An irate television company that fell prey to comedians pretending to be a “strongman duo” is now suing the men, claiming they tricked a Wisconsin morning show into booking them just so they could perform “ridiculous bits” and promote their own brand.
Nick Prueher and Joe Pickett, founders and hosts of the Found Footage Festival, appeared on a Wisconsin morning show “Hello Wisconsin” as “Strongman duo Chop & Steele,” where they smashed rackets on the floor and hit a tire with a bat, according to the Brooklyn federal suit filed by the Gray Television Group Inc.
“During the live appearance on Hello Wisconsin, ‘Chop’ and ‘Steele’ touted their ‘mental strength,’ ‘Chop’ discussed the violent outbursts he was prone to while abusing steroids and his wealthy upbringing, while ‘Steele’ discussed his ‘body image issues’ and his impoverished upbringing,” the papers state.
The suit quotes the duo saying local morning programs are “easy to exploit,” with Pickett adding, “I don’t think we’re driving a big point home. We’re just trying to entertain ourselves.”
The Found Footage Festival is a collection of short films and montages collected from estate sales, pawn shops and via various other means that are then compiled onto a DVD and played for a live audience.
The suit also noted a former bit in which Preuher — masquerading as “Chef Keith Guerke” — appeared on another one of their channels to promote his non-existent cookbook, “Leftovers Right: Making a Winner of Last Night’s Dinner.”
During that appearance, “Chef Keith offered recipes like mashed-potato ice-cream cones, feigned concern that ‘between Thanksgiving and Christmas [is] one of the highest suicide rates and I think part of that is the stress of what are you going to do with these leftovers,’ and tipped over his demonstration table — food and all — live on air,” the papers say.
The TV company is suing Pickett and Preuher for re-airing their episodes, which are copyrighted, for fraud, and for conspiracy to commit wrongful activity.
Neither Pickett nor Preuher returned a message.