Australians escape punishment over APEC prank
Monsters and Critics
April 28, 2008

Sydney - The Australian comics who breached security at a regional summit in Sydney in September by riding in a fake motorcade had all charges against them dropped Monday.

The stunt by the Chaser television comedy team was only discovered when the convoy stopped just metres short of US President George W Bush’s hotel and an Osama bin Laden imposter got out.

A judge dropped the charges, saying their action was defensible as a reasonable and honest mistake because they did not believe they would be allowed through the security checks.

The let-off was welcomed by Kim Dalton, a director of state-owned ABC Television.

‘What was undeniably the greatest moment in political satire last year, which the ABC has always been very proud of, has been found to be just that - great political satire,’ Dalton said. (more…)

Judge Tosses Out ‘Borat’ Lawsuit by N.Y. Businessman
1010WINS
April 2, 2008

New York (AP) — A judge has tossed out a defamation lawsuit brought by a businessman shown in the movie “Borat” as he is chased down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen.

The 2006 hit, starring Cohen as a crass Kazakhstan journalist, can be deemed “newsworthy,” defined in its most liberal and far-reaching terms, U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska said.

New York civil rights law provides limited protection for any person whose image is used for advertising or trade purposes without his written consent, she said, and the nonconsensual use of a person’s image to depict newsworthy events or matters of public interest is exempt from the law.

The lawsuit had sought unspecified damages from the movie’s producer, Twentieth Century Fox, for Jeffrey Lemerond, who claimed he was humiliated when the Borat character tried to catch him.

In the movie, Lemerond, a Dartmouth College graduate and financial analyst, is shown running and yelling “Go away!” as Borat chases him in an attempt to hug strangers. (more…)

Submitted by Paul Krassner, written by Michael Dare for Dareland,
March 26, 2008

The true story of the biggest April Fool’s Day Prank of All Time

Lies To Get You Out of the House

None of this is my fault. At least not all my fault. There are plenty of others to blame. For instance, there’s the Bhagwan . . .

I start out 1985 at the Bodhi Tree, a multispiritual bookstore on Melrose with incense and herbal tea. I am looking for nothing in particular, which is when you stumble upon the most surprising things. I am skimming from section to section, belief system to belief system, from Asimov to Zoroaster, when there in front of me is an entire wall of books by someone I’ve never heard of. His name is Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and he is not famous yet. He has not yet moved to Oregon, started an ashram, collected Rolls-Royces and gotten thrown out of the country. But he will be equally responsible for the Biggest April Fool’s Day Prank of all time. If I had not opened a random book by Rajneesh, turned to the first page and read the first paragraph, none of this would have happened. Here is what that first page said:

Beyond the boundary of this room is the unbound, open sky. You have never seen it. I can talk with you about the sky, about the freshness, about the sea, about all that is beyond this room, but you have not seen it. You do not know about it. You just laugh; you think I am making it up. You say, “It is all fantastic. You are a dreamer.” I cannot convince you to go outside because everything that I can talk about is meaningless to you. Then I say, “The house is on fire!” This is meaningful to you; this is something that you can understand. Now I do not have to give you any explanations. I just run; you follow me. The house is not on fire, but the moment you are outside you don’t have to ask me why I lied. The meaning is there; the sky is there. Now you thank me. Any lie will do. The lie was just a device; it was just a device to bring you outside. It did not cause the outside to be there. Every religion is based on a lie device.

I immediately dig the guy. Here he is, right off the bat, admitting that he’s lying to me. I buy the book and never finish it, but I do end up carrying a phrase around in my head for days, like a hit song with a killer hook. “Lies to get you out of the house.” I write it down at the top of a piece of paper, sure that something will come.

It does. (more…)

RE/Search Publications Presents:

The First Annual Pranks Film Festival
April 1, 2, 3 at The Roxie Cinema
3117 16th Street by Valencia, San Francisco CA 94133
Tickets $10 per day for all shows.
www.pranksfilmfestival.com

The 1st Annual Pranks Film Festival is a three day celebration and tribute to the “Art of the Prank” and those pranksters that have courage enough to pull them off.

The Festival will screen films about the masters like Alan Abel, John Law, The Cacophany Society and the Billboard Liberation Front and short docs from the newest infiltrators and prankster, like the Yes Men, Harmon Leon and Joey Skaggs. This is a festival that is both humorous and political.

