When Muhammad Ali (then known as Cassius Clay) first witnessed a Gorgeous George match, he saw the path to stardom. The provocative professional wrestler walked down the aisle to the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance" while dressed in a formfitting red velvet gown and a lush white satin robe. With his nose held high, George surveyed his domain and addressed the crowd: "Peasants!" He relished the insults, screams, and foot stomping. "Oh, everybody just booed him," Clay recalled. "I looked around and I saw everybody was mad. I was mad! I saw 15,000 people coming to see this man get beat, and his talking did it. And I said, 'This is a gooood idea.'"

"Quick question," I asked the newly-minted University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld during his job talk. "Are you a performance artist?" As I watched Harreld's lackluster presentation — filled with the kind of empty business jargon often used by prankster-activists The Yes Men, who had just visited campus — I wondered if it could possibly be real, if it was a put-on.

[Ed: I'm a huge fan of Kembrew McLeod, a writer, nerdfighter, media theorist and hoopy frood. From epic pranks like Freedom of Expression (R) to genius analysis like Creative License,… Read the rest of the article: The Abels Raise Cain – An excerpt from Kembrew McLeod's PRANKSTERS