There’s a line from the Sex and the City movie when Carrie asks her friends “Will I ever laugh again?” and they respond that when something is really funny, she will. And sure enough, she does when Charlotte pikipsied. If you haven’t seen the movie, watch it. If you have, you know what I’m talking about. It’s a really funny scene and I keep thinking about it this week.

A health scare is scary. It’s in the name, for goodness sake. But, laughter, my friends (along with handwashing, good hygiene and social distancing) will get us through. Food and product shortages, the fear of the unknown, it’s enough to break anyone down. Let’s remember to laugh a little, because even though we are in very serious times, we should still find time to laugh. It just might ease some of that stress too.

Throughout my work life, I’ve found that harmless pranks have carried me through boring days, cancelled performances and probably bonded me to my co-workers. At the Mirage we played endless pranks on each other, from placing my friend’s shoe on top of the VIP sign to locking down computers and changing each other’s passwords. We even locked a friend out of the office once, and would tear the paper tickets at specific points so we’d have to reload the printer during busy times when people were picking up show tickets, much to the annoyance of the victim. At the Golden Nugget my friend and I would tape up our keyboards when co-workers would go to lunch so everything was unusable when they returned.

At the Review-Journal I liked to leave little pictures on co-workers’ cubicle walls or completely redecorate in the opposing college team’s colors if the need arose. At Ferraro Group I’d leave fake spiders around, and at Station Casinos I’d relocate my friend’s purse but she bested me big time by pulling open the emergency CPR defibrillator box at work and setting off the alarm throughout the building. That one caused me to laugh so hard I had to hide in the bathroom to get myself together.

So with all that new knowledge, here are some of my favorite things that get me laughing, every time, including ideas for harmless April Fools pranks:

The Hangover movie

Sex and the City

Comic strips

Memes, including all those coronavirus memes. I know a worldwide health pandemic is not something to laugh at. But sometimes, it’s all we have.

Call or text your funny friends. I have a group text that brings a smile to my face all the time.

Call or text your loved ones. Touch base with them. It will surely bring a smile to your face.

I hear Tiger King is crazy. We might start watching it this week.

Finally, play some April Fools jokes. Here are ideas:

Change the passwords on all the TV streaming services and sign out of every device. Don’t let it go on too long, but it will be funny to see them without their favorite shows for a short time. If they figure it out too quickly, you can just keep doing it.

Mess with the computer in a harmless way. Attach a tiny piece of tape over the laser sensor on the underside of mouse, and it will disable the signal.

Have any spare bubble wrap around? Place it under a rug where your quarantine partner walks and watch them question things for a minute.

Wrap their phone, TV remote, or other precious item. Just take some wrapping paper, newspaper or other wrapping product and cover the item in question multiple times. Place it where it normally resides. It’s silly but fun.

Good with photoshop? Doctored photos can be fun as long as they’re not mean or meant to cause harm. April Fools is best kept silly.

And, my personal favorite: Ctrl+Alt+Down Arrow. It instantly flips everything on their PC screen so it’s upside down. To reverse when they freak out, hit Ctrl+Alt+Up Arrow. For a Mac, go to their System Preferences, open the Displays option and click on the “Rotate” menu.