Art of the Prank (2015) - full transcript

- I have dedicated my life,

my entire life,
since being a boy to now,

to being an artist,

and to do so in a way that was,
to me, self-righteous.

I want the world to be
the way that I envision it.

And that means that the world
is full of conflicts,

and so am I.

I'm in conflict with everything
out there that pisses me off,

that upsets me,
that's, you know, not--

that's not just,
that's not right.

- A speedy trial
in front of a jury of peers,



it's one of our
Constitutional rights.

But there are those
that think the Sixth Amendment

ought to be amended
to include trial by mainframe.

- When jurors found OJ Simpson
not guilty,

more than a difference
of opinion separated them

from New York computer
scientist Joseph Bonuso.

- We found OJ guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.

He was guilty of murder.

- As designed,
the Solomon Project

at the New York University
Law School

is supposed to take the jury
out of jurisprudence,

casting all trials
to the impartiality

of artificial intelligence.

Testimony, evidence,
and precedence



were entered into the computer,

and a complicated formula
using fuzzy logic

helped render a verdict.

[tape rewinding]

- A jury is a manipulated group
of puppets.

[playful music]

♪

- As a prankster, I always
have my guard up in general,

especially
when I hear Joey's name.

- You run...
- A brothel for dogs.

- A brothel for dogs.

- How would you feel

if you had covered
Joey Skaggs' Cathouse for Dogs?

- Would you welcome the inventor

of the fish tank condo,
Joey Skaggs.

- Joey Skaggs, he's fooled
every major American network

with his elaborate hoaxes.

- Print this guy, Mike.

I want to make sure we never see
him again under any other name.

- How do we even know
that you are Joey Skaggs?

How do we even know
what you're saying

about these media outlets
is true?

- Any journalist who falls
for a Joey Skaggs prank is...

it's their own fault.

- He thinks that cockroaches
are very important to all of us.

- A cockroach hormone pill
to cure everything.

- Cockroach Cure.

Now, would you read
that article?

- It's because
they didn't look closely.

They didn't fact-check.

They didn't make that call
to verify something.

- My parents were missionaries
in Kenya.

[all roaring]

- Would you ever believe
all the things

you see on television?

Hoaxes performed
before your very eyes.

- Don't you feel bad
when you do it?

- I feel very good.

- I was pissed off at Joey
for a period of time.

But I decided to forgive him,

because Joey does
what I really love,

and that is, he makes you laugh,

and when he makes you laugh,
he makes you think.

- Well, about a month ago
we told you about a man

who came up with a way
to render verdicts

without all the arguing
in the jury room.

But he didn't say anything
about being embarrassed,

which is what CNN is right now.

- We've learned his invention
was all a big hoax,

and we fell for it.

- Wow, that thing on TV news

that we were all talking about
wasn't true.

- I remember
being kind of scared.

Like, oh, my God,
we've been found out.

And Joey's like,
"No, this is all part of it.

"It's all part of it,
because they have to find out.

That's the other part."

- I can't put that
on the back of a tricycle.

There's just no way.

So I'm gonna stick
with the missile.

The missile it is.

First, I'd get it extended.

Making sure
that it was supported.

And then I would,
like you said,

a pipe with a flange.

[tool grinding]

We have Iran, you know,
still playing games.

North Korea
still playing games.

You have surveillance drones.

You have Russia being very upset
with what's going on with NATO,

with moving missiles
to their borders.

There are just so many issues
that this relates to, and it's--

- You know what, though?
- And it's satire.

I mean, it's a mobile
rocket launcher.

- The thing is, you know,
something may just,

in the next six weeks, happen.

- Yeah.

- And, it's just gonna need
to be ready.

- What color do we paint it?

We have the North Korean flag
on it,

the Iranian flag on it?

If I had a robe,
I can be an Arab.

I like to mix it up.

It doesn't have
to always be a hoax.

It can be a direct
theatrical piece

which is a political statement
or a confrontation.

I just love the fact

that here I am in the middle
of rural America

with people who,
you know, you wonder

whether they would agree with
your political stance or not,

but they're willing to do it.

The rocket's the rocket.

That'll be a great visual,

peddling down the streets
of New York.

Or wherever.

Jon.

Well, you're not
gonna believe this.

I just came back with Judy
from seeing Sacha Baron Cohen,

Cohen's film, "The Dictator."

And, yeah, so he's got a missile
in it, you know?

And he's paying homage
to North Korea,

and, you know, he's an Arab
building a missile, you know.

[laughing]

It's like, oh, fuck, man.

You know?

But he didn't have it
on the back of a tricycle.

So we'll stick with the rocket.

And we'll just have the mobile
rocket launcher, and that's it.

And I just have to...

I may not dress up
like an Arab,

as I thought I might.

Or as a North Korean,
as I thought I might.

Maybe I should go as Uncle Sam.

I don't know, I don't know.

It's not the same thing, but...

you know,
he's got it covered kind of.

Rethink this one.

You got to be first.

Not always easy.

Look, life throws you
a lot of curveballs.

You have to be prepared for it.

You have to go with the flow.

There's, you know--you don't
have a lot of choices.

And what happened with me was,
my father had dementia.

He was bedridden
for nine years.

My mother was incapable
of living alone

and taking care of herself.

I said that, you know,
when she needed me,

I would be here full-time.

And she needed me.

So I had to give up Hawaii
and New York.

- Right after my husband died,
he came from Hawaii,

and it was a big change for him.

And I'm not gonna say
what he calls this place,

but it's not been
his greatest move,

because he doesn't have access

to the things
that he's used to.

- It's a tricycle,
it's a three-wheeler.

And on the back
of the three-wheeler,

there's a platform that's gonna
hold the confessional booth.

Whoa.

[laughing]

[staples popping]

I've got some crucifixes.

[dramatic music]

- From FOX 5,
this is Election '92.

Good evening, I'm Jack Cafferty
at Madison Square Garden.

Cora Ann will join us shortly
from the studio.

Now, if anyone at
the convention's feeling guilty

about something
they may have done,

they don't have to go far
to confess their sins.

A man who calls himself
Father William

has mounted a portable
confessional booth

on his bicycle.

- For delegates who feel they
may have overindulged a bit,

a Catholic priest has set up

a mobile confessional
outside Madison Square Garden.

- A Southern California priest
has the answer for Catholics

who don't have time to confess.

He calls it Portofess.

- Father Joseph,
who is schlepping a Portofess,

a portable confession booth,
around by bike.

