Joey Skaggs

Joey Skaggs
Born	1945 (age 78–79) United States
Other names	Kim Yung Soo, Joe Bones, Joseph Bonuso, Giuseppe Scaggoli, Peppe Scaggoli, Dr. Josef Gregor, Joseph Virgil Skaggs, Dr. Richard J. Long, Dr. Joseph Schlafer, Dr. Joseph Chenango, Baba Wa Simba, Joseph Bucks, Jojo the Gypsy, Joseph Howard, Joseph Adore, Joseph Sullivan, and the Rev. Anthony Joseph.
Education	High School of Art and Design School of Visual Arts (BFA)
Occupation(s)	Artist, writer, teacher
Website	https://joeyskaggs.com/

Joey Skaggs (born 1945) is an American multi-media artist, activist, satirist, educator and prankster whose work has been widely exhibited, disseminated and discussed internationally. Skaggs pioneered the use of the media as his artistic medium and is one of the originators of the phenomenon known as culture jamming. In a career spanning six decades, he has produced scores of works, including paintings, sculptures, guerrilla theater, performance art, socially revealing hoaxes, media pranks, and films. He is a graduate of New York's High School of Art & Design and received his BFA from the School of Visual Arts where he also taught Media Communications for many years in addition to teaching at Parsons School of Design. He speaks internationally on divergent approaches to address social issues through art.

Artistic career

Joey Skaggs’ art has a history of challenging and disrupting the status quo, examples of his notorious work include the Crucifixion, Cat House for Dogs, Solomon Project, and Metamorphosis. Fostering social change, cultural understanding, and individual empowerment are key elements of his activism through art. His work employs guerrilla theater and public relations strategies for social critique, continuing the legacy of theatrical satire with modern communication tools, all while adhering to the law and ethical practices.

Skaggs’ projects are meant to reveal the susceptibility to hype, hypocrisy, and misinformation and highlight the public’s vulnerability to media manipulation by corporate conglomerates that prioritize profits over integrity. His art underscores the dangers of power misuse, conflicts of interest, and the blurring of entertainment and news.

In interviews and on his website, Skaggs advocates for media literacy, critical analysis, questioning authority, using multiple information sources, and challenging preconceptions.

According to Skaggs’ website, his artistic process frequently unfolds in stages he calls the hook, the line, and the sinker. First he crafts an absurd premise through press releases, brochures and/or staging an event or theatrical fabrication with actors and props, leaving obvious clues. Then he documents the hoax’s impact, recording media and public reactions, and tracking the narrative’s evolution. Finally, he unveils the truth, points out media irresponsibility, and begins a discussion about the underlying issues.

Films

Pandora’s Hope Movie (2012-2013)

• In 2012, director Andrea Marini set out to create Art of the Prank, a documentary exploring Joey Skaggs' career. Skaggs opened his extensive media archive for Marini, who aimed to infuse a contemporary narrative despite Skaggs warning about the unpredictable nature of hoaxes. Skaggs proposed he would produce a faux documentary called Pandora’s Hope tackling real ethical issues of genetic modification, but with a twist—an embedded hoax. Filmed on Kauai in Hawaii under Skaggs' alias Joe Howard, the film starred Kit Farrell as a journalist investigating the island’s hidden facets, from high-tech defenses to controversial GMO research. Despite its potential exposure, Pandora’s Hope was celebrated at various film festivals as a legitimate documentary between 2013 and 2015, revealing once more how audiences can be swayed by misinformation when critical analysis falters.

In 2017, "Art of the Prank", Andrea Marini's award-winning feature documentary about artist Joey Skaggs, was released internationally on television and streaming platforms.

In 2020, production began on a series of short oral history documentaries featuring Skaggs and materials from his archive titled, “Joey Skaggs Satire and Art Activism, 1960s to the Present and Beyond”. The films are screening in international film festivals and will be available to the public at some point.

Select Works

Crucifixion (1966-1969)

• On Easter Sunday, 1966, Joey Skaggs carried his life-size sculptural depiction of a naked and decayed Jesus Christ on a cross to Hoving’s Hill in Tompkins Square Park on the Lower East Side in New York City. When he erected it, onlookers attacked and partially destroyed it. After repairing the sculpture, he continued to both exhibit it and bring it to public protests for three more years. It was featured in the 1967 New York University exhibition, Angry Artists: Artists Against the War in Vietnam, and became a center piece in the 1967 and 1968 Be-ins in Central Park. In 1969, anticipating further damage, he built a duplicate sculpture and dragged it through the Easter Parade up to the doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral (Midtown Manhattan) on 5th Avenue, where the church closed its doors, denying entry. A brigade of police then dragged him away. According to Skaggs, the piece represented the hypocrisy of the Church and man’s inhumanity to man.

Hippie Bus Tour to Queens (1968)

• In September, 1968, Joey Skaggs, who lived in the East Village in New York, grew weary of the hordes of camera-toting tourists cruising the streets on tour buses gawking at the freaks. He decided to reverse the situation and take a bus load of 60 bearded, beaded, camera-toting hippies out to suburbia. It was an ironic reversal he called his “cultural exchange tour”. Howard Smith, writer for the Village Voice Scenes column, announced the event and Skaggs’ was immediately visited by an undercover detective asking to buy a ticket for his daughter. Skaggs told him the tour was free, but the detective kept pushing a five-dollar bill into his hands. As soon as Skaggs took the money, the detective identified himself and busted Skaggs for running an unlicensed tour business. When Skaggs proposed to reveal to the media what had just happened, he was informed he could take a tour-guide exam and get a temporary license. When he failed the test and said he would do the tour anyway, the licensing agency suggested he hire a tour operator. So, Skaggs hired tour guide Bob Lake for $25 for the day. The bus tour started at St. Marks Place and 2nd Avenue in front of Gem Spa, a local candy shop and news stand. Skaggs invited friends to come, including author and publisher of the Realist, Paul Krassner, and the Group Image rock and roll band. Artist Yayoi Kusama asked if she could come too. The tour bus made its way through neighborhoods in Queens, with the guide pointing out the “squares” mowing their lawns and washing their cars. They stopped at Hillside’s Nirvana head shop where the band played and tour passengers danced naked, while Kusama painted polka dots on them. Skaggs then treated everyone to White Castle hamburgers, which were $.14 at the time, and to ice cream cones at Howard Johnson’s Restaurant. Journalists rode both on the bus and in vehicles following behind. Skaggs was interviewed for the Today Show and the story made the front page of the Daily News. Articles about the Bus Tour also appeared in the New York Times and in other news publications. Shortly afterwards, Skaggs received a call from Greyhound Bus Line to see if he would consider doing tours in the Bronx and Brooklyn. He politely declined.

Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning (1968)

• In 1968, Joey Skaggs orchestrated a provocative protest against the Vietnam War by creating a life-size Vietnamese Nativity scene. On Christmas Day, Skaggs and his friends, dressed as American soldiers with plastic and wooden weapons, feverishly tried to erect the sculpture in New York City’s Central Park. The scene consisted of a wood-framed manger; paper-mâché pigs with police hats, badges, and guns; white middle-class sheep with attaché cases; a huge camel representing Hubert Humphrey; three beheaded wise men representing the slain Jack and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.; a Vietnamese baby Jesus in the manger; and Vietnamese peasant sculptures of Mary and Joseph. He planned to burn it all down to draw attention to the horrors of the war and criticize the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Before the Nativity could be completely erected and set on fire, police officers and journalists found the protesters. Many were arrested. The headline in The New York Times the next day read, “Yippie ‘Nativity Scene’ Leads to Tickets for Littering,” which condescendingly ignored the artist’s purpose. This inspired Skaggs to begin critiquing the media’s penchant for changing the narrative to suit their own agenda. It also inspired him in his future work to be prepared ahead of time with his own statement of purpose, so that no matter what the media said about his work, he had evidence of his intent.

Fifty Foot Brassiere (1969)

• Francine Gottfried, an office worker on Wall Street in New York, gained notoriety for her appealing physique, drawing widespread attention, as the crowd swelled from hundreds to thousands of gawkers whenever she went out for lunch. This spectacle soon caught the eye of the news media. Joey Skaggs, aiming to satirize the media frenzy and public obsession with breasts, attempted to hang a black fifty-foot bra, with two red hearts on the cups, between street light poles on Wall Street on Valentine’s Day. After that failed (he was chased away by police), he returned and successfully secured one end of the bra to George Washington's statue in front of Federal Hall, and the other end to the actual building. The bra sparked outrage among Wall Street lunchtime crowds, resulting in a chaotic scene where a mob of outraged male workers tore it apart. Skaggs managed to evade capture amidst the turmoil. He called it his “Big Bust.”

Grotesque Statues (1969)

• During the escalating Vietnam War, Joey Skaggs was deeply angered by the conflict and the U.S. government’s involvement. Skaggs actively protested the war, creating provocative public events that enraged many war supporters, including his family. On July 4, 1969, he erected grotesque sculptures of the Statue of Liberty at Astor Place in New York’s East Village to symbolize the horrors of war. These monstrous interpretations cradled dismembered baby bodies. Author and activist Paul Krassner, editor of The Realist, used a photo of the event on the back cover of his book, “How a satirical editor became a Yippie conspirator in ten easy years.” Over time, public attitudes shifted. Footage of American protests and reports of wartime carnage inflicted on both Vietnamese civilians and American soldiers, brought home in flag-draped coffins, were broadcast into American living rooms. The war’s end was influenced by a combination of military, political, and social factors, including widespread anti-war sentiment in the U.S. The public demanded an end to the war, and it eventually stopped. Skaggs remains an ardent advocate of using art to protest hypocrisy and injustice, believing it can raise awareness and bring about change.

Hell's Angels Wedding (1969)

• Skaggs’ first mobile public spectacle featured a tricycle satirizing the Hell’s Angels, outrageous weddings, and Puerto Rican-style customized bicycles. It was tricked out with fox tails, horns, bells, streamers, flags, lights, a radio, lots of chrome, a clothespin card on the spokes, and reflectors. Skaggs had a bride sitting on a leopard skin upholstered seat. The tricycle had a sign that said “Just Married” and dragged pointy shoes and beer cans behind. It was kitsch and crass, a poor man’s ‘57 Chevy. He led a mock wedding procession with Lower East Side kids on their bicycles, stopping at Gem Spa, where bikers often parked their choppers. Some bikers joined the parade, adding to the extravaganza.

Coupe de Ville (1970)

• Skaggs conceived a multi-media theatrical musical designed to resemble the inside of a 1950s Cadillac Coupe de Ville. The stage was a giant dashboard with live musicians performing in the radio, and the windshield and rear-view mirror serving as movie screens. The objects on the dashboard acted as a “Greek chorus,” propelling the plot as the car changed owners. Skaggs’ intention was to have his friends Sam Shepard and Tony Barsha write and direct the play. The concept was optioned for Broadway by Michael Butler, producer of “Hair,” but ultimately not produced due to a myriad of issues including technical and financial challenges. When fate intervened and it didn’t materialize, Skaggs became further convinced to pursue his own projects and maintain control over his work. Many decades later, “Coupe de Ville” remains culturally relevant.

Earlville Opera House (1971)

• In 1971, Joey Skaggs purchased the abandoned Earlville Opera House in Earlville, New York, to prevent its demolition. Despite initial skepticism from the local community, Skaggs launched a successful PR campaign and secured support from the Creative Artist’s Public Service (CAPS) grant program. He donated the opera house to a local non-profit group for $1, ensuring its preservation for community benefit. The Earlville Opera House is now on the National Register of Historic Places and a thriving performance and exhibition center, celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2022.

