radio prank - The Art of the Prank

April 23, 2018December 15, 2023

Culture Jamming Godfather Gets a Fitting Tribute

In 1981, Don Joyce launched Over the Edge, a weekly program on KPFA in Berkeley comprised of cut-up tapes and surrealist social commentary. By the time he passed in 2015, he had been a core member of the legendary avant-garde rock band Negativland, engaged in numerous high-profile intellectual property controversies (including tangles with Pepsi and U2), helped popularize the plunderphonics movement (which intersected with hip-hop and helped define internet culture), and coined the phrase “culture jamming.”

A new documentary takes a thoughtful and haunting look at this bold, brilliant, and stubborn creative force.

An Affectionate and Honest Filmic Portrait of Negativland’s Don Joyce
By Paul Riismandel
Radio Survivor
April 8, 2018

Musician, DJ and radio artist Don Joyce passed away nearly three years ago, on July 22, 2015. He left behind a voluminous archive of his KPFA radio program “Over the Edge,” which took off in new, chaotic and creative directions when he welcomed the participation of the experimental band Negativland in 1981, then joining the group.

The documentary “How Radio Isn’t Done” (DVD) sheds light on Joyce and his life, work and his process for recontextualizing the never-ending flow of media messages that flood everyday life. Director Ryan Worsley paints an affectionate, but honest portrait of a man who poured tremendous quantities of inspiration, energy and effort into his community radio program, leaving the impression that it was something he just had to do. Read more.

September 18, 2016December 15, 2023

DHMO in the Water, Mischief in the Air

Dan Lewis’s conversation-starting email newsletter “Now I Know” looks back on a morning radio hoax that kicked up a storm.

“The Dangerous-Sounding Threat of DHMO”
by Dan Lewis
Now I Know
September 14, 2016

aotp_dhmo St. John and Fish were, at the time, morning hours radio hosts for a Florida radio station. On April 1st of that year “” and yes, that date should have been a clue “” the duo decided to issue a public service announcement, telling listeners that dihydrogen monoxide was coming out of water taps in the area.

The reaction from what would hope was a small, small minority the listeners was fierce and nearly immediate. Enough people were fooled by the PSA that the county water board began fielding calls, and at 8:30 AM that day “” about three-and-a-half hours into what should have been a five-hour radio show “” St. John and Fish were taken off the air. The county issued a statement telling residents that the water was entirely safe and that this was just a joke gone bad (although without explaining the science), and the radio station, per the Atlantic, spent the rest of the day informing listeners of the same.

But beyond that, no big deal, right? Wrong “” at least, according to the state”™s Department of Health. Its spokesperson told the press that calling in “a false water quality issue” could be considered a felony in the state. The station, perhaps fearing liability, suspended the pair of DJs indefinitely. And listeners seemed OK with the punishment: according to USA Today, a (hardly scientific, but why should we get science involved here?) poll on the radio station”™s website had a large majority “” 77% “” hoping that the two would never be welcomed back on the air. Read more.

September 3, 2013December 15, 2023

War of the Worlds, Alabama Style

Alabama radio station”™s hoax alien alert terrifies community, strains cops
by Michael Walsh
New York Daily News
September 2, 2013

Star 94.9″™s prank, inspired by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation of “˜War of the Worlds,”™ caused some Tuscumbia to fear a takeover. The hysteria saw the police flooded with phone calls, and now the cash-strapped department has to pay officers overtime.

aliens3n-1-web-200 The radio promotion was inspired by Orson Welles”™ radio adaptation of “˜War of the Worlds”™ in 1938.

Station Star 94.9 thought a mock warning of an extraterrestrial invasion would generate publicity for a programming change, but it spiraled out of control when listeners in Tuscumbia took it seriously last week.

“It’s a very innocuous promotion that got blown out of proportion,” Brian Rickman, program director for the Shoals Radio Group, told local news site AL.com.

Worried parents reportedly flooded the police with phone calls Thursday about a supposed bomb threat. Frightened children stayed home from school, and police were dispatched to several schools to calm fears.

“It may have started as something innocent,” said Tuscumbia Police Chief Tony Logan, “but it has gotten out of hand and turned into an issue concerning public safety.”

Logan said that the department needs to pay officers overtime wages for the extra time they put in even though there is not enough money in the budget, reported the Times Daily, a local newspaper.

August 27, 2009December 15, 2023

Green Bay Packers Get Their Cheese Moved

Metro Radio Host Pranks Packer Fans
by Nicole Muehlhausen
ABC – 5 Eyewitness News
August 24, 2009

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A Twin Cities radio host decided to have a little fun with Green Bay Packer fans at their own expense.

KDWB morning host Dave Ryan hired a plane to fly over Lambeau Field during Saturday’s pre-season game with a banner saying ‘Hey Packers, we moved your cheese.’

That’s of course referring to quarterback Brett Favre signing with the Minnesota Vikings.
Packer fans, as you can guess, weren’t too amused with that message. KDWB says while many in Green Bay didn’t know what KDWB was, they knew it wasn’t a message being sent with fondness.