Everyday Activist - Art of the Prank (CUFF 2016)

Posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2016 at 10:00 PM

Art of the Prank (CUFF 2016)

Movie Review by Everyday Activist X CalgaryMovies.com

Joey Skaggs demonstrates just how far art can go to make a point. The documentary, Art of the Prank compiles decades of work into less than 90 minutes, which to me is an absolutely mind blowing feat. From the 1960s onward, Joey Skaggs has performed a number of pranks to get people to pay attention to ludicrous ideas that media portrays as real. More than once news outlets have had to apologize to their viewers. The question he asks is “If the media prints this stuff, what else are they printing that isn’t true?” This attitude, born of his own experiences with the media as a young man doing a theatrical peace to protest the Vietnam War, has created a lucrative career in “culture jamming”, disruption to the media information systems.

Much like in the documentary, Uncle Howard, director, Andrea Marini, blends archival footage from various sources including media outlets, with the present footage of one of Joey’s newest projects, Pandora’s Hope that has recently hit the festival circuit. A prank is never complete without an expose and in some ways Art of the Prank is the reveal as no one has denounced Pandora’s Hope as fiction. Part of the problem is that the very nature of his pranks contains elements of truth as well as fiction, but they all have great stories. I found them hilarious and thought provoking.

As an activist myself, while I was entertained, I know only too well about the issues he addresses; everything from homelessness to war to GMOs and environmental destruction. The depth and lengths Joey Skaggs has always adhered to while working on his projects has to be respected. His approach to dealing with the “ugly” of the world fascinates me. Even if people don’t go beyond the jokes, hopefully they have a new awareness of the issues and appreciation for his art work as well as his humanity. Because the documentary was so short it couldn’t go into many of the good things he has done to help others. As a newly converted fan, I recommend http://www.joeyskaggs.com to learn more about him.

I’m super impressed with the three Calgary Underground Film Festival documentaries I was able to view this year. Thankfully, Art of the Prank has more than one screening this weekend Sat, April 16th at 6:30 pm and Sun, April 17th at 1:30 pm. Both shows are at the Globe Cinema. If you are able to watch the film maybe we can get CUFF to bring in the documentary Pandora’s Hope ;) 

Calgary Showtimes: Art of the Prank >