Ray, Winston, Peter, and Slimer are eating sandwiches Egon made, but balk when he reveals that they're made to provide nutrients lost through sweat, seeing this as the sandwiches being "made of synthetic sweat". A mailman enters and has a letter for Ray, which reveals that his uncle, Gaylord, has died and left him his joke shop.
Ray and Slimer go to the joke shop and try out some of the prank equipment, then they discover a secret compartment full of more pranks called "Gaylord's Hall of Humour". However, Ray then opens a box, out of which two little creatures emerge and follow them home in the car. Back at the firehouse, Ray and Slimer prank Janine with a whoopee cushion, and Peter (in a group photo) with a pie in the face (with the two creatures from the box watching), which makes everyone else angry.
Just as they're about to give Ray and Slimer what-for, a call comes in. They arrive at a bakery, which appears to be being attacked by a giant frog, only for it to turn out to be a giant water balloon. Egon reads a label on the balloon, which reads, "Gaylord's Joke Shop", making the non-Ray Ghostbusters angry at Ray again.
Ray and Slimer decide that to avoid further accusations, they will return the joke props back to the shop, then they notice the trap door to the Hall of Humour is open. They follow some glittery stuff down the entrance and find the box. Then, Slimer realises that the box is home to those two creatures, who are revealed to be imps. Ray calls Janine and tries to tell her about the imps, but they have a call near the Twin Towers.
There, the imps, now bigger, throw a girder at the Ghostbusters (except Ray, who hasn't arrived yet), but they duck out of the way. Then, Ray and Slimer arrive as the others are getting into an elevator. They warn the others not to ride the elevator, but the others can't hear them and assume Ray is just trying to tell them a joke. The imps break the rope, making the elevator fall, but luckily they blast the motor of the elevator, making it stop before they hit the ground.
At home, Ray explains about the imps, and Egon reveals a type of goggles called "ecto-visors", that will allow them to locate them. Then, another call comes in, relating to the imps at the waterfront. There, they shoot at them, only to find that imps are immune to proton streams. Then, Ray makes a plan: they lure the imps back to the joke shop, then Ray drenches them in water and Slimer pies them in the face, angering them, then when the imps storm towards them, Ray and Slimer put them back in their box, which everyone throws into the trap. Ray then decides that there will be no more jokes... until everyone else pranks him with a whoopee cushion and Groucho glasses.
This episode provides examples of
- Always Chaotic Evil: According to Egon's book, all imps are evil.
- Anthropomorphic Food: The logo of the bakery is a running pastry.
- Ate It All: Invoked when Ray, Peter, and Winston feed all their sandwiches to Slimer, not wanting them because of the sweat association.
- Batman Gambit: Ray and Slimer prank the imps, so they'll get angry and run towards them, allowing them to put them in their box.
- Beware the Silly Ones: The imps look rather harmless at first and just seem to enjoy a good joke, but they quickly prove to have a dangerous streak and a love of life-threatening pranks. After a couple go-arounds, they don't look harmless anymore.
- Big Bad Duumvirate: The two main villains of this episode are a pair of imps.
- Big "NO!": Slimer yells, "NO!" when the elevator falls.
- Chubby Chef: One of the bakers at the bakery is a large lady.
- Conforming OOC Moment: At the end, Winston, Peter, and even Egon prank Ray.
- Covered in Gunge: When Peter is hit in the face with a pie, he gets pie all over himself, as do Winston and Egon who were next to him.
- Dagwood Sandwich: The sandwich Slimer eats at the beginning is several stacks high.
- Deadly Prank: One of the imps' ideas of a prank is to send the Ghostbusters (except Ray) falling to their deaths in an elevator.
- Death Glare: After the pie prank, Egon glares at Ray and Slimer.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?: Exploited when Ray deliberately angers the imps by saying, "What's the matter? Can't you take a joke?".
