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Filming for America’s Test Kitchen takes place over three very busy weeks in May, at which time our test kitchen is turned into a TV-worthy set. Days are long, food can melt under the hot lights, and things can get tedious. So after a couple seasons, the teams working on the show started playing pranks on each other to lighten things up. I spoke with Herb Sevush, director of America’s Test Kitchen, who shared some memorable pranks that have happened on the set of the show over the last 12 years.
The Chili Powder Swap
Prankster: Jack Bishop
Target: Christopher Kimball
Every episode of America’s Test Kitchen features a segment where Jack Bishop reveals what product has won the taste test of the week. From the beginning of the show, Jack has introduced the segment by having Christopher Kimball pick out his favorite from four samples—a task he takes very seriously. “It’s very personal with him,” Herb explains, “He really wants to get it right.”
Jack Bishop pulled one of the most memorable pranks during a butter tasting, where he mixed chili powder into one of the four samples he presented to Chris. When Chris reacted in surprise to the spicy butter, he quickly grabbed the glass of water provided for him to cool off the heat. Except—it wasn’t water. Chris was halfway done with the glass before he realized that he had gulped down vodka.
The Deadly Dolls
Prankster: Christopher Kimball
Targets: Bridget Lancaster and Julia Collin Davison
During filming for one season of America’s Test Kitchen, Chris managed to prank both Julia Collin Davison and Bridget Lancaster. First: Julia. While braising meat for a recipe, Julia placed the meat into the oven to cook, and when she took the pot out to show the finished product, she removed the lid to find a scary rubber head.
Then: Bridget. During filming, Bridget opened the fridge to grab something for a recipe—and was greeted by a baby doll with a knife stuck in its head.
The Creature in the Dark
Prankster: Christopher Kimball
Target: Herb Savush
Since every season of America’s Test Kitchen is filmed in our actual kitchen (and not on a set), Herb and his team have to get creative to make the space work with the TV show. The control room is temporarily set up in a dark closet normally used to store equipment—a detail that Chris exploited for his next prank. After a lunch break, Herb sat down in the control room next to Brenda Coffey, makeup and script supervisor for America’s Test Kitchen. Brenda kept remarking that she felt something at her feet but Herb didn’t pay any mind, until he felt it too. He looked down see a rat running around. He screamed until they realized it was a fake, motorized rubber rat.
The Bloody Brilliant Prank
Pranksters: Everyone
Target: Christopher Kimball
While the entire kitchen was in on this prank, the success of the operation rested on Becky Hays. “No one thinks of Becky as being devious, but she is,” explains Herb.
The cooks in the back kitchen put a small packet of fake blood into a piece of food Becky was going to be preparing. Suddenly, while Becky was cutting, blood squirted everywhere. No one but Chris seemed the least bit concerned as Becky screamed in (fake) pain. Chris was very shaken at the sight of blood, but admitted that the prank was a good one.
The Biggest Prank
“The biggest prank was something we started doing to Chris in the second and third season,” Herb said. “It was encouraging him to wear very silly costumes.”
Loved this post? Enjoy some video bloopers from the set of America’s Test Kitchen.
What’s the best prank you’ve ever pulled? Let us know in the comments for a chance to win a copy of Slow Cooker Revolution. The winner will be notified by email on Tuesday, Aug. 21.
About the Author: Marshall Bright
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I remember once when I was 4 or 5, my older sister (bad example!!!) and I put clear saran wrap under a toilet seat. My mom came rushing in from work a bit later and went in a hurry straight to the bathroom. She noticed something was not right before it got to be a bad situation, though, ha! Good thing!!!
Every year since I was 16, I tell my uncles that I’m pregnant for April Fool’s Day. And every year they fall for it!!! I’m 26 and it has never been true!!!!
My brother is terrified of spiders so when we were kids, I pretended a spider landed on me using a toy and then threw it in his face. He freaked out so bad he wouldn’t talk to me for the rest of the day! Haha!
