Middle-aged misery: Practical jokes aren't funny if you're over 40

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Practical jokes that make us chuckle through childhood apparently have a sell-by date.

The kind of mischief Jeremy Beadle and Matthew Kelly got up to in Game For A Laugh keeps us amused through our 20s and 30s.

But by the age of 41 we no longer think pranks are funny, according to research.

Today's jokers, such as Ant and Dec and Dom Joly, couldn't raise a smile among the forty-somethings who were quizzed by the cat food firm Felix, which is launching National Mischief Month on April Fools' Day.

Its poll of 1,700 adults found the average age when people start to find practical jokes and hoaxes less amusing is 41.

Younger adults still appreciate this kind of humour, tuning in to shows such as MTV's Punk'd in which Hollywood star Ashton Kutcher plays large-scale hoaxes on celebrity friends.

Among the younger generation, 44 per cent think it hilarious to write or draw on someone's face while they are sleeping while a similar number have sent a risque text or email from another person's PC or phone while their back was turned.

The survey found that while 54 per cent of males like to play practical jokes only 39 per cent of females think they are funny.