He's Got Pranking Down to a Science

Is it a stretch to call One Direction everyone’s favorite British import this decade? Fine, I admit that maybe it is, but they certainly rank along with Downton Abbey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Doctor Who, and Kate Middleton hair envy. Just think about the many gifts the boys have brought us! Remember the summer of "What Makes You Beautiful?" Or even how they simply revitalized the boy band genre, ensuring that the present tween generation would have a group to lust after? Or what about Harry Styles' brooding looks? There was also their brilliant movie, (sadly ignored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) One Direction: This Is Us, which was surprisingly poignant and heartfelt as well as funny and sincere. More importantly, One Direction, or X-Factor, or Mrs. Horan if you want to be super technical about it, brought us Niall Horan and his pranks.

While Horan (aka the funny one) has so many great qualities that make him my favorite — the way he speaks, how he looks when he plays guitar, how he makes me laugh during his interviews… Oh, I should stop now. The reason he's hands down my favorite because he's the best when the band pulls pranks.

I see it as their way of making fans (who are usually a huge group of scary screaming girls) feel special. It would be hard to connect with hoards of them at once, so with pranks, at least they can come away with a fun memory. Here are some of the band's best pranks, starring Niall Horan.

The Free Hugs Prank

For the video interlude during their concert, the band decided to go covert and meet people on the street in disguise and, of course, my favorite prank was Horan's free hug guy. He stood on a street offering free hugs — an interesting choice because people would obviously look at him, then feel slightly weird making contact with a stranger. If this happened to me, once I found out it was Horan hiding under there, I would definitely feel like a sucker.

Wax Museum Prank

Horan and the rest of the lads pretended to be wax figures at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. It's all set up to be a great prank, but then again, as a person horrified of wax figures, it's actually pretty awful. I think I would cry rather than be excited that they were really humans pulling an elaborate joke.

The Concert Security Guard Prank

If you haven't fallen for Horan yet, then you will after watching this prank where he disguises himself as a concert security guard and starts asking fans questions about the band, slamming their music, and saying generally bad things about his mates. The best line is when someone asks about his favorite member and he replies with a confused, "Um, Darren?" Yeah, Darren's my favorite too.

The Prank Niall Wasn't A Part Of

Horan's not the only prankster in the band. Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson decided to pull one on the others and hired an actress to play a pregnant producer as they shot a spot for Nickelodeon. My guess is that Horan — prank and funny man extraordinaire that he is — was onto the scheme, which is why he didn't seem to panic as much. Right, Niall?

Yeah, he's fine.

Image: Alejandra/tumblr