April Fools Day parade - The Art of the Prank

April 1, 2016December 15, 2023

The April Fool’s Day Parade gets the NYT Treatment

The Annual April Fool’s Day Parade has long been among Joey Skaggs’s most highly visible projects.

“A Fool’s Parade”
by Alexandra S. Levine
The New York Times
April 1, 2016

You”ve heard of the St. Patrick”s Day Parade, right?

Macy”s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Of course.

But the April Fools” Day Parade?

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The procession is expected to file from 59th Street and Fifth Avenue down to Washington Square Park, beginning at noon, rain or shine.

Organized by the New York April Fools” Committee, the spectacle is intended to poke fun at public figures “” celebrities, politicians, executives and anyone else who has proved deserving of caricature.

“Nothing is sacred. Our satire knows no bounds,” the committee said in a statement, adding, “The Parade Committee assumes no liability for damages caused by satire.”

Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, (a look-alike, of course) leads the parade, sitting atop a ballistic missile float.

The “Hypocrisy and Democracy” float features presidential candidates yelling confusing speeches at passers-by.

And Kanye West rides the “Infinity Mirror” float, because, well, organizers think he could stare at his own reflection until the end of time.

Just kidding.

To all of the above.

The nonexistent parade is solely a fixture in the imagination of the New York artist Joey Skaggs, a prankster who creates elaborate hoaxes as a form of social activism.

He”s blasted out news releases, posted videos and has managed to get his April Fools” Day Parade website appearing near the top of search engine results.

“It”s a mystery to me how we continue to enable fools to make fools of us,” Mr. Skaggs said.

Touché.

April 1, 2015December 15, 2023

The 30th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade Marches On!!

To celebrate April Fools’ Day in New York City, SinoVision’s Cosmo Times, a lifestyle TV show available to over 10 million international viewers, featured an April Fools’ Day Parade planning committee meeting preparing for today’s festivities. Problem is, they were covering a planning meeting for a parade that doesn’t exist.

Huffington Post covered the story: Chinese News Agency SinoVision Falls For Joey Skaggs’ 30-Year-Old April Fools’ Day Prank

Happy April Fools’ Day!

March 31, 2015December 15, 2023

Celebrate New York’s 30th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade!

NYC April Fools' Day Parade jester We”re 30 and proud of it! New York”s spectacular April Fools” Day Parade kicks into its fourth decade of hilarious irreverence, poking fun at the past year”s public displays of hype, hypocrisy, deceit, bigotry, and downright foolishness. Nothing and no one is sacred. Our satire knows no bounds. In honor of our 30th year, we”ll be giving 30 lucky revelers free cartoon interpretations of their favorite taboo religious icons, picked at random at the end of the parade in Washington Square Park.

New York, New York — The 30th Annual April Fools” Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Wednesday, April 1, 2015. Rain or shine, the parade will march down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park for the climactic selection of the King of Fools from the costumed marching look-alikes.

NYC Annual April Fools' Day Parade The theme for this year”s parade is “Hands Up, Don”t Shoot“. The Grand Marshall will be Mayor Bill de Blasio wearing an “I Can”t Breathe” T-shirt. He will lead the NYPD Marching Band playing Smokey Robinson”s “You Really Got a Hold on Me”, however, they will be marching backwards in a continuing show of disrespect for the Mayor. Special guests will include Ebola-infected volunteers recently returned from West Africa who have ignored their quarantines. Color commentary will be provided by NBC”s Brian Williams making it up as it happens.

The first float will be a Mobile Carnival Shooting Gallery where police officers are firing at young minority targets. Then comes a Three-Story Glass Elevator float featuring President Obama on the 3rd floor with armed civilians; Beyoncé”s sister Solange ferociously assaulting Jay-Z on the 2nd floor; and NFL star Ray Rice dragging out his unconscious fiancée on the ground floor. Next are 2016 Presidential Hopeful Clowns riding in a hot-air balloon inflated by their own boasts and flatulence. They will be tethered to a voracious media circus. This will be followed by the Sarah Palin Bar Brawl float, packed with family members slugging it out with bar patrons. Next are several cattle trucks filled with the first wave of 11 million illegal immigrants en route to deportation, followed by a brigade of Russian soldiers en route to the Lower East Side”s Ukrainian neighborhood in order to annex it. Bringing up the rear will be an International Search and Rescue float looking for missing Malaysian flight 370. All floats will be powered by recalled GM vehicles. Parade organizers are not responsible for any injuries or deaths. Continue reading “Celebrate New York’s 30th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade!”

March 23, 2013December 15, 2023

New York’s Annual April Fools’ Day Parade

The New York April Fools’ Committee Is Proud to Announce:
NEW YORK CITY’S 28th ANNUAL APRIL FOOLS’ DAY PARADE

“Forget the Big Bang Theory, Let’s Just Go Out With a Big Bang!”

jesternoborder.200 For three decades, New York City’s Annual April Fools’ Day Parade has offered the public an opportunity to express, in a comical way, its outrage against the foolishness of mankind. Thousands of participants in look-alike costumes with satirical floats creatively mock the thoughtless, corrupt and selfish acts of the past year. Kicking off at noon on Monday, April 1, the parade will march down 5th Avenue from 59th Street to Washington Square Park where revelers will party like there’s no tomorrow. It will conclude with the annual crowning of the King of Fools.

PRESS RELEASE:

New York, New York — The 28th Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will begin at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street at 12 noon, Monday, April 1, 2013. Rain or shine, the parade will march down Fifth Avenue to Washington Square Park for the climactic selection of the King or Queen of Fools from the costumed marching look-alikes.

The New York April Fools’ Day Parade was created in 1986 to remedy a glaring omission in the long list of New York’s ethnic and holiday parades. These events fail to recognize the importance of April 1st, the day designated to commemorate the folly of mankind. In an attempt to bridge this gap and bring people back in touch with their inherent foolishness, the parade annually crowns a King or Queen of Fools from parading look-alikes. Continue reading “New York’s Annual April Fools’ Day Parade”