Episode 7✦1966-present

Joey Skaggs: America's Longest-Running Media Hoaxer

June 17, 2026

From The Fires of History

For sixty years, Joey Skaggs has been fooling the American media with hoaxes so absurd they should be obviously fake. A dog brothel got an Emmy nomination. Cockroach pills went on the UPI wire. The media never learns.

Joey Skaggs: America’s Longest-Running Media Hoaxer

Research Reference for Social Media Episodes

Who He Is

Joey Skaggs (born 1945) is an American multimedia artist, activist, satirist, educator, and prankster who has been systematically fooling the news media for sixty years (1966-present). He is one of the originators of the phenomenon known as culture jamming.

His career spans paintings, sculptures, guerrilla theater, performance art, and – most importantly – dozens of elaborately staged hoaxes designed to prove a single thesis: the news media does not fact-check.

Every hoax follows the same pattern: Skaggs creates a premise so absurd it should be obviously fake, packages it with a professional press release, and watches as major media outlets report it as fact. When he reveals the hoax, the outlets almost never issue retractions.

Core Philosophy

Skaggs uses the media as his medium. His hoaxes are designed to hold up a mirror to a press corps that is largely owned by giant conglomerate corporations, where the bottom line is the first priority and editorial rigor is the first casualty.

His key insight: Journalists get their stories from press releases, and very few do what would be considered their professional duty – actually verifying claims before publishing.

Key Quotes

“But I learned first-hand how the news media operates by watching how they interpreted, changed, and misrepresented my intentions.”

“The media is not just the message. The media is a massage. We’re constantly being stroked, manipulated, adjusted, realigned, and manoeuvered.”

“Most important to any fake story is a plausible, realistic edge with a satirical twist that is topical.”

“When I create a false reality, I always try to create a plausible structure to help convince people.”

“It is the fool who thinks he cannot be fooled.”

“I created hoaxes. I confronted and challenged the majority opinion. I attacked, humiliated, and criticized the voice of the corporate mainstream media.”

“The media’s job is to question a premise.”

On his approach: He takes a gamble his hoaxes are so ridiculous that no one will believe them. When the news media falls for it anyway, “it will be even funnier and more effective in revealing their gullibility and/or hypocrisy.”

The Hoaxes: A Chronological Catalog

Early Work (1966-1975): Guerrilla Theater

Before the media hoaxes, Skaggs was a guerrilla theater artist:

  • Easter Crucifixions (1966-1969): Organized crucifixion performances on Easter Sundays in New York City
  • Hippie Tour Bus (1968): When middle-class suburbanites started taking tour buses to the East Village to gawk at hippies, Skaggs organized a sightseeing tour for hippies to observe the suburbs of Queens. Turnabout as art.
  • Vietnamese Christmas Nativity Burning (1968): Anti-Vietnam War protest piece on Christmas Day

These established the pattern: take a cultural absurdity, mirror it back, and let people see themselves.

The Cathouse for Dogs (1976) – The First Major Media Hoax

The Setup: Skaggs placed an ad in the Village Voice:

“Cathouse for Dogs, featuring a savory selection of Hot Bitches, from pedigree (Fifi the French Poodle) to mutts (Lady the Tramp). Handler and Vet on duty – stud & photo service available – no weird-os Please! Dogs only – By appt.”

The premise: for $50, your dog could be sexually gratified. Not a breeding service. A pleasure service.

The Execution: When the media expressed interest, Skaggs staged an event with volunteer actors and dogs, then provided video footage to WABC-TV.

The Media Response: WABC-TV incorporated the footage into a documentary called It’s A Dog’s Life, which addressed animal cruelty. The documentary was nominated for an Emmy Award.

The Legal Fallout: Skaggs was subpoenaed by the New York Attorney General’s office for operating a bordello for dogs. At the hearing, he revealed it was a hoax.

The Punchline: WABC-TV did not issue a correction. When confronted, the WABC producer insisted that Skaggs had only said it was a hoax to avoid prosecution, and expressed bitterness because the documentary had been knocked out of Emmy contention by the revelation. The producer’s ego was more invested in the Emmy than in the truth.

