From editor Joey Skaggs:

Naomi Pitcairn and a group of her friends staged a protest, singing a song to President Obama at his fundraising breakfast today in San Francisco to bring attention to the incarceration and unjust treatment of U.S. Army soldier Bradley Manning. Manning was arrested in Iraq in May 2010 on suspicion of having passed confidential and embarrassing government communications to WikiLeaks.

Watch the video of the protest on SF Gate, read some of the media coverage and see the song lyrics below, submitted by Mike Lehr.

Obama, Preaching to the Choir, Is Met by a Rude Chorus
by Jackie Calmes
TheCaucus.blogs at The New York Times
April 21, 2011

It was hardly a surprise that President Obama got an earful in San Francisco about frustration in his party’s left over the pace of his promised change. But it was a bit unexpected when the protest came at a high-dollar fund-raising breakfast Thursday morning.

Soon after Mr. Obama began speaking to about 150 people who had contributed up to $35,800 each, a woman at a rear table stood and announced that her group wanted to sing him a song it had written. And they did, despite Mr. Obama’s request that they wait until after his remarks.

The full lyrics were written on a menu for the event. The chorus: “We paid our dues, where’s our change?” (more…)

From Joey Skaggs:

Rain or shine, The 26th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade kicks off from 5th Avenue and 59th Street Friday, April 1 at noon.

Alert: We have so many Charlie Sheen look-alike volunteers that we’ve added a Charlie Sheen look-alike contest in Washington Square Park right after the parade. See you there!

Link to the press release

From Joey Skaggs:

The 26th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Friday, April 1, 2011. Rain or shine, the parade will march down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park for the post-parade festivities and selection of the King or Queen of Fools from the costumed marching look-alikes.

The theme for this year’s parade is “If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck I’d Have No Luck At All.” The parade will kick off with a Bob Dylan classic “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” sung by the very vocal WTF! Chorus including General Stanley McChrystal, ex-Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele, actors Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen, Representative Charlie Rangel, and deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek look-alikes. Color commentary will be provided by Governor Mike Huckabee. It may be inaccurate but it will be colorful.

This year’s floats will be lead by Grand Marshall Tony Heyward, whose Lap Pool float filled with crude oil will feature BP, Halliburton and Trans Ocean executives bobbing in the muck. Parade attendees are encouraged to bring stuffed birds, animals and fish to toss into the pool as the float passes. Next will be the corporate-sponsored Supreme Court float featuring justices completely covered with corporate logos waving banners proclaiming “Corporations Are People Too!” They will be followed by the Congressional Marionnette Show float with lobbyists pulling the strings of dancing elected officials. Next is the giant Royal Wedding Cake Piggy Bank driven by Elton John, featuring Prince William and Kate Middleton on top. Uniformed royal guards will be asking for spare change from the crowd to help pay for the wedding. And then there will be the Middle-Class Backyard Russian Spy float equipped with lawn chairs, a barbecue, and an above-ground pool. The beautiful sexy Russian spy Ana Chapman will be handing out hot dogs to the crowd. Next is the State of Arizona float driven by Governor Jan Brewer as a wall is being constructed by illegal Mexican immigrants. This will be followed by a motorized 30-foot miniature of the USS Enterprise commanded by Captain Honor projecting lewd and lascivious videos for the crowd to see. The Pope will make an appearance in his new decked-out Pimpmobile tossing colored condoms Mardi Gras–style to the crowd. Throughout the parade fleeing Arab Dictators and Tyrants will dash along carrying bulging suitcases overstuffed with American dollars. The Topeka Westborough Baptist Church float will bring up the rear protesting everything and damning everyone to Hell. (more…)

Editor’s note: The Art of the Prank is in receipt of previously unpublished content from the vast archive of WikiLeaks documents. We feel we have an obligation, in the pursuit of freedom of information, to publish these excerpts as we receive them. We will continue to post them as they are sent to us. We realize the danger Julian Assange faces. We can honestly say we do not know where he is.

