Will Forte Says This ‘Awful’ Prank He Pulled on His Mom Taught Him ‘Not Everything’s Funny’ | Video

Actor and “SNL” alum Will Forte built a career off of making people laugh — but there were some misfires along the way that taught him what was and wasn’t funny.

Opening up on a Thursday episode of “Hot Ones” with host Sean Evans, the funnyman said that one particularly dark-humored prank he pulled on his mother when he was a teenager taught him that he did not want hurting people for a laugh to become part of his practice.

The prank in question? He recounted the time he faked his own suicide.

“Pound for pound, what’s the best prank you’ve ever pulled on your parents?” Evans asked toward the end of the episode. Forte has built a reputation over the years of being a prankster — often memorably around the “SNL” offices — and also has a history of involving his mom in on his humorous antics. (See again: “SNL.”)

But instead of the “best prank” he ever pulled on his parents, Forte latched onto one of the worst. Watch the full episode below:

“I have an awful one. Ugh. I’m not even going to tell it,” Forte said reluctantly. Of course, Evans talked him into it.

“It’s awful … It’s horrible. You’ll see why. Please feel free to cut this out,” Forte began. He then recounted one day as a teenager spotting his mother driving home through their neighborhood, and he decided it would be funny to fake his own death, suicide note and all.

“I wrote on a piece of paper, I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry, Mom.’ And then left that at the front door,” he said. “And then, like, laid down on her bathroom floor as if I was no longer alive. And hearing her scream, it was the worst! It was the worst thing. And I immediately popped up — ‘Mom I’m kidding!'”

He called himself a “little s–t freakin’ 14-year-old” for thinking such a ruse was funny, but offered up that it was a “good lesson overall” in his comedy journey.

“It did teach me, like, oh, not everything’s funny. There are things that hurt people,” Forte shared. “And, you know, I certainly look back at my own work and there are regrets I have, but I don’t love comedy that hurts people or makes fun of people.”

It wasn’t, however, the last time Forte explored suicide in his comedy. His Peacock dramedy pilot “Expiration Date” gained a lot of attention back in 2021 for its unlikely premise of a man who contemplates killing himself so his life insurance can care for his family. After going into development, the project never materialized.

Watch Forte’s full “Hot Ones” interview in the video above.

The post Will Forte Says This ‘Awful’ Prank He Pulled on His Mom Taught Him ‘Not Everything’s Funny’ | Video appeared first on TheWrap.