All in good fun? No way

The high jinks in ‘ Natural Born Pranksters’ display a mean- spiritedness.

It’s appropriate that the “Natural Born Pranksters” take their name from the f ilm “Natural Born Killers,” because this group of YouTube stars just murdered prank- based humor. RIP pranks.

In borrowing the model of “Jackass” and “Punk’d,” this “film” lacks the essential DNA of what made those shows appealing. “Jackass” was powered by the charisma of its stars ( there’s none of that to be found in “Natural Born Pranksters”), who led with their endearing, good- natured masochism.

The “Jackass” guys always made themselves the butt of the joke, the recipients of the worst abuse. These pranksters — Roman Atwood, Dennis Roady and Vitaly Zdorovetskiy — aren’t nearly so generous, and their sadistic stunts display a deep mean- spirited streak, resulting in racist, sexist and homophobic harassment.

What made “Punk’d” work was that it never “punched down” — targeting public f igures instead of unsuspecting civilians. These aren’t lighthearted pranks, either. The f irst prank? Sexual harassment. The second? Theft. The third involves setting up a young black woman to be violently arrested during a fake robbery. Ha, ha.

There’s a nod to the legal boundaries that they test with a short news clip about one of the pranksters being arrested for possessing a hoax bomb, but there’s no exploration or interrogation about the way that they continually cross the line of social order. It’s just a litany of hateful abuse and harassment. The worst infraction? How criminally unfunny they are. These viral stars are better off leaving the pranking to the pros.