A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

The Funniest Practical Joke of All Time


Photo source: Ninemsn.com.au

Those guys up there? Not happy. Not even a little. And with good reason! Bambang (left) and Nanang (right), two native Indonesians who were looking for government jobs, received word from a local village chief that there was a new requirement to work as an intelligence officer in Jakarta: facial tattoos. The only problem, of course, is that the chief — who received his information via text message — had been lied to, and he passed along some dreadfully poor instructions:

The official, who said it was a job requirement to have their faces tattooed with dragons, was later discovered to be a hoaxer — but not before Nanang, 30, and Bambang, 40, had already undergone the painful and disfiguring procedure.

The three men believe the anonymous trickster was a kind of “mystic”, as they didn’t feel in control of their actions when following his strange instructions.

“I was half conscious when the shop owner tattooed my face, and didn’t think it was a con,” victim Bambang said.

“I just realized it was a con on Friday night. I was shocked and I cried.”

A horrified Sawiyono realised he had been tricked when double-checking the bizarre request with a legitimate government representative.

Yikes. And somehow, this is the third hoax of its kind to go down recently in Jakarta. On the plus side, though? EPIC BURN. Eh? Am I right, fellas? Ashton Kutcher is seething with envy right now. (I’m just kidding, this is horrible.)

Fooled job seekers stuck with facial tattoos [National Nine News]

Comments

57 responses to “The Funniest Practical Joke of All Time”

  1. Freg Avatar
    Freg

    Oh my.

  2. Christian Avatar
    Christian

    why people believe such nonsense is beyond me. to work in the government you need tattoos?! What lunacy.

  3. Seb Avatar
    Seb

    Well, I think that they faced the music well. I mean faced with a situation like this, you have two options; face your fears (and face the trickster face to face), or just take the whole experience at face value. Faced with such a hard situation, I can’t say I would face up to it in such a calm manner…

  4. Smurf666 Avatar
    Smurf666

    They were told they would be Intelligence Officers. Brilliant!

    This story can’t be true though. Surely?

  5. DS Avatar
    DS

    They are Idiots.

  6. Stephanie Avatar
    Stephanie

    HAHA at Seb!

  7. Mike Avatar

    what a fucking arsehole.this only prooves yet again the sadistic stupidity that can be contrived in the human race.To obtain a joy from this sort of malvoiance and tricker…well,all I can say is that it has yet again cuased me to loose faith in the human race

  8. opfa Avatar

    Natural selection… if you are moron enough to do all the first say, you deserve things like that.

    – jump and you will fly like a bird
    – really? woa, coool

  9. t Avatar
    t

    damn i wish i was named Bambang 🙂

  10. Elaineoo Avatar

    seriously? If it is true why would you undergo something like that just for a job…

  11. Nikki Avatar

    opfa; Exactly.

  12. resonanteye Avatar

    I’d give them the job. They look pretty damn imposing now.

    (I’m assuming that “intelligence officer” is some kind of code word for “cop”)

  13. Name Avatar
    Name

    What’s up with the guy on the right? Is it just really bad tattoo work?

  14. Amy Avatar
    Amy

    Maybe if they were told the requirement was to get ‘idiot’ on their bums or something it would be a bit funnier. But full facial tattoos?! Harsh. And obviously extremely stupid of them for doing it based on one mysterious text. Duh.

  15. opfa Avatar

    mouhahaha didnt notice the “intelligence” office

    even more fun…

  16. alex Avatar

    why wouldn’t you double-check the request before getting the life-changing facial tattoo? at least the first one is decent. the second one looks like…a burn accident. oh no.

  17. laura Avatar
    laura

    I hope they get the jobs to make up for it.

  18. sazmatazz Avatar
    sazmatazz

    deary me.

  19. kyl Avatar
    kyl

    the one on the left looks pretty sweet.

  20. Menasor Avatar
    Menasor

    i reckons the whole intelligence officer part of it might have run along hte lines of “we need to get you into that gang. but you dont look like a gang member” coulda been something like that

  21. Thaki Avatar
    Thaki

    First off, its horrible that this happened to these guys.

    However… if you are applying for the job of ‘intelligence’ officer, I would expect that you’re at least versed in verifying information to make sure its true before making critical decisions.

  22. DOOM APE Avatar
    DOOM APE

    i would have just settled for a different career choice…

  23. Stessa Avatar

    Ughhh this is absolutely awful…
    However, why would anyone just believe this?
    Naturally, the intelligent thing to do would to research something before they believe-or do- it.
    I mean, it IS still sad– but could definitely have been prevented…

  24. Candice Avatar
    Candice

    well.. did they get the jobs?

  25. Cucuy Avatar
    Cucuy

    They still haven’t learned their lesson. The one on the right is using a tattoo removal cream, no? Those things don’t work. He should have checked it out before buying it. 😉

  26. Jake Avatar
    Jake

    nanang’s face in that picture (he’s on the right, correct?) reminds me of corey taylor of slipknot’s mask from a few albums ago.
    i think its just the creamy stuff, though.

