Milwaukee’s Mark “Kenny Strasser” Proksch to appear Thursday on The Office

This spring, a yo-yoing maniac donning a yellow hat, suspenders, and green pants terrorized TV news programs throughout the Midwest. He went by the name of Kenny Strasser, and his exploits made him YouTube’s hottest star for about a week. Eventually Strasser was outed as Milwaukee resident Mark Proksch, a past contributor and longtime friend to The A.V. Club. Proksch has since moved to Los Angeles, where he’s been busy with acting jobs and various other projects, including a guest starring stint on The Office that begins airing Thursday night.

Proksch plays Dwight’s building assistant, Nate, and “as of now I have filmed a handful of episodes and will appear in an undetermined number to come,” he says. “I can’t really elaborate beyond that without giving away story details.”

This is not a joke: Proksch and writing partner Joe Pickett (who’s known locally for co-hosting the Found Footage Festival) were summoned to L.A. after writers for The Office saw and loved the Strasser videos. After meeting with the show’s cast and staff, who peppered Proksch and Pickett with questions about how they pulled off the Strasser prank, Proksch was eventually hired to appear on the show.

Proksch wouldn’t comment about the other irons he currently has in the fire, though Milwaukeeans might have caught him in September opening up for Neil Hamburger at the Cactus Club. Proksch’s Office episode airs at 8 p.m. Thursday on NBC.