I prepared a pot of boiling water and dumped in the noodles. Yes! The super-foamy spaghetti worked beautifully!

It was much more subtle than I expected. Big bubbles don't survive in hot water, so it isn't like a washing machine exploding. The soap creates tiny, tiny bubbles.. like a foam.

Once the soap was off the pasta and in the water, it was impossible to stop the pot from boiling over without completely shutting off the heat!

It wasn't obvious that soap was involved.

Next, I moved onto mostaccioli noodles. Eric suggested that they might be perfect because of their tube shape.

But it was going to take a lot of work. I pumped a little hand soap into about 300 noodles.

The first tray of soapy pasta is ready for drying.

These noodles didn't warp, but they did get slighly distended. Odd-looking noodles could be completely hidden in the pasta box. I just had to make sure that the best looking ones were positioned in front of the little cello window.

The pasta had expanded so much that I couldn't fit it all back into the box. This was perfect. I could use the leftover pasta for a quick test.

I brought a pot to a rolling boil.

And threw in the pasta.

It worked! With just a few dozen pieces, there was enough soap to cause unstoppable foamover in less than a minute!

I couldn't wait to see someone try to boil a box full!

Unfortunately, we'll both have to wait. Right now the box is hiding in Rob Berry's kitchen pantry.

Warning/Conclusion: This prank is not ready for actual use. The pasta undoubtedly tastes awful, but someone might still eat it and get sick. Further research is needed.

Update! Please read page 3 of the "How to Make Pasta Prank".

For other (slightly more refined) prank how-tos, check out John Hargrave's new book, the Mischief Maker's Manual.