[jaunty music]

♪

- Well, I didn't start out
as a prankster.

I was a child artist.

I had a passion for art.

I always drew,
I painted, I sculpted.

I just knew that I wanted
to be an artist.

That was my dream.

- Most children,
they don't obey their parents.

They don't want to accept
rules and regulations

and come in at a certain time.

He was just a normal child

who just didn't want to do
what Mama and Papa said.

- My parents moved
to a little area

on the Brooklyn-Queens
borderline called Laurel Hill,

by Newtown Creek,
a real industrial slum area.

And there was
Calvary Cemetery there,

the Kosciuszko Bridge.

And off in the distance
was Manhattan.

[dramatic music]

♪

I was a young artist.

I knew what I wanted to be.

And I wanted to be in Manhattan.

[jaunty music]

♪

It was a junior-high-school
art teacher that told me

about the High School
of Art and Design.

And I was really fortunate
enough to be accepted

into this
extraordinary high school.

And it was all young artists,
and the teachers were artists.

And it was inspirational.

- My husband
never agreed, never.

- Well, what does your son do?

He's a fine artist.

What the fuck is a fine artist?

- And I said, well, as far
as I'm concerned, so be it.

It's his life.

And if he says
it's what he wants to do,

that's fine with me.

- You have a dream, a passion.

I'm gonna be an artist.

I'll just do all my work,
and then I'll be discovered.

[laughs]

I'll just paint and paint,
and somebody's gonna go,

"Oh, genius!"

But it doesn't always work out
that way for most people.

You're forced to wait until
you are accepted into a gallery

and then have a show
and then hope for a review.

There was
no immediacy involved.

And I wanted the immediacy.

I like things now.

I said, fuck that.

I'm just--I'm gonna do it
in the streets.

I'm gonna do it my way.

[upbeat rock music]

♪

- Here in the "Time" Magazine
I read about a guy

who took a load of hippies,

who were long-haired,
strange-looking people,

as you well know,

put them on a bus
and took them to Queens.

♪

- We took pictures of people

mowing their lawns
and washing their cars,

and I took people to
Howard Johnson's for ice cream

and White Castle
for, you know, hamburgers.

And they screamed,
"We're bring invaded!

We're being invaded!"

- Day and night,
there were busloads of tourists

from all over America,
all over the world,

coming through, looking
at the hippies in the Village.

- But to have freaks
go to suburbia

and take pictures of them.

"Oh, we're being invaded!"

- I think that is the definition
of great political art,

is when it goes
outside of the museum

and affects people
in their daily life.

- If I had
a show of my paintings

and 1,000 people
or 10,000 people came,

that would be considered
a great success.

But if I'm capable
of accessing the news

and millions of people see it,

well, there's
a tremendous difference

between 10,000 and 10 million.

[upbeat rock music]

♪

- He was wilder in the '60s.

His stuff was so raw
and so fresh

that it was like
experimental jazz.

♪

- The war motivated
everything we were doing.

Even though what we were doing

may not have been
specifically about the war,

underneath it was
kind of a motor.

It kept us going.

Whether you could call it
anger or dissatisfaction

or unhappiness,

whatever it was inside us
was making us make our art.

♪

- The war in Vietnam
was going on.

People are killing one another.

What kind of God
are we talking about here?

And so I constructed
a life-size sculpture

of a dead and decayed figure
on a crucifix.

[garage rock music]

♪

I dragged it on my back...

- Up 5th Avenue.

- Into the Easter Day Parade.

- Easter Parade,
well-to-do people

walking on 5th Avenue in
their most beautiful clothing.

- When I got to the doors
of St. Patrick's,

the police
locked the church doors,

pushed the piece and me,

kicked the piece,
kicked me.

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

And I just
dropped the sculpture,

and I ran down the block

and jumped into a cab
and got away.

[siren wailing]

The police became
the Roman soldiers.

The crowd became, you know,
the jeering crowd.

And it was a total reenactment
of over 2,000 years ago.

♪

- He was at the right place
at the right time.

Had the wish, the energy,
and the love

to explore it and push it.

- The war in Vietnam dragged on,

and I had to continue
to protest against it.

So I built a life-sized
Vietnamese village

portraying
a Vietnamese nativity.

And I chose to do it on
Christmas Day in Central Park.

I got all of my friends
with fake guns and helmets

and whatever
we could put together,

in an attempt to burn it
to the ground.

[garage rock music]

And, of course,
the cops found us.

They were looking for me.

"Has anyone seen Joey Skaggs?"

They had a piece of paper.

They even asked me,
"Have you seen Joey Skaggs?"

I said, "He was around here
a minute ago."

[music fading]

And then "The New York Times"
does a story--

"Hippies arrested
for littering."

Gee, they missed my intent.

That's not what I was saying.

That's not what I meant.

I was doing something
against the war in Vietnam.

I watched how the media twisted
and torqued

the intent, content, meaning
of the message

to suit their own agenda.

And I realized that the media
has an amazing ability

to mold public opinion.

So I decided,
rather than just use the media

to try to get attention
for my work,

I would use the media
as part of my work.

Exploit their vulnerability,
gullibility,

necessity for being
out there first,

and incorporate this
into a theatrical performance.

And then... [pops lips]

See what happens.

[garage rock music]

♪

Handler and vet on duty,

stud and photo service
available.

No weirdos, please.

Dogs only, by appointment.

- I can't believe
that the "Village Voice,"

for all its great reporting,
fell for that one.

That always makes me laugh.

- It was, you know, outrageous.

But it was a sex story,
and it was a dog story.

The media likes to have,
you know,

little kids and dog stories
all the time.

There has to be an animal.

Boom, I put that out.

And the phone rang off the hook.

I got together
a group of actors,

a bunch of dogs in a loft
in downtown Manhattan...

And created a theatrical
performance for the press.

- Okay, so what was going to be

just the gag
of having this ad appear

turned out to be
something you had to concoct

because there was so much
media interest in it.

- But that's what I wanted.

I wanted to do that.

I was setting it up.

- Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.

This is Alex Bennett.

And tonight "Midnight Blue"
visits a cathouse

where all the females
are real bitches.

- Betty Drake and Blackberry.

Isn't she beautiful?

This meeting is to introduce
the customers and their dogs

to the brothel, to the bitches.

And after they've chosen

which bitch they wish
their dog to mate with,

we then inject the dogs
with the drug

which induces heat,
and we have a second meeting

then when they copulate.

- And we had a really horny
male dog that was there,

and his mojo kicked in,
and he was just humping space.

