Howie Mandel: The School Prank So Big It Needed A Construction Crew

Howie Mandel already has a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, and another one in Canada’s version of it in Toronto. But something from his past is the sort of story that deserves a plaque. Somewhere. So, apart from being famous for voicing Gizmo in Gremlins, and a talent judge, we chose him for our series of interesting famous personalities. Read on for more details.

An Epic Prank

Howie Mandel’s dad worked in various projects, including real estate. Perhaps the old man rubbed off on Howie. Per Hello! Magazine in 2021, Howie revealed a school prank during a podcast with Jeff Dunham. 

He attended William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute, and the young man clearly outsurpassed most students when it came to mischief.

Kids who get ditched by schools often rack up offenses like bullying, truancy, and other disciplinary problems. 

However, the America’s Got Talent judge apparently went: “I shall impersonate a school official and commission a building project.”

The Plot

At the time of telling the tale, Howie Mandel said that he learned some lessons: “Authenticity works, not only in my career but like, if you don’t try too hard, people don’t smell you trying too hard, right.”

Anyway, he decided to call up some construction folks about needing an extension to a “library,” and that it would extend into a field. Then he sat back and waited.

The mischief of the prank blew back, mainly because he used his own name in the call. Howie Mandel said he shared the secret with nobody. Why? Well, he said, “I didn’t even tell a friend – I didn’t have a friend.”

That sounds rather sad now. But you have to wonder how many other kids would have flocked to his side in the planning of it. If they knew about it.

Howie didn’t hear the conversation between the contractor and the vice principal on the field. 

Still, we can easily imagine it. Interestingly, the construction guy wasn’t personally known to Howie or his real estate dad. Instead, he randomly selected him out of “the Yellow Pages.”

While Howie said he giggled as the scene played out on the field, personally, I giggle because of the sheer scale of the prank. The ambition. Who hasn’t been there before? A dreary afternoon of double math while there’s blue sky outside and fun to be had.

More School Expulsions 

Certainly, it seems that Howie Mandel took things to the next level by deciding he’d liven up the math class by arranging a huge addition to the school. It didn’t take long for the call to come for him to report to the office for what probably turned out to be the last time.

Notably, that wasn’t the only expulsion for the comedian who touches many hearts with his shows today. The LA Times reminded readers that Howie, along with Tom Arnold, Bill Cosby, Burt Reynolds, and more appeared on ABC’s “Class Clowns.” The message: Stay in school.

Oh, the marvelous irony. Especially as Howie revisited Northview High in Toronto. He was expelled from there too. Then he ended up getting ditched by another school as well.

Along the way, for fun, he ran afoul of school officials for “throwing a chocolate bar in the pool.”

Chatting with Craig Ferguson on Houston Matters about seven years ago, he wryly noted that “Everything I’ve been punished for, expelled for, hit for is what I get paid for today.”

And that is simply golden.

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