Source

Celebrity Sperm Bank (1976)

The Setup: Under the alias Giuseppe Scaggoli, Skaggs announced an auction for a “Celebrity Sperm Bank” offering sperm from rock stars including Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and “vintage sperm from Jimmy Hendricks” [sic – deliberate misspelling as a tell].

The Execution: He recruited approximately 50 actor friends to gather on Waverly Place in Greenwich Village outside his attorney’s brownstone. A nameplate reading “Celebrity Sperm Bank” was posted. The actors portrayed rock musicians, groupies, women with protest signs reading “Do it the old fashioned way,” a sociologist, a psychiatrist, lab technicians, doctors, and a priest.

When the media arrived, Skaggs announced the sperm had been stolen and read a ransom note that humorously referenced activist Abbie Hoffman.

The Purpose: Satirize the possibilities inherent in advanced medical technology and the media’s obsession with sexual news items.

Source

Wall Street Shoeshine (1979)

Skaggs became Joseph Bucks, a shoeshine man who had become rich on Wall Street tips. He was working his last day at $5 a shine. Covered by media as a heartwarming rags-to-riches story.

Metamorphosis: The Cockroach Miracle Cure (1981)

The Setup: On May 22, 1981, Skaggs converted an apartment into a laboratory, filled it with the world’s largest collection of cockroach art and memorabilia, and held a press conference. He introduced himself as Dr. Josef Gregor – a deliberate reference to Gregor Samsa from Kafka’s The Metamorphosis. (The name was a tell. Nobody caught it.)

The Claims: “Dr. Gregor” announced he had created a strain of super-roaches immune to toxins and radiation, and had extracted a hormone that cured all common ailments – colds, acne, anemia, menstrual cramps – and would even make people immune to nuclear radiation. He was offering the hormone pills free to the public.

Who Got Fooled:

  • United Press International ran the story on the wire
  • Over 175 newspapers published articles about the discovery
  • WNBC-TV’s Live at Five interviewed “Dr. Gregor” on air
  • Despite the Kafka reference in the name, the literary clue went completely unnoticed

The Reveal: Several months later, Skaggs granted an exclusive interview to People magazine (September 21, 1981) and revealed the hoax.

The Punchline: UPI and WNBC-TV never retracted their stories.

The Purpose: Bring attention to the media’s responsibility to report the truth and the public’s desire for panaceas and quick cures over worthwhile solutions.

Source

Fish Condos (1983)

Skaggs created Fish Condominiums – elaborate aquatic sculptures designed to resemble miniature bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, and kitchens for “upwardly mobile guppies.” The fish tanks were functional and real. Satire of New York City gentrification and real estate mania.

Bad Guys Talent Management Agency (1984)

The Setup: When Skaggs’ friend Verne Williams arrived in New York seeking an acting career – with no training, no experience, and no contacts – Skaggs created Bad Guys, Inc., a fake talent agency representing “bad guys, bad girls, bad kids, and bad dogs – venomous vixens, burly bouncers, and slimy sleezes.”

The Execution: Skaggs made Williams a headshot using an FBI Wanted poster as a template and sent it to New York casting agents.

What Happened: Three days later, casting agent Jeremy Ritzer of Feuer-Ritzer Casting Agency called – they were casting The Last Dragon for Berry Gordy (Motown Records) and thought Williams would be perfect for a principal role.

The Twist: The fake agency worked so well it became a real, thriving talent agency. Casting agencies kept calling, the roster swelled to over 300 actors, and many were cast in commercials, print ads, and movies. The hoax that proved the entertainment industry runs on appearances became an actual business that launched careers.

Source

WALK RIGHT! (1984)

When vigilante groups like the Guardian Angels were “reclaiming” NYC subways, Skaggs launched WALK RIGHT! – an ad hoc group of vigilante sidewalk etiquette enforcers who patrolled the streets. They published 66 rules for walking, including:

  • Pedestrians must choose one lane and stay in it
  • No changing directions except at designated areas

Satire of urban vigilantism and the authoritarian impulse to control public space.

