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George Harrison's elaborate prank on Phil Collins may be the funniest joke in rock history

George Harrison wasn't just a great musician, he was hilarious.

via Philippe Roos / Flickr and Wikimedia Commons

Phil Collins and George Harrison

Beatle George Harrison was pigeon-holed as the "Quiet Beatle," but the youngest member of the Fab Four had an acerbic, dry sense of humor that was as sharp as the rest of his bandmates.

He gave great performances in the musical comedy classics, "A Hard Days Night" and "Help!" while holding his own during The Beatles' notoriously anarchic press conferences. After he left the band in 1970, in addition to his musical career, he would produce the 1979 Monty Python classic, The Life of Brian.

Harrison clearly didn't lose his sense of humor for the rest of his life. Shortly before his death in 2001, he played an elaborate prank on Phil Collins that shows how the "Here Comes the Sun" singer would go the extra mile for a laugh.

gif of George Harrison making facesThe Beatles Love GIF - Find & Share on GIPHYGiphy

In 1970, Harrison was recording his first solo record (and arguably the best by a Beatle), All things Must Pass. The session for the song, "The Art of Dying," featured former Beatle Ringo Starr on drums, keyboard legend Billy Preston on keys, the famed Eric Clapton on guitar, and was produced by the notorious Phil Spector.

Harrison wanted a conga player for the session, so Ringo's chauffeur reached out to Phil Collins' manager. At the time, Collins was a relative unknown who was about to join Genesis, a band that would bring him worldwide stardom.

The 18-year-old Collins was starstruck playing on a session with two former Beatles, so he played extra hard in rehearsals, resulting in blood blisters on both hands.

gif of Phil CollinsPhil Collins 80S GIF - Find & Share on GIPHYGiphy

"Anyway, after about two hours of this, Phil Spector says, 'Okay congas, you play this time.' And I'd had my mic off, so everybody laughed, but my hands were shot," Collins told Express.

"And just after that they all disappeared—someone said they were watching TV or something—and I was told I could go." After that, Collins was relieved of his duties and told to go home. A few months later, Collins bought the massive triple album in the record shop and was devastated to learn he'd been edited out of the song.

"There must be some mistake! Collins thought. "But it's a different version of the song, and I'm not on it."

Some thirty years later, Collins bought the home of Formula One driver Jackie Stewart, a close friend of Harrison. Stewart mentioned to Collins that Harrison was remixing "All Things Must Pass" for a rerelease.

"And he said, 'You were on it, weren't you?' And I said, 'Well I was there,"' Collins recalled.

gif of George Harrison album coverGeorge Harrison Animated Album Cover GIF by uDiscoverMusic - Find & Share on GIPHYGiphy

Two days later, a tape was delivered from Harrison to Collins with a note that read: "Could this be you?" Collins continued: "I rush off and listen to it, and straight away I recognize it." It was a recording of "The Art of Dying."

"Suddenly the congas come in— too loud and just awful," said Collins. Then at the end of the take, Harrison can be heard saying, "Hey, Phil, can we try another without the conga player?" Collins was devastated, to say the least.

A while later, Stewart calls Collins and puts Harrison on the line. "'Did you get the tape?' Harrison asked. "I now realize I was fired by a Beatle," Collins sighed. The two changed the subject, but a few minutes later, Harrison couldn't stop laughing.

"Don't worry, it was a piss-take. I got Ray Cooper to play really badly and we dubbed it on," Harrison admitted. "Thought you'd like it!" So, Harrison had an entire recording session with a conga player who he asked to play poorly, just to pull one over on Collins.

gif of George Harrison smilingThe Beatles Smile GIF - Find & Share on GIPHYGiphy

If you're in the mood for another of rock's greatest pranks. The story of "The Ring" told by Beastie Boys' Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz shared in Beastie Boys Story is another great example of someone going to incredible lengths just for a laugh.

The story revolves around the late Beasties' rapper Adam "MCA" Yach, his bandmate Horovitz, and a very creepy ring given to him by a fan backstage at a concert. Check it out below:

Ahh, rock stars.


This article originally appeared four years ago.

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Mother and son duo who constantly prank each other are parenting relationship goals

"Honestly don't know how they haven't given each other heart attacks or destroyed the house."

VT|Facebook

Mother-son duo's hilarious relationship is parenting goals

Parenting can be pretty tricky at times. It's like a string of endless pop quizzes and no one knows what grade you're going to get until 18+ years later. It's not until they grow up that you get to take in all of your hard work in raising a productive human. But there's one part of raising kids that doesn't get talked about enough, and that's when they've reached the age of being able to be your friend.

One mom and her adult son are going viral on the internet for their admirable bond and ability to keep the belly laughs coming. The duo is truly parenting relationship goals. In a compilation of videos shared by VT, Jonah Bolona and his mom spend clip after clip pranking each other or just getting into family friendly mischief.

Bolona has been sharing videos of the silly nonsense he and his mother get into on his TikTok page, The Jonah Bolona, and has amassed nearly 2 million followers.

But it was the compilation video that took some of their funniest moments and mashed them together showcasing their fun relationship. In the very first clip, you know you're in for...something. Bolona's mom appears to be sitting on the floor patiently in some sort of black trash bag sealed up to her neck as he attaches a vacuum hose. Somehow mom falls over as the vacuum sucks all of the air out of the bag sealing her inside as Bolona runs away.