He would hump anything.

He'd just grab a head.

He'd grab anything.

And it looked like a dog orgy.

[dogs panting]

I wrote letters to editors.

I said, "I've taken my dog,
you know, to the cathouse,

"and he had a great time.

I recommend this."

Or, "I've taken my dog there,

"and he was attacked
by other dogs.

You know, I'm thinking
about suing."

I created a controversy.

- I'm completely against it.

Number one, I think you're
gonna be taking female dogs,

causing them
to go through false

or silent non-ovulatory heats.

- I created a second controversy
in the Cathouse for Dogs

when I got so many calls

from people
wanting to have sex with dogs

or wanting to watch women
getting screwed by dogs.

So I thought,
well, here's an opportunity.

I will create a diversion

so that people don't question
the initial premise.

So I sent out
a second press release

saying there's absolutely
no animal-human contact

happening
in the Cathouse for Dogs.

And so that had, you know,

the effect
of making you not think,

"Well, is there really
a cathouse for dogs?"

Because now you're thinking,

"People are having sex
with dogs.

Oh, my God."

So when ABC Television
called me,

they wanted to do a piece
on the brothel for dogs.

So I provided WABC
with an interview

in Washington Square Park

and a videotape of
the "Midnight Blue" performance.

And they did a documentary

which was nominated
and, I later found out,

won the Emmy
as Best News Broadcast

for the inside
of an animal-cruelty story.

- In the United States,

there's a myth
of the happy-go-lucky vagabond.

The carefree mutt
with no master and no leash,

who comes and goes
as he pleases

and does whatever his nose
tells him to do.

This establishment
in Greenwich Village

is a cathouse for dogs.

By that, we do not mean
a stud service.

We mean a house of prostitution
for dogs.

For $50, your dog can have sex
with a female dog

while you watch
and sip cocktails

and take some pictures
if you'd like to.

- It was such an obvious idea
to me.

First of all,
there are hundreds of thousands

of dogs in the city.

There's a dog-population
problem.

People are willing to take their
dogs to dog restaurants.

I thought it'd be natural to get
their dogs sexually gratified.

They got after me, the ASPCA,
the Bureau of Animal Affairs,

the NYPD Vice Squad,

various religious
and humane organizations.

And I was subpoenaed
by the Attorney General

for illegally running
a whorehouse for dogs.

[upbeat music]

♪

- Today at the State
Attorney General's Office,

Skaggs and his attorney
appeared

in response to a subpoena.

- And miraculously,
the subpoena was for April 1st--

April Fool's Day.

- He says the hoax
was a conceptual art piece.

And an expensive one.

- For what purpose?

- Well, it says a lot
about the media.

I hope that it will change
the viewing audience's opinion

and change their perspective
as to what media really is.

There's a media reality.

Television is not
necessarily reality.

And millions of people
have spent weeks

believing that there's
a cathouse for dogs.

And, in fact, there never was.

And that's what I did.

I decided to have a relationship
with the news media

where they were not
just reporting about me,

but I was reporting about them
as well.

Their irresponsibility,
their gullibility,

their prejudices.

- Joey is
the quality-control inspector.

He's poking for the soft spots
in the media armor,

and it turns out
that it's very easy to find.

- And in a culture like ours
that's so media-dominated,

where commercial interests

are just pushing
their propaganda on us

from every direction,

the lesson he teaches,
I believe,

is, you know, be skeptical.

Be double-skeptical.

Don't believe what you see.

- And if I believe that,

what else do I believe
that's total bullshit?

Denis, aloha, it's Joey Skaggs.

Could you please give me
a call back when you can?

This is a guy that is leasing
my property in Hawaii.

I just didn't want to give up
what was, to me,

the most important thing
in my life,

to be an artist,
to be creative,

to get up
when I want to get up,

sleep when I want to sleep,

eat when I want to eat,

and that's it.

It's really--you know,
you think it sounds easy.

It's not easy.

It's a very difficult
thing to do,

and you give up many things
in doing that.

But I couldn't live it
any other way.

I don't want to live it
any other way.

And people always want to know
what's next.

You know, what have you
done recently?

- You know, I could just,
you know, sit back

and wait and see, you know,
what the next, you know...

'Cause he can't stop.

So, you know, if you've
been doing it for a while

and it's a thing
that you're really good at,

you know, why would you stop?

What else would you do?

- 10,000 rural farmers were
marching in the streets saying,

"Down with Monsanto,"

because Monsanto donated
475 tons of seeds to Haiti

after the earthquake
to help them

in their time of greatest need.

- About 70% of grocery store
food in the U.S.

contains genetically modified
organisms, or GMOs.

- Biotech giant Monsanto,

campaigners,
and environmental--

- Why don't you buy these GMOs?

And they're resistant
to Roundup, which we also make.

So why don't you take that, too?

And they don't grow well
in your country,

they aren't really
from your country,

you need to buy
this synthetic fertilizer

to go along with those.
- Right.

- And they would lose their
own seeds in the meantime.

[radio fading]

- Epiphanies come in weird
places at weird times.

I moved to Kauai because
I was looking to get away

from all the restrictions
that I felt living in New York.

I've lived there for decades,

and I know the intimate,
underbelly stories

of what's going on on Kauai.

Star Wars development,
drone development,

GMO corn fields.

And Hawaii's just a microcosm
of the real world.

This is going on all around us.

This Pandora's box, you know,

we've opened up
all this technology.

Who controls it?

Who's making money from it?

Are we gonna be able to know
what we're eating?

Are they going to identify it?

My intent is to bring attention
to these issues,

because I know that no one's
getting attention

for the issues, nobody cares.

So how do you make people think

and get upset and motivate them
to take action?

I do it by creating characters.

[dramatic rock music]

♪

- There we go.
- Okay.

♪

[tool whirring]

- So we're gonna do
a fake news story.

I'm trying to put together
a little mini documentary,

about 10 minutes long,

so that I can either put it
in a film festival

or make a news story out of it,
put it on YouTube,

figure out some way
I can have people

have access to it.

99% of this is true.

I am the only false part.

My character is a guy,

whether I'm a marine biologist
or a fisherman.

I was in a motorcycle accident,

broke my jaw in several places,
knocked out my teeth.

And my geneticist scientist
friend said,

"Look, you know,
we can try introducing

"shark stem cells in your jaw

and see if we can
regenerate teeth."

[laughing heartily]

Oh, ah.

Oh, wow.

You have to tell a story.

Scary, man.

And that's the key.

A good hoax promises
a good story and visuals.