Fame Exchange (1971)

• Charlotte Moorman was a pioneering performance artist known for her topless cello performances and her significant contributions to the New York art scene. She was a friend of Joey Skaggs and the creator of the Annual New York Avant Garde Festival, a free public event that showcased diverse artistic expressions. Moorman invited Skaggs to perform at the 8th annual festival in 1971, where he presented his piece “Fame Exchange,” a satirical commentary on the absurdity of celebrity. He arranged for a throng of screaming admirers with cameras to greet him by limousine at the festival's opening at noon on November 19, 1971. Unsuspecting on-lookers were amazed to see John Lennon and Yoko Ono arrive at the same time. But all the attention of the adoring crowd was misdirected at Skaggs, who was totally unknown to most of them. This left the audience to ponder who that famous person was.

Cathouse for Dogs (1976)

• Skaggs placed an ad in New York’s Village Voice newspaper and sent out a press release announcing a Cathouse for Dogs where for $50 you could get your dog sexually gratified. When the news media requested to visit the facility, he organized a group of 25 volunteers and 15 dogs and staged an evening in a dog bordello. WABC TV News included footage in a documentary on animal cruelty which won an Emmy. Skaggs was subpoenaed for illegally running a whorehouse for dogs, for which there was no law. In a press conference he held at the Attorney General’s office, he revealed the hoax, explaining that television is not necessarily reality. WABC TV News did not retract the story.

Celebrity Sperm Bank (1976)

• In July of 1976, Giuseppe Scaggoli (Skaggs), owner of the Celebrity Sperm Bank, announced an auction of rock star sperm in New York City. Celebrities whose sperm Scaggoli claimed to have were Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Jimi Hendrix.  On the day of the event, Skaggs’ volunteer actors crowded the street in front of a building on Waverly Place, some to bid on the sperm and others to protest the concept. Scaggoli appeared and announced that the sperm had been stolen and read a ransom note purportedly from Abbie Hoffman to the crowd. The cancellation of the auction caused disappointment and outrage. News of the event was published in print media and broadcast on television.

Wall Street Shoeshine (1979)

• Skaggs, as "Joseph Bucks", a shoeshine man who had grown rich hearing investment tips from his Wall Street clients, returned to celebrate his success. He arrived on Wall Street in a limousine and set up a luxurious shoeshine stand where he charged $5.00 per shine, about ten times the going rate. Skaggs recruited friends and students from his School of Visual Arts media classes to form an initial crowd, which prompted passersby to join the line to get their shoes shined.

Metamorphosis, Cockroach Miracle Cure (1981)

• On May 22, 1981, Dr. Josef Gregor (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs), an entomologist who had created a strain of super-roaches immune to all toxins known to man, held a press conference and claimed that by extracting a hormone from these insects he had produced a miracle cure. He was accompanied in his fake laboratory by friends, colleagues and students from his classes at the School of Visual Arts. He announced that he and his followers were now immune to acne, anemia, menstrual cramps and nuclear radiation and that he was offering his discovery for free to the world. The story went out on the UPI wire service and other news sources, and Dr. Gregor was featured on WNBC TV’s Live at Five with Jack Cafferty and Sue Simmons. Using the name Metamorphosis was a nod to Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, but none of the media picked up the clue. This satire was meant to expose the media’s role in promoting charlatans and the need for the public to question the sources of their information.

Thanksgiving Dinner (1981)

• On Thanksgiving Day, Joey Skaggs, with the assistance of friends and students from the School of Visual Arts, staged a stark portrayal of a Thanksgiving feast at the United Nations Plaza. A large banquet table, complete with a turkey and all the trimmings, was surrounded by giant photos of starving African children. The centerpiece was a child’s articulated skeleton resting on top of a black pine coffin. No food was consumed. While most shoppers were counting down the days until Christmas, the Harlem Abyssinian Baptist Choir sang, and representatives from world hunger organizations spoke about the issue of global hunger. This performance stood in stark contrast to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was winding down Broadway towards Herald Square.

Gypsies Against Stereotypical Propaganda (1982)

• On June 15, 1982, JoJo, the King of the New York gypsies, (a.k.a. Skaggs), called for a city-wide, weeklong gypsy work stoppage (no fortune telling and no reading of horoscopes, tarot cards or palms) to protest the use of the term gypsy moth, an insect that had been decimating hardwood trees in the Northeast. He formed Gypsies Against Stereotypical Propaganda, or G.A.S.P., and in a press release said, “Call it the Ayatollah moth, call it the Idi Amin moth, call it the Hitler moth, but never again the Gypsy moth.” JoJo and his band of gypsies staged a demonstration in front of governor Carey's Manhattan office. This protest was reported by Clyde Haberman in The New York Times. 39 years later, in 2021, The New York Times reported that the Entomological Society of America changed the name of the gypsy moth and the gypsy ant because they are “offensive to a community of people.”

Windsurfing from Hawaii to California (1983)

• At noon on January 15, 1983, Hawaii windsurfer, J.J. Skaggs (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs) set out to become the first person to cross the Pacific Ocean from Hawaii to California on a sailboard. After a Hawaiian blessing and a send-off party complete with a rock-and-roll band, a man said to be Skaggs departed equipped with enough water, snack bars and Dinty Moore stew to last for the estimated 30-day trip where he would encounter over 40-foot waves. His board sail said CAL OR BUST. The windsurfer was not actually Skaggs, but J.J. Jones, a world-class windsurfer who had cut his hair and mustache to resemble Skaggs. J.J. set sail, but once out of sight, he rounded the point and came ashore, making his way to a local bar to secretly rendezvous with Skaggs and friends. When there was talk of a Coast Guard rescue mission, Skaggs revealed the hoax. The TV networks that had covered the story never retracted the story.

