Mark Borkowski - The Art of the Prank

September 1, 2025

Joey Skaggs interviewed by Mark Borkowski about creative dissent on BBC Radio 4

OUTRAGE INC, an audio documentary by Mark Borkowski, aired on BBC Radio 4, August 23, 2025:

“From Suffragette arsonists to soup on sunflowers – why the stunt still matters.

Legendary publicist Mark Borkowski takes a no-prisoners look at the history of the protest stunt – the noisy, theatrical interventions that have rattled the establishment for over a century.

With fascinating examples from the BBC archive and interviews with Led By Donkeys, The Centre for Political Beauty, Joey Skaggs, The Yes Men, veteran activist Jamie Kelsey Fry and Clare Farrell from XR.”

“We criminalise the political stunt at our peril. It is a crucial art form that is impossible to ignore”, Mark Borkowski, The Guardian, 20 Aug 2025.

Listen to the full documentary on BBC Radio 4 (only available in the UK). For others, the interview is above.

March 23, 2013December 15, 2023

Joey Skaggs at Advertising Week EU 2013

More coverage:

JoeySkaggs&MarkBorkowski.AdvertisingWeekEU.425

Mark Borkowski on Joey Skaggs – ‘the world’s biggest prankster’, The Drum

Joey Skaggs: novelty silliness and well-packaged rebellion, New Statesman

Joey Skaggs on “Loose Ends”, BBC Radio4 – Only two days left to listen

March 14, 2013December 15, 2023

The Fox is in the Hen House! Joey Skaggs to Present at Advertising Week EU

Dog.DogMeatSoup.72.200 Joey Skaggs will be infiltrating the Advertising Week EU Festival in London Tuesday, March 19, 2013. His presentation, introduced by PR guru Mark Borkowski, will be at 1:00pm at BAFTA.

He’ll talk about the art of the prank and the use of public relations and advertising strategies to rock the status quo. Skaggs, using multi-media examples of his work, will pull back the curtain on techniques he has used for decades to access the mass media, repeatedly throwing a monkey wrench into the propaganda machine.

What: Advertising Week EU
When: Tuesday, March 19, 1:00 pm
Where: BAFTA in London

It’s no joke: America’s top prankster comes to London, The Independent (scroll to the middle of the page)

Joey Skaggs – the most notorious socio-political satirist talks to Jessie Brinton, Run Riot!

Crowd Control and the Power of the Hoax: What Can Advertising Learn from Stuntsters?,
Huffington Post UK

October 16, 2009December 15, 2023

Skaggs, Blags and Rags: Hoaxes and the Press

Submitted by Mark Borkowski from Borkowski Blog. Mark is author of The Fame Formula: How Hollywood’s Fixers, Fakers and Star Makers Shaped the Publicity Industry

Skaggs, Blags and Rags: Hoaxes and the Press
October 16th, 2009

If you want proof that stunts are an art form, your best bet is to head down to the Tate Modern”s Pop exhibition and take a long, hard look at the Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons exhibits. Here are two prime examples of early stops at one of the stations of the cross of Consumerism, part of its steady progress to becoming the prime 21st Century religion.

And proof is needed that stunts are an art form – they are making something of a comeback at the moment, but the latest examples – the Starsuckers film and Balloon Boy – are in need of a bit of spit and polish if they are to really shine.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/js/2.0/video/evp/module.js?loc=dom&vid=/video/bestoftv/2009/10/16/cb.balloon.boy.cnnEmbedded video from CNN Video

Despite all this, there has been not one mention of the master of the hoax, Joey Skaggs, the master Culture Jammer whose hoaxes have always had a pertinent point to make. This is a pity because the Starsuckers team could learn a trick or two from him. Continue reading “Skaggs, Blags and Rags: Hoaxes and the Press”