[exciting synth music]

♪

- Our next guest
on "Live at Five"

is a man with a mission.

He is the head of a group
called Metamorphosis,

and he thinks that cockroaches
are very important to all of us.

Sue and I are delighted
to welcome Dr. Josef Gregor

to "Live at Five."

Doctor, it's nice
to have you with us.

You have completed
a rather exhaustive study,

and in your words,

the future of mankind
lies in the cockroach.

- So I went with
this Panama hat, Panama suit,

roach pins all over me,

a cockroach T-shirt
saying "Metamorphosis."

I am an entomologist.

I've been doing research with
roaches over the past ten years.

And I believe that roaches
are the key to human survival.

- He wore a white hat
and a white suit.

He looked as fraudulent
as can be.

And I told him, "Joe,
you can't get away with this.

Who's gonna believe it?"

- Actually, I brought
a strand of super roach

which I have developed,

which is actually impervious
to all toxins known to man.

- Those are big fellas
in there, huh?

- Yes, they are.

- And they're alive, Jack.

- They are alive...

- He had
this really giant cockroach

that he had gotten
from the museum.

When he took that out
and he put it on the desk...

- And I have developed a formula
which is a roach extract,

which I have been taking
along with my subjects

for the past year.

And colds, flus, virus
have all but disappeared.

And, you know,
when you're there,

and the red light goes on
in the camera,

I can't believe I'm here.

I can't believe
they're falling for this.

The results
have been incredible.

And so now I'm on the set.

Well, this is really
our theme song.

And I had a little
tape recorder with me.

- I see.

And I was just gonna, you know,
push the button.

- Organization's called
Metamorphosis.

["La Cucaracha" playing]

♪

[Sue laughing]

- Okay, Doctor, we probably
ought to move along here.

I want to thank you for sharing

your scientific breakthrough
with us here on "Live at Five."

Roaches--
the future of mankind

lies in these little devils
right here.

- I'm prepared for anything.

You know, if they go,
"We gotcha," they got me.

If they don't have me,

I'm just gonna take it
to the next level.

[loopy music]

♪

- With all the space given
to the cockroach cure,

isn't the American newspaper
reader entitled to wonder,

what isn't getting in this space
because this did?

- Sometimes
the facts are boring.

People are more interested
in the story than the facts,

and that's what they want
to exchange.

People don't want
to know the truth.

They want to play
with the story.

- We're willing
to believe in things

that we want to believe in,

even if we have a feeling
they might not be true.

- Why deal with the legal system

without knowing
the outcome beforehand?

Let me tell you
whether to sue or settle,

if you'll win or lose.

I use nontraditional techniques

to determine the outcome
of legal decisions.

Have you been the victim
of a psychic injustice?

Are you suffering from psychic
surgery malpractice?

Do you wish to renegotiate
contracts made

during past lives?

There is no statute
of limitations

in the psychic realm.

Let me use my psychic abilities

to help you rectify injustices
of the past and present.

No fee unless I win your case.

Call me.

- Every Joey Skaggs story starts

with some sort
of unbelievable lie

that people
just want to believe in.

- They wear commando-type berets

and leather jackets
the color of coal.

They are the men and women
of Walk Right!,

and their mission is to get you
if you walk wrong.

- I think a lot
of marketers today

are doing the same sort
of things.

They come there
with live actors,

who are playing parts
or dressed up in costume

and getting the names
of their brands out there.

It's got much more of an impact
than a billboard or an ad on TV.

- If you look on Google
and look for brand marketing,

brand storytelling,
brand narrative,

you get a gazillion hits.

And everybody is trying
to theorize on what that is.

You know, Joey's done it.

- Six Fat Squad commandos are
here now, this morning, live,

to maintain
tight security around

our "Good Morning, America"
refrigerator

while we talk to the leader
and the founder, Joe Bones.

That is his real name.

- We are there to physically
restrain them if necessary.

- Stop them from going
to the refrigerator?

- You bet.

- It was a nightmare.

She really
couldn't help herself.

I had to hold her down.

- So what's the significance
of this chain?

- Oh, you got to lock
the refrigerator sometimes.

- The Yes Men,
of course, are dealing

with giant corporations
and business

and moving into the inside
and trying to make changes.

- Andy is about to tell
a really big lie.

They're gonna think
that he represents

one of the largest companies
in the world.

- I don't know if they would
exist if it weren't for Joey,

if you think about it,

because he's laid
the groundwork,

and everybody went,
"Whoa, that's really cool.

Maybe we can do
something like that."

- I think that definitely
gave me inspiration

to realize that what I was doing
with Improv Everywhere

didn't just have to be a hobby.

- I met Joey Skaggs
August 1, 1994.

He was in the middle
of an operation

that he called Dog Meat Soup.

- A strange letter is arriving

in the mailboxes
of animal shelters.

- Animal shelters
all across the country...

- The letter,
written in broken English,

asks if the shelters would be
willing to sell unwanted dogs

for use as food.

According to the letter,

the dogs would be bought
for 10 cents a pound,

then canned,
and sold here and overseas.

- It may sound outrageous,

but Korean-Americans concede
it could be true.

- Someone who thought it up
is very, very sick,

so we want to get
to the bottom of it.

[dramatic synth music]

- They are companions,

they are protectors,
they are pets.

But they are never dinner.

[line trilling]

- Hey, Joey!
- How are you, man?

- How you doing?
- I'm good.

We arrive Friday night,

and I've already scheduled
a shoot in Kekaha.

Tom, aloha.

Joey Skaggs here, how are you?

Actually, why don't you
tell me when is a good time

for you to get a bunch
of people together

who can talk about
what's wrong with GMOs.

I need, you know,
something to counter the GMO.

I need conflict in this story.

- Aloha, you've reached
the Printmaker.

We can't get
to the phone right now.

Leave a message.

- I want to talk to you
about a hoax.

I've been speaking to Will.

He thought of an actress

that might be good
for my news commentator.

I need a TV personality.

It's not just a good voice.

He has to keep it secret
for about a year,

till the movie's out.

There is no money involved.

This is a low-budget flick.

- [speaking indistinctly]

- Well, he'll get exposure.

[chuckles]

The crew is all coming.

We're all coming to Kauai
this Friday.

And I know it's
rather late notice,

but I'm looking for an actor
or an actress

to play a principal role.

[woman speaking indistinctly]

- All right.

All right, thanks.
All right, bye.

She has other clients, you know,

and she's rehearsing
for a play at 5:30 every day.