Check the schedule here. Benefit for RE/Search Publications and Todd Blair of SRL.

Editor’s note: Video about Joey Skaggs will be screened on April 3 at 5pm.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The New York April Fools’ Committee Is Proud to Announce:

The 23rd Annual April Fools’ Day Parade will march down Fifth Avenue from 59th Street beginning at 12 noon, Tuesday, April 1st, 2008. The parade route has changed temporarily due to construction in Washington Square Park. This year the parade will detour east across Fourteenth Street to Union Square where the post-parade festivities will begin.

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

The parade will be led by President George Bush and his entire cabinet. They will be given a 60-second lead and then pursued by an outraged lynch mob. This will be followed by a Macy’s Day Parade-size helium balloon of a B52 Bomber Equipped with Nuclear Missiles flying overhead as the April Fools’ Day Parade Marching Band plays Woody Guthrie’s “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know You.” The Parade’s Grand Marshall will be Ralph Nader, appropriately dressed as The Jester.

The public is encouraged to participate, in or out of costume, with or without floats, and may join the procession at any point along the parade route. Floats can be no wider than 10 feet and no longer than 25 feet. They can be self-propelled, towed, pushed or pulled. Customized bicycles, tricycles, baby carriages and aerial balloons are welcome. The Parade Committee assumes no liability for damages caused by satire. All participants are costumed look-alikes. Parade floats and marchers must be at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue no later than 11:30 a.m.

This year’s floats will be led Mardi Gras-style by Angelo Mozilo, CEO of Countrywide Financial, and instead of beads his Loan Shark Cronies will toss out loans you can’t refuse to the crowd; Michael Vick will be taking bets on his Dog Fight Float with caged, snarling pit bulls; a Chinese Dry-Cleaning Float will feature Roy Pearson screaming, “Where are my pants? I’m going to sue!”; an Archeological Dig Float designed by James Cameron will feature Jesus and Mary’s Bones; a Tourette’s Syndrome Float will feature radio personality Don Imus, political pundit Ann Coulter, the Reverend Louis Farrakhan, radio talk show host Bill Cunningham, and Dog the Bounty Hunter—all shouting obscenities at the crowd; and a Mayflower Hotel Suite Float featuring New York Governor Eliot “Dickhead” Spitzer surrounded by hookers while promising “I will work hard to win back your trust”.

Marching celebrity fool look-alikes will include Senator Larry Craig insisting, “I’m not gay!”; Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore insisting, “I am gay”; Cheney Aide Scooter Libby pleading “Pardon me, pardon me!”; disruptive political protestor Andrew Meyer surrounded by cops screaming, “Don’t tase me, bro”; ex-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asserting, “To the best of my recollection, I don’t remember anything”; baseball great Roger Clemens protesting, “I never used steroids!”; ex-cop Drew Peterson calling for his missing wife to “Come home, just come home”; contagious TB world traveler Andrew Speaker coughing on the crowd; and a dazed Britney Spears looking for the Halloween Parade.

Color commentary will be provided by ex-Philadephia TV newscaster Alicia Lane in a thong bikini. Security this year will be provided by mercenaries courtesy of Blackwater.

As the parade ends in Union Square, the party begins, featuring live music, food, concessions & entertainment. The Chinese Government will be sponsoring a Food and Drug Concession and a Chinese Pet Food Booth. The USDA will be giving away free hamburgers. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and the CIA will provide free demonstrations of Waterboarding. Sex offender Deb LaFave will run a Day Care Center for paraders’ children. And OJ Simpson and his posse will hawk his sports memorabilia to raise money for next year’s parade.

We are grateful to the New York State Council on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Eliot Spitzer, and private funders for their support of this year’s parade.

The King or Queen of Fools will be chosen based on the loudest cheers of the crowd at Union Square. The winner will reign through March 31, 2009.

For information: Joey Skaggs, Committee Chair, 212-254-7878
34 East 11th Street, Suite 2A, New York, New York 10003

Jail for Facebook spoof Moroccan
BBC News
February 23, 2008

A Moroccan computer engineer has been sentenced to three years in jail for setting up a Facebook profile in the name of a member of the royal family.

