So 'making a monkey out of someone' is not a nice thing to do.

捉弄人并不是好事。

You may " make a monkey out of" someone when you make that person look foolish.Some people " make a monkey out of" themselves by acting foolish or silly.

你可能会make a monkey out of(戏弄)了某人，让别人看起来很傻。有的人做些可笑的傻事把自己给愚弄了。