- Well, if you direct me
and coach me, I could try.

But I don't know.

- Well, you're gonna be,
you know,

with the production
for the entire time.

So, I mean, you know...
- I'm there.

- You're there.

I have to use
what I have, you know?

I have to make something
out of clay, you know?

[loopy music]

♪

I've got to get something
out of there.

Here you guys go.

♪

[carolers singing]

- ♪ Oh, what fun it is to die
in a fiery nuclear way ♪

♪ Burning through our skin

♪ In a 1,000-degree heat

- ♪ Oh, what fun it is to die
in a fiery burning way, hey ♪

♪ Jingle bells,
we're going to hell ♪

I learned about Joey
because I did Media Studies

at San Francisco State
University.

And it was literally
just two or so weeks ago

that I met him in a bar
for a rehearsal to participate

in this demonstration
that was happening.

And he asked me,
could I dress up as an elf

and maybe sing
some dirty Christmas carols.

And so I thought,
"Oh, this is cake."

I have a couple in the bag.

♪ There's a place
that we all know ♪

♪ Mostly shot in video

♪ A place for sharing genitals

♪ By sticking them
right through the walls ♪

♪ Glory holes
- [laughing]

- ♪ Stick your dick
inside them ♪

And I think
that's all it took, really.

I think that that
was how I won Joey over.

- And maybe there's a way
of changing those lyrics

so that it has something
to do with--

- I'll think on it, yeah.

- Okay, okay.

- Joey?

- Sarah,
I hope it's not too late.

Is it too late?

- No, no...
[speaking indistinctly]

- I would love you
to play a journalist

doing a "60 Minutes,"
you know, kind of piece,

or a "20/20" kind of piece,

profiling certain aspects of
Kauai that aren't really known.

But there's no money in this.

I mean, you know,
this is like, you know--

this is just on a whim
and a prayer.

Everyone that's working
with me is volunteering.

If I can get
your passage over there

and put you up
and buy your meals,

is that okay?

- Mr. Skaggs,
it would be an honor.

- [chuckles]
Oh, well, I'm...

- I mean, are you kidding?

This is art, this is life.

This is something I believe in.

This is, you know...

- Fantastic.

[upbeat rock music]

♪

- Well, I think that
the mainstream media

doesn't like the idea
of this guy out there

who's basically trying
to damage them and expose them.

And I think that
probably the establishment

is very much against him

and probably would want
to see him thrown in jail,

because he embarrasses
these institutions.

- Some of the stuff Joey's done
is scary.

And on top of that,
you know, it's--

there are lots of authorities,
political powers,

people who are gonna sue you.

The legal profession
is industrialized as well,

and they can take action
against you.

[man speaking indistinctly
over PA]

[alert buzzing]

[laughter]

- Is that the spot
in Hanalei Bay where you,

there's like
that beautiful snorkeling,

but then there's a really
abrupt drop in the reef?

- That's further out.

That's where the surfers go.

That's where the break is.

We'll go out there.

I windsurfed from that spot
to California,

or so I said I did.

And I had a band
and a big farewell party

and a Hawaiian blessing.

[upbeat music]

♪

I had a stand-in double,
shaved to look like me.

- Cal or bust? [laughs]
- Yeah.

- He made it around
and came back to shore.

And we met at the bar
and were having a laugh,

and everyone believed
that I took off for California

on the longest, you know,
windsurfing expedition ever.

- 29-year-old Jay Skaggs
shoved off for California today.

That's not a big deal,

except for Skaggs is trying
to make the 2,500-mile journey

on a windsurfer.

- And the local media here
got really bent out of shape.

The journalists
didn't appreciate it.

[upbeat music]

♪

[laughter]

- How's it going, man?
- Great.

[indistinct chatter]

- Welcome home.

- Sarah.
- Hi, Sarah, how are you?

- Thank you all for coming.

Thank you for having us.

What I'm trying to do
is create a story

that has an element
of plausibility

and yet has a lie in it.

So all of you
are speaking your truth,

but you are taking part
in a prank.

I'm just trying
to get anti-GMO, pro-GMO.

But my piece really is about

how science controls inventions
and patents,

how the corporations own it.

I want a strong opinion
from your side.

I want a strong opinion
from the other side.

I'm not making up my mind.

I want to present opinions.

- Okay, speed all around.

And, Sarah, go.

- I'm here with members
of a local organization

called GMO-Free Kauai.

I'm standing here
with Ed Coll,

A college professor and activist
here in Hawaii.

- It's a fallacy
that science belongs

to these chemical companies.

- This is giant corporations
specifically own those seeds

and patent them.

- People became concerned
that all this information,

they could use it for purposes

that are not necessarily
in the public good.

- In a fishing village,

you always take
only what you need,

and if there's any extra,
you share.

- They talk about the corn
or the corn spray.

What about what the sugar
used to spray?

They used to spray. Who knows
what they used to spray?

- Long term,
nobody has the wisdom

to conduct this thing safely.

- How you doing?

- I'm here
with Doctors Ing and Croft,

who are overseeing some
of the research being done

on Joe Howard in terms
of his tooth regeneration.

- They regenerate.

I lose them constantly.

But there are teeth
right behind.

- Yeah, I see that.

- And they just
keep coming forward.

- I kind of see Joey
as this conductor

of this orchestra of chaos.

[chuckles] I mean, this is
unlike any symphony

that has ever been heard.

[funky rock music]

- We cover every walk of life.

Doctors, Jonas Salk,
sports figures, politicians.

[crowd jeering]

They're gonna try
to get rid of anybody

that isn't to their liking.

[indistinct shouting]

- In 1976, I had
a celebrity sperm auction.

Unfortunately, last night
Celebrity Sperm was broken into,

and celebrity sperm was stolen.

[laughs]

It was right here.

Everything was totally staged.

- Who's sperm did you want?

- Dylan.

- Dylan?
- Yeah, this man here.

- I decided Bob Dylan.

So I dressed like Bob Dylan,

and I went there looking
for Bob Dylan's sperm.

- There was nothing there.

It was a friend's apartment.

So I kept them out by saying,

"Oh, sperm's been stolen,
auction's canceled."

- I want to introduce Sunshine.

Sunshine is an artificially
inseminated child.

She was told that she was
artificially inseminated.

Well, my task
was to appear in videos

protesting Joey's
celebrity sperm bank,

to be a believable lawyer.

Since then, she has been
looking for her father.

She has been
on the verge of catatonia.

I don't remember any rehearsal.

I met the young woman
who was playing my client.

