[1] He had absolute pitch, and was able to whistle 2600 hertz into a telephone, an operator tone also used by blue box phreaking devices.

[4][citation needed] A student at the University of South Florida in the late 1960s, he was given the nickname "Whistler" due to his ability to place free long-distance phone calls by whistling the proper tones with his mouth.

Sexually abused as a child by one of his teachers, Joybubbles "reverted to his childhood" in May 1988 and remained there until his death, claiming that he was five years old.

In the summer of 1998, Joybubbles traveled to the University of Pittsburgh's Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Archives and watched several hundred episodes over a span of six weeks.

[6][13][14] During the Zzzzyzzerrific Funline days, calling himself Highrise Joe,[9] he would go on various rants about how much he loved Valleyfair amusement park and would also regularly play and discuss Up with People.