The Death of the Prank Call

Once a rite of passage for young people, prank calls now increasingly feel like a relic of the past. “You’re not 72, you’re 15 pretending to be 72… you prat!” barked DJ Pete Price down the receiver of my busted Sony Ericsson mobile. It was 2011, and I had prank-called the Radio City agony aunt, doing an impression of my grandad (RIP) Malcolm’s Hull accent, which my older brother was recording via an online stream downstairs. I was almost instantly rumbled, and the subsequent conversation was broadcast live to the city of Liverpool… read more >