Kenny "K-Strass" Strasser: Yo Yo Master

[Bubs360]

"It was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me on the air,"
-Newscaster

If you were to simply watch the news videos, you may be led to believe that this awkward, bumbling man is for real. When you find out that he is actually an actor who has a knack for crashing local news programs, this saga immediately becomes epic.

He has appeared on a few morning news shows during the "local spice" sort of segments. Wearing an odd outfit consisting of blue suspenders and his nicest yellow trucker cap, he is the self-proclaimed yo-yo master from "Zim Zam Yo Yo". During the interviews, he proceeds to completely fail at answering questions, answers his phone, and completely botches his yo-yo "tricks" as the newscasters play along. The newscasters do a great job at keeping their composure as he tangles up the strings, and in one case smacks the ground with his yo-yo, which then almost hits him in the face.

If you caught Sunrise Seven Tuesday morning, you caught an... unusual live interview with Kenny Strasser, the self-proclaimed yo-yo champion from 'Zim-Zam Yo-Yo's'.

A representative for Kenny sent us a news release suggesting we invite Kenny, who they claimed was from Antigo, to "spread the word about environmental awareness the way he knows best: juggling, slapstick and most of all, using his yo-yo". A website for Zim-Zam Yo-Yo's features Strasser, and his 'Keep it Green' yo-yo tour.

We wondered how one could use a yo-yo to spread an environmental message, and we're still wondering. We interviewed Strasser live on Sunrise Seven Tuesday Morning. When we asked about his interest in yo-yo's, Strasser said he doesn't practice much, and awkwardly spoke about his family life, and how he's no longer being invited to perform in schools.

He told our crew he was dealing with a sick family member, and had to keep his cell phone on during the interview. The cell phone rang each time he was being interviewed live.

When we asked Kenny to show us his skills with a yo-yo, he twirled the yo-yo around until it smacked into the ground and nearly hit him in the head.

The interview left many of us asking... is this guy for real?

We called several other stations in the State, and Zim Zam had contacted most of them too. It turns ours wasn't the first morning show Kenny appeared on. At WFRV-TV in Green Bay, he said he brought his yo-yo's but forgot the string. He told a similar story to WISC-TV and WMTV-TV in Madison, and also made awkward appearances during their live shows, talking about his family, failures, and never actually performing any yo-yo tricks. Strasser claimed he was a local resident at each TV station he appeared on.

Those press releases came from a man named Joe Guerhke. But the phone number that was included as Guerhke's in an email to one Madison station, and also appeared on the website for Zim-Zam Yo-Yos belongs to Joe Pickett. Pickett is a comedy film-maker, who operates a website called 'The Found Footage Festival', specializing in "odd and hilarious found videos". Coincidentally (or not), The Found Footage Festival's current 'VHS find of the day' is a video of a woman performing yo-yo tricks.

All of the news stations realize that they have been duped, but nobody can get the full story. All I know is that this is the most awesome thing I have seen in a long time.

Videos:
Kenny Strasser - Yo-Yo Master!
Kenny Strasser Strikes Again

News:

Is 'Yo-Yo Champ' Pulling Wisconsin TV Stations' Strings?
Alleged yo-yo champ dupes TV shows in Wisconsin
Instant replay: Alleged yo-yo champ dupes TV shows
K-Strass, the yo-yo guy, strikes again

 

[TerranCmdr]

Oh my God, this is epic. I'm so glad I finally clicked on this thread.

 

[GTR]

Alleged yo-yo master successfully trolling the local news? This man is brilliant!

 

[spicysaurus]

I have to admit, I didn't even both with this thread until today, because of the title. I thought, "man, some FG geeks think everything is cool."

But no, this actually is quite hilarious. Is it possible to win at failing? I think he just did.

 

[melbournian]

I have to admit that I clicked on this thread thinking about Yo Yo Ma, the cellist...