[5] Joey Skaggs, originally trained as a painter and sculptor, began experimenting with performance art in the 1960s, utilizing public spaces and mass media as platforms for his work.

His work frequently incorporates humor and absurdity as a means to engage audiences and spark discussion on issues such as corporate practices, political systems, environmental concerns, and social inequality.

In this regard, he can be likened to a playwright or filmmaker in that his hoaxes are tightly scripted affairs meant to bypass an already suspicious gatekeeping establishment—conceived, written, produced, directed, staged and acted with locations, props, and pre-packaged footage (press release and video content).

[5] In 2017, the feature documentary Art of the Prank, directed by Andrea Marini, about artist Joey Skaggs, was released internationally on television and streaming platforms after screening at film festivals.

In the late 1960s, Joey Skaggs erected a life-size sculpture depicting a decayed Jesus Christ in Tompkins Square Park to critique religious hypocrisy within the Church.

[13] Joey Skaggs staged a protest against the Vietnam War on Christmas Day, creating a life-size Nativity scene with symbolic elements to critique U.S. involvement in the conflict.

The display, set up in Central Park, included a manger, papier-mâché figures such as pigs in police hats, sheep holding briefcases, and a camel representing Hubert Humphrey.

Using the alias Dr. Josef Gregor—an allusion to Gregor Samsa, the protagonist in Franz Kafka’s novella The Metamorphosis—Skaggs held a press conference dressed in a white suit and Panama hat adorned with fake cockroaches.

Accompanied by friends, colleagues, and students from the School of Visual Arts, Skaggs offered the cure “freely to the world.” Despite overt references to Kafka’s story, the clues went unnoticed and the claim was widely reported, including by UPI.

[22][1] In 1983, Joey Skaggs created “Fish Condos,” a series of aquatic sculptures designed to resemble bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms, and kitchens, intended for upwardly mobile guppies.

[27] In 1986, Joey Skaggs, under the alias Joe Bones, created the “Fat Squad,”[28] a fictitious organization offering to enforce clients’ diets for $300 a day with a three-day minimum.

[30] In 1986, Joey Skaggs announced the creation of the “Annual New York City April Fools’ Day Parade,” a satirical event publicized each year through a press release.

After both campaigns generated coverage and Comacocoon received a subpoena from the Department of Consumer Affairs with 17 charges related to the company’s claims, Skaggs revealed them as hoaxes, further highlighting the media's susceptibility to sensational stories.

[33][34] In July 1992, Joey Skaggs, using the alias Father Anthony Joseph, an Anglican priest from California, pedaled “Portofess,” a portable confessional booth mounted on a tricycle to the Democratic National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Skaggs announced the company would debut at the Metro Toronto Christmas Gift and Invention Show but, just before it did, he alleged that Canadian customs had seized the equipment at the border, labeling it morally offensive.

Taking the hoax into cyberspace, Skaggs posted messages on electronic bulletin boards in New York and San Francisco (early precursors to social media platforms), asking for public assistance in retrieving the equipment.

[41] In 1995, Joey Skaggs, under the alias Dr. Joseph Bonuso, Ph.D., announced the creation of the “Solomon Project,” a fictitious artificial intelligence program he claimed could deliver swift, unbiased legal verdicts and revolutionize the American judicial system.

The site featured detailed architectural drawings, a business plan, artist-designed memorials, and descriptions of attractions such as “Dante’s Grill,” themed gift shops and restrooms each equipped with a perpetually flowing drinking fountain of nondenominational holy water.

Skaggs, dressed as Uncle Sam, pedaled a tricycle carrying a large replica of the White House and led a parade of approximately 75 participants, including singers, cheerleaders, and actors portraying government officials.

At the park’s center, Skaggs delivered a speech and opened the replica White House to reveal an effigy of President Bush seated on an upside-down bucket of fertilizer.

The effigy was surrounded by symbolic props, including toilet paper designed to resemble hundred-dollar bills, toy weapons, and a pen attached to a replica of the Constitution, for its potential rewriting.

[49] In 2012, Joey Skaggs staged a protest at the Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York City, critiquing the role of major financial institutions in the 2008 economic and housing crisis.

[51] In 2014, Joey Skaggs, under the alias Peppe Scaggolini, staged a performance art piece titled The Tiny Top Circus in Washington Square Park, New York City.

The tricycle was pedaled into the park by a performer billed as “the world’s strongest man.” The event included theatrical elements such as armed guards, a carnival barker, sword swallowers, jugglers, and live music by the Coney Island Sideshow Band.

[52] Following the election of Donald Trump as President in 2016, Joey Skaggs incorporated a series of performances titled "Trumpathons" into his Annual New York City April Fools’ Day Parade.