Prank of a jerk (5)
I believe the answer is:
antic
'prank' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'a jerk' is the wordplay.
'a' becomes 'an'.
'jerk' becomes 'tic' (I've seen this before).
'an'+'tic'='ANTIC'
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for antic that I've seen before include "seen to be bizarre, at one time" , "Frolic" , "Ludicrous act done for fun" , "Mad act done for fun" , "Absurd act" .)