Lord of the Dance
Remembering one Irishman's brilliant prank from beyond the grave on April Fool's Day
Entertainment

Remembering one Irishman's brilliant prank from beyond the grave on April Fool's Day

THIS IS the greatest prank anyone has ever pulled-- living or dead.

Today is April Fool's Day, and around the world people are falling for pranks and joke articles before double checking the date on the calendar.

Each year there are some mighty pranks which end up in the April Fool's Day hall of fame-- but nothing beats this one.

In 2019, one witty Irishman had the last laugh, pulling a fantastic prank on his family and friends-- at his own funeral.

Shay Bradley, a beloved husband and father-of-four, had battled against cancer for three years but never lost his sense of humour.

On the day he was buried, a recording of Shay, taken a year earlier, rang out across the cemetery after his coffin was lowered to the ground-- appearing as though he was speaking from the casket.

"Hello?" he calls out before a knocking sound is heard.

"Let me out!" he continues, as the mourners present erupt into peals of laughter.

"Where the f*** am I? Let me out, it's f***ing dark in here!

"Is that that priest I can hear?"

The mourners in attendance, who were well aware of Shay's sense of humour, can be seen falling bout in fits of laughter before the cameraman pans to the casket where the sound is coming from.

The prank went viral around the world, appearing on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and more, and his daughter Andrea later spoke to Dublin Live where she revealed Shay had planned this for a long time.

“They were having the craic and joking and my dad just said ‘put your phone on the table and start recording’,” Andrea explained.

“And he recorded the message. It took just one take because he was just naturally that funny.

“Dad made Jonathan promise not to show any of us until days before the funeral. He specified ‘tell mam but tell her she’s not allowed to stop it”.

The best reaction apparently came from Shay’s surviving sister Rose, who remarked to Andrea: “'It’s a good thing he’s dead because I’d have killed him’”.

“That reaction would have pleased him the most,” Andrea said.