Nonstopdrivel
14 years ago

Instant replay: Alleged yo-yo champ dupes TV shows 

By Don Walker of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: May 8, 2010

Kenny Strasser, who either lives in Antigo or Neenah or maybe somewhere else, says he a yo-yo champion, loves talking to schoolchildren and wants to save the Earth.

He's been divorced twice, doesn't have any kids, and has personal issues with members of his family. He also says he's had drug and alcohol problems.

Or so he says.

It's not entirely clear who Strasser is. What is clear is that a person who called himself Kenny Strasser, Kenny Strassburg, or K-Strass managed to persuade at least five television stations - four of which are in Wisconsin - to put him on live television in recent weeks.

Two other stations - both in La Crosse - came close to putting him on, but were warned ahead of time that Strasser was not who he says he is.

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.

The stunts Strasser pulled appears to be similar to the performance artistry practiced by the late comedian Andy Kaufman. Kaufman created characters like Tony Clifton, a down-and-out lounge singer who abused audiences.

The way Strasser managed to get on TV followed a familiar pattern and laid bare the pitfalls of live television, where stations are always looking for somebody to fill air time in the morning.

Elaborate hoax

In each case, producers at the television stations received an e-mail from Joe Guehrke, saying he represented Strasser and ZimZam Yo-Yo, "the world's first 'green' " nonprofit toymaker.

Guehrke told the stations that Strasser, whom he called a "master yo-yo artist," would be in their area to bring his environmental message and "zany sense of humor" to kids.

Guehrke wrote in one e-mail to a TV station that Strasser was a dynamic talk-show guest who comes "equipped with a roster of amazing yo-yo tricks, juggling and fun tips about how kids and adults alike can take small steps to make the world a greener place."

The e-mail solicitation stated that Strasser was a runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 1995, grand champion at the Pensacola Regional and was nominated for the Walt Greenberg Award in 2000.

There is no Walt Greenberg Award in yo-yo, and there is no evidence Pensacola ever hosted a yo-yo tournament or that Strasser won a rookie of the year award.

But the solicitation was good enough for the bookers on the TV stations.

In one particularly bizarre segment on WSAW's "Sunrise 7" show in Wausau on April 20, Strasser told interviewer Amy Pflugshaupt that he is just a 35-year-old kid at heart. "I don't have a girlfriend, don't want one. My parents, they live in Denver, they just got divorced. My dad is now in Oshkosh. . . . I have a brother in Portland who I don't get along with very well because of his wife."

And then, incredibly, his cell phone rings on the air. Pflugshaupt halts the interview, throws it back to the anchors, but later comes back to Strasser.

In the solicitation, there is a reference to ZimZam yo-yos, and a related Web site. But in registering the domain name, Zimzaminc.com, Guehrke gave a fictitious Milwaukee address and provided a phone number that is now disconnected.

At WISC in Madison, Strasser was booked and ready to go on "News 3 This Morning." But things took a strange turn when Strasser said on the air, "Do you want to hear a scary story?"

Colin Benedict, the station's news director, said the anchors were confused. They thought a yo-yo champion was supposed to be on.

Instead, Strasser started talking about his personal story of alcohol and drugs.

And the yo-yo tricks? Benedict said Strasser tried one but the yo-yo fell apart and onto the studio floor.

That was enough for WISC. The anchors took over and Strasser was off the air.

Strasser also got on WMTV in Madison.

Strasser apparently left Wisconsin and headed west, where he appeared at the St. Joseph, Mo., station.

Strasser has not been spotted since. Mikel Lauber, a reporter with Wausau's WSAW, tried to find him and located a phone number for Guehrke. The number was traced to Joe Pickett, who is a comedy filmmaker and operates a business with partner Nick Prueher. Both men have Wisconsin ties.

Their business, "The Found Footage Festival," tours the country showing obscure, unusual and bizarre home videos, promotional clips, outtakes and training films to comedic effect.

Neither Pickett nor Prueher returned repeated phone calls, but in e-mails to the Journal Sentinel, Prueher said his festival "had nothing to do with this yo-yo guy."

"Wish we could take credit for it, but we've never met this Kenny fellow," Prueher said.

But the Found Footage Festival was in Missouri last week, not far from St. Joseph.

A video of Strasser's appearance on WSAW can be viewed at www.wsaw.com/home/headlines



Some videos of his appearances can be found on Deadspin .
UserPostedImage
Formo
14 years ago
Wow. Sounds definitely like an Andy Kouffman. Only Andy took credit for his bizaar actions.
UserPostedImage
Thanks to TheViking88 for the sig!!
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (2h) : doubt he wants to face the speedsters
beast (2h) : Dolphins offense can be explosive... I wonder if we'll have Alexander back
Zero2Cool (3h) : No Doubs could be issue Thursday
Mucky Tundra (8h) : Bears. Santos. Blocked FG
Zero2Cool (19h) : Bears. Vikings. OT
Mucky Tundra (19h) : Thems the breaks I guess
Mucky Tundra (19h) : Two players out and Williams had an injury designation this week but Oladapo is a healthy scratch
Zero2Cool (20h) : Packers inactives vs 49ers: • CB Jaire Alexander • S Kitan Oladapo • LB Edgerrin Cooper • OL Jacob Monk
TheKanataThrilla (22h) : Aaron Jones with a costly red zone fumble
Zero2Cool (23h) : When we trade Malik for a 1st rounder, we'll need a new QB2.
packerfanoutwest (23-Nov) : Report: Aaron Rodgers wants to play in 2025, but not for the Jets
beast (23-Nov) : That's what I told the Police officer about my speed when he pulled me over
packerfanoutwest (23-Nov) : NFL told Bears that Packers’ blocked field goal was legal
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : 49ers are underdogs at Packers, ending streak of 36 straight games as favorites
Zero2Cool (22-Nov) : 49ers might be down their QB, DL, TE and LT?
packerfanoutwest (22-Nov) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 12:00 PM
Vikings
Saturday, Jan 4 @ 11:00 PM
BEARS
Recent Topics
12m / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

13m / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

15h / Green Bay Packers Talk / buckeyepackfan

21h / Green Bay Packers Talk / buckeyepackfan

23h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

23-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

23-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

19-Nov / Featured Content / Zero2Cool

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2024 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.