The gifts that make the whole room laugh — for Secret Santa, office parties, trolling your best friend, or rewarding someone who has a sense of humor about themselves.
A forgettable gag gift is cheap in both senses of the word — it costs $5 and produces a polite laugh before disappearing into a junk drawer. A good gag gift costs a little more and produces a real story. The prank box that fools someone completely, the inflatable costume that gets worn to a party, the humor book that gets passed around — these stay in circulation.
We've included eight options across a wide range: $10 prank boxes all the way to $50 inflatable costumes. Not everything here is appropriate for every context — we flag which ones are office-safe, which need a specific crowd, and which ones are only for people with very close relationships and no fragile egos.
Verified Amazon listings. Context notes on each so you pick the right one for your crowd.
An empty gift box printed to look convincingly like a consumer product for "flatulence filtration." You put any real gift inside — cash, a gift card, an Amazon item — and hand the recipient a box for something that can't possibly exist. The initial horror on their face, followed by the relief when they find the real gift, is the gift. Under $12, reusable, and works in any gifting context where the recipient has a sense of humor. Office-safe if your office is mildly mature.
Four different prank boxes in one set, each printed to look like a different absurdly real consumer product — a Nap Sack sleeping hood, an air freshener for your car's "passenger smell," and others. Each box is convincingly packaged. Use one this season and save the rest, or gift the whole set to someone who will appreciate having ammunition for four future events. Best value in the prank box category at under $30 for four.
The original remote-controlled fart machine with boom box technology — 15 realistic sounds, 100-foot wireless range, small enough to hide under a couch cushion or inside a bag. The person next to the hidden device has no idea where the sound is coming from. You trigger it from across the room. This is exactly what it sounds like and exactly what you're picturing, and the right crowd will laugh until they cry. Battery included. Not office-safe. Extremely effective at parties.
A lanyard-mounted plastic pouch sized exactly for one slice of pizza. You wear it around your neck. The pizza stays warm longer than in a box. This is the most objectively absurd item on this list — and yet it keeps accumulating verified reviews from people who genuinely use it. At parties, events, and anywhere food is served buffet-style. The gift is appropriate for the specific type of person who thinks it's hilarious and then immediately wears it. You know who that is.
A New York Times bestselling humor book by Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal) packed with cat comics, behavioral analysis, and paranoid theories about feline motivation. For cat owners this is a perfect gift — it's hilarious, recognizable, and every person who sees it on the coffee table picks it up and reads a section. Under $15, ships immediately, and is appropriate for literally every cat household. Universally office-safe and broadly funny.
A full-body inflatable suit where you appear to be riding a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Battery-powered fan keeps it inflated. Fits adults 5'7"–6'1". The costume is the gag gift in the sense that when someone gets this, they wear it to the next event — Halloween, a birthday party, a random Tuesday — and everyone's evening is better because of it. Under $55 and generates the best photos of any item on this list. Best for someone with a big personality.
A full-body inflatable jumpsuit that turns you into a raptor — detailed scaly texture, realistic coloring, battery-powered fan. Unlike the riding T-Rex which places you on top of the dinosaur, this one turns you into the dinosaur entirely. Fits a wider range of adult sizes than most inflatable costumes. A different visual gag than the riding version — for the person who would rather be the predator than the rider.
A convincingly packaged box for a "Nap Sack" — a wearable sleep hood for blocking out light and sound anywhere you fall asleep. The product doesn't exist. You put a real gift inside and hand this to someone. The joke is funnier if the recipient is a known overthinker or a light sleeper who you'd plausibly give a sleep aid to — their expression of "wait, is this serious?" is the whole performance.
For office exchanges: the prank boxes, the cat book, and the pizza pouch are all appropriate. The fart machine is not — even if you think your office is cool with it, one person will be uncomfortable and you'll know it immediately. When in doubt, go prank box: it's visual humor that isn't targeted at anyone and works for the full range of office personalities.
For close friends: all eight options are on the table. The costume gags (T-Rex, raptor) are the most memorable options in this context — they become the story from that event for years. The fart machine works for people who will immediately understand the spirit of the thing. The pizza pouch is for exactly one specific type of person in every friend group and you know who that is.
The best gag gifts generate three reactions: the initial confusion (what is this?), the payoff (the real joke reveals itself), and the aftermath (the story is repeated). The prank boxes have all three stages. The costume gags have the payoff immediately and the aftermath at every event where the costume comes out. A single flat laugh with no aftermath is a forgettable gag gift.