Fouad Mourtada was arrested on 5 February on suspicion of stealing the identity of Prince Moulay Rachid, younger brother of King Mohammed VI.

The Casablanca court also ordered Mr Mourtada, 26, to pay a $1,300 fine.

The prosecution had urged the court to impose a sentence which set an example for others.

Mr Mourtada was convicted of “villainous practices linked to the alleged theft of the [prince’s] identity”.

In his defence, he said he admired the prince, and that the Facebook entry was just intended to be a bit of fun.

‘Beaten unconscious’

(more…)

From Slashfilm.com, February 24, 2008:

Earlier this month Sarah Silverman recorded a music video announcing to the world that she’s F**king Matt Damon (see below). Damon has long been the punchline of a running joke in Silverman’s boyfriend Jimmy Kimmel’s sign-off (”Apologies to Matt Damon, we’ve run out of time!”).

As a retaliation, Kimmel has recorded a music video himself, announcing that he’s F**king Ben Affleck! The video features cameo appearances from Brad Pitt, Harrison Ford, Cameron Diaz, Joan Jett, Macy Gray, Robin Williams, Don Cheadle, Pete Wentz, Perry Farrell, Benji and Joel Madden, Lance Bass, Huey Lewis, Josh Groban, McLovin, Meatloaf, and former announcer and Mighty Mighty Bosstones frontman Dicky Barrett.

Sarah Silverman: “I’m F*cking Matt Damon” on Jimmy Kimmel, January 31, 2008

Editor’s note: pranks.com editor Joey Skaggs appeared at the 1st Influencers event in 2004. You can check it out here.

Eva and Franco Mattes aka 0100101110101101.ORG and Bani present:

The Influencers, a free three day event, Thursday, February 28 - March 1, 2008, at the Centre de Cultura Contemporánea de Barcelona (CCCB), dedicated to imaginative subversion of contemporary mediascape. Focusing on the first hand testimony of some of the protagonists of the international scene, the festival is a selection of the most subtle, elegant and visionary proposals of parallel narratives in the realm of media and global popular culture.

The Influencers explores controversial forms of art and communication guerrilla, presenting independent projects that play with global popular culture, infiltrate the mass media, and transform fashions, consumption and technological fetishism.

The key to The Influencers is found in its guests and stories: impostors, pseudo-totalitarian musicians, conceptual hackers, deviant geographers, anarchitects and actors from invisible theatre. In these three days they are going to present their work, show known and less known material and speak with the public about challenges, goals and strategies.

See you all in Barcelona!

Paper Tiger a Roaring Hoax
The Epoch Times
January 8, 2008

Three months ago, few in China had heard of hunter Zhou Zhenglong, but he now has the dubious reputation of being at the centre of a monumental public hoax.

The Shanxi Province peasant’s photo of a critically endangered South Chinese Tiger in the wild—the first in 30 years—sparked a furious debate between those who believed and those who didn’t. Billboards were erected, dissenting officials were punished and a special conservation area was designated.

But the furious exchanges between the “strike the tiger” and “defend the tiger” camps shuddered to a halt when six experts independently declared that Mr Zhou’s tiger was, as the famous saying goes, a paper tiger.

Two weeks after Mr Zhou produced the photo on October 3 last year, the Shanxi Province forestry branch held a press conference, proclaiming that the South Chinese Tiger had been discovered anew.

The South Chinese Tiger is one of the world’s 10 most endangered animals. Wild populations are estimated at between 20–30 individuals, but many doubt there are any left at all.

Zhou’s tiger made shockwaves around the country, and officials of Zhenping County, where the photo was taken, could hardly conceal their excitement. (more…)

From Rose Fox:

A UK celebrity deliberately publishes his bank account information to prove that it’s safe, and then is surprised when someone uses it to donate £500 to charity.

Clarkson stung after bank prank
bbc.co.uk
January 7, 2008

TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has lost money after publishing his bank details in his newspaper column.

The Top Gear host revealed his account numbers after rubbishing the furore over the loss of 25 million people’s personal details on two computer discs.

He wanted to prove the story was a fuss about nothing.

But Clarkson admitted he was “wrong” after he discovered a reader had used the details to create a £500 direct debit to the charity Diabetes UK. (more…)