Prank Phone Call Reviews

Al Cashew – Just Like The Nut: In a day where original and funny prank calls are hard to come by, here comes a CD that will have you laughing out loud. The calls on this CD are weird, demented and hilarious. Some are a little too descriptive for my weak stomach but overall this CD rules and I’m glad I own it. You can order this CD and listen to sound clips from the CD by going to the Clothesburner Music site.

Bum Bar Bastards – Tube Bar:When I joined the “Jerky Boys Fan Club” I was mailed an order form for this tape. Wow, what a great fan club, eh? Anyway, most of these calls were done in the late 70’s by a couple of kids, calling up a bar in Jersey City and harassing the hell out of the owner who would threaten to rip their limbs off if he ever got ahold of them. Mostly, the kids would ask for “Al Coholic”, “Al Killya”, “Mike Ockurts” and all the other assorted ones you’ve heard on The Simpsons and this old guy would fall for it every time. Also included are another series of pranks which are totally lame and a cool song dedicated to the bar owner. Basically, these kids made this guy’s retirement years a living hell and ya gotta respect ’em for that. Click here to buy this CD.

The Ball Busters – No Jerkin’ OffThese guys rule. From their title, you’d expect them to be your average Jerky wanna-be’s, but their tape is one hilarious piece of art after another. Nothing in this tape is disappointing, none of it a rip-off of someone else and every bit of it worth the money. I don’t know of any place to mail order this tape but I have seen it in a few record stores so keep an eye out for it.

The Ball Busters II – No Hang UpsI finally found their second CD at Musicland and for the most part it sucks. Almost every track is just a different variation of all the calls on their first CD and most of the new calls are pretty lame. The only one that really had me rolling on the floor laughing was the call called Wax Off. Other than that, save your money. Click here to buy this CD.

Brother Russell – Radio JihadThis CD is put out by a man in Austin calling himself Brother Russell who is addicted to calling up christian radio talk shows and doing an incredible job of making them look stupid. His main character is an elderly lady named Melba Jackson who makes about half of the calls. “She” starts out by making legitimate comments about Jesus but the conversation always turns in a different direction that pisses off the talk show hosts and continues until they hang up on her. If you’re a God-fearing person this will probably offend you. If not you’re in for a lot of laughs. Click here to buy this CD.

Brother Russell – Melba Comes Alive This CD isn’t quite as good as Radio Jihad, but it definitely has its moments. Click here to buy this CD.

Bubba Johnson & CompanyBubba Johnson is a black man who just got out of prison, he’s pissed and he’s lookin’ for a job. The guy who created this character has a gift of making people madder than hell and gets yelled at a lot. Most of the calls sound like they were just numbers picked at random, then there’s a alot where Bubba calls to find out about a job. All in all, a really funny tape even though the sound quality on mine sucks.

Captain Janks – The King of The Cranks:
Captain Janks is apparently in love with Howard Stern because he’s devoted his life to calling up TV and radio shows just to say Howard’s name. But he’s extremely creative about it and he’s good at what he does. Whenever a major media event happens, Janks pretends to be various characters to get on the air of the live newscast just so he can work Howard’s name into the breaking news. This CD mostly consists of radio shows that Janks has called in to. The best part is when the DJs will disconnect his call and take the “next caller” which is also Janks, apparently calling in on a 2nd line. Click here to buy this CD.

Crank Callers of America:These guys suck. I mean, there’s really no other word for it. They had a web page that I accidentally stumbled upon back in 1996. They constantly advertised themselves as “better than the Jerky Boys” and claim that they’re going to be the new wave in prank phone calls, but they hardly live up to it. I purchased their demo tape through mail order for a mere $4.50. The tape starts out kinda cool with demo music playing in the background and an unsuspecting caller asks, “Is this those crazy Jerky Boys?” but after that it goes way down hill. The three prank calls aren’t even remotely funny and consist mostly of some guy calling up people and yelling at them. In the first call, the business he calls actually makes him look stupider. Even the really lame tapes make you laugh a little sometimes, this one doesn’t. Lucky for everyone, their web site seems to have disappeared shortly after they attempted trying to SELL streaming audio of prank calls for $1.00 each with a Mastercard or Visa.

