Category: Fact or Fiction?

A look at conspiracy theories, “official truths”, political spin, propaganda, tall tales, urban legends, magic, and illusion, all as they relate to the Art of the Prank. When truth intersects with a personal agenda, established facts are challenged, or human gullibility is preyed upon for ulterior motives, we hope that skepticism, logic, reason, and facts have a balancing effect.

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If it Looks like Bullshit and Smells like Bullshit, It’s Bullshit

Ah, the irony… “According to [San Francisco] state law, it is a misdemeanor to intentionally disrupt the business of public employees by obstructing or intimidating and then refusing to leave upon request.” Perhaps this law should be applied to the real DOGE.

SF City Hall ‘DOGE raid’ was a YouTube prank; authorities weigh whether to pursue charges, by Alise Maripuu, Bay City News, February 27, 2025

The San Francisco Sheriff’s Office is investigating whether federal Department of Government Efficiency impersonators committed any criminal acts earlier this month when they entered City Hall and allegedly demanded access to employee computers.

On Feb. 14, three men wearing MAGA hats and DOGE shirts entered various offices at San Francisco City Hall and apparently asked employees to turn over digital information related to alleged wasteful government spending and fraud.

Read more here.

Related posts:

  1. The Art of Protest, a New Film by Indecline
  2. Political Prank Topples the Austrian Government. Joey Skaggs Swears He Didn’t Do It! [English and German]
  3. In Review: April Fools’ Day 2019 Branding, Marketing, and Media Stunts
  4. Gender Studies Hoaxers Kick an Academic Hornet’s Nest
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Trying to Polish a Turd

The Golden Throne Heist Trial: A Cattelan Prank Taken to Extremes, News, by Admin, ArteFuse, February 25, 2025

It was a crime of absurdist proportions, a heist worthy of Maurizio Cattelan himself. In the predawn hours of September 14, 2019, a gang of thieves stormed Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and made off with one of the most famous—and most satirical—works of contemporary art: America, an 18-carat solid gold toilet. The conceptual masterpiece, which once gleamed inside the Guggenheim Museum’s pristine white galleries, was yanked from its plumbing and vanished into the black market, never to be seen again.

Read more here.

Related posts:

  1. Join Us at New York City’s 36th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade!
  2. James “The Amazing” Randi, RIP
  3. Global No Pants Subway Ride 2020
  4. New Doc About the Church of the SubGenius Screens at SXSW
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A Sign of the Times

The writing’s on the wall and the bus stop…

The Street Artist Behind the Viral “Anti-Elon Musk” Ads, by Rhea Nayyar, Hyperallergic, February 24, 2025

Winston Tseng’s satirical ad falsely attributed to USAID at a bike dock in Washington, DC, elicited frenzied responses from Republican Senator Thom Tillis.

Street artist Winston Tseng was behind an anti-Elon Musk ad that led to a viral frenzy when it was installed in various sidewalk ad spaces within a mile of the White House two weeks ago. The ad, satirically attributed to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), read “Help Eliminate Elon” and featured a large red X crossing over an illustration of Musk doing the Nazi salute.

“In the spirit of transparency, I should disclose that USAID paid me $69M (in condoms) for this ad,” Tseng said in an email to Hyperallergic, riffing on Musk’s misunderstanding of the US’s provisions for international HIV prevention and treatment.

Read more here.

Related posts:

  1. Where the Sun Don’t Shine
  2. The Guerrilla Girls Are Asking:
  3. The Art of Protest, a New Film by Indecline
  4. Bicyclist (aka the FCC) Throttles the Streets in Front of the FCC (aka the Internet) to Create Priority Access
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February 2025 Film Festival Screenings for Joey Skaggs Oral History Films

Check out these upcoming film festival screenings in February 2025.
More information is here

Dam Short Film Festival
“Joey Skaggs: Stop BioPEEP” (20:20)
Thursday, February 13, 2025 at 10:00 am
Boulder City, NV
Documentary B Section
Tickets: https://bit.ly/DamFilmFest
&
New Delhi Film Festival
“Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project” (16:22)
Saturday, February 22, 2025 from 2:00pm – 9:00 pm
New Delhi, India
India International Centre
Tickets: TBA

Related posts:

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  2. Catch the First Four Joey Skaggs Oral Histories at the (Virtual) New Jersey Film Festival Friday
  3. Meet the Man Who Invented the Roach Hormone Miracle Cure!
  4. Culture Jamming Godfather Gets a Fitting Tribute
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The Great White Hoax, by Philip Kadish

Heads up! The Great White Hoax, Frauds, Forgeries, and 200 Years of Selling Racism in America, a new book by Philip Kadish, is available for pre-order and will be out in June here, here, and more.

Blurb:

“Fake news, outright political lies, a shamelessly partisan press, and the collapse of truth, civility, and shared facts, Philip Kadish argues, are nothing new. The Great White Hoax, a masterpiece of history and literary sleuthing, reveals that the era of Fox News and Donald Trump is simply a return to form. We have been here before.”

Related posts:

  1. Flashback: Operation Fortitude
  2. The Battle of Burning Disinformation
  3. New York Subway Poster Promotes the Real Rudy Giuliani
  4. “‘Right-wing news’ is oxymoronic”

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