Joey;

Thank you for your offer to publish some of the more controversial classified U.S. government documents WikiLeaks brought into the public domain on the 28th of November 2010. Although The New York Times and the Guardian began publishing some of the 251,287 WikiLeaks documents, The New York Times has bowed to government pressure and decided to withhold some passages and in some cases, entire cables whose disclosure, they claim, could compromise American intelligence efforts and even upset U.S. domestic political stability.

Some of the documents being withheld which will give the world unprecedented insight into the US Government’s foreign and domestic activities, appear to be benign except as to cause some embarrassment to certain public figures. One cable withheld is about Silvio Berlusconi, who, while contemplating a run for the Italian presidency, took a medical holiday in Luzern, Switzerland to have a very large “OMERTA” tattoo removed from his back by surgical laser. Also, he and Vladimir Putin have been described by an aid as having had an alcohol and drug fueled “boys night,” shooting out the windows of the UK Consul General’s empty parked Daimler with automatic weapons the pair borrowed from their bodyguards on a Berlusconi Moscow visit.

Sarah Palin attempted to secretly adopt two Downs Syndrome infants through an Asian adoption agency. The Chinese balked when Palin revealed that she needed stand-ins for Trig, (more…)

From publisher and editor Joey Skaggs:

It is with shock and sadness that I write of the unexpected passing of Verne Williams, a life-long friend and co-conspirator, on Thursday, October 14. Among other illustrious facets of his career, Verne was with me on my Hippie Bus Tour to Queens in 1968, was the inspiration for and center piece of my Bad Guys Talent Management Agency in 1984; and performed in Walk Right! (1984), The Fat Squad (1986), and Save The Geoduck (1987). He appeared as me for an interview with Playback Magazine (1995). He was a great, endearing and enduring friend.

A memorial service will be held October 30 at 1pm at Marinella Restaurant, on the corner of Carmine and Bedford Streets in Greenwich Village, NYC.

Here’s a walk down my memory lane with Verne:

Hippie Bus Tour to Queens, 1968

In 1968, I loaded a Greyhound bus with camera-toting, long haired, beaded hippies and took them on a bus tour of surburban Queens. I did this in response to all the suburbanites who were coming into the East Village to gawk at the hippies. I called it my “cultural exchange” program. Verne was one of the passengers.

Bad Guys Talent Management Agency, 1984

Verne left NYC for greener pastures, literally. He ran a hog farm in Vermont for a while and then moved to Virginia where he was trimming the hooves of cattle for a living. He really wanted to be an actor. He wrote me letter after letter imploring me to help him get some national commercials while he awaited the brass ring, which to him was a role in a feature film. I tried to talk some sense into him, but he would have none of that. Since he didn’t have any acting training, experience, or representation, I decided to create a talent management agency specifically for him. I called it Bad Guys Incorporated. I would represent bad guys, bad girls, bad kids and bad dogs — venomous vixens, burly bouncers and slimy sleazes. I told Verne to go to the Post Office and bring back a wanted poster so I could create his head shot.
(more…)

Update, July 31, 2010: Mystery solved! Contributor Sara Jones found an article in the June/July issue of Art in America about the Italian artist at whose exhibition I met Alice Neel. His name is Piero Gilardi.

From Joey Skaggs, editor, July 9, 2010:

An Alice Neel retrospective has been organized by White Chapel Gallery in Houston and is currently traveling in Europe. Neel (1900-1984) was a portrait painter. A portrait she painted of me in the mid 60s was recently exhibited at La Louver Gallery in Venice, CA. Peter Frank reviewed the show in Huffington Post on July 7, 2010.

Seeing the portrait again brought back memories of meeting her. It was one of those incredible encounters.

