The Office - Vending Machine Prank

On NBC's remake of the British comedy show "The Office," one of the staples (get it? staples?) of the first few seasons was a series of pranks played by Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and sometimes Pam Beasley (Jenna Fischer) on the office dweeb Dwight K. Schrute (Rainn Wilson).


Beginning in the pilot episode which first aired in March of 2005, Jim plays a series of practical jokes on Dwight using what limited resources an office salesman would have at his disposal.


As a devoted fan of "The Office," I will be gracing Laughasaurus followers with more of these pranks from time to time. They are clever in both their simplicity and their ability to irk and provoke Dwight, on whose expense many jokes are made, but who is seldom amused.


This clip of a classic Office prank is from the season 2, episode #11 titled "Booze Cruise"



Laughasaurus worthiness:


What makes this clip Laughasaurus worthy is three distinct elements.


The first is Jim's resourcefulness. As I mentioned above, Jim's pranks on Dwight are so good because (it would appear) he dreams up and executes them with very limited materials. Then, he does what Jim does best, which is pretending so very well that what's going on is completely normal.


The second element is Pam's inclusion in the prank, and her behavior. She too acts like a normal vending machine patron, ready to pick out Dwight's pencil cup as if it were a Reese's Peanutbutter cup. (Not quite stimulative to the taste buds, but quite stimulative to the Laughasaurus buds, wherever that is.)


The third element of the prank is, of course, Dwight's reaction and then eventual submission to defeat. As with most pranks played on him, he gets mad, makes a fuss, but then eventually has to play along to regain his homeostatic office life. Instead of tattling (which he does, on occasion), he begins purchasing his coil-trapped items, one by one...with nickels--the smallest change accepted by vending machines.


Stick around! Laughasaurus will definitely be bringing you more of "The Office" in future posts!