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Donald McGuire is director of Student Advisement Services in the College of Arts and Sciences, and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Classics.
What are the origins of April Fool's Day?
April Fool's Day
seems to be one of those events that has lots of originative stories,
none of which seem entirely satisfying. One of the most common stories
revolves around the Gregorian calendar reform of the late 16th century,
claiming that people in France who knew of and followed the reformed
calendar would mock those who were ignorant of the reforms. This story
gains credence, presumably, because few modern folk are familiar with
the Gregorian calendar reforms and because many are willing to imagine
the French mocking the ignorant. There are all sorts of festivals from
the ancient Mediterranean and from around the world that involve jokes
and tricks and reversed roles—the Roman feast of the Saturnalia is one
great example. There are some Roman references to a feast day called the
Hilaria in late March, which was part of a weeklong festival in honor of
the Anatolian fertility goddess Cybele. If this feast is the source of
April Fool's Day, then we've clearly cleaned things up a great deal—one
of the components in Cybele Week in ancient times was the castration of
new priests of Cybele.
Do you think humor has changed through the ages? Do you think the
ancient Greeks or Romans would find the same sorts of things funny that
we do?
There is a huge amount of material from the Greco-Roman
world and from other ancient Mediterranean cultures reflecting on
peoples' jokes and senses of humor. I'd say that, overall, you find the
same range of humor and jokes in the ancient world—from scatalogical to
cerebral, from silly puns to slapstick, from morbid jokes to jokes about
your mother.
Why do you think some people get such a charge out of pulling a
practical joke?
This is probably a question better posed to a
professor of psychology, but I would think that the satisfaction comes,
in part, from the control that the joker is exercising—controlling
another's emotions and knowledge, among other things.
Do you enjoy a good practical joke?
Absolutely. I confess
that one of the most complete and dramatic reactions I ever get in my
World Civ lectures comes during a midterm or final exam when I suddenly
announce after only six or seven minutes, "Alright! Pencils down" and
225 students will look up, as one, in panicked disbelief. Then I'll say,
"Sorry...just kidding."
What's the best April Fool's joke you've ever witnessed and/or
pulled on someone?
One of the best I've ever witnessed was in
college, when a friend and roommate of mine stapled together several
pages of blank typing paper and then went down the hall to the room of
another student—up to this moment a friend as well—who had just
completed a 30-page paper (this was in the era of the Smith Corona
portable-correctible-electrical typewriter...no stored data!). My friend
grabbed the finished paper off the desk, ran back to our room, hid the
real paper and lit the set of blank pages with a Zippo lighter, just in
time for the other student to reach our room and witness the burning of
what he thought was his prized paper. A beautifully staged illusion.
Editor's Note: Like Don McGuire, just about everybody has a memorable April Fool's joke. Email your jokes to the Reporter at ub-reporter@buffalo.edu and we'll print them in the next online-only issue on April 15. Names may be changed to protect the incredibly naïve.