- Distressed Dude: Peter, Egon, and Winston almost fall to their deaths when the imps send the elevator falling.
- Dramatic Irony: When Ray and Slimer try to warn the other Ghostbusters against riding the elevator, the others think Ray is just telling a lame joke.
- The Dreaded: After realizing they're dealing with imps, Slimer goes into a complete panic. All the research indicates imps are known for causing trouble and becoming too powerful to stop.
- Elevator Failure: Invoked when the imps break the cord of the elevator.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Ray when realizing they need the black box from the joke shop to trap the imps.
- Evil Laugh: The imps' laughter sounds more menacing in their final forms.
- Evil Makes You Ugly: The imps start out looking somewhat cute and harmless, but the more they cause trouble, the more fearsome they end up looking.
- Goggles Do Something Unusual: The "ecto-visors" are goggles made to spot imps.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The imps are pranksters, but are defeated by being angered with pranks.
- The Hyena: The imps are often heard laughing.
- Hypocrite: The imps enjoy pranking others, but they're snarling mad when Ray and Slimer prank them.
- I Ate WHAT?!: When Egon reveals that the sandwiches are made to provide the nutrients lost in sweat, the other Ghostbusters are put off them, thinking this means they're made of "synthetic sweat".note
- I Can't Hear You: Peter, Egon, and Winston can't hear Ray and Slimer warning them not to use the elevator.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: At the end, Ray says that they're all too mature for jokes... only for Peter, Egon, and Winston to prank him.
- It Amused Me: The imps do their evil acts just to make themselves laugh.
- Joke of the Butt: When the imps are first released, they bump butts.
- Laughably Evil: The imps are fun-loving pranksters, but they're also willing to have people killed for their own amusement.
- Little "No": Ray, upon learning the others are out on another call.
- Love Doodles: Janine repeatedly writes on her computer, "Egon [heart] Janine".
- Manchild: Ray is all in on some pranking fun at the firehouse.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ray forcing the black box open causes the imps to get loose.
- No-Sell: The imps are immune to proton streams.
- Not Me This Time: Ray and Slimer pull some pranks at the firehouse, only to insist they had nothing to do with the balloon stunt at the bakery.
- Not So Above It All: Even Egon joins in on the prank at the end.
- Ocular Gushers: When Slimer cries over Gaylord (despite them never having met), his tears spray out like a hose.
- Only One Who Likes Spam: Played with. Ray, Winston, and Peter like the sandwiches at first, but when they learn that they contain the nutrients lost in sweat, only Slimer still wants to eat them.
- Pie in the Face:
- One exhibit in Gaylord's Hall of Humour is an Egyptian puppet pieing another one in the face.
- Ray pranks Peter with a pie in the face.
- At the bakery, a pie lands in Peter's face.
- One of the ways Ray and Slimer anger the imps is to pie them in the face.
- The Prankster: The imps prank the Ghostbusters with their giant water balloon and the falling elevator.
- The Pratfall: At one point, Ray slips on something and falls on his rear.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The imps have red eyes.
- Scary Teeth: In their full-sized forms, the imps have pointy, jagged teeth.
- Speak in Unison: When Egon reads the label on the frog balloon, Peter and Winston echo him in unison.
- Tempting Fate:
- When trying to open the black box, Ray remarks, "No telling what'll pop out." He doesn't know the half of it.
- After getting the imps back in the black box, Ray asserts they're not going anywhere. Then the imps prove to be too strong for the box alone to keep them contained.
- Water Guns and Balloons: The imps set up a giant, frog-shaped water balloon at a bakery.
- What Does This Button Do?: In the joke shop, Ray curiously presses a button, finding out that it opens a trap door.
- Whoopee Cushion: Happens three times:
- First, Ray tests a whoopee cushion at the joke shop.
- Then, he and Slimer prank Janine with a whoopee cushion.
- Finally, Peter, Egon, and Winston prank Ray with a whoopee cushion.
