the more fun.

The Terrible Accents

For reasons that remain unclear, we often decided that prank calls required accents. Bad ones. Whether it was an exaggerated Southern drawl, a terrible British accent, or some unidentifiable hybrid, we believed that using a funny voice made the prank that much more convincing.

Spoiler: It didn’t.

There’s nothing quite like a 12-year-old attempting to sound like an elderly man, complete with phrases like, “By golly!” and “Consarn it!” Did we sound ridiculous? Absolutely. Did it stop us? Not a chance.

Calling People We Knew (and Thinking They Wouldn’t Recognize Us)

For some reason, prank calling people we actually knew seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Neighbors, teachers, even family friends—no one was safe.

The best part? We genuinely believed that disguising our voices (see “terrible accents” above) would fool people who had known us since birth.

You: “Hello, this is… um… a delivery company! We have 47 pizzas for you!”
Victim: “Is this Sarah?”
You (panicking): “No! This is… uh… Mr. Pizza!”

Needless to say, we weren’t exactly masters of deception.

The Pizza Delivery Gag

Speaking of pizza, let’s take a moment to appreciate one of the most ridiculous prank call tropes of the ’80s: fake food orders.

We’d call a random number, pretend to be from a pizza place, and announce that their “extra-large anchovy pizza” was on its way. The victim’s confusion was comedy gold.

Victim: “I didn’t order a pizza.”
You: “Are you sure? It says here ‘Extra anchovies, hold the cheese.’”
Victim: “That’s disgusting!”

At the time, we thought this was the height of comedy. In hindsight, we probably just made some poor people very hungry.

The Long, Drawn-Out Setups

Once we’d mastered the classics, some of us got a little more ambitious. Instead of going straight for the punchline, we’d drag out the setup to see how long we could keep someone on the line.

You: “Hi, this is the electric company. We need to test your power.”
Victim: “Uh, okay…”
You: “Can you go to your light switch and flip it on and off?”
Victim: [Sound of light switch flipping]
You: “Great! Now can you flush your toilet three times?”

The goal was to see how far we could push it before the person caught on. It was a test of patience—for them and for us.

The “Oops, Wrong Number” Escape Plan

No prank call strategy was complete without a solid escape plan, and “Oops, wrong number!” was the go-to.

If the prank started going sideways or the victim seemed genuinely angry, we’d panic and blurt out, “Oh, sorry! Wrong number!” before slamming the phone down. As if that made it all okay.

The best part? We’d then call back five minutes later, hoping they wouldn’t recognize us. (Spoiler: They always did.)

Why We Loved It So Much

Looking back, it’s easy to see how ridiculous and juvenile prank calls were. But that’s what made them so much fun. They were our first taste of rebellion, a chance to break the rules (just a little) and laugh with our friends until our stomachs hurt.

Prank calls taught us the value of humor, the thrill of spontaneity, and the joy of shared mischief. They were pure, unfiltered fun—the kind of silly, carefree moments that feel impossible to recreate as adults.

Sure, we annoyed a few strangers, confused some pizza places, and probably made our neighbors question our sanity. But in those moments, with a phone in one hand and a giggling friend by our side, we felt unstoppable.

So here’s to the ridiculous things we said during prank calls—and to the friends who made it all so much fun. May we never lose the ability to laugh at our own absurdity.

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