Captain Janks

Last updated
Captain Janks
Born
Thomas Michael Cipriano

(1966-03-28) March 28, 1966 (age 57)
NationalityAmerican
Occupations
Years active1989–present

Thomas Michael Cipriano (born March 28, 1966), [1] [2] [3] also known as Captain Janks, is an American practical joker most notable for making prank calls to live television shows and news networks since the late 1980s, such as Larry King Live , CNN and ABC News. He has been labeled by The Washington Post as the "nemesis of news outlets," "the news media's greatest crank caller," [4] and by the Philadelphia City Paper as "public enemy No. 1 for television- and radio-show screeners." [5] Janks and The Washington Post have described the calls as commentary on the lack of source verification done in news outlets. All of Janks' calls reference Howard Stern and his radio series, and the Captain Janks alter ego has become a recurring character on the show.

Contents

Prank calling

History

"How many times must they fall for the same prank? They never learn, and when they screw up and put a prank caller on the air, they cry 'foul.' How about if the viewers start asking, 'How could CNN let that happen as much as it does? Don't they check their sources?' My pranks are never about the story itself, just the organization that is covering the story."

— Cipriano on his pranks [3]

Cipriano was inspired to do prank calls from hearing tapes of the Tube Bar prank calls. [3] Cipriano began his prank calling career in 1989, when he telephoned local Philadelphia television shows and sent tapes of his calls to The Howard Stern Show . [4] Howard Stern is the person referenced in all of Cipriano's last comments in each of the prank calls, and the Captain Janks alter ego has become a recurring character on Stern's show. [4]

Cipriano's national live television airing prank call career began with talk shows; his first call was in 1989, when he telephoned to Larry King's talk show Larry King Live . [3] He then made prank calls to other interview television shows such as those of Phil Donahue and CNN's Sonya Freedman in the early 1990s. [3] In 1992, his prank calling expanded to live news series; he faked as a witness of an earthquake that took place in Landers, California, when calling to CNN. [3]

Cipriano also telephoned shows that wouldn't take calls while on air. The first time he did this was in 1991; he lied to producers of the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon that he was a representative for King in order to make a call on the show, saying that King wanted to make a "pledge" to Lewis. [3] Cipriano then compiled samples of King's voice and ordered them in a way that would trick the producers into believing it was really King talking on the phone. [3] When Cipriano called with his real voice asking Lewis about Howard Stern when the show aired, Lewis called him a "schmuck." [3]

On June 25, 1996, a collection album of recordings of Janks' phone-call pranks, titled King of the Cranks, was released on compact disc and cassette tape via the labels Atlantic Records and Ozone Music. [6] [7]

In October 1999, John Katsilometes reported that Cipriano had crank phoned "just about every emergency [live] report worthy of national coverage," such as those regarding the Columbine High School shootings and the car crash death of Princess Diana. [3] Television stations Cipriano has successfully prank-called range from national and local news networks like NBC News, Fox News, C-SPAN, ESPN to home-shopping channels and religious networks. [4] In 2014, Cipriano suggested he has made around 10,000 fake phone calls. [4]

The popularity of The Howard Stern Show has also led to numerous imitators of Captain Janks. [4] [7] A 1996 Philadelphia magazine article reported that there was "at least one Janks imitator in every major city." [7] One of these imitators called The Today Show in the summer of 1992 asking Ross Perot if he had "mind-melded with Howard Stern's penis." [7] According to the article, "Reaching them by phone or through the Howard Stern Newsletter—written and disseminated by Kevin Renzulli of West Orange, New Jersey, another of Stern's true believers—Janks coordinates group operations, such as Larry King being hit by three consecutive callers shouting "Howard Stern" and "Baba Booey"—Stern's nickname for producer Gary Dell'Abate—while interviewing Donny Osmond." [7]

Method

Cipriano has reasoned in an interview that, in addition to making people laugh, he does prank calls of live television shows and news stations to make fun of the lack of fact-checking that he felt was a problem in news organizations, especially CNN. [3] He explained, "They are so willing to get the "scoop" before anyone else that they can be very sloppy about getting the story on the air." [3] The Washington Post journalist Paul Farhi has also marked the crank calls a critique of the lack of accuracy review in news stations: "That Cipriano, a self-described "not-too-bright guy," can beat professional call screeners so often suggests they don't do it often enough in the race for color, drama and "breaking news." [4]

In a 1996 interview, Cipriano explained he had a 16-setting voice changer for use in tricking producers into letting him call onto their shows. [7]

