‘Yo-Yo Master’ Kenny Strasser Hijacks TV Shows, Fools Everyone
Kenny Strasser is quite possibly the world’s worst ‘yo-yo master.’ But that doesn’t mean he isn’t an expert at pulling off an elaborate hoax. Strasser, also known as Kenny Strassburg or K-Strass, has made multiple appearances on local television in Wisconsin and Missouri over the last month, claiming to be an expert with a yo-yo who just so happens to love speaking to schoolchildren and saving the Earth. He also has a load of personal problems that he tends to air at inopportune times on live television. When WSAW interviewer Amy Pflugshaupt (video above) asks Kenny how he got to be a yo-yo master, she opens the flood gates.
“Honestly, I am just a 35-year-old, kid at heart, twice divorced,” Kenny says. “I have no kids. I don’t have a girlfriend, don’t want one. You know, it takes a lot of practice. My parents live in Denver, they just got divorced. My dad is now in OshKosh. And honestly, I’m just going all around. I have a brother in Portland, who I don’t get along with very well because of his wife.” That’s when Kenny’s cell phone rings, and he answers it. Pflugshaupt looks lost.
On first look, Strasser, decked out in green shorts, suspenders, t-shirt, and a yellow baseball cap, appears to be a happy-go-lucky buffoon. In other words, the type of person who would normally apear on local morning TV. In emails to booking agents at these various television stations, a man named Joe Guehrke claimed to represent Strasser and ZimZam Yo-Yo, the world’s first ‘green’ nonprofit toymaker, when coordinating the appearances. It’s a deception that station news directors are not pleased about.
His latest appearance occurred Thursday morning on KQTV’s “Hometown This Morning,” in St. Joseph, Mo.
“He got us,” said Bridget Blevins, the station’s news director. “I hate that we got duped.”
And how good was he with the yo-yo, a skill Strasser has said made him a champion? “He did some really lame things. He hit himself in the face and the groin with his yo-yo,” Blevins said.
Lisa Malak, who anchors the “Sunday Morning” show on WFRV in Green Bay, thought it would be fun to book somebody who said he was a yo-yo champion. When Strasser showed up April 11, he said he forgot the string for his yo-yo. With no tricks, Malak and Strasser spent their live TV segment talking.
“It was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me on the air,” Malak said. (via Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)
It’s difficult not to admire this hoax. Strasser’s disruption of local television is straight from the playbook of Andy Kaufman, or Sasha Baren Cohen. But it’s something that hasn’t been done in some time. We may soon learn that Strasser is a struggling comic trying to make a name for himself — viral marketing his way to a sitcom, or movie role. Hopefully not. It would be best if the hoax stood on its own, a welcome break from the bullshit programming pumped into our homes each day.
Kenny ‘K-Strass’ Strasser Strikes Again
Kenny ‘K-Strass’ Strasser on KQTV in St. Joseph, Missouri
Kenny Strasser/ZimZam Yo-Yo Facebook page
ZimZam Yo-Yo on Twitter
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That was crazy! BTW, there was a guy who lost his TV production job over what “Borat” pulled on him. Doesn’t anybody check your resume anymore?
I saw this several weeks ago, and it was the greatest thing ever.
I forgot to mention… on one of the segments he decided that he did not want to yo yo, so he told the reporters that yes, he did bring his yo yos, but that he forgot his string. They bought it and let him on the air anyway.
[...] If you like Andy Kaufman, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jackass, or anyone else that is proficient at pulling the wool over people’s eyes, you’ll love “K-Strass” Kenny Strasser. The self-proclaimed “Yo Yo [...]