I was having an exhibition of my abstract landscape paintings in mid-town New York and decided to walk up and down 57th street visiting other galleries. I ended up in a gallery whose name I can’t recall featuring an Italian sculptor whose name I also don’t remember. The artist carved elaborate environments from giant rolls of foam and air brushed them to look realistic. They were rolls of artificial reality. One was a giant landscape hanging from the wall and draping onto the floor, simulating a creek bed. There was also a watermelon patch and a tomato garden. I found myself standing next to a little old lady (I being in my twenties and she being in her sixties, she was a little old lady to me). We both were staring at the creek and then looked at each other. She said “Why don’t we take off our shoes and walk on it. I wonder what it feels like.” She kicked off her shoes, I pulled off my cowboy boots and we stood on it together, squishing the foam under our toes. She said “I could just see them rolling this out over Vietnam.” I said, “Yeah, covering the dead bodies.” She said, “What do you do, my dear?” I said, “I’m an artist. As a matter of fact, I’m having an exhibition of my work right now just a few blocks away.” She said, “I’m an artist too! Let’s go see your work.” And we did.

She said she’d like me to pose for her, that she’d like to do a really big painting, 6 feet tall, full figure. I agreed and she asked me to pick up the stretchers and the canvas. She never reimbursed me, but I figured, okay, she’s a little old lady… And that began my friendship with Alice Neel. Although I’ve seen pictures, I haven’t seen the actual painting for decades. Somewhere along the line, not sure if by her or someone else, my last name Skaggs was spelled with a “c” instead of a “k”.

For fun I thought I’d pose with my twenty-something self…

From Joey Skaggs:

From Joey Skaggs:

The 25th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Rain or shine, the parade will march down 5th Avenue to Washington Square Park for the post-parade festivities and selection of the King or Queen of Fools from the costumed marching look-alikes.

The theme for this year’s parade is “Up, Up and Away.” Led by Grand Marshall Ben Bernanke, the parade will kick off with the Where’s-the-Money Marching Band playing this year’s theme song by the Fifth Dimension “Up, Up and Away in My Beautiful Balloon.” Color commentary will be provided by Sarah Palin for her new Fox TV show “We Make It Up, You Believe It.” Thanks to a contribution by a secret donor in honor of the parade’s 25th anniversary, 10,000 red, white and blue helium balloons, each with a crisp one-dollar bill attached, will be released along the parade route.

The floats this year will be led by Richard and Mayumi Heene with their Homemade Helium Flying Saucer Float. Next will be the Northwest Airlines Flight 188 “Siesta” Cockpit Float with pilot Timothy B. Cheney and first officer Richard I. Cole napping. Then a North Korea Missile Launch Float will launch H2O bombs into the crowd. The OK Corral Float will follow featuring Washington Wizards basketball stars Gilbert Arena and Javaris Crittenton with their guns a’blazing. Although we don’t know what will be going on inside, Washington’s “C” Street House Float will come next. Then comes the Late Night TV Roman Chariot Race with Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and David Letterman pulled by network execs instead of horses as they battle for position. (more…)

From editor Joey Skaggs: I recommend this piece from The January/February 2010 issue of Tikkun written by Christopher Hedges about the cultural phenomenon of celebrity-ism. Parts are excerpted from his 2009 book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle.

Celebrity Culture and the Obama Brand, by Christopher Hedges

Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, armies of corporate lobbyists grease the palms of our elected officials, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia, and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, this product is duping us into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.

What, for all our faith and hope, has the Obama brand given us?

Read the rest of this article here.

Editor’s Note: The manipulative, deceitful and very effective tactics I have used over the past 40+ years as an artist, activist and culture jammer to shed light on institutional, corporate and media efforts to mislead the general public have now been fully co-opted by the organizations victimized by them. It’s interesting to see the pendulum swing. Kudos to Ann Landman for this insightful and very useful article aimed at unmasking corporate and political tricksterism that blatantly utilizes disinformation to sway public opinion. One hopes the general public becomes more aware and is willing to fight against this insidious hype, hypocrisy, propaganda, and disinformation. JS

Attack of the Living Front Groups: PR Watch Offers Help to Unmask Corporate Tricksters
by Anne Landman
PRWatch.org / Center for Media and Democracy
August 28, 2009

Fake “grassroots” groups have started springing up like toadstools after a rain, and this time they’re coming at us from every angle: they’re on TV, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube: “Americans for Prosperity,” “FACES of Coal, “The “Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights,” “Americans Against Food Taxes,” the “60 Plus Association,” “Citizens for Better Medicare,” “Patients First” … It’s making our heads spin! Issues affecting some of the country’s biggest industries, like health insurance reform, a proposal to tax sodas and sugary drinks, and the FDA’s possible reconsideration of the plastic additive Bisphenol A, have boosted corporate astroturfing up to a dizzying pace. With all these corporate fronts coming out of the woodwork, how can citizens tell true grassroots organizations from corporate fronts operated by highly-paid PR and lobbying firms? Here are some tips to help readers spot this kind of big-business hanky-panky.

