Steve Lambert - The Art of the Prank

Author: Steve Lambert

Steve Lambert was born in Los Angeles in 1976 and moved to the Bay Area four days later. He was born to a former Franciscan Monk and a Dominican Nun who practiced a variation of Liberation Theology, then abandoned organized religion and left the church a year before his birth. Despite never graduating from high school, Steve went on to study sociology, film, and music before receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2000 and a Master of Fine Arts degree at UC Davis in 2006. He founded the outdoor, guerilla art gallery, the Budget Gallery, in 1999 and the Anti-Advertising Agency in 2004. Steve has worked as a furniture installer, radio host, record store clerk, ballet dancer, parking lot attendant, Winnie the Pooh at kid\"™s parties, mystery shopper, undercover store investigator, theater house manager, delivery truck driver, national dealer representative, upright bass player in country western band, high school teacher, landscaper, and lecturer among other things. He currently claims artist and professor on his taxes. Steve\"™s projects and art works have won awards from Rhizome/The New Museum, the Creative Work Fund, Adbusters Media Foundation, the California Arts Council, the Belle Foundation, and others. His work has been shown nationally in cities like Detroit, New York, and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as internationally in Havana, Canada, Barcelona, and Rotterdam. Writings about his work have appeared in multiple publications such as the New York Times, Punk Planet, Artweek, and Newsweek Magazine. Steve is currently a fellow at Eyebeam\"™s Open R&D Lab in New York. Read Steve's Artist Statement here.

February 28, 2008January 15, 2019

Be a Public Domain Donor

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Evan Roth is best known as one of the artists behind the Graffiti Research Lab. While at the Eyebeam OpenLab forum 2005-2007 he became committed to making everything he did “opensource.” The Graffiti Research Lab is just one example. All software he writes includes the sourcecode. All projects include instructions. And now he has found the definitive way to dedicate his entire life to the public domain.

From ni9e.com:

Why let all of your ideas die with you? Current Copyright law prevents anyone from building upon your creativity for 70 years after your death. Live on in collaboration with others. Make an intellectual property donation. By donating your IP into the public domain you will “promote the progress of science and useful arts” (U.S. Constitution). Ensure that your creativity will live on after you are gone, make a donation today.

photo from fffff.at

February 27, 2008January 15, 2019

Accidental Interview on BBC News

From Steve Lambert:

BBC newscaster Karen Bowerman, thinking she is interviewing a respected technology expert about the Apple Computer vs. Apple Music case, is actually interviewing a cab driver/job interviewee (we’ve seen both accounts) by mistake. Check Biased BBC for more information. Watch this guy’s face as he figures out he’s the wrong guy. He’s game to give his opinion anyway. The show must go on!

February 26, 2008January 15, 2019

Steve’s Pick Hit Phone Pranks

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Longmont Potion Castle is the pseudonym of a prank caller based out of Texas that puts out some of the most bizarre and hilarious material I’ve ever heard. He uses audio effects that speed up and slow down his voice, disorienting the caller on the other end, sometimes even repeating back what they’ve just said. One of the tricks he uses is calling retail stores asking detailed and mundane questions about a specific item he never actually names and always staying friendly (referring to people as “partner”) and sounding reasonable.

Click here to listen. Track 2 is my favorite.

Here’s a video of the subjects of his calls as he’s making them.

Also, speaking of bizarre, hilarious, and prank calls, here’s one from Tim and Eric where they call iPod Tech Support because they’re having problems with microphones:

Continue reading “Steve’s Pick Hit Phone Pranks”

February 24, 2008January 15, 2019

Stuff White People Like

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

Stuff White People Like describes itself as “a scientific approach to highlight and explain stuff white people like. They are pretty predictable.”

Notable entries include:

#71 Being the only white person around

#8 Barack Obama

An excerpt from #69, Mos Def

“He is everything that white people dream about: authentic (“he’s from Brooklyn!”), funny (“he was on Chapelle show!”), artistic (have you heard “Black on Both Sides?”), an actor (“he’s in the new Gondry film!”) and not white (“I don’t see race”).”

And of course white people like the website, Stuff White People Like.

February 20, 2008January 15, 2019

Davis Welcoming Committee

Submitted by Steve Lambert:

The Davis Welcoming Committee was a one day event for commuters coming to and from the Davis Amtrak station from cities like Sacramento, Oakland, and San Jose.

Travelers were unexpectedly welcomed with free flowers, keys to the city, free popcorn, a marching band, and a gathering of people celebrating their arrival (or departure). Also greeting them was Scott Vermeire playing an unusual “Mayor” or as he called himself, the “King of the Town.”

The Davis Welcoming Committee was organized by Steve Lambert and Cynthia Yardley.