The Lost Art of Prank Calling

I kind of feel sad for today's kids. Because of technological advances, there's a lot they will probably miss out on. Like having to get up and walk to the television to physically change the channel. (Yes, I remember pre-remote control days.) Or using a typewriter. Or listening to records and learning how to hold the needle just right when a scratch was coming up.

And, of course, prank calling.

The days of the old-fashioned prank call are but a memory, thanks to caller ID and other fancy phone features. But there is a way to relive some of the finer moments of telephone pranks--and that is through the recordings of John Bean.

Now, before you read any further, let me set one thing straight. John Bean was the REAL "Leroy Mercer," the guy from the Knoxville area who--some 25 years ago (or longer)--recorded himself calling unsuspecting businesses with phony problems ... and then threatened bodily harm if his requests were unfulfilled. And no, I am not talking about the guys on the radio. Or most of the "prank calling CDs" that may come to mind. In fact, most of those are blatant copies of John Bean. In fact, I have heard one CD that uses some of John Bean's actual recordings! Some of the imitations are not funny at all--and some are downright mean and cruel.

The real John Bean pranked folks for fun--not for profit. He died in 1984, and after his death a friend of his made copies of some of his pranking tapes for some of his other friends. What happened over the next several years is really a grassroots phenomenon. The tapes--which are definitely not PC and which contain a lot of adult language--were so wildly popular that friends made copies for friends and so on and so forth. (The "so on and so forth" is an understatement--the tapes spread like wildfire.) It was not uncommon for someone to bring up in conversation, "Have you heard that prank-calling tape?" (Yes, this was back in the days of cassette tapes.) I first heard the tape in college, while I was driving, and I literally almost ran off the road from laughing so hard. The "boots" and the "Eddie's Auto" calls would have to be my favorites. Pure East Tennessee humor.

In 1999, Atomic Audio and Betty Bean, John's sister, released a CD of some of John's prank calls: The Real Leroy Mercer Is John Bean. I was working as a reporter/entertainment editor at the time and covered the event. You can actually see a photo of me interviewing THE Eddie Harvey (of Eddie's Auto fame) here. Be sure to click around the site to read more of the history behind John Bean.

Anyway, as you remember the lost art of prank calling, I thought you should know who the REAL Leroy Mercer is. It's John Bean.