What is a “front group,” really? (more…)

From Joey Skaggs:

New York, New York, March 30, 2009 — The 24th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Wednesday, April 1st, 2009. Rain or shine, the parade will march down to 23rd Street, where it will continue down Broadway to Union Square Park for post-parade festivities. For several blocks, the parade route will require a mad dash through a gauntlet of teetering construction cranes.

The theme for this year’s parade is “Take the Money and Run.” Led by Grand Marshall Bernard Madoff, the parade will kick off with the SEC Marching Band playing the Beatles’ hit song “Money.” Spectators are requested to participate by photo-copying hundred dollar bills and tossing them out windows or from roof-tops at the passing parade instead of confetti. (more…)

Here, in response to our call for DIY Bank Hack design submissions, October 19, 2008, are two downloadable designs you can print and post in a public place (such as a bank or ATM machine).

Pranksters: These designs are copyright free. Put them up around town. And if you send us your photos/video links of your hacks, we’ll make best efforts to put them up on ArtofthePrank.com!

Artists: Send us more designs for DIY Bank Hacks!

From Melissa Silva of kungakare.blogspot.com:

Bail out the Rich, so the Poor have the Freedom to Starve

Download higher res file here.

From Peter Markus:

Casino Bank

Download higher res file (pdf) here.

From Joey Skaggs, editor of The Art of the Prank at ArtofthePrank.com:

This is an open call to artists and pranksters…

Artists: Submit your designs for signage. We will feature our favorites on ArtofthePrank.com, making them available for all to download and place publicly (such as on bank doors, windows and ATM machines).

Here’s an example by artist Peter M. Markus:

Pranksters: For your hacking pleasure, download a higher resolution pdf here; print it (11″ x 8 1/2″); and post it around town. Photograph your handiwork and submit it to us at ArtofthePrank.com. We’ll post the most inspired examples.

A call to action from Joey Skaggs, Editor of The Art of the Prank at ArtofthePrank.com:

Calling All Pranksters (and non-pranksters too)!

Greed, dishonesty, government deregulation and lack of oversight got us into the largest global financial crisis since the Depression. Express your outrage at having to bail out the bastards while they pass the buck! Print these “Useless Bucks” and put them in circulation. In other words, Pass the Buck… back. Take them to your financial and banking districts and give them away; Toss them from high places; Place them on those nearly useless ATM machines; Start your own bail-out program by giving six useless hundred dollar bills to all your friends. Do anything you want with them, just don’t try to spend them!! They’re useless.

Pass the Buck… back

If the Fed can print money indiscriminately, so can we!

Download this pdf template, print your own useless dollars, and put them in circulation around the world. Document your actions in video or stills. Mount your video on YouTube or another embedable video service and send us the URL, and, if you take stills, submit your photos to ArtofthePrank.com. We’ll post your most inspired examples of Passing the Buck… back.

40 years ago, this past August, Abbie Hoffman and a small group of “Yippies” infiltrated the New York Stock Exchange and dumped dollar bills on the Stock Exchange Floor as a statement about greed. As part homage to Abbie, and because of our own outrage about the current situation, we encourage you to do the same today.

Here are the Instructions: (more…)

From Editor, Joey Skaggs:

Last night I received a call from Nadine Baker, Ilene Baker’s younger sister, who told me Ilene is sadly with us no more. Ilene and I were classmates and became very close friends at the School of Visual Arts in New York City in the early 60’s. We went our separate ways but always remained close. Ilene was a unique individual and a gifted artist. She was always a willing volunteer and co-conspirator for many of my performances from the Cathouse for Dogs to Walk Right! to the Bad Guys Talent Management Agency. Her talent and spirit will be dearly missed.