Beano Superstars: Hari Chandra

Meet Beanotown’s premier purveyor of pranks!

I run Har-Har’s Joke Shop with some help from my children, Harsha, Heena and Hani. I say help, but they seem to be more interested in playing with the products and planning pranks! I don’t mind – I love practical jokes and believe that a family that pranks together, stays together.

A life without pranks and jokes seems pretty boring to me, and speaking of which, I’m not exactly on good terms with Wilbur Brown, the Beanotown Mayor. He doesn’t like the joke shop and don’t think he’s ever laughed at a practical joke – ever. How boring is that!

My wife Sahana is the sensible one. There needs to be someone sensible in each family, otherwise our lives would be total chaos. Can you imagine living in a house where there’s pranks being pulled 24 hours a day? Sure, it might seem fun, but it would get tiring and you need to rest (to do more pranks later). Sahana’s kept busy keeping us in line, while working in an office at the local paperclip factory. To relax, she practices yoga and even runs a yoga class at the scout hut in Beanotown. She gets all the good gossip on what’s happening in town.

That’s not to say my wife doesn’t love pranking as much as the rest of us. Far from it. She doesn’t play practical jokes as much as us, but when she does, it’s worth the wait. It always catches us completely off guard!

I love the joke shop. I know everyone who lives in Beanotown and many pop into the shop, whether it’s for prank supplies or just a chat. One of the things I love doing the most is thinking of new ways to attract customers into the shop and converting them into a prank fan. That’s one of the best feelings in the world.

Right, could I interest you in this toffee apple that definitely doesn’t smell of onion?