Zug.com
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zug (or ZUG) is a comedy website that was founded in 1995 by John Hargrave and Genevieve Martineau.
The website, which erroneously bills itself as "the world's only comedy site," began as a webzine, but Zug expanded from that format in 1998 with the addition of a threaded message board, later named GAB, which has become one of the most popular features of ZUG.
One of the main features of the site is the extensive prank archive. The most famous pranks include: The Turnpike Prank, in which Hargrave experimented with using various different items to pay toll fees, The Viagra Prank, where attempts were made to purchase Viagra online and attend church while using the drug, The All-Natural Prank, a strange prank in which Hargrave ate different "all-natural" soaps, and The Credit Card Prank, where Hargrave "signs" for his credit card in wacky ways to see if someone would notice.
The website www.ashtonhacked.com (Ashton Kutcher Prank) was another such prank. It has become one of the most well known pranks performed by Zug.
In a recent prank, ZUG faked the appearance of Michael Jackson in Boston, getting a man in costume into an exclusive charity event. The incident ended up on the covers of several newspapers.
From 1999 to 2001, ZUG took a backseat to Computer Stew, a daily comedy Web show produced, written, and directed by Hargrave and cohorts Jay Stevens, Al Natanagara, and Moses Blumensteil for ZDNet. The message board later to be rechristened GAB existed during this period as a discussion forum for Computer Stew.
John Hargrave is currently working on a book that will contain both original pranks and classic ZUG pranks.
