Media Pranks - The Art of the Prank

April 1, 2026

Gothamist covers Joey Skaggs’ 41st Annual April Fools’ Day Parade

New York City’s greatest pranks, from fantastical parades to a phony Mets star, by Samantha Max, Gothamist, April 1, 2026

Trump’s Military Parade at the 33rd Annual April Fools’ Day Parade

Artist and activist Joey Skaggs has been inviting members of the New York City media to his annual April Fools’ Day parade along Fifth Avenue since 1986.

Press releases archived on Skaggs’ website describe the event as an attempt to “bring people back in touch with their inherent foolishness” and celebrate “the public’s right to laugh in the face of authority.” Past parades have included a President Donald Trump look-alike contest and a Y2K-themed end-of-the-world party. This year’s press release invites participants to ponder “what’s real and what’s not” at a parade led by the president himself, followed by a screening of the “Melania mockumentary” and a reading of all redacted names in the Jeffrey Epstein files, other than victims.

Read the rest of the article here.

December 19, 2025

Ethical Vacancy

What happens when AI’s lack of conscience converges with people with no conscience?

“The ‘AI Homeless Man Prank’ reveals a crisis in AI education,” by External Contributor, Digital Information World, December 14, 2025.

The new TikTok trend “AI Homeless Man Prank” has sparked a wave of outrage and police responses in the United States and beyond.

The prank involves using AI image generators to create realistic photos depicting fake homeless people appearing to be at someone’s door or inside their home. Learning to distinguish between truth and falsehood is not the only challenge society faces in the AI era. We must also reflect on the human consequences of what we create.

As professors of educational technology at Laval University and education and innovation at Concordia University, we study how to strengthen human agency — the ability to consciously understand, question and transform environments shaped by artificial intelligence and synthetic media — to counter disinformation. Read the whole article here.

November 25, 2025

Science is catching up to Joey Skaggs

Been there, done that! Watch Pandora’s Hope movie, which is featured as a hoax-in-progress in Andrea Marini’s Art of the Prank movie.

“Scientists are racing to grow human teeth in the lab,” by Jacopo Prisco, CNN, October 23, 2025.

It’s not surprising that many people fear the dentist. Replacing a tooth often requires invasive surgery and implanting a titanium screw into a patient’s jawbone, then waiting months for that to strengthen into an artificial root, before attaching a crown or cap on top of it.

But research groups around the world are working to find ways to implant or grow real biological teeth in a human jaw. Read the whole article here.

October 18, 2025

Stream “Joey Skaggs: Stop BioPEEP” at Shockfest Adventure through October 31

Catch the October virtual screening of “Joey Skaggs: Stop BioPEEP” at Shockfest Adventure Film Festival.

BioPEEP is an organization that genetically engineers humans to become addicted to specific consumer products — a scheme that turns into a government weapon — until a whistleblower exposes the conspiracy and sparks mass protests.

Ready to find out what’s real and what’s total B.S.? Stream this adventure starting today through October 31, 2025!
GET TICKETS HERE & WATCH THE FILM (in the Documentary section)

Find out more about Stop BioPEEP here
And more about the Joey Skaggs oral history film series here.