Fish Condos (1983)

• Outraged by the degradation of our natural resources as well as New York’s burgeoning gentrification, Joey Skaggs decided that soon fish would need better homes. He created Fish Condos, working aquariums that depicted kitchens, living rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms, for upwardly mobile guppies. The aquatic sculptures were published in New York Magazine’s “Best Bets” and became an instant sensation, appearing in museum and gallery exhibitions, publications, and on television around the world. What began as a satire became so popular that in 1996 they were featured in the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog for thousands of dollars.

Bad Guys Talent Management Agency (1984)

• To help his friend Verne Williams fulfill his fantasy to become an actor, Skaggs created the bogus Bad Guys Talent Management Agency featuring bad guys, bad girls, bad kids, and bad dogs. Skaggs designed an FBI wanted poster for Verne and sent it to casting agents. This landed Verne a role in Berry Gordy’s feature film, The Last Dragon. As a result of media coverage from People Magazine and other outlets, the demand was so great that Skaggs held casting calls for actors wanting representation and signed up more than 300 "bad" actors. Many were cast in commercials, print ads and movies. Skaggs not wanting to manage a real business, passed the agency to Sara Jones, one of the original bad girls.  

WALK RIGHT! (1984)

• In December of 1984, Joseph Virgil Skaggs (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs), had had enough of the outrageous behavior exhibited by inconsiderate, unconscious, hostile pedestrians in New York City. Satirizing vigilantism, Skaggs formed WALK RIGHT! — an ad hoc group of sidewalk etiquette enforcers who patrolled the streets to make New York a better place to live and walk. The group proposed 66 rules for walking, such as no short people with umbrellas, no squeaky wheels on strollers and no wearing sunglasses at night. CNN and WOR TV Channel 9 were among the news stations that reported the story

The Fat Squad (1986)

• Joe Bones (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs), an ex-U.S. Marine drill sergeant, formed the Fat Squad, an organization created to help wipe out fat. Bones’ Fat Squad Commandos would, for $300 a day and a 3-day minimum, keep clients from eating anything not on their diet. The company’s motto was, “You can hire us, but you cannot fire us, our commandos take no bribes.” This was a satire about America’s obsession with diet fads. The Philadelphia Inquirer and Washington Post were among the first media establishments to fall for this hoax. It was widely covered in the U.S., including on ABC’s Good Morning America, and appeared on television and in print in Japan, Australia, England, Italy, Germany and France.

April Fool’s Day Parade (1986)

• Joey Skaggs' New York City April Fools' Day Parade is an annual event marked by a press release renowned for its satirical and humorous take on current events and societal norms. Organized by Skaggs since 1986, the parade features elaborate floats, performers, and participants who mock political figures, social issues, and cultural trends with witty and often absurd commentary. The parade route begins at 5th Avenue and 59th Street and ends at Washington Square Park with the crowning of the King of Fools, attracting both spectators and media attention with its promised creative and provocative displays.

Save the Geoduck (1987)

• Joey Skaggs, using the alias Dr. Richard J. Long (or Dick Long), posing as a marine biologist, oceanographer, and environmental activist, launched an international campaign to save the geoduck, a species of clam found in the Puget Sound in Seattle, Washington. He claimed this species was being over-harvested by commercial fishermen to satisfy Japan's insatiable appetite for aphrodisiacs because the Chernobyl nuclear accident had rendered Lapland reindeer antlers radioactive and no longer suitable. He organized a protest in front of the Japan Society in New York. UPI wire service, U.S. News and World Report, WNBC TV News, Der Spiegel, The Fisherman’s News and more fell for the hoax, reporting on the protest. At the time, people were destroying Japanese cars and electronics as retribution for the loss of jobs, and exacerbated trade imbalances. This thinly veiled phallus joke highlighted Americans' racism and tendency to blame others rather than themselves for their own problems.

Comacocoon (1990)

• In the fall of 1990 Skaggs as Dr. Joseph Schlafer (German for sleeper), a German anesthesiologist, launched Comacocoon, a vacation service that induced clients into a controlled dream-state simulating their ideal vacation. The service could help participants quit smoking, have elective surgery, learn a foreign language, and get a tan. When Dr. Schlafer refused an interview request by the Globe tabloid, the reporter, who spoke German, alerted New York City police that the organization could be a front for hallucinogenic drugs. When detectives visited, Skaggs explained that it was a conceptual performance piece. The detectives offered him a job teaching other officers to identify scams and frauds which he declined. The hoax continued until a subpoena arrived from the Department of Consumer Affairs, at that time headed by Mark Green. There were 17 charges related to the company’s purported use of drugs and BioImpression computer system. Skaggs was deposed, at which point he cheerfully revealed the hoax to be a satire about mind control, the environmental effects of vacation travel, and the self-help and alternative medicine industries.

Hair Today, Ltd. (1990)

• In 1990, coinciding with his Comacoon Hoax, Joey Skaggs posed as Dr. Joseph Chenango, a native American surgeon offering a revolutionary cure for baldness: scalp transplants from cadavers. Claiming the procedure was safe, effective, and FDA-approved, Dr. Chenango solicited scalp donors with no history of male pattern baldness who worked in high-risk occupations, such as electric linesmen or big game hunters. These, he reasoned, would make suitable donors in the event of their untimely death. He also solicited new scalp recipients–people wanting to undergo a scalp transplant. He promoted his nationwide search with a brochure designed in the venerable style of the ubiquitous, but highly questionable, hair growth companies. He mailed it to 1,500 journalists as if they were potential clients. The brochure had “before” and “after” photos of satisfied clients, however, there were only three styles of healthy heads, all of which looked like the good doctor’s grandmother’s wigs. Also included was a questionnaire with a diagram for prospective clients to draw in their hair lines. There was also an ad made to look like it had appeared in The Village Voice (it hadn’t). The ad said, “Wanted: Healthy Scalps…” Hundreds of phone calls, letters, and faxes were logged. Widely reported in newspapers and magazines as truth, the hoax satirized the vanity and desperation associated with hair loss. When the hoax was revealed, there were many very disappointed people.

