Comments on: 4 of History’s Greatest Hoaxes

By: Eugene B. Bergmann

Eugene B. Bergmann — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:11:51 +0000

Regarding the I, LIBERTINE book hoax, students submitted phony analyses of the “book,” a college radio station did a phony interview with the “author” of it, it was reportedly banned in Boston, and a society columnist claimed he’d had lunch with the “author.”
Of interest regarding this spectacular hoax, Ballentine books got hoaxer Jean Shepherd and sci-fi author Theodore Sturgeon together and they (mainly Sturgeon) wrote the book. Indeed, it became a best seller (there are two hardocver editions and two paperback editions–one each American, one each British). All editions are now expensive collectors’ editions.
Read all abaout it and much more in my book (for real!) EXCELSIOR, YOU FATHEAD! THE ART AND ENIGMA OF JEAN SHEPHERD.
And Seltzer Bottle to you, Arch Stanton

By: Wilson

Wilson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:15:26 +0000

A group of MIT students (a school famous for their pranks, by the way) managed not only to create an algorithm for randomly generating a computer science paper, but actually submitted one to an international computer science conference and got it accepted.

By: jim

jim — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:07:19 +0000

My favorite, and still a matter of envy that I didn’t think of it, was the man who hauled tires up to Mt. Redoubt, a dormant volcano,and set them afire. The smoke pranked the entire town.

By: ArchStanton

ArchStanton — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:47:24 +0000

Along the lines of #4, let’s not forget Jean Shepherd’s classic hoax in which he duped a number of respected book reviewers into talking about the nonexistent book I, Libertine. Shepherd, author of the stories that led to the movie A Christmas Story, was a hilarious class act.

Excelsior, fatheads!

By: K

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:11:28 +0000

Great. Now I’ve got that Donovan song stuck in my head. Thanks, _Floss!

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:00:25 +0000

I hope the “diminutive chess expert” wasn’t still inside the Turk when he was mothballed. ;)

By: Interesting Facts

Interesting Facts — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:58:43 +0000

Regarding The Turk, there was one important point that added to the deception. It was attached to a desk-sized cabinet, which before each “performance” was thoroughly shown. Doors would be opened and observers would see nothing but the gears and machinery apparently required to move the Turk.

The man inside was hidden using the principles of magic and conjuring.

John Gaughn, the man who recreated the Turk machine, is a leading illusion designer for people like David Copperfield and Lance Burton.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:10:10 +0000

In the same category of the banana peels would be Jenkem. If you don’t already know what it is, don’t bother looking it up. It’s fake, and really gross.