The CranKings – Sushi & Friends Act One

Dial ‘M’ For Moron

Garson Landfil – Funny Phone CallsOddly enough, I found this tape at a truck stop during a recent cross-country move shoved in between a bunch of those Jeff Foxworthy tapes. I imagine that most of this tape’s major advertising is done on the CB Radio network rather than the web, but in all seriousness, it’s a great tape. Nothing is a ripoff of anything although Garson Landfil’s voice gets very annoying in the middle of the first call and continues throughout the tape. “Rifle Range” and “Asking Beth for a Date” are my personal favorites. You can order this tape from Laughing Hyena at 1-800-222-9332 for only $7.99 plus shipping, although there’s a 3 tape minimum (or 2 CDs) so you’ll also have to buy a couple of lame trucker humor tapes to go along with it.

Laugh Syndicate – Phone Jackin’ Click here to buy this CD.

The Jerky Boys – Volume OneOne of the originals, this is one tape that nobody should be without. I first heard one of their bootleg tapes in 1992 and even their raw stuff was hilarious. This tape includes about half of their original tape plus a lot of new material that’s even funnier than the old stuff. Don’t leave home without this tape. Click here to buy this CD.

The Jerky Boys – Volume TwoWith the immense popularity of their first tape, it’s obvious that Detonator Records wanted to squeeze even more cash out of these guys and so a second tape was released. Like most sequels, this tape just didn’t have the spirit of the first tape. A lot of it was the rest of the material they had left over from the old bootlegs (the rejects) and very little of the new stuff was much better. They also ran the Sol Rosenburg character into the ground, even though the nude beach call was hilarious. Click here to buy this CD.

The Jerky Boys – Volume ThreeOkay, the Jerky Boys are officially washed up. I think about 2% of this CD was funny and nothing made me laugh out loud. They’re creating all these stupid new characters and of course, running Sol Rosenburg even deeper into the dirt. Eight of the calls are incoming calls from ads they placed in newspapers which is something that they could have been really creative about, but they weren’t. Save your money. Or click here to buy this CD.

The Jerky Boys – Volume Four Each Jerky Boys album is slightly less funny than the previous one, but this one still made me laugh out loud several times. Sure, it’s stupid and ridiculous, but I still find it amusing. The last track here is a dance song that incorporates bits from some of the Boys’ calls. Click here to buy this CD.

The Jerky Boys – Stop Staring at Me! This is The Jerky Boys fifth album. It is somewhat of a disappointment. The material isn’t as fresh as it once was. There are only a handful of really funny calls here. Only a few of the bits here are really memorable. Recommended for the boys’ hardcore fans only. Click here to buy this CD.

The Jerky Tapes – Bootleg Tape Click here to buy this CD.

John Lancaster SPEAKS: Most of these calls were created by a couple of guys combing through the yellow pages and bugging the shit out of businesses, it seems. Most of the calls are just plain weird and you’ll have to listen to the tape a couple of times to fully appreciate and understand it.

John Trubee – Great Phone Calls: This CD has got some great tracks on it such as Get off my back, Polar Bears, Gibberish, Ice Cream, Funky Freddie, Vomit on me baby, bullfrogs with youngsters, Coin Exchange, Drug Abuse, French cookings, Religious advice, Calude plexigless call, Copy machine for poem, Wallpaper, Kittens & Bull Frogs, Hearing Aid Center, Draino boxer, Go go jeep, I’m Glued Here, Plastic Soldiers and Lumber. The sound quality isn’t too good and some of the calls drag on a little but overall it’s a pretty funny experience.

