Let’s be honest: we’re a bit tired of April Fools’ Day jokes. In a world where distinguishing fact from fiction is already challenging, Tiger Woods’ claim of recovering from a ruptured Achilles in just weeks hardly registers (nice one, Tiger!).
While our collective sense of humor seems to have matured beyond fake Dr. Pepper-flavored Tic-Tacs and Tabasco brand peppermilk ads, it has only made the genuinely good April Fools’ pranks stand out more. This year, alongside Pardon The Interruption‘s turbo bat prank and Around The Horn‘s Halloween special, we saw a memorable example from Columbus, Ohio’s 97.1 The Fan.
Regular listeners of Common Man & T-Bone likely noticed the uncanny similarities between Monday’s show and Tuesday’s episode, which aired on April 1. Notably, the afternoon drivetime show covered the exact same topics on both days, even interviewing The Athletic’s Jayson Stark back to back.
The hosts, Mike Ricordati and Jonathan “T-Bone” Smith, even wore the same outfits for both episodes. Check it out:
Their efforts didn’t go unnoticed, as the live YouTube feed on Tuesday filled with listeners questioning whether they were watching a re-airing of Monday’s show. It certainly helped that both episodes began with a rather memorable topic: the hosts discussed the differences in animal anatomy observed at the zoo. Credit goes to Ricordati and Smith for fully committing to the bit throughout the episode, never revealing they were playing a prank — transforming this into a performance art piece that reflects our fatigue with April Fools’ Day.