Source

The Fat Squad (1986)

The Setup: Under the alias Joe Bones, Skaggs created the “Fat Squad” – a fictitious organization offering to enforce clients’ diets for $300 a day with a three-day minimum. “Fat Squad Commandos” would follow clients everywhere and physically prevent them from cheating on their diets. The motto: “You can hire us, but you cannot fire us. Our commandos take no bribes.”

Who Got Fooled:

  • The Philadelphia Inquirer
  • The Washington Post
  • ABC’s Good Morning America – aired a staged segment featuring a client and commandos guarding a refrigerator
  • The story hit a wire service and went around the world in a week
  • Television and print coverage in Japan, Australia, England, Italy, Germany, and France

The Reach: From a single fake press release to global coverage in under seven days. No outlet verified whether the Fat Squad actually existed as a business.

Source

Simultaneous Double Hoax (Fall 1990)

Skaggs ran two hoaxes at the same time to see if the media could be fooled twice in the same news cycle:

  1. Comacocoon – As Dr. Joseph Schlafer, Skaggs marketed a “vacation alternative” using anesthesiology and subliminal programming. Clients would be put into a medically induced coma while subliminal tapes gave them the experience of a perfect vacation, plus optional benefits like weight loss and elective surgery.

  2. Hair Today, Ltd. – As Dr. Joseph Chenango, a “Native American surgeon,” he launched a permanent baldness cure: scalp transplants from cadavers.

Both hoaxes attracted media coverage. Neither outlet connected the two stories to the same person.

Geraldo Hoax (1991)

Skaggs appeared on Geraldo Rivera’s TV talk show and told a completely fabricated story about New York artists living in water towers. Rivera aired it without verification.

Portofess (1992)

The Setup: Skaggs designed and built an ornate portable confessional booth mounted on a custom tricycle (built by Worksman Cycles with solid rubber tires for no-flat-tire reliability and “special gearing for a quick getaway if necessary”). He bought a full priest’s cassock from a catalog and became a card-carrying minister with a $36 license from the American Fellowship Church.

As Father Anthony Joseph, a Dominican priest from San Bernardino, he pedaled the Portofess to the 1992 Democratic National Convention in New York City, offering “religion on the move for people on the go.”

What Happened: Actor friends initially posed as confessors to draw in real passersby. Soon, the general public wouldn’t stop coming in. Skaggs could barely keep civilians out of the confessional. He was attacked by pro-choice demonstrators who pasted stickers on his body and the booth. The NYPD, believing he was a real priest, took him under their protection – “the kind of protection rarely afforded his alter ego.”

The Reveal: A reporter finally called the Archdiocese in San Bernardino to verify Father Joseph’s identity. They couldn’t. Hoax declared.

Source

Brooklyn Bridge Lottery (1992)

Skaggs “leaked” news of a city lottery where the first prize was renaming rights to the Brooklyn Bridge. Media covered it.

Sex Tapes Saved Marriage / SEXONIX (1993)

Two simultaneous hoaxes: Skaggs sent actors to Faith Daniels’ TV show claiming sex tapes had saved their marriage. Separately, he created a hoax about a sex machine called SEXONIX, claiming the prototype had been seized by Canada Customs at the border.

The Solomon Project (1995-1996)

The Setup: As Dr. Joseph Bonuso, Ph.D., Skaggs sent over 3,000 press releases to elected officials, judges, and law school deans announcing the Solomon Project – a distributed computer program running on supercomputers that would:

  • Deliberate on facts and evidence of court cases
  • Deliver definitive verdicts
  • Eliminate the need for juries
  • Subject all witnesses, lawyers, and judges to voice stress analysis and polygraph telemetry

The pitch: Solomon would eliminate inequity in the courtroom due to race, sex, religion, or financial standing.

Who Got Fooled: On December 29, 1995, CNN began broadcasting extensive coverage of the Solomon Project. When NYU Law School administrators kept getting calls from media about the project (Skaggs had associated it with NYU), they investigated and discovered no connection to the school.

On January 30, 1996, CNN broadcast a lengthy retraction after discovering they had been misled.

Prescient Detail: In 2019, the Art of the Prank blog revisited the Solomon Project hoax in light of actual AI-in-the-courtroom developments, noting that Skaggs’ 1995 satire had essentially predicted the real push for algorithmic justice systems.

