Top 10 Pranks on the Ellen DeGeneres Show

Ellen loves getting in her guest’s heads. Literally. As you’ll see throughout this list, she loves sending celebrities into the public with an earpiece, and telling them exactly what to say. On Steve Harvey’s talk show, the “Ask Steve” segment is usually one for humorous yet insightful answers to audience questions. In this 2013 crossover episode of sorts, Steve was asked about life, love, and friendship. He answered by demonstrating the high kick of life, talking about his teeth-brushing iguana, and admitting to a dryer lint mustache. From his answers to the audience’s reaction and Steve’s constant failures to keep a straight face, it’s almost impossible to decide which part is the funniest.

Amy Rhodes—a.k.a. “Writer Amy”—isn’t your average Ellen staffer. Amusement park rides, haunted houses, dining in the dark: Ellen will send Writer Amy just about anywhere to do just about anything. One of Ellen’s favorite skits has Amy talking in song lyrics to strangers. Customers at Michael’s, Lowe’s, and Banana Republic have been Amy’s unwitting victims. In 2013, Amy was sent into a Costco, armed with the lyrics for Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe,” Lionel Richie’s “Hello”, and the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe”. While it could be considered equal parts cringe-inducing and hilarious, the sweetest moment may be when she talks the lyrics of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” to an old man, and it makes his day.

We don’t know what exactly influences Ellen DeGeneres, but you’ve got to think she spent a good deal of her youth watching “Candid Camera,” the hidden camera show that began airing on TV in 1948 and last ran in 2014. There doesn’t seem to be a room on Ellen’s set without a hidden camera, and there doesn’t seem to be an A-list celebrity not willing to serve as her partner in crime. In 2012, Jennifer Aniston repeated everything Ellen said in response to Skippy, an unwitting young man merely delivering Jennifer a bike. It’s hard not to feel bad for the guy, who is greeted by an eccentric, bird-calling, flirty, back scratch-requesting Aniston. It’s also hard not to crack up laughing.

Let’s say you’re a masseuse and open the door to see that football superstar David Beckham, People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive for 2015, is your new client. A great day, right? Well probably not if you’re Simo, a very unsuspecting masseuse who has an appointment with Becks—who wants to be called “Ricky”. It’s hard not to think that Simo has seen it all in her career as she doesn’t raise an eyebrow when the footballer requests a very gentle, thumb free, singing massage. It’s not until Becks points out the hidden camera that Simo starts to laugh along with us.

The first day at a new job is always nerve-racking. At The Ellen DeGeneres show, it can be downright frightening. Allison joined Ellen’s staff during the 2010 holiday season, and Ellen was in the giving mood. Oh no, not gifts or candy canes, she was in the mood for giving scares. Taking a page out of Charles Dickens’ novella” A Christmas Carol,” the very un-Scrooge-like Allison is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. But these ghosts aren’t showing Allison scenes from her life. They are giving her, perhaps, the three most heart-jolting scares she’s ever had. In the end she laughs, and so do we.

Job interviews. We’ve all had those horrible ones where an interviewer isn’t really listening, asks flop-sweat inducing questions, and looks at you like there’s no chance you’ll get the job. Well, times that by about a million and you may understand how two candidates felt being “interviewed” by Jennifer Lopez to be her personal assistant. J-Lo has been on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” many times, but probably none funnier than this January 2011 hidden camera appearance. Yet another A-list celeb with Ellen in her ear, Jenny from the Block can’t stop talking about herself, her beauty, and how famous she is. The prank is so funny that Ellen giggles uncontrollably and Lopez strains herself not to break character.

Hello, it’s Adele, and she wants a Jamba Juice. Early in 2016, Ellen was in Adele’s ear as she rolled in to get a smoothie, and let’s just say she tested the mantra that “the customer is always right”. In full diva mode, Adele asks for a large drink in a small cup, chops off some wheatgrass that she gnaws on, imitates a deer, has her hair brushed, knocks back straight amaretto, and dumps out her purse packed with knives, Twizzlers, and handcuffs. It’s incredible how much sidesplitting strangeness is packed into about five minutes. Part of what makes it a riot is it’s the last thing we’d expect from one of music’s most fan-friendly superstars.

Dennis Quaid is here! About 7 years before his famous hidden camera meltdown hoax, Quaid let Ellen be his voice while ordering at Starbucks. And let’s just say he brings a level of eccentricity we expect more from his brother Randy. Quaid bursts in, loudly announcing his arrival. Actually, he loudly announces everything. Dennis Quaid wants his spiced latte decaf at 140 degrees, Dennis Quaid demands the barista sing “Day-O” with him, and Dennis Quaid gives the mouthwash treatment to a cup of water. Oh, did we mention he does it all in third person? This 2008, 3-minute masterpiece became one of a series of classic DeGeneres and Dennis hidden camera collaborations.

With five Golden Globe and four Emmy nods, we know that Sofia Vergara is a great actress. But a couple of employees in a Warner Brothers backlot store also did some stellar acting when the “Modern Family” star stopped by in this 2010 episode. With Ellen calling the shots, Vergara reenacts moments from her current serious cinematic turn in “When the Dogs Are Running and Horses Are Silent”. Thankfully, the film is fake, as her overacting seems more destined for Golden Raspberries than for Oscars. The staffers do their best to be encouraging as Sofia cries, gallops around like a horse, and talks with what may be the worst Texas twang of all time.

Before we unveil our number choice, here are a few honorable mentions:

Vivian, Starbucks’ Barista

Bieber in the Bathroom

Matt Lauer’s ‘Fifty Shades’ Prank

Okay, we know this is a bit of a cheat, but if we broke out all Ellen’s celebrity scares individually, it might take up the whole list. Music superstars, our favorites from TV, movie-star heartthrobs, and comedy legends: Ellen is an equal opportunity destroyer. No bathroom is safe. No side table is just a side table. And if Ellen gets wind of your fear, you’re toast. However, one of the best scares came when Steve Carell turned the tables on the Prank Queen, striking a blow for all of Ellen’s scare victims.

Do you agree with our list? Which one of Ellen’s pranks is your favorite? For more hilarious top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.