I might've had
a conversation with her

about the circumstances.

- It was really an improv.

It was really like Second City.

Everybody
had their own part.

And that was
all they were told.

- I want to know about this
because it's very dangerous,

what's going down here,
very dangerous!

- He controlled things
from a distance.

But he let the actors--

he really let them have
their way with the script.

There was no script.

There was never a script.

- I'm trying to, you know--

what's the best way
of looking at this?

You can turn to the camera and
say, "We're about to examine..."

- We're about to
or we already have?

- No, we're about to, I guess.

That'd be nice,
about to examine.

- My only thing is that we've
got better questions to ask

if they've already
had the examination.

- I'm here with
Doctors Ing and Croft,

two of the professionals
who are overseeing

some of the research
being done on Joe Howard,

specifically in terms
of his tooth regeneration

that's going on.

I'm sorry, you guys,
I am out of--I need to--

This is, like,
out of nowhere to me,

and I don't know
what I'm talking about.

- The way that was,
that was, you know.

- Oh, well, it was,
but I figured--

I thought that this wasn't
the first time.

Is this the first time
you're ever going to see him?

- Yeah, that's what I thought.

I mean, that's what I thought.

- [sighs] I'm sorry, guys.
I'm losing it.

What do you want?

Any other...?

- Coming right
from the beginning again.

- Mm-hmm.

- Well, I was hoping to be
the scientific advisor.

[chuckles]

And so I started
thinking all sorts

of elaborate ideas about--

And Joey told me
what the basic idea was,

that there was shark teeth.

The guy had grown teeth,
yak yak yak yak yak.

So I started thinking,
"What's the most plausible way

of explaining that
scientifically?"

And I came up with
some nice scientific papers.

Yeah, this is possible.

Yeah, it's kind of
on the edge of plausibility,

it's a bit wacky, but,
you know, it'll probably pass.

Then when I told him, in Hawaii,
this is what the process is,

he was horrified.

It was just--
it wasn't silly enough.

We use sharks as a source

of sustainable
and renewable stem cells.

- Stop for one second.

Do me a favor.
- Yeah?

- Lie.

You're too honest.

- [laughing] I'm lying--
I'm lying my ass off here.

- I know you're lying.

But here's a lie
that I think--

- Larry, don't mess
with your hair, please.

- The lie is,
if we can regenerate our teeth

like a shark can
regenerate their teeth,

then we can revolutionize
the whole dental industry.

- Yeah.

- And the point
of what we're trying to do

is to make it so that humans
can now regenerate teeth.

That's it.

- Forever.

- That's what it's about.
Fuck the shark.

I mean, it's the ability
to regenerate teeth constantly.

- Oh, okay.

- You're doing a good job.

You are.

Dr. Croft, talk to me
about the addition

of shark stem cells
in your research.

- The teeth re-grow in sharks,

and once a tooth falls out,
another one grows back.

So if we can harness the ability

that sharks have
to re-grow their own teeth,

we could do the same thing
in humans.

And so this would revolutionize
the dental industry

and would be a fantastic thing
for many people.

[giggling]
Sorry.

- There's such a thin line

between, you know,
what's plausible

and what's, like,
"Get out of here.

I don't believe any of this."

- Yeah.

- Is it too much ham?

- Yeah.

[laughing]
Too much ham.

- We'll see.

[laughter]

We'll see.

[phone ringing]

- Comacocoon, may I help you?

Yes.

Yes, you got our press release?

Mm-hmm.

And what kind of vacation
were you looking for?

[pleasant music]

♪

- ♪ Dreams...

- Now there is Comacocoon.

And with recent
technological advancements made

in the field of anesthesiology,

we can now knock you out.

They'll hypnotize you
and give you, you know,

a computer-generated dream.

You could be a rock star.

You could,
you know, be, Don Juan.

You could do
your own personal fantasy.

And we could give you a tan
while you were out, you know,

You could quit smoking,
minor surgeries.

♪

I always try to do something
that's challenging to me.

I don't want
to do the same thing.

And I thought,
"Well, why don't I try

to do two hoaxes at once?"

[Western music]

♪

Depending on the condition
of your scalp,

if you have
no scars or birthmarks,

a full head of hair.

If you were
in a high-risk profession,

I would give you X amount,
$1,000 dollars,

and upon your untimely demise,

I had ownership of your scalp.

On this side of the room,
I'm Dr. Chenango,

I'm curing baldness.

On this side of the room,
I'm Dr. Schlafer,

giving sleep dream vacations.

And then
when the time was right,

I reveal that it was a hoax,

and "The New York Times'"
Mark Dery

did a wonderful piece.

♪

There's a gray area.

There's a time
when you do the performance,

and it's going out there.

And then when you do the exposé,
and you think it's over.

Well, there are people
who don't ever get the exposé.

So I get a phone call
from an Italian journalist.

"Dr. Schlafer?"

So I go, "Hello?"

"My name is Sylvia Kramer.
I work for 'il Giornale.'

I'd like to do a story
about your operation."

- I said, "Well, look,
come to my home,

and I'll tell you a story
that you'll really enjoy."

I was gonna tell her the truth.

She calls me back
10 minutes later,

"Dr. Schlafer,
I'm running late."

I said, "Fine, no problem."

Then she calls me again,

"I'm running late,
I'm running late."

And then finally the last time
she calls, she says,

"Dr. Schlafer, I'm sorry,
but I can't make it.

Can we do the interview
on the phone?"

Lazy bitch.

You know, I was gonna tell you
the truth but, you know...

I'm not gonna tell you
the truth,

I'm just gonna continue
the hoax.

After it hits
the Italian news media,

I get a phone call
from the competition.

"Joey, Joey,
you screwed Sylvia Kramer!

"We almost fell
for the story, too,

but we read
'The New York Times.'"

You think you know
when it's over,

and it's not over.

It's not over.

Because the truth is really
the hardest thing to get to.

- Okay, so, what do you think
of this?

- I would make the conflict

between morality and science
up front, more up front.

And then get into,

"But open-sourcing science has
its own issues," you know?

I mean, I have to think
about this, because...

- Can we do it again?
- Yep.

- The operations and
implications of this research

and its open-source
methodology.

- Is this a news report?

- It was.

- So maybe
we don't even need that?

- That's what I'm thinking.

I think that this intro
is so specific.

- Yeah.

- Taking you directly
into something.

I mean, that's what
we thought it was earlier.

- Right.

- There's a great big difference

between doing what I do,
which is a prank,

and doing a film.