Geraldo Hoax (1991)

• Geraldo’s television show producers invited Skaggs to appear on a show about liars and scam artists. He declined, saying this was antithetical to his work. Instead, the producers aired some of Skaggs’ archival footage without him. They contacted him again and requested to follow him perpetrating a media prank to be revealed on-air. He again declined, having seen Geraldo’s effort at unearthing Al Capone’s vault (which proved to be empty). They called him a third time requesting a one-on-one interview, promising they now fully understood his work. He agreed, having decided to hoax them. When they asked him to come to the studio and bring contact information for journalists who had fallen for one of his hoaxes, he enlisted a friend, author Nancy Weber, to pose as a journalist from Associated Press. Together Skaggs and Weber fabricated an article to look like it was in the real estate section of the New York Post about artists illegally living in water towers atop buildings where they had commanding views and cheap rent. He put the fake story in his portfolio with real articles and went to the pre-interview. Thumbing through his press book, he stopped at the article suggesting that maybe Nancy Weber from AP would be willing to talk with them. They called her and she agreed. During the show, Weber, sitting in the audience, was asked what she thought of Skaggs. They expected her to say derogatory things about Skaggs. To their surprise, she said she had been angry at first about being fooled, but now thought his work should be taught in journalism school. After the show aired, Skaggs revealed the hoax in the New York Post. Steve Powers, a reporter with Channel 5 News, did a follow-up story and tried to contact Geraldo, who was not available for comment.

To Tell the Truth Hoax (1991)

• When invited to be a guest on “To Tell The Truth,” one of the longest-running TV game shows in U.S. history, Joey Skaggs sent his friend Norman Savage to Los Angeles to impersonate him. The show, where celebrities guess which of three contestants is the real person, introduced three “Joey Skaggs” to the panelists, none of whom were the real Skaggs. Skaggs had sent a press kit with Norman’s photo and a tape of Norman impersonating him from a previous segment on “Entertainment Tonight.” The producers believed Norman was Skaggs, inspired by a New York Times article featuring Skaggs as Dr. Chenango, with Norman posing as the scalp donor. When the show aired, Skaggs revealed the truth to the producers and the media, highlighting the show’s failure to tell the truth.

Brooklyn Bridge Lottery (1992)

• On March 24, 1992, someone named "J" (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs) leaked an inter-office memorandum to the news media on official letterhead purporting to be from New York Mayor David Dinkins, announcing a lottery for the Brooklyn Bridge to help raise funds to fix its failing infrastructure. The lottery winner would receive a million dollars, and have the bridge named after him or her for five years. After five years, there would be another lottery. If the plan worked, other prominent landmarks would soon follow. This satire played upon a long-standing tradition of huxters exploiting suckers into buying the Brooklyn Bridge. This story was covered by both print and TV news. Five years later, ironically, reality imitated art when Mayor Rudy Giuliani proposed a similar concept for real.

Portofess (1992)

• “If people can confess on Oprah, Phil and Geraldo, I don’t see why they can’t confess right here on Eighth Avenue.” So said Father Anthony Joseph (Skaggs), a Dominican priest from San Bernadino who pedaled a confessional booth mounted on the back of a tricycle to the Democratic National Convention in New York City in July of 1992. The portable confessional booth provided “religion on the move for people on the go.” As Father Joseph claimed, “The church must go where the sinners are.” Skaggs enlisted friends to enter the confessional, but real people lined up to confess as well. Portofess was widely reported on TV, radio and in hundreds of newspapers around the world. Father Joseph was featured on CNN, Fox, CBS and by scores of other news outlets including Reuters and Associated Press.

SEXONIX (1993)

• In the Fall of 1993, SEXONIX, the world’s first sexual virtual reality company, planned to exhibit their equipment and software at the Metro Toronto Christmas Gift and Invention Show at Sky-Dome. Headed by American inventor Joseph Skaggs, PhD (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs), they secured a booth and launched a public relations campaign. Canadian and American media reported with anticipation about the demonstration. During the lead up to the Canadian demonstration, Skaggs reported that all the hardware and software had been confiscated at the border by Canadian customs agents on the grounds that SEXONIX was morally offensive to the Canadian people. Skaggs posted his story to news groups on various electronic bulletin boards around the country including FidoNet, AlohaNet, and the WELL requesting help finding and retrieving the impounded equipment. This sparked a lot of concern and commentary. One WELL user, Journalist Brock Meeks, decided to investigate the story. He did exactly what Skaggs had hoped someone would do. He tried to trace the confiscation through the bureaucracy of Canadian customs. Not surprisingly, he was unable to turn up anything conclusive. People commiserated with Skaggs' plight. When investigations eventually revealed the whole thing was a hoax, many online users were upset that the sanctity of their chat spaces had been breached. Skaggs said, “Any new technology is the artist’s territory, and that means a challenge to all pre-conceived limitations.” Mark Dery, author of Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century, wrote in an article published by The Web Magazine, April 1997, “The Sexonix hoax is a parable for weird, wired times. By perpetrating it, Skaggs poked fun at our evangelical faith in way-new technologies. More seriously, he also encouraged us to reflect on the slippery nature of even the most basic facts online — where biography and biology can be altered with a few keystrokes, and where hoaxes, rumors, and urban myths take on an almost viral life, infecting each new wave of credulous newbies.”
• As of 1993, this is the first internet hoax ever documented.