List of examples

Personal life

Cipriano served in the army from 1985 to 1988. [3] The name for his alter ego Captain Janks derived from the name of the real-life army captain of the same name. [3] In a 1996 interview, Cipriano claimed to have lost his former shipping clerk position at a medical laboratory not long ago. [7] In 1999, he revealed he was working "for a company that manufactures toilet seats and other plastics." [3] In 1998 and 2005, it was reported he was working at a gas station. [5] [12] As of 2014, he is a truck driver who resides in North Wales, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [4] [13] On a May 19, 2014, episode of The Howard Stern Show, Cipriano revealed that he was gay. [14]

On February 8, 2010, Cipriano pled guilty to charges of theft by deception and deceptive business practices; these charges were a result of fifteen cases in thirteen different food and entertainment businesses in the counties of Montgomery, Chester, Berks, Lehigh and Bucks from October 2006 to April 2009, where he deposited from contracts to make appearances at the places but never showed up. [2] He was sentenced by Montgomery County Court judge Steven T. O'Neill to eight years of probation, and he was required to pay $5,926 for the businesses he scammed. [2] He attributed his actions to addiction to his prescription painkillers, and took urinalysis tests during his probation. [2]

Related Research Articles

A shock jock is a radio broadcaster or DJ who entertains listeners and attracts attention using humor and/or melodramatic exaggeration that may offend some portion of the listening audience. The term is used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms, statements and actions are typically offensive to much of society. It is a popular term within the radio industry. A shock jock is the radio equivalent of the tabloid newspaper in that both consider entertaining readers to be as important as, if not more important than, providing factual information. A radio station that relies primarily on shock jocks for programming has what is called a hot talk format.

<i>Larry King Live</i> American television talk show

Larry King Live was an American television talk show broadcast by CNN from June 3, 1985 to December 16, 2010. Hosted by Larry King, it was the network's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly.

The Tube Bar prank calls are a series of prank calls made in the mid-1970s to the Tube Bar in Jersey City, New Jersey, in which Jim Davidson and John Elmo would ask "Red," the proprietor of the bar, if they could speak to various non-existent customers. The gag names given by the pranksters were puns and homophones for often offensive phrases. Recordings of the calls were circulated widely on duplicated cassette tapes and may have been the inspiration for a long running gag in The Simpsons.

John Edward Melendez, also known as Stuttering John, is an American entertainer.

<i>The Howard Stern Show</i> American radio show

The Howard Stern Show is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 and Howard 101, Stern's two uncensored channels on the subscription-based satellite radio service SiriusXM, since 2006. Other prominent staff members include co-host and news anchor Robin Quivers, writer Fred Norris and executive producer Gary Dell'Abate, along with former members Jackie Martling, Billy West, John Melendez, and Artie Lange.

The Wack Pack is the name given to an assortment of personalities heard throughout the history of The Howard Stern Show. As a parody of the Rat Pack or Brat Pack, Stern biographer Richard Mintzer has labeled them a key part of the show. Members tend to be unusual in some way: being blatantly racist, mentally disabled, having a comical appearance, voice or ability, or some combination thereof. As of 2023, twenty-two living individuals are designated "Wack Packers". Not every regular guest on or caller to the show is considered a member, nor are any of the show's staff members; Stern has stated that Wack Packers are not defined by having any disability or peculiarity, but by their inability to understand why they are funny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Tapper</span> American journalist, author, and cartoonist (born 1969)

Jacob Paul Tapper is an American journalist, author, and cartoonist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper, and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program State of the Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Grant (radio host)</span> American radio host (1929–2013)

Robert Ciro Gigante, known as Bob Grant, was an American radio host. A veteran of broadcasting in New York City, Grant is considered a pioneer of the conservative talk radio format and was one of the early adopters of the "combat talk" format. Grant's career spanned from the 1950s until shortly before his death at age 84 on December 31, 2013.

Touch-Tone Terrorists is a series of CDs featuring prank phone calls, released from 1998 to 2015.

<i>Opie and Anthony</i> American radio show

Opie and Anthony was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part in a song parody contest on Hughes' nighttime show on WBAB on Long Island, New York. After subsequent appearances, Cumia decided to pursue a radio career and teamed with Hughes to host their own show.

