Joey Skaggs Quotes

Powerful Joey Skaggs for Daily Growth

About Joey Skaggs

Joey Skaggs (born Joseph Michael Skaggs on September 17, 1944) is an American performance artist, satirist, and hoaxer who has been challenging public perceptions and media credibility for over five decades. Born in Manhattan, New York City, Skaggs grew up in a working-class family and developed a keen interest in art and social commentary at a young age. Inspired by Dadaists, Situationists, and the satirical works of artists like Marcel Duchamp, Skaggs began creating performance pieces that aimed to expose societal hypocrisies and media sensationalism. One of his earliest and most famous hoaxes was "The Cathy Lee Crosby Fan Club," a fictitious fan club dedicated to an actress who never existed, intended to critique the celebrity-obsessed culture of the 1970s. Throughout his career, Skaggs has created numerous provocative and thought-provoking hoaxes, including "The International Society of Plastic Jesus," a group that offered to repair broken or damaged religious statues for free; "The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for Dogs," a fake organization that purported to train dogs for government work; and "Catholic School Girls Start Revolt in Bronx High School," a hoax that was picked up by multiple major news outlets. Skaggs's works have been exhibited at museums such as The Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art. He has also received numerous awards for his performance art, including the ICA Grand Prix in 1982 and an Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre in 2016. Today, Joey Skaggs continues to create satirical works that challenge societal norms and question the role of media in shaping public opinion. His legacy as a pioneering performance artist and hoaxer remains an important contribution to contemporary art and social commentary.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"The public's appetite for being deceived is insatiable."

This quote suggests that people have an unquenchable desire to believe information, regardless of its veracity, often resulting in their susceptibility to being deceived. It underscores the importance of critical thinking, fact-checking, and media literacy in today's information age, where misinformation can spread rapidly.


"I'm not a hoaxer, I'm an artist."

Joey Skaggs, a renowned American artist, asserts that he is not a deceiver (hoaxer) but an artist. This statement highlights the creative intention behind his work, which often involved crafting elaborate hoaxes to draw attention to societal issues or expose hypocrisy. In essence, Skaggs considers himself an artistic provocateur who utilizes unconventional methods to stimulate thought and engage with important topics.


"Art is a lie that makes us realize truth."

Joey Skaggs' quote suggests that art, being a fabricated or fictitious representation of reality, serves as a powerful tool to reveal underlying truths about our world, society, and human nature. By challenging the status quo through creative expression, artists can provoke thought, spark conversations, and ultimately unveil truths that might otherwise remain hidden.


"Social satire has its own moral code: it can mock the powerful, but it must never hurt the powerless."

This quote suggests that social satire, a form of art or expression that uses wit to critique and criticize society, carries its own ethical guidelines. While it may target those in power, it should not cause harm to vulnerable individuals who lack power or resources. The intention is to challenge and provoke thought about societal issues, but without inflicting real-world pain on the marginalized or disadvantaged.


"The media will print anything as long as it sells papers." (often misattributed to Mae West, but originally said by Skaggs)

This quote emphasizes that media outlets may publish or broadcast sensational stories, regardless of their veracity, if they generate public interest and boost sales. It suggests a perception of media's priorities, where the pursuit of profit can sometimes override journalistic integrity and responsible reporting.


Most reporters who come to me get their stories directly from press releases. Very few do what one would consider to be their professional duty.

- Joey Skaggs

Very, Stories, Reporters, Directly

Most important to any fake story is a plausible, realistic edge with a satirical twist that is topical.

- Joey Skaggs

Important, Edge, Most, Satirical

Any deviation is looked upon as a perversion, is feared, and is usually a target of hatred and prejudice.

- Joey Skaggs

Hatred, Feared, Looked, Deviation

When I create a false reality, I always try to create a plausible structure to help convince people.

- Joey Skaggs

Help, Always, Convince, Plausible

The media's job is to question a premise.

- Joey Skaggs

Job, Media, Question, Premise

But I learned first-hand how the news media operates by watching how they interpreted, changed, and misrepresented my intentions.

- Joey Skaggs

News, Learned, First-Hand

I learned more complex ways to manipulate the manipulators, to bring attention to issues about which I felt passionate.

- Joey Skaggs

Passionate, Which, Learned, Manipulate

We function in a pack mentality. This is our tribe. And this is how we are exploited - sold a bill of goods and a household of products.

- Joey Skaggs

Mentality, Sold, Bill, Exploited

If I'm successful in fooling a wire service, I don't really have to do anything else to promote the story.

- Joey Skaggs

Fooling, Anything Else, Wire

It would make life much easier if I could have total faith and not question everything all the time, but I can't do it and I won't do it.

- Joey Skaggs

Faith, Question, Could, If I Could

My challenge as a satirical artist is how to present ideas to people to enable them to question and reexamine their beliefs. My hope is, that my work provokes people to look at things in a new way.

- Joey Skaggs

Question, Artist, New, Enable

It is the fool who thinks he cannot be fooled.

- Joey Skaggs

Fool, Cannot, Thinks, Fooled

Any journalist worth his or her salt wouldn't trust me.

- Joey Skaggs

Trust, Salt, His, Journalist

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