Maqdananda Psychic Attorney (1994)

• As a satire on ambulance chasing lawyers looking for accident victims and the proliferation of ads for fortune telling psychics, Joey Skaggs wrote and produced a 30 second TV commercial in which he portrayed a psychic attorney called Maqdananda. The guru-like psychic could tell you “whether to sue or settle, whether you’d win or lose”. He offered a wide range of legal services, including psychic surgery malpractice and renegotiating contracts made during past lives. The commercial aired on CNN Headline News at the end of March throughout the Hawaiian Islands. When callers dialed the number, 1-808-UCA-DADA, the outgoing message on the answering machine said, “I knew you’d call.”

Dog Meat Soup (1994)

• In 1994, Joey Skaggs assumed the persona of Kim Yung Soo, President of Kea So Joo, Inc. (Dog Meat Soup with alcohol, Inc.), a Korean company purportedly offering to purchase unwanted dogs for human consumption at $0.10 per pound. Skaggs sent letters in broken English to over 1,500 dog shelters across the United States, soliciting dogs for cooking and canning. The outgoing message on his answering machine, recorded in both Korean and English, featured a woman with a Korean accent and had the sound of dogs barking in the background. Although Skaggs only mailed letters to animal shelters, the recipients, outraged by the proposal, forwarded them to local media outlets. Despite Skaggs never answering his phone, numerous reporters claimed to have spoken with company representatives. Some even reported that large dogs were disappearing from the streets and that legal charges were being brought against the company. In Atlanta, a reporter warned viewers not to send money to the organization, while another confronted an Asian restaurateur with the letter, asking if he had seen it before. The public’s response mirrored the media’s bias, with numerous threats, both legal and physical, directed at the fictional Kim Yung Soo. Offers to sell dogs, often blatant attempts to entrap him, also poured in. The outrage and reactions were exactly as Skaggs had anticipated, highlighting issues of cultural bias, intolerance, and racism towards the Asian American community. His purpose was to expose the media’s and the general public’s tendency to be reactionary and thus irresponsible. Journalist John Tierney documented the entire process and published an exposé of the hoax in The New York Times Magazine on July 17, 1994. In 2003, John Stossel interviewed Skaggs for ABC TV's 20/20 program and among other topics, discussed the Dog Meat Soup hoax.[1]

Baba Wa Simba (1995)

• In 1995, Joey Skaggs was challenged by a producer for the UK’s Channel 4 television show, “The Word,” to dupe the British media. Having previously fooled the BBC and Sky TV with his Fat Squad hoax in 1986, Skaggs accepted. He created Baba Wa Simba, a New Age therapist from Kenya whose parents were killed by lions. Baba claimed to have developed a therapy involving “roarings” to heal inner pain and was working with disenfranchised youth. The producers rented a parish hall and hired young actors to rehearse with Skaggs, who led them in roaring on all fours, eating on the floor, and cuddling like lions. The British media, including ITV Channel 3’s “London Tonight,” “Good Morning TV,” Sky TV News, the East London Advertiser, and BBC Radio, were quickly taken in. Even respected commentators, such as Brazil’s Pedro Bial of TV Globo, participated and found the sessions therapeutic. The hoax was exposed when “The Word” aired the show a week later, but no media outlet admitted to being duped. Five years later, Veja magazine interviewed Skaggs before he was scheduled to give a lecture at the Catholic University in São Paulo. When asked if he had ever hoaxed the Brazilian media, Skaggs recounted Pedro Bial’s involvement. Despite TV Globo’s denial, Skaggs played the video during his lecture, and the audience immediately recognized Bial’s voice. Veja followed up with a story correcting TV Globo’s disavowal. Baba Wa Simba was part of Skaggs’ broader efforts to critique and expose the gullibility and irresponsibility of the media.

The Solomon Project (1995)

• In 1995, Joseph Bonuso, Ph.D. (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs), announced that he and 150 computer scientists and attorneys specializing in artificial intelligence, had developed Solomon, a distributed program running on a set of super computers poised to radically revamp the entire American judicial system. Skaggs sent out over 3,000 press releases to elected officials, judges and law school deans, claiming that Solomon would eliminate the need for juries and radically reduce the role of judges, removing all inequity in the courtroom due to race, sex, religion, or financial standing. There would finally be equal justice that was inexpensive and quick. Dr. Bonuso then announced that he was taking Solomon on a 15-city tour to retry notable cases. O.J. Simpson had recently been acquitted, however, Bonuso sent out a third press release declaring that Solomon had found O.J. Simpson guilty. CNN was among the media that fell hook, line and sinker for this hoax, interviewing Dr. Bonuso at his computer lab and producing extensive coverage on the Solomon Project. They, and many other media outlets, had to retract the story after Skaggs put out a fourth press release with the heading, “Solomon, the Artificial Intelligence Solution to American Jurisprudence is a Hoax”. As Skaggs said at the time, “I am personally outraged by the fact that criminal and civil cases are played out before our very eyes as though they are sporting matches. The truth no longer provides the key to justice.” The Solomon Project hoax, a performance targeting the inequities in the judicial system, also offered a visionary preview of what was to come decades later with the advent of artificial intelligence and its many diverse applications.