I have to be improvisational.

I have to go with the flow.

So whatever it is, I've got
to be able to make it happen,

and so it's different
than a film.

You have a script, you know,
you have the actors,

you're paying these people,
you know.

It's all lit, takes hours.

Improvisational theater,
guerrilla theater,

culture jamming, hoaxes,
different ball game.

So...

- I'm having a difficult time

seeing if that's
where we're going to end up.

I am not--I don't have
a lot of clarity yet,

if this is gonna be a
documentary or a news report.

- We still don't have a timeline
on this thing, you know.

It's still in a nonlinear form,

and we still haven't figured out

where the actual punches
are gonna be thrown yet.

- Warren.

- Hey, how are you?

- I'm good, how are you?

I'm gonna say this now,
to you personally,

so I'd rather it be in person,

but this is all about, you know,
high-tech and experiments

with genetics
and gene splicing and all that.

Are you a willing guy to talk
about the possibility

or the hopefulness of having
reconnective nerve tissue done

through stem cell research?

Warren, who broke his back

in a horrible accident
in the ocean

and he has spinal cord damage,

he comes in, and he's
the savior for the piece,

because he takes the attention
away from my shark teeth.

I want everyone
to have a piece to say,

especially Warren.

And he says, at the table...

- If stem cell research
can make it possible

for someone who has been
in a wheelchair for 20 years

to be able to stand up

and walk to the bathroom...

I can't tell you
how wonderful that would be.

- Warren carries
that whole conversation.

It's all about that.

Forget about the ethics
of doing the research.

I need it.

- This is heartfelt
and the truth.

This particular hoax,
for me, is personal.

It's not just Joey's art.

- He's brought
a lot friends together

who have heartfelt thoughts
on these subjects

that originally
were just the setup.

Now they're the topic.

- Now, to me.
it's more plausible.

And I have to have
an element of plausibility.

I mean, it's so fucking
far out anyway.

But, you know,
now it's concealed.

They've got it.

And we convince them
the next 10 or 15 minutes

to accept it and move on,
and see the bigger picture.

We got it.

This particular piece really
is a stand-by-itself piece.

You know, whatever
the length ends up being.

If it's a half an hour,
you know, great.

It's really a show.

And we never have to reveal
the fact that it's a hoax.

And we're gonna make this
into its own film

and then put this
out in the world.

We submit it
to film festivals

as a mini documentary.

If they air it,
if they accept it and air it,

and no one says
that it's, you know, bullshit,

fantastic.

The tourists
don't know anything.

To them, it's a beautiful,
idyllic, tropical island.

- It's also the most remote

geographical archipelago
on Earth.

- We have a secret military base
doing underwater research

with a submarine base out here.

There may or may not be
nuclear weapons.

[dramatic music]

♪

- It's a fallacy

that science belongs
to these chemical companies.

The science belongs
to all of us.

- I try not to think of any
ethical ramifications.

It's not often you see
shark's teeth in a human,

but, you know, they're
functioning perfectly.

- If open-source science
can make it possible

for someone
who has been in a wheelchair

to be able to stand up,

I can't tell you
how wonderful that would be.

I would say
go ahead and play God.

- This is a huge Pandora's box.

Nobody has the wisdom
to conduct this thing safely.

[crowd cheering]

[drumming, chanting]

[indistinct chanting]

- Pass the bill!
Pass the bill!

- Sarah.
- Hello.

- Hey, there you are.

- Hey.

- Can you see me?

- Good to see you.

- Good to see you.

Your hair is longer.

It looks good.

- Yeah.

I imagine your beard
is probably longer, too,

but right now
it's half frame.

I've got a little bad news.

- Yeah?

- Holly Shorts got back to us.

- Uh-huh?

- And they did not accept
"Pandora's Hope."

- That's okay.

- So they sent consolation...

[chuckles] Saying that it was
a record year.

They had 1,400 submissions.

So one more down.

- Right, that's why
it's a shotgun approach.

You know, we do a whole lot,
and, you know...

it's the odds.

- Yeah.

- It's just a waiting game,
Sarah, you know.

I said to everyone
when I did the hoax,

the hoax part is the easy part,

and the hard part is waiting

to see if anybody,
you know, bites.

- There's no P.

It's not here.

They picked a lot of films,
but we're not one of them.

Oh, well.

- The big one I'm hoping for
is the Hawaii Film Festival.

That's the one
I hope we make it into.

That's when the shit
will really hit the fan,

because everyone is gonna
realize who these people are.

You know?

And the local press
will go bananas.

It'll probably go
wire service, AP,

which will then make it
a global story.

Maybe we can make it
a newsworthy event

and get some media coverage
that way.

I'm just concerned
that our friends

will laugh their asses off,
and then it's all over.

We've come this far,

and we really don't want
to blow it at this stage.

All we have to do is get
these film festivals covered.

["That's Amore" playing]

♪

- Mama, Papa!

♪

[singing]

♪

[cell phone ringing]

- Hello?

Hello?

Can you hear me?

Hello?

Sarah, hi.

We heard from the Hawaii
International Film Festival.

- No?

Oh, well.

[dog whimpering]
- I'll read it to you.

- What do you say about that?

Huh?

It's okay.

It's just
a difficult challenge.

And I'm, so far,
you know, disappointed

because I haven't been accepted
into film festivals,

but I can understand that,
because, you know,

it's not that
it's a fantastic film.

It's, you know,
a bunch of people

talking about serious issues,

which could be made, I guess,
into a great film

by a great filmmaker.

But I don't consider myself
a filmmaker.

I feel like I locked myself
into a corner,

trying to do
a very difficult thing,

limiting how I can
get attention to the piece

by only having it available
to film festivals.

- I've rarely heard him say,
"That was a mistake.

"I wish I hadn't done that.

If I could do it over,
I would do it this way."

I think he really has
a lot of self-confidence.

He trusts his instincts,

and he knows
that he can pull a rabbit

out of a hat if he needs to,

and I've seen him do it.

He'll enter into a project

because of very strong beliefs
about it,

even if they are
conflicted beliefs

or if there's no way
to know the actual truth

or the actual outcome
of what's gonna happen.

You know, as long
as you're excited

and fascinated and curious,
you're alive.

You're really living.

And he's really living.

He's often described it
as being a surfer.

You know, you have no idea
if you're gonna catch the wave.

You have no idea,
once you're on the wave,

how long you're gonna stay
on the wave,

and you don't know
when your ride is over.

And for him,
that's hugely exciting.

