Before he was Colin Robinson, Mark Proksch was pranking the news as a "yo-yo master"

Kenny "K-Strass" Strasser was on a mission to spread environmental awareness and play with yo-yos

By Reid McCarter  |  November 17, 2021 | 10:15pm
TV Features Mark Proksch
Before he was Colin Robinson, Mark Proksch was pranking the news as a
The yo-yo master at work. Screenshot: Comedy For Profit

Mark Proksch is best known now for playing Colin Robinson, a nefariously boring energy vampire from What We Do In The Shadows. But before he brought the character to “life”—and before his roles in The Office, Better Call Saul, or On Cinema—Proksch was pretending to be a dedicated yo-yo master/climate change activist called Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser on various morning shows across America.

Digg resurfaced a video of Proksch’s K-Strass years that gives a good indication of what the series of 2010 pranks are all about, but we highly recommend watching a full 20-minute compilation to get a full understanding of the beleagured Zim Zam Yo-Yo spokesman’s deal.

In the first segment, we learn about K-Strass’ mission: To teach kids at schools across the nation about environmental issues like “how recycling works” and “how to recycle batteries” using yo-yos. He also give yo-yos to the homeless to try to give them access to a better life on “the pro-circuit.”

K-Strass, we learn from his appearances, is 35, a “kid at heart,” and has a terrible home situation filled with divorces (two of his own and, recently, his parents, too) and a brother he’s having a hard time getting along now that his sibling’s married to a woman he doesn’t like.

He also explains that he was saved from a life of “gambling, drugs, women, lotto” by giving everything he had to the pursuit of the yo-yo. Despite his devotion, K-Strass breaks his yo-yos, smacks himself in the face with one, and makes himself dizzy when showing off advanced moves based around maneuvers.

Despite this, the man presses on, enduring the insults of inattentive schoolchildren (they don’t behave because, in K-Strass’ opinion, kids aren’t spanked enough these days) and trying to manage difficulties like his deal with the non-profit Zim Zam Yo-Yos falling apart and the tragic death of a yo-yo mentor killed in a jet ski accident.

It’s been roughly a decade since K-Strass has graced our screens with his yellow baseball cap, suspenders, and undying love of the yo-yo. Now’s the time for him to return, tying himself up in string while he demonstrates his skills and explaining that the Earth can be saved by replacing our light bulbs with “non-traditional” ones. It’s our only hope.

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