Prank the Monkey: The ZUG Book of Pranks

by John Hargrave, Al Natanagara (Illustrator)

MAKING A MONKEY OUT OF "THE MAN"

How does Bill Gates respond when you try to kiss him on the nipple?

What are the consequences of sending in your tax return, filled out entirely in roman numerals?

What happens when you wake up e-mail spammers with 4:00 a.m. phone calls?

Action-packed and stocked with laughs, PRANK THE MONKEY follows the quest of one crusader of justice as he dishes out revenge on the world's biggest--and most deserving--targets. Superprankster John Hargrave goes after Wal-Mart, pompous celebrities, and the entire U.S. Senate in this outrageously funny book, exposing them for the chimps they really are--and shows you how to do the same.

This premiere volume features dozens of all-new pranks, more ambitious than any attempted to date, by any person, anywhere.

Sir John Hargrave, award-winning Internet humorist, has been pranking the system for years on his comedy website, ZUG.com.

Genres: Humor, Nonfiction, Comedy

386 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2007

About the author

John Hargrave is the author of "The Intelligent Crypto Investor," a fun, readable guide to navigating digital assets using timeless value-investing principles.

He has spent more than a decade studying cryptocurrency markets, building valuation models, and helping investors separate signal from the noise. Over 40,000 investors subscribe to his weekly "Intelligent Crypto Investor" newsletter (sign up here).

John is also CEO of Media Shower, the AI-powered marketing technology company, where he works at the intersection of technology, strategy, and human creativity. Earlier in his career, he ran ZUG, the world's first comedy site -- an influence that still shows up in his belief that even serious topics should be clear, engaging, and fun.

He lives in Boston with his wife and family.

Reviews

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sir John Hargrave is a minor superhero: he has made a career of pranking large companies, celebrities, governments, and other organizations that screw with the little people. His targets are judiciously chosen, and the results had me laughing out loud throughout. Between opening his own Starbucks within a Starbucks, filing his taxes using only roman numerals, waking up spammers at three am to be removed from their distribution lists, getting Walmart to sell porn, and testing various penis enlargement medications, his pranks are harmless and good humored, but illuminate some of the ridiculousness we've grown to tolerate. Sir Hargrave is very gently raging against the machine. Good for him.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was kind of hit and miss for me. His premise is that pranking is done to point fun at big corporations and government so that we can all have a laugh at them. I like the premise. However, not all chapters were really pranks. I would guess about 1/4 of the book is not stories about pranks. These chapters frankly are not funny to me. And a book about pranks needs to be funny.

But there were quite a few chapters that were funny. Pranking Ashton Kutcher, and the electric company is some of the funniest stuff I have read in quite a while. So, I give this book 3 stars. Because there were sections that literally had me laughing out loud. I just wish the whole book was as funny as some of the good chapters.

[Harrison Rip · Rating 2 out of 5]

there are far better prank stories out there, though this is better than it could be

[Robu-sensei · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first encountered Sir John Hargrave on the Web, via his famous "Taking Viagra in Church" experiment (also included in this book), and I was instantly hooked. Sir John (his true legal name, and no, he was never knighted) straddles a fine line between virtuosic satire and total insanity, as Prank the Monkey thoroughly documents. As the book progresses, Sir John's mischievousness rises exponentially in scale, up to and including faking his own violent murder in public; but in my opinion his finest prank was his attempts, in the second chapter, to see how bizarrely he could endorse a credit card receipt before someone noticed that his signature didn't match his name.

[Christian Lipski · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok. Nice bits about what you can get away with, like signing your credit card receipt with hieroglyphics, and what the Mass. Turnpike toll booth will take in lieu of a dollar (fruit, two Fifty Cent stickers, etc). Some congressmen will respond if you ask them for their favorite joke. Most fun: what-all you can put in those return junk mail envelopes and get away with.

In general, very light reading, but mildly entertaining. I like his attitude of mocking the power structure of this country, but I don't really care for fake letters or arguing with IRS workers.

Nice to browse.

[Ori Fienberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

You can open this book randomly at any page and find something absolutely hilarious. Unfortunately, if you read it from cover to cover you discover that many of his pranks are very similar, and that he's kind of whiny. But individually these pranks are great. Put it in the bathroom and read it from time to time and you should like it just fine.