Who Will Fool The Fools?

As a satire and humour writer I have to admit that I loathe April Fool's Day. Now I'm not trying to be grinchy, scroogey, or be accused of sour grapery. You see, The Toque is already an all-year-round April Fool's joke, so when April 1st comes around, the event is somewhat anti-climactic for our already lethargic writing staff. Given that most of what we write is made-up (there I said it), and that we're usually still suffering from St. Patrick's Day hangovers (hey, we really know how to party...or we don't), we're somewhat less enthusiastic about April Fool's Day and the online explosion of nigh-believable news content and other mockish frippery.

Now I'm all for hyjinx and capering, but when the date is already set in some sort of stone-like substance, and the event is forced upon you like some peevish Hallmark moment, it's hard to get excited when convention tells you that "you have to do something foolish today!" To me, it's more fun when it's unexpected, and not an annual staged event, like the running of the bulls at Pamploma, or the annual Canadian Polar Bear Hunt Day.

No, I'm afraid that April Fool's is a bit of let-down, maybe because I'm not a fan of this nonsensical oneupmanship, or that as a fooler, I don't care to be fooled, unless the fooling is really impressive and well thought-out. I remember one year when a friend got a girl to call me up pretending to be a collection agent demanding money. Yes I was fooled, but there was no creativity in that process or delivery. It was just mean. And that bitch never gave me the money back.

I think the popular term these days is "punk'd", and there are already a few television productions that specialize in year-round pranking, punk'ing and fooling, so really there shouldn't be a need to sensationalize one day out of the year for specific prankstering. If you really wanted, you could TIVO these shows and watch them all (quietly) on April 1st, and rejoice in the shock-faced victims when the reveal is, umm, revealed. I'm going to stay home and finish off the rest of this green beer...whether it was leftover from St. Patrick's Day or just turned that colour on its own.