A call screener or phone screener is a staff member who first answers the phone when audience members call into TV or radio broadcasts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Florentine</span> American actor

James Bernard Florentine is an American comedian, actor, author, and television personality. He is best known for co-hosting That Metal Show on VH1 Classic and voicing several characters on Crank Yankers, including Special Ed and Bobby Fletcher. He hosts The Jim Florentine Show on Sirius XM Satellite Radio and a podcast called Everybody Is Awful . He has released six albums of stand-up comedy, two comedy specials, six installments in the Terrorizing Telemarketers prank call compilation, and three installments of the Meet the Creeps hidden camera show. His 2018 book Everybody is Awful reached No. 1 on the Book Soup nonfiction chart.

Eric Shaun Lynch, once known as Eric the Midget and later Eric the Actor, was a member of The Howard Stern Show's Wack Pack. Lynch was, at his peak, 3 ft 5 in (1.04 m) tall, weighed 85 lb (39 kg), and had various health issues, including Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome.

<i>Kidd Chris</i> American radio show

Christopher Derek Foley, commonly known as KiddChris. is an American radio host. He has hosted radio shows in several cities since 1998.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dave VanDam</span>

David J. VanDam, well known as "Evil Dave Letterman" or simply "Evil Dave", was an American voice impressionist who began appearing on The Howard Stern Show in 1999 until his death. Although VanDam's natural speaking voice didn't sound exactly like American late night talk show host David Letterman, he was able to alter it so that it sounded identical, which was used for comedic effect.

A prank call is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call. It can be illegal under certain circumstances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pranknet</span> Criminal internet organisation based in Canada

Pranknet, also known as Prank University, was an anonymous prank calling virtual community that was involved in a string of malicious pranks and instances of telephone harassment, especially during 2009–2011. Their pranks were coordinated through an online chat room, and convinced others to cause damage to hotels and fast food restaurants of more than $60,000. The group was founded by a man who later referred to himself as "Dex1x1", later identified as a Canadian named Tariq Malik. The group has been linked to nearly 60 separate incidents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Dell'Abate</span> American radio producer

Gary Dell'Abate, also known by the nickname Baba Booey, is an American radio producer who has been the executive producer of The Howard Stern Show since 1984. His autobiography, They Call Me Baba Booey, was released on November 2, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaitlan Collins</span> American journalist

Kaitlan Collins is an American journalist who is a news anchor on CNN. She is the former co-anchor of CNN This Morning. She is the current host of The Source at 9 p.m. since July 2023. She also served as the network's Chief White House Correspondent from January 2021 until November 2022. Previously, she was the White House correspondent for the website The Daily Caller.

References

  1. ↑ "If anyone would like to buy me a birthday present, my birthday is March 28th, 1966." Captain Janks Official Twitter. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hessler Jr., Carl (February 9, 2010). "Howard Stern's 'Captain Janks' pleads guilty to theft". King of Prussia Courier. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Katsilometes, John (October 19, 1999). "Columnist John Katsilometes: A real chat with King of Hoaxes". Las Vegas Sun . Greenspun Media Group. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Farhi, Paul (July 30, 2014). "Prank-call legend Captain Janks is still a nemesis of news outlets". The Washington Post . Nash Holdings LLC. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  5. 1 2 Hickey, Brian (February 24-March 2, 2005). "Captain Pranks". Philadelphia City Paper . Metro. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  6. ↑ "King of the Cranks – Captain Janks". Allmusic . Rovi Corporation. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Howard’s Beginning". Philadelphia . Metrocorp. 1996. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Horgan, Richard (October 15, 2013). "Ten Years Later, Dan Patrick Talks to Captain Janks". Adweek . Beringer Capital. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  9. 1 2 "'SportsCenter' Fooled by Cub Fan Impostor". Associated Press . October 17, 2003. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Couch, Aaron (February 12, 2013). "'Howard Stern' Regular Pranks Coverage of Possible Christopher Dorner Shootout (Video)". The Hollywood Reporter . Eldridge Industries. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 Gold, Hadas (August 25, 2014). "CNN pranked by Howard Stern fan". Politico . Capitol News Company. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  12. ↑ Kostelni, Natalie (November 23, 1998). "Show's Fans Go Gaga For Baba * With Howard Stern's Producer On Hand, 1,000 Curious Pack Store Opening In Quakertown.". The Morning Call . Tronc. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  13. ↑ Klein, Michael (April 27, 2009). "Captain Janks tossed in jail". Philadelphia Media Network. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
  14. ↑ Johnson, Brian (January 27, 2015). "Howard Stern 12/27 Recap: Prank Caller Captain Janks Comes Out As Gay". Empty Lighthouse. Retrieved April 6, 2017.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.