From college admissions to court proceedings, the humdrum chores of life can seem grim. What’s one way to make them tolerable? Laughter. In both Wiener and Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project, comedy is used to ease the tension of everyday affairs while simultaneously bringing to the forefront the issues of our society that collectively weigh us down. 

In Wiener, college-hopeful Simone tours campus and attempts to make a good impression, when a surprising visitor makes a guest appearance. Simone is left to overcome the many obstacles that are part of the college admissions process - comparison, competition, and, worst of all, the dreaded applicant interview. Feeling as though she must play into the part that is expected of her by the admissions officers and collegiate institution, Simone practices routined yet stale answers about her chosen major and engages in discussions of what AP classes she took during high school. But Simone’s true interest lies in her drawings - a comic series that chronicles an anthropomorphic hotdog: President Wiener. She shows these cartoons to her father, who voices modest support but is more interested in where he can get food than Simone’s animated food, leaving Simone to tackle the tour by herself. That is until the star of her comics, Wiener, shows up and creates chaos (and excitement) on the college tour. Wiener understands Simone, tearing down the Career Fair posters and standing by her side against all the others. But after a fight with her dad and a tearful parting from Wiener, Simone is left alone once again as she braves the applicant interview by herself. 

The color scheme of Wiener is shot in black and white, with the notable exception of the titular character, Wiener, who appears in color. This simple choice effectively displays the gloomy palette of life, specifically the glum that involves society’s preconceived notions of what makes someone desirable, whether that be for the college admissions or in general. By having Wiener, something of Simone’s own creation, be vivid and saturated, the film subtly supports the concept that embracing our passions and dreams are what gives life color. Rather than feed into assumptions of what is the “right” thing to do and live a bleak, gray future, Simone dares to take a risk and show her true self, allowing an excitement that is lively, glowing, and ready to leap off the page into reality. Wiener is a heart-felt, hilarious film that questions the limitations of living in a world of black-and-white, and what happens when you dare to dream in color. 

Joey Skaggs - aka Giuseppe Scaggoli - has tackled lasting and pressing societal issues from gentrification to ecocide and beyond since the 1960s, through various mediums like painting and sculpture. Skaggs most recent endeavor has been to journal his artistic career through video-episodes detailing his various performances and life’s work. This series, which has been screening at the New Jersey Film Festival, uses news clips, footage from the “pranks” themselves, and interview excerpts from Skaggs to present a well-rounded documentation of each individual artistic piece. His protest art invokes methods of culture jamming, which is a rebellion tactic used to “disrupt or subvert media culture and its mainstream cultural institutions”. The episodes focus on the satiric performances and “culture jamming” that make up Skaggs’ career, gaining both controversy and critical acclaim. 

In the latest episode of the Joey Skaggs series, Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project, Skaggs confronts and pokes fun at the cultural institution of the judicial system. With the performance taking place in 1995, Joey Skaggs donned the fictitious persona of Dr. Joseph Bonuso, founder and director of “The Solomon Project”. As part of “The Solomon Project”, Skaggs - or Bonuso - sent out a press release claiming that he, along with 150 other artificial intelligence specialists made up of attorneys and computer scientists, had created a program, aka “Solomon” that would be able to eradicate the issues that plague the American judicial system. The super computers that constitute “Solomon” would be able to deliberate on a court case without the inherent bias and inequity that is involved with the use of a human jury. “Solomon” was tasked to deliberate on the famous legal cases of the time, namely the notorious OJ Simpson trial, garnering even more attention by the press and causing monolith media companies like CNN to request interviews and demonstrations with Skaggs and “Solomon”. 

With this performance, Skaggs critiques the glamorization of the legal system and highlights the increasing use of artificial intelligence in our society - two issues that have only gotten larger in today’s news. Whether it be Gwenthy Paltrow’s skiing court case or the emergence of ChatGPT, Joey Skaggs had his finger on the pulse decades before artificial intelligence and romanticizing trials dominated the nation’s attention. As an artist and prankster, Skaggs contextualizes modern issues through the lens of humor and jokes, fooling everyone to show just how foolish our society can be. 

Both Wiener and Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project prove that if laughter is the best medicine, then maybe it can heal the cracks in our society. Whether it be the immense pressure placed on teenagers to perform for colleges or the growing interference in the American legal system, comedy provides an outlet to not only relieve the tension of these issues for the general public, but to address and analyze the possibilities of a life different than our own. 

Wiener and Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project screen as part of Shorts Program #3 at the Spring 2024 New Jersey Film Festival on Friday, February 9. The film will be Online for 24 Hours on the show date and In-Person at 7 PM in Voorhees Hall #105/Rutgers University, 71 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ. Tickets are available for purchase here.