Sources:

Media Outlets Fooled (Partial List)

Over a 60-year career, Skaggs has fooled:

  • Television: WABC-TV, WNBC-TV, CNN, ABC’s Good Morning America, Geraldo Rivera’s show, Faith Daniels’ show, Live at Five
  • Wire Services: United Press International (UPI)
  • Print: The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, People magazine, Village Voice, National Enquirer, and over 175 newspapers on a single hoax (the cockroach pills)
  • International: Television and print in Japan, Australia, England, Italy, Germany, France, and others

Retraction rate: Near zero. Most outlets never issued corrections even after Skaggs publicly revealed the hoaxes.

The Pattern

Every Skaggs hoax follows the same structure:

  1. Identify a cultural pressure point – dieting, baldness, sex, technology, religion
  2. Create an absurd premise with enough plausibility to pass a lazy editor’s smell test
  3. Package it professionally – press release, alias with fake credentials, staged visuals
  4. Wait for the media to come to you – reporters work from press releases, not investigations
  5. Let them publish without verification
  6. Reveal the hoax to a single outlet, creating a second wave of coverage
  7. Watch as the original outlets refuse to retract

Step 7 is the real finding. The hoax itself proves media credulity. The refusal to retract proves institutional cowardice. Together, they demonstrate that the news media’s relationship with truth is, at best, transactional.

Documentary

Art of the Prank (2015) – Feature documentary directed by Andrea Marini. Follows Skaggs as he plans and executes a new hoax in real time. Released internationally on television and streaming platforms after screening at film festivals. Available at joeyskaggs.com

Key Quotes for Social Media

On media failure:

“But I learned first-hand how the news media operates by watching how they interpreted, changed, and misrepresented my intentions.” – Joey Skaggs

On method:

“Most important to any fake story is a plausible, realistic edge with a satirical twist that is topical.” – Joey Skaggs

On creating false reality:

“When I create a false reality, I always try to create a plausible structure to help convince people.” – Joey Skaggs

On the media as medium:

“The media is not just the message. The media is a massage. We’re constantly being stroked, manipulated, adjusted, realigned, and manoeuvered.” – Joey Skaggs

On fools:

“It is the fool who thinks he cannot be fooled.” – Joey Skaggs

On confrontation:

“I created hoaxes. I confronted and challenged the majority opinion. I attacked, humiliated, and criticized the voice of the corporate mainstream media.” – Joey Skaggs

On the media’s job:

“The media’s job is to question a premise.” – Joey Skaggs

Why It Matters for a History of Trolling

Joey Skaggs is the ur-troll of the media age – the man who proved, repeatedly, for six decades, that the institutions Americans trust to inform them will print literally anything if it comes in a press release. He predates the internet, predates social media, predates “fake news” as a concept. He was doing it when the enemy was television and newspapers.

Key points for the trolling narrative:

  1. He proved the thesis before the internet existed. Every complaint about online misinformation, every hand-wringing op-ed about “post-truth politics,” every media literacy initiative – Skaggs was already making the case in 1976. The media didn’t fact-check when it was a dog brothel. Why would it fact-check when it’s a Facebook post?

  2. The cockroach pill hoax is the perfect case study. A man named himself after a Kafka character, held a press conference about miracle cockroach hormones, and 175 newspapers printed it. UPI put it on the wire. WNBC-TV interviewed him on air. Not one journalist caught the literary reference. Not one outlet retracted.

  3. He ran two simultaneous hoaxes and nobody connected them. In 1990, two different “Dr. Josephs” pitched two absurd medical stories to the same media ecosystem. Nobody noticed. The media’s fact-checking infrastructure was so non-existent that the same man could fool them twice at the same time.

  4. The Solomon Project predicted the future. In 1995, Skaggs hoaxed CNN about AI replacing judges. In 2026, that’s an actual policy debate. The satirist saw it coming 30 years before the technologists.

  5. He is the proof that trolling is older than the internet. The mechanisms are identical: exploit trust, create false authority, package absurdity in institutional clothing, and watch the gatekeepers wave it through. Skaggs just did it with press releases instead of posts.

Source URLs

Filed under media-hoax culture-jamming performance-art