  27. Mattie Avatar

    I think the best part of this whole incident is the fact that instead of admitting they were conned and are idiots for falling for it, they’re going to blame it on the “mystic” mojo of the hoaxster.

    I was under a spell when I had this done! I didn’t just make a poor choice judgement!

    Ugh.

  28. alouicious Avatar
    alouicious

    wow, i think i would have double or triple-checked before i went through with such a radical and bizarre job requirement… i’m not sure if i feel bad for them or not….

  29. Dom Avatar
    Dom

    hey i mean as stupid as these people are for getting their faces tatted off a random text, it just goes to show you that there are places where people are really suffering, they would do anything for the job, maybe they had families they need to provide for. haha explaining this one to the kids is gonna be funny. but hey shit sucks, maybe if they finish the tats and get them done proper and pick up some sword swallowing tricks they can go work for the coney island side show, i dont think english is a requirement!

  30. lost raevyn Avatar

    That’s a drag.

  31. kevin Avatar
    kevin

    heh.

  32. kiff Avatar
    kiff

    pretty sure the dude on the right has a flesh eating virus…

  33. E-Rich Avatar
    E-Rich

    It reads like a horrible chain letter with a completely fictional story and unrelated pictures attached…

  34. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    Poor fellows 🙁

  35. oppositronic Avatar
    oppositronic

    i thought you people were all wiccan or something? nobody thinks that some guy going around successfully tricking people into tattooing dragons on their faces might be pulling some “black magic” shit? i guess not, maybe i am more open minded because i have never seen anything to prove that this kind of manipulation definitely does not exist and there is a lot of stuff that science still can’t explain. anyway it sounds like a little bit more than just a “poor choice” to me, i don’t blame these guys (victims)

  36. HereKittyKitty Avatar
    HereKittyKitty

    If they live in a society that accepts mystics and magic, as well as being desperate for work…yeah, it can happen. (In Africa some men believe that having sex with a virgin will magically cure their AIDS.)
    In Indonesia belief in black magic is widespread in rural areas.
    You think you’re under a spell and you might as well be.

  37. Caitlin Avatar

    @ HereKittyKitty
    wtf? obscure reference to completely different continent/mindset/incident = belief in magic?

    Jakarta’s not rural, either.

  38. Mikie Ears Avatar
    Mikie Ears

    Where the hell did they go to get these done, they look disgusting. Especially the guy on the right.

    What idiots.

    Also, why would you tattoo your face for a job. What if you got fired? What if your “dragon face” wasn’t scary enough.

    Whoever sent that text message is awesome. Best facial ever

  39. Aiglos Avatar
    Aiglos

    Hopefully those tattoo’s will turn all the women they meet off and they won’t be able to breed.

    Idiocy.

  40. T Avatar
    T

    Hey i’m living in Jakarta at the moment actually ….and seeing this … really doesn’t surprise me at all. Jakarta isn’t rural, but it is overpopulated as HELL and there are a shitload of homeless people stuck on the streets, without a single miniscule help from the goverment. Jobs are still scarce and people are still very desperate to make a living no matter how metropolitan Jakarta may seem on the outside.
    Anyway,
    i find it quite sad but hilarious at the same time because i understand what went on in their minds.
    Poor guys. It’s tough too because as soon as ur tattooed here, you’re judged for life. Unless you’re an artist or a musician.

  41. mephy Avatar
    mephy

    i thought belief in “black magic” was widespread in Indonesia, some of it similar to Shamanic ritual in North America. isn’t there a practice called Pencak Silat that teaches martial arts as a form of meditation, leading to trance? and shit?

    or did i dream that?

  42. JustJen Avatar

    I second Opfa’s natural selection observation…

  43. Abigail Avatar
    Abigail

    It’s odd that people make such a mockery of these men for believing in magick, when the bible is widely accepted in the western world, and that book is full of stuff that makes us suspend belief. There is so much crap in the bible, which Christians strongly believe in, I don’t see anyone here mocking them.

  44. SidSkid Avatar

    I think the tats are nice, sad story if its true, and sad to yet again see the amount of vitriol thrown at them by members of a supposedly open minded mod community… The commenters’ in these forums are starting to sound more and more right wing conservative every day…

  45. Casey Avatar
    Casey

    Abigail – I’m guessing the people here would mock those people too if given the chance. This has become the “judge people with facial tattoos” blog anyways.

  46. resonanteye Avatar

    sidskid&casey-

    when people are afraid in their daily lilfe they tend to become more xenophobic. it’s just a sign of the times.

  47. Mud Avatar

    definitely nominees for the darwin awards…

  48. Gem Avatar
    Gem

    Mmm, Darwinism….

  49. Squig Avatar

    more like unintelligence officers…

  50. Emily Avatar
    Emily

    If you were so desperate to survive that you got unwanted tattoos I don’t see how that is darwinism… They aren’t going to die from getting them.
    Give the guys a break.

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