STOP BioPEEP (1996-1998)

• BioPEEP (Biological Protocol for Advanced Economic Production) was a top-secret multinational research initiative designed to genetically modify and irreversibly addict human beings to specific products, effectively creating “consumer junkies.” In 1997, it was weaponized by the U.S. government to pave the way for targeted gene-ocide. Entire genetic groups could be eliminated before they had a chance to retaliate. In 1998, after having worked for BioPEEP for several years in Brisbane, Australia, Joseph Howard (a.k.a. Joey Skaggs), could no longer ignore his conscience. He leaked covertly obtained photographs and stolen documents from corporate research laboratories where experiments on chickens were conducted to isolate the genes of addiction. Howard formed an organization called People for Ethical Evolutionary Practices (PEEP), and using the slogan “Prevent Experimental Eugenics on People” (PEEP), he initiated the Stop BioPEEP campaign to raise awareness about the potential dangers of the research. This led to international protests in both Australia and the United States. Although the concept of “gene-ocide” on a large scale was an imaginary conspiracy theory at that time, now, decades later, it has become plausible, evolving into a real concern. STOP BioPEEP was an intricate performance piece that highlighted numerous pressing issues that still warrant serious reflection, including corporate greed and exploitation; the unscrupulous applications of biotechnology with life-altering consequences; military use of genetic weapons for population control; and the gullibility and journalistic negligence resulting in misinformation

Doody Rudy (1999)

• To protest Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s anti-freedom-of-expression policies regarding art, as well as his autocratic and heartless “quality of life” campaign targeting the homeless and other unfortunates in the city, Joey Skaggs and a team of co-conspirators marched into Washington Square Park at noon on Saturday, December 4, 1999, toting a 10’ x 14’ painting of New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani as the Madonna, painted by artist Steve Powers. The Skaggs procession wore hats that said “Doody Rudy” and wheeled a trashcan filled with ersatz elephant dung. Two signs on 10’ polls said, “Doody Rudy with Dumbo’s Dung” and “Help Support the Homeless — $1.00 Contribution Per Throw Will be Donated to Housing Works, Inc.” It was billed as participatory performance art and hundreds of people lined up and threw fake elephant dung at the mayor’s portrait. The portrait was a reference to artist Chris Ofili’s “Holy Virgin Mary,” painted partially with elephant dung and exhibited as part of the “Sensations” exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. The elephant dung had so offended Giuliani that he threatened to defund the Museum if they didn’t take it down. Skaggs donated all the funds he raised to Housing Works, a non-profit organization that helps homeless people with AIDS.

The Final Curtain (2000)

• The Final Curtain hoax is an elaborate Joey Skaggs media prank that takes aim at the ruthlessness of the death care industry in a satirical and ironic way. In 2000, Skaggs created a fake company called “Investors Real Estate Development” and announced plans to build a chain of theme-park cemeteries. “Death got you down? At last, an alternative.” So said the ads Skaggs placed in newspapers around the country to promote his new concept. Skaggs assembled a volunteer international team of writers, artists, and designers to create a website purporting to represent a voracious real estate development company. Skaggs responded to all media inquiries in the guise of different officers of the company. The website featured a Disney-like memorial theme park and mall with restaurants, amusements and galleries. It even had a traveling timeshare program for the dead. Artists were allotted burial sites by scholarship to design their own interactive memorials. Some of the concepts displayed on the website, which is still online at www.finalcurtain.com, include a giant Etch-a-Sketch so the artist could continue to be creative when deceased; a flashing neon sign that said “Nick is Dead”, a stairway to heaven; a jukebox with a parquet dance floor so people could dance on the artist’s grave, and more. Skaggs’ own memorial, under his alias Joseph Sullivan, featured a video camera feed to a monitor so people could watch his corpse decompose. For Skaggs, the death care industry is a giant corporate scam, exquisitely successful at commercializing death. Pre-need insurance, embalming services, open coffins, headstones, ground space, religious sanctity, and ancillary products are merchandised to con people into spending money under the premise that this is the right thing to do, either from a cultural or religious perspective. They exploit people when they are the most vulnerable. The Final Curtain was an over-the-top parody of the death care industry, designed to provoke people to rethink their feelings about life, death, and burial in a new light. The hoax was widely reported by numerous media outlets including newspapers, radio, TV, and websites, all of which believed the story to be true. Ironically, in 2009 after Michael Jackson died, numerous fans believed that, because Jackson, in speaking about his final show performances, had said “This is the final curtain call.” that he and Skaggs had colluded to fake his death. Skaggs was besieged by people begging him to reveal where Jackson was hiding, promising that if he told them, they wouldn’t tell anyone else.

Scandal in Slovenia (2001)

• On February 22, 2001, Joey Skaggs received an email from Miso Alkalaj, a friend and co-conspirator on his Stop BioPEEP hoax, about a news story in Slovenia. A young law student, Matjaz Rogelj, claimed to have won a world computer programming competition in Rio de Janeiro, but the media couldn’t verify the competition or locate the student. Skeptics suspected a hoax, and the press began to speculate that it was a Joey Skaggs prank. Skaggs, intrigued by the situation, played along, confirming the hoax to the media despite having no prior knowledge of it. The media’s eagerness to believe Skaggs led to widespread speculation and accusations. On March 1, 2001, Skaggs revealed the truth: he had no involvement in the hoax, and the media had essentially hoaxed themselves.

Bush! (2004)

• In 2004, Joey Skaggs orchestrated a satirical Independence Day parade called “Bush!” to express outrage over the direction the country had taken under President George W. Bush’s leadership. The event took place in New York City’s Washington Square Park on July 4th. It featured a replica of the White House mounted on the back of a tricycle, pedaled by Uncle Sam (Joey Skaggs). There were over 75 participants, including singers, cheerleaders, marching band members, flag bearers, and Secret Service operatives. A large jeering crowd gathered at the Washington Square Arch as Uncle Sam opened the White House door to reveal President George W. Bush sitting on a five-gallon bucket with a label that said “Presidential Fertilizer -- From My Rose Garden to Yours.” He was wiping himself with hundred-dollar bills. Dressed in a cowboy outfit, he had six-shooters and a 10-gallon hat. He was surrounded by his favorite war toys as well as the Constitution, which he was in the process of rewriting. The jeers turned to cheers when actors dressed as Bush’s Cabinet members and friends from the Saudi Royal Family handed out $20 bills to “purchase” votes. Uncle Sam urged the crowd to express their rights while they still had them, to ensure that the government truly represents the will of the people. He counseled the spectators to hold their leaders accountable or vote them out.

