Popular Culture
Prank calls frequently appear in many earlier episodes of The Simpsons, as Bart calls Moe's Tavern asking for people whose names are actually double entendres. Examples include "Mike Rotch" (my crotch), Bea O' Problem (B.O. problem), Al Coholic (Alcoholic) and "Amanda Hugginkiss" (a man to hug and kiss). Moe then asks his clientele if the person is present, embarrassing himself in the process. However, in the episode Flaming Moe's, Bart's prank call backfires when he calls up asking for a "Hugh Jass" (huge ass), only for a man with the same name to answer.
"Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Phony Calls" (a parody of "Waterfalls by TLC") deals with prank phone calls. Specifically, it talks about the "Is your refrigerator running?" gag and the "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" gag. It also incorporates one of Bart Simpson's prank phone calls.
A Cartoon Network series, Regular Show, had an episode that involved prank calling, it was called "Prank Callers" and aired on November 1, 2010. It involves Mordecai and Rigby pranking people via their phone, primarily using maternal insults. Failing to prank the world's best prank caller, he sends them to the 1980s.
Frank Neal Garrett died on 3 July 2011. He lived in Stilwell, Oklahoma and was an extremely famous prank call victim who became popular on YouTube and in the prank calling community. Prank calls involving his voice stirred controversy in Independence, Missouri and in Houston, Texas when pranksters edited Frank Garrett's voice to make threatening phone calls. Both instances were covered by Fox News.
During KWIN and B96 Chicago (in 7am), radio broadcasts a Carmen Prank Call will occur, where "Carmen" calls random people and annoys them to the point of them hanging up, irritated, once, and after a second call, twice.Prank calls are generally done for the amusement of the pranksters (and their listening audiences). Some performers such as The Jerky Boys, Tom Mabe and Roy D. Mercer make a name for themselves producing albums of their recorded prank calls.
Sal and Richard, writers on the Howard Stern show, have made various prank calls to public access shows, talk radio, radio stations, and normal people at home. They also have a fictional radio show called the "Jack and Rod show" where they call a major celebrity for an interview and prank them with sound effects or fake guests such as cousin Brucie (where Howard imitates a disabled person with a severe speech impediment) and many other pranks.
The television show Crank Yankers is a series of real-life prank calls made by celebrities and re-enacted on-screen by puppets for a humorous effect. Fonejacker, a show started on 5 April 2007 on E4, stars Kayvan Novak performing prank calls to the general public and being shown with animated pictures in a Monty Python style with their mouths moving and live recordings as the victim receives the call.
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