- Have you ever pulled
something that's failed?

- No.

- No, really?

Is it that easy?

Is there a--
I mean, is there any kind

of surefire thing you can do?

- It's like producing
a theater piece.

You conceive, write, produce,
direct, stage, act in it.

It's very complicated.

There are many techniques
to gaining access to the media.

If you know how the media works,

it's kind of easy
to give them the hook.

- I know that he will
never stop being creative,

doing projects,

coming up with outrageous,
outlandish, hilarious ideas.

I know he won't.

It's just his nature.

It's what he'll do.

- You never know what he's
gonna come up with next.

You never know
where he's going,

but I'm going with him.

I'm gonna be there
every time he calls,

even at this age.

I'm gonna follow him
through the streets of New York.

It's okay because
I know, wherever he's going,

it's gonna be fun.

- And, you know, we were leaving
one of the houses recently,

and he said, "I'm so lucky.

"I'm so, so lucky

"that all of my friends
are here doing this for me.

Like, it doesn't escape me for
a second how grateful I am."

And then he looked at me in
the rearview mirror and said,

"And you're one
of my new friends."

- I've been really lucky
that I've been able

to live the life
that I have lived

and with the people
that have come into my life,

and to feel a part,

that we've all
created something,

because, you know,
it's just not all me.

It's me involving
everyone I can involve,

and everyone doing it.

And that, I love.

That's the we.
It's not the me.

- Good morning.

[laughing]

Good morning!

It's August 22nd,

and in the past 12 hours or so,

we've been accepted
to two film festivals.

[laughs]

I got the first email
last night...

right before I drifted off
to sleep.

I was pretty excited.

And then this morning,
I wake up,

and what do you know?

We're accepted
to another film festival!

Two!

Hi!

- Hi.

[laughter]

- Can you believe it?

- We did it.

[laughing]

Yeah!

Now the fun part begins.

Now it's gonna be the juice.

[laughs]

- We'll take...

The plan for today is,
we're gonna poster the town.

My name is Kit.

I've got a card if you'd like.

- Hello, Miss.
- Farrell.

- I'm a filmmaker

who has a film
here in the film festival.

It's a short film.
It's just 20 minutes.

Let's stop by the cinemas

to see if our
big movie poster is up.

- Yeah.

- There it is!

- Oh, my God.

- Hey, everybody.

Right now, Kit Farrell
from "Pandora's Hope"

joins us right now.

Tell us about
this wonderful movie.

- Oh, I'm so excited
about this--my debut project.

Hawaii's island of Kauai
is many things to many people.

- Things that you normally
only read about

in "Discover Magazine"
or something.

It's not often you see
shark's teeth in a human.

But, you know, they're
functioning perfectly.

- I was wondering,
do we push this?

Do I go up there
and serve wine?

[laughter]

- With the teeth?
- With the teeth.

- To me, it's another level
of absurdity

that I can't stop myself
from wanting to do.

- People might find it odd

that you're using the stem
cells of a different species

for your research in humans.

- I had no idea that the teeth
would regenerate so quickly.

Every test that I did on him
was, you know, 100% normal.

It was as if Joe
was born with those teeth.

[applause]

- I'm Kit Farrell.

- That group was basically
to make it more transparent,

as they say.

- The man with the shark teeth?

I'm just curious,

why do the teeth regenerate
and--

- Yeah, yeah, so this is
xenotransplantation,

which I have come to find
is actually not that uncommon.

It has to do with stem cells.

- My stories may take off
and be an instant--

everyone has to read it.

Or they may be a slow,
in the back burner, you know,

takes time for this
to come around.

And I have to have
the openness,

the flexibility
to let that happen.

I have planted seeds
of thought.

And seeds of thought
hopefully will grow.

"Pandora's Hope" is now a film.

So it has a life.

It's not a newspaper article

that, you know,
is yesterday's news,

buried and gone.

- Joey?
- Yes, yes.

- I'm actually calling
to tell you

that our film, "Pandora's Hope,"
has just been accepted

into the Big Apple Film Festival
in New York City.

- You're kidding.

- Isn't that amazing?

- That's fabulous.

In my heart,
I've always been the person

who is disturbed by things,

wants to see a change,

and looks for a way
in which to reach people

to ring the bell

to make those changes.

I'm gonna send out
the press release

with a flyer
announcing "Pandora's Hope"

in the film festival in New York
to the news media

and generate some buzz
about the film.

Is it possible for you
to get some friends

to be protestors
and protest the movie

because there's animal stem
cells being used in humans?

We're gonna have a demonstration
against the movie.

So I'm planning on that.

[laughing]

I'm getting protest signs
printed up now.

Frankenfood, Frankenpeople.

Frankenstein.

Just don't tell anybody
that it's a hoax.

- I won't, I won't.

- Okay.

All right, 'cause I've got,
like, two years worth of my life

in this thing.

Bye.

- Bye.

- [chuckling]

[atmospheric music]

♪

[no speech audio]

♪

I don't remember if I told you
about my first-grade teacher,

Ms. Davis,
who said to the class,

"Class, I want you all
to think about something.

"Just open your minds.

I'm gonna tell you
about a big picture."

She started out
telling the class,

"Oh, let's, you know,
look under a microscope,"

and we see this little amoeba.

And then, you know,
the amoeba grows,

and we have, you know,
bigger life,

and we grow,
and now we have people.

But people are really,
you know,

just a grain of sand
on a beach.

And she said, "Just imagine
all the beaches in the world,

"and then planets and
galaxies in a big universe.

And it goes on and on
and on and on."

And she just kept getting
the picture bigger and bigger.

I felt really frightened.

I just, you know--
I lost my grasp of reality,

where I was,
my place in the universe.

And I realized
how insignificant I was.

♪

- Well, that's it.

That's our evening
at a cathouse for dogs.

And it is for real,

and it is run
by Mr. Joseph Skaggs.

No kidding around.

This is it, right?

- Satisfaction guaranteed, Alex.

- Satisfaction guaranteed.

[rousing music]

♪

- I want to get you a live shot.

This is a protest,

according to at least
one press release,

organized by an artist
named Joey Skaggs.

He has led this band

of outraged consumers
dressed as Muppets

down to Goldman
on West Street.

He's also peddling

what they're calling his mobile
homeless homes prototype.

It's what they're calling

a low-cost
alternative living space

for the millions of underwater

or foreclosed homeowners
in this country,

but Goldman clearly is not done
hearing about Muppets.

- Is this the last
of your hoaxes?

- Oh, sure.