Bullshit Detector Watch (2006)

• In 2006, Joey Skaggs launched the Universal Bullshit Detector Watch, a satirical wristwatch designed to help people make humorous social commentary. It’s a non-partisan and non-sectarian tool to combat spin, hype, propaganda, and general bullshit. With the push of a button, the watch flashes, moos, and “poops,” making it a playful tool for calling out nonsense. Despite its humorous features, it also functions as a regular timepiece. Skaggs created the watch as a response to the overwhelming amount of misinformation and “bullshit” in everyday life. It serves as a reminder to question and critically evaluate the information we encounter. The watch’s design includes a red face with a graphic of a bull, and it comes with a black PVC strap. The back of the watch is etched with Joey Skaggs’ signature, adding a personal touch from the artist himself.

Mobile Homeless Homes (2012)

• In 2012, Joey Skaggs introduced the Mobile Homeless Homes project as a satirical response to the housing crisis caused by the Great Recession of 2008. The project featured a “Trojan house” in the form of live-in garbage cans connected together and mounted on a trailer, which was pulled by a tricycle. This mobile home was designed to blend into urban environments and evade detection by authorities. Skaggs’ Mobile Homeless Homes aimed to draw attention to the plight of millions of Americans who lost their homes due to the banking crisis and government deregulation. The project highlighted the absurdity of the situation and the need for systemic change. To further emphasize the message, Skaggs organized a parade to Goldman Sachs, one of the companies he held responsible for the housing crisis. Because Goldman Sachs employees are reported to have referred to clients who lost their homes as “Muppets,” the parade included costumed “homeless muppets” and a band performing a song called “Mobile Homeless Blues.”

Santa’s Missile Tow (2012)

• In 2012, Joey Skaggs orchestrated a satirical protest called “Santa’s Missile Tow.” Dressed as Santa Claus, Skaggs rode a tricycle equipped with a nuclear missile on a slingshot launcher to the United Nations in New York City. Accompanied by six performance artists dressed as elves, he delivered a message to world leaders: “Peace on Earth – Or Else.” The event was a humorous yet pointed critique of the global arms race and the threat of nuclear war. Skaggs and his “elves” sang a parody of “Jingle Bells” with lyrics highlighting the absurdity of nuclear holocaust. The protest aimed to draw attention to the dangers of nuclear proliferation and the need for disarmament.

Bigfoot & The Tiny Top Circus (2014)

• Bigfoot, the world's most elusive and terrifying creature, was captured by Peppe Scaggolini (Joey Skaggs), owner and promoter of the Tiny Top Circus, the world’s smallest traveling pataphysical circus. Bigfoot was put on display in New York City's Washington Square Park on June 14, 2014. His custom-made cage was towed by a tricycle pedaled by the worlds’ strongest man. The event featured a circus ringmaster, armed guards, the Coney Island Sideshow Band, jugglers, and sword swallowers. A crowd of adults and children lined up to get a peek at Bigfoot, but the creature (Joey Skaggs dressed literally as a big foot) made a daring escape and disappeared into the West Fourth Street subway station. The circus offered a $10 million reward for the safe return of the beast. Thus far, it has alluded capture.

Political Protests (2017-2024)

• Continuing his long history of political activism, Skaggs produced numerous protests that were both theatrical and mobile. To express his opposition to what he perceived to be President Donald Trump’s undemocratic and dangerous behavior, Skaggs, as part of his Annual New York City April Fools’ Day Parade, staged three Trumpathons, purporting to be the world’s largest gathering of Trump look-alikes. The 32nd Annual April Fools’ Day Parade, in 2017, featured “Trump’s Golden Throne,” a sculpture with a life-sized effigy of President Donald Trump tweeting on his phone while seated on his throne, mounted on a tricycle. In 2018, for the 33rd Annual April Fools’ Day Parade, Skaggs gave Trump the “Trump Military Parade” he said he wanted. It was a satirical spectacle in which Trump sat astride a tricycle-mounted sling-shot launcher with a 10-foot-tall nuclear missile. He was flanked by North Korean “Rocket Man” Kim Jong Un, Russian President Vladimir Putin and a battalion of Trump look-alikes. Also, in 2018, Skaggs exhibited an effigy of Trump wearing a witch’s hat and flaming pants, sporting a Pinocchio-like nose, with his “Trump’s Kool-Aid Stand” in a gallery and in front of the White House in Washington, DC. Then, in 2019, as part of the 34th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade, he took the Kool-Aid Stand to Trump Tower in New York City. Other Trump-focused protests included a line of “Flush the Toilet Hats” in 2021, which, among other designs, had a red ball cap with an actual toilet flusher attached that said Dump Trump. Then there was Skaggs’ “Trump Presidential Pardon,” offered free on his website to download and personalize. In 2022, Skaggs published a downloadable and printable “Top Secret Cover Sheet for Classified Information,” to satirize Trump’s theft and hoarding of classified documents after he left the White House. Also in 2022, for the 37th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade, Skaggs distributed “Putin Protest Masks” as a commentary on Putin’s illegitimate War against Ukraine. In 2024, during the 39th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade, giant photos of Skaggs as the Grim Reaper pedaling his “Democracy at the Guillotine” sculpture on the back of a tricycle, which was a life size guillotine adorned with the word Democracy, were projected from a billboard truck traversing Fifth Avenue. Skaggs’ purpose with these protests is to urge Americans to stand in defense of their rights and freedoms. Reflecting on the power of activism and the imperative to resist propaganda, Skaggs emphasizes the urgency of using one’s voice and vote to effect positive change.

See also

• Alfred Jarry
• Jonathan Swift, or A Modest Proposal
• Mark Twain
• H. L. Mencken
• P. T. Barnum
• Marcel Duchamp
• Improvisation
• Pataphysics

External links

• Official website
• The Art of the Prank
• RE/Search Interview with Joey Skaggs
• Joey Skaggs at IMDb