The entire compilation is just keeps getting more amusing and commenters love their dynamic.

"Ha ha his mum is a legend," one person writes.

"Honestly don't know how they haven't given each other heart attacks or destroyed the house XD Guess it's just a norm for them," another comments.

"This is an extremely HEALTHY relationship!!! I love it," someone else says.

Some people were quick to point out that there's nothing wrong with living with your parents, especially when the relationship is healthy. While other's clarified that it's his house and it shouldn't matter what others think as long as they're having fun, which clearly they are. You can see their hijinks below for your own chuckle.

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Dad pranks daughter with a fake job interview filled with lies and she can't stand it

"I get up at 4 a.m. Every morning, I go for a run—and I run for about 12 miles.”

via AlongCameAbby/TikTok

Andrew Terry pulls a prank on his daughter Abby.

Every parent knows that young children will believe just about anything you tell them, within reason. Part of being a parent is becoming a master of the white lie to distract your kids from things they aren’t quite ready to hear or to have some innocent fun.

But when 6-year-old Abby, a popular TikTok personality, heard her dad telling whopper after whopper on a fake job interview, she wouldn’t stand for it. Abby, now 7, is the star of the Along Came Abby TikTok channel with over 3.9 million followers.

Abby’s dad, Andrew Terry, set up a fake job interview with a potential employer where he told lie after lie with his daughter sitting beside him. The point of the prank was to get a reaction out of her. The good news for the Terry family is that she’s obviously a girl with a solid moral compass because she couldn’t stand hearing her dad’s constant lies.

Andrew indicated that the potential employer wanted to see one of his children, so he had Abby sit next to him in the interview.

@alongcameabby

Fake interview #fyp #fake #interview #funny #honest

“I dress like this every day,” Andrew says, sitting properly in his tan suit with a blue tie. “I get up at 4 a.m. Every morning, I go for a run—and I run for about 12 miles.” At the onset, Abby looks beside herself, but she keeps her composure until her dad notes that he washes the dishes every morning before his wife, Abby’s mom, Lissa, even gets up.

Abby can’t stand it, so she jumps up and yells, “Cut!”

“Shhh… Abby, Please,” Andrew tells his daughter under his breath. “That’s not true!” Abby retorts.

Andrew regains his composure and then goes on a jag about how after he does the dishes, he bathes the dog so that when his wife gets up, “everything is done.” This is too much for Abby. “Bye!” Abby says before storming off.

But Andrew is able to coax her back for more of his whimsy by noting that his potential employer "is going to hear this." He then reveals that he only eats vegetables and never any pizza.

“Come on! You eat sugar all day,” Abby tells her dad.

Abby can no longer stand the charade after Andrew admits that when he met her mother, he played centerfield for the New York Yankees. At that point, Abby walks off camera, never to return.

Since being released in November 2022, the video has had over 9.3 million views and has received over 22,000 comments.

"Her moral compass is STRONG," CylynG2020 wrote.

"I hope you told her how awesome it is that she didn’t want to stand for the lies. She is awesome," j friend:) added.

The video is fun because it shows how even young children pay attention to their parents and know their daily habits. It’s a good reminder for parents everywhere that their kids have an eye on them and to beware of the subconscious examples they’re setting for them on a daily basis.

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Pop Culture

Steven Spielberg once played an epic prank on 'Goonies' director during his vacation from set

“I’ll get you.”

via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia Commons and MaybeMaybeMaybe/Wikimedia Commons

Director Steven Spielberg and director Richard Donner

“The Goonies” is a classic ‘80s film about energetic, fast-talking kids searching for One-Eyed Willie’s treasure. It’s fun for two hours, but the day-in and day-out grind of working with the young cast was a bit much for director Richard Donner.

“Everyone we cast was high energy, and after a while, it kind of started working on Dick. It’d tear him apart a little bit, a piece [at a] time,” the film’s writer-producer Steven Spielberg later recalled in “Reunited Apart with Josh Gad.”

“And so by the end of the movie, in the last two weeks, Richard just kept saying, ‘Oh, my God, I got two weeks to go, and I can’t wait to finish, and I’m going to go to my house in Hawaii, and I’m gonna get away from all of this noise. It’s extraordinary, and I love ’em to pieces, but I can’t stand it anymore,’” Spielberg continued.

Donner’s exhaustion inspired Spielberg to pull an epic prank. He flew the cast of kids out to Donner’s house in Hawaii, including Sean Astin (Mikey), Josh Brolin (Brand), Jeff Cohen (Chunk) and Martha Plimpton (Stef). He also sent the actors who played the obnoxious Fratellis, Anne Ramsey (Mama), Robert Davi (Jake) and Joe Pantoliano (Francis).

Video of the prank recently surfaced on Twitter, where Cohen can be seen telling him, “We’re gonna stay with you the whole time we’re here.” Astin adds: “We’re gonna do a sequel to the movie.”

At the end of the clip, Donner laughs as he flips the middle finger to someone off-camera, presumably Spielberg, saying: “I’ll get you.”


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