Mark Knofler – Go With The Flow: You might recognize the name Mark Knoffler as the Dire Straits guitarist/singer. That’s the name that this prank caller has taken on in this hilarious CD. This calls are made by a guy apparently in Pennsylvania in the early 90’s. He seems to call up people completely at random and the calls are brilliant. I received this tape in 1996 and I converted it into a CD. There are 33 tracks on it, including Wood, U-Haul, Run you out of business, Burger King Popcorn, Septic Tank, Get Goofy, Camel Hut, Three Questions, Race Fever, We’re closed on Monday, Intercourse?, Handjob, Natural Shoes, Drywall message, Flaming Chiropractic, Ready to go, Nasty pictures, Toilet Paper, XL Bulls, Rooti Tooti, Physical, Catherine, Wrong Days Inn, We Are Toys, Upper Class Nobility, Corn dogs, Nintendo, Montezuma’s Revenge, They called me, Pastabilities, Fridge Running?, Amanda, Carve my initials. For more information on Mark Knofler, click here for our tribute page.

The Musacha Tapes: A few of the calls on this tape also appeared on the bootleg Jerky Tapes when this guy introduced himself to some of his victims as John Musacha. Most of the calls are just a guy calling up people and yelling at them but at least he’s sort of creative about it and a lot of the calls are pretty funny. Ya gotta wonder, though, if some of the funnier ones aren’t staged. (Such as the electric fence call.) All in all, not a bad tape. Click here to buy this CD.

Neil Hamburger’s In Town! This is another one of my all-time favorite prank call CDs. This guy is relentless with the people he calls. He drives the employees of a pizza business nuts with his nonstop antics and he’s very unfunny (in a good way) as the comedic genius called Neil Hamburger. This CD contains many tracks, including Neil Hamburger’s in town, Movie Promo #1 and #2, Firewalking Seminar, You’re on TV, Fat guy, Punch Line, Jesus Christ, Overweight, Special Order, Pickle potato, hot pizza, sax lessons,

The Phone Heads:

Phone Losers of America – Give Me Liberty or Give Me Steak!:

Phone Losers of America – Operator Leaving Line:

The Pittsburgh Fightsters – A Little Man’s Love:

Say It With Me – 40 Years In The Business:

Tom Mabe – Revenge on the Telemarketers: Tom Mabe is good, and his target – stupid, commission-driven, script-reading, uninvited and time-wasting telemarketers – deserve all they get. In fact, the universally reviled pests of the phone lines deserve much, much nastier treatment, but I suspect the worst ones detect a formidable opponent early and put the phone down before Tom can work on them properly. This CD (and subsequent installments) can also serve an excellent tutorial. If we all learn a few tricks how to handle these privacy invaders and cowboys of hard sell, maybe eventually this fine art of getting on our nerves will die out. Eventually.Click here to buy this CD.

Tom Mabe – A Wake Up Call for Telemarketers : A Wake Up CAll for Telemarketers takes Tom Mabe’s last record and goes to new hysterical heights. Anyone who has ever answered a telemarketers phone call can live vicariously through Mabe’s antics. The calls where Mabe stays at the same hotel as a telemarketers convention and proceeds to harass various rooms at the wee hours of the morning is comic genius. Click here to buy this CD.

The Seattle Phone Pranks: Although all of the calls are extremely slow-paced and the sound quality sucks, I kind of admire this kid’s sense of humor. From what I’m told, most/all of the calls were done one night beginning around 2:00 in the morning so most of the victims are half-asleep and just kind of listen to him. Only worth it if you already own all the other prank tapes and are hungry for new stuff.

Telephone Head: At first, this tape seemed kinda lame. But then after hearing it a few more times, it kind of grew on me. Mostly if sounds like some 12-year-old kid making calls, but there’s usually at least one hilarious part in each call. If nothing, there’s three calls by “Stewart Winslow”, a computer geek who gets thrown in the garbage can all the time at school which are total crack-ups. Buy this one if you really have nothing better to spend your money on. I found my copy at the local record store so look for it. Click here to buy this CD.

The Teleprankers – Volume One

The Teleprankers – Volume Two

The 976-GIRLS: Whoever these two girls are, they seemed to be obsessed with sex since that’s what every single one of their calls deal with. It may sound boring but they’re really creative about it and some of their calls will have you rolling. I did see this CD in an NRM music store once under the name, “The Call Girls” but I was too poor to buy it at the time.