Nothing to creative, just gotten my fair share of people soaked by placing a rubber band around the water sprayer on the kitchen sink.
When my sister was in high school I used one of my dad’s hats, a suit, a pair of his shoes, and arranged them to look like there was a man standing in her doorway. When she opened her door at 5 a.m. I heard her squeal a bit then curse my brothers. Hehe!
Technically this wasn’t a prank *I* pulled, but my husband did to my boss at our work. He came in really early and took a lot of our company’s magnets out of the supply cabinet. He went into my boss’s office and started putting magnets up in the doorway. He had to tape the magnets together and actually blocked himself into the office until he got to the bottom of the doorway and crawled under his “door” of magnets. Then he finished connecting the magnets all the way down to the floor. When my boss came in, he didn’t realize anything until he got to his office. The best part was that my husband didn’t even wait to see my boss’s reaction was. But my boss knew who it was without even being told.
I once pranked my brother-in-law with a big hairy (fake) spider in his eggnog on Christmas Eve.
Loved reading about these ATK pranks!
During a weekend trip with a group of friends, we emptied one guys bottle of body wash and refilled it with mayonnaise. When he took his shower, he was pretty much covered from head to toe before he realized what we had done!
One of my professors was very protective of his vehicle, which he parked between the performing arts building where he worked and the university’s law school. One night, I left a note on his car that said, “I am only leaving this note because there are witnesses to what I have done. If you think I’m leaving my name and insurance information, you’re crazy. C-ya!” I learned later that he spent ~20 minutes walking around his car in the dark, cursing lawyers and looking for nonexistent body damage. He was still fuming about the smug, stinging “C-ya!” when I offered my concern about his misfortune the next day. His anger rapidly turned into confusion which morphed into disbelieving shock. As Becky proved, it’s always the sweet, quiet ones you have to watch out for!
Remember that video on youtube where u stare at your screen for a bit and then this scary face pops out of nowhere. Well i found an app that does that to my wifes phone. So now whenever she goes to play one of her games on her phone. It will randomly show a ghost face and scream at her. Gets her every time lol.
Love that the folks at America’s Test Kitchen have a great time all while whipping out one of my favorite shows! In all the years I’ve been watching, ChristoperK. always appears so serious. Those are the ones you have to watch out for
Love ATK in Pearland, TX
this year we had a surprise birthday party for my mom. when i asked what her plans were she said her and my step-dad were going to dinner with my grandma and wanted to know if my daughter and i wanted to go. i asked what the restaurant was and when she told me i said, “well… it’s really not really my favorite.” and she took that to mean i wasn’t coming. i actually felt bad enough about it to ask her what time i should meet her there a couple days before so she didn’t think i really wanted to ditch her on her b-day.
The best prank I ever played was a real and not meant to be a prank at all–It happened on April fool’s Day. My hubby had gone to the other side of our state because his father was sick and I was in a cooking contest that day. My son wanted to take me and long story short, we left for the contest from his home and I had my hands full of my “stuff” I was bringing, including my prized “trifle” in a pretty glass dish that was my contest entry. I missed a step in my son’s garage getting to his car and split my head open and twisted my food very badly. I saved the dessert though!!
However, I did not know who I was or some other important questions they asked of me, so I ended up getting transported by an ambulance service to the local hospital. When my hubby called to check on how I did at the contest, I told him about what happened, but he did not believe me and said, “Ha, that’s a funny one! Happy April’s Fool to you too, so come on–how did you do?”. He ended up not coming home that night because he really did not believe that I was hurt in any way and thought it was all a big joke. When he got home the next day and saw me, and how bad I actually was hurt, he got the biggest shock of his life! 
Hi everyone! Thanks for sharing your pranks with us– looks like some of y’all are real tricksters. The contest is now closed- congrats to Derek for winning the giveaway! For new giveaways you can check here: http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/topics/giveaway/.
–Marshall