A strange, strange man has been showing up on morning shows throughout the Midwest, claiming to be a yo-yo trick champion. He is not. He is actually terrible at yo-yo. Yet he keeps getting on the air.


Little is known about "K-Strass," who goes by Kenny Strasser, or sometimes Karl Strassburg. He claims to be from Wisconsin (except when he doesn't). He claims to be from a broken home, with his own addiction issues (except when he isn't).

All we know is that K-Strass has shown up on television six times in the past month, showing off his yo-yo "skills" and generally embarrassing the hosts.

His latest appearance occurred Thursday morning on KQTV's "Hometown This Morning," in St. Joseph, Mo. "He got us," said Bridget Blevins, the station's news director. "I hate that we got duped." And how good was he with the yo-yo, a skill Strasser has said made him a champion? "He did some really lame things. He hit himself in the face and the groin with his yo-yo," Blevins said. Lisa Malak, who anchors the "Sunday Morning" show on WFRV in Green Bay, thought it would be fun to book somebody who said he was a yo-yo champion. When Strasser showed up April 11, he said he forgot the string for his yo-yo. With no tricks, Malak and Strasser spent their live TV segment talking. "It was the most bizarre thing that has ever happened to me on the air," Malak said.

So if you see a man in suspenders and a yellow baseball cap, possibly being strangled by his own yo-yo, please — do not alert your local news station.


Instant replay: Alleged yo-yo champ dupes TV shows [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel]