The Men's Rich Samis Behind Human Hamster Wheel Craigslist Prank, Media Frenzy

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Photo by Trent Maxwell

If you're the type of person who finds yourself reading the oddest and smallest of local human-interest stories at your day job, you may be familiar with this one. This week, a bunch of publications picked up a kooky Craigslist page advertising a "free human size hamster wheel" being given away by a man in Brooklyn, accompanied by a photo of a man in the wheel he allegedly built himself. "Can accommodate up to 200 lbs. Fully functional. Not recommended for houses with small children or animals. 50 lbs of shredded newspaper also available," the listing read, before adding, "I will not have this in my house any longer."

But it turned out to be a hoax. The picture was ripped from a story about a Seattle man who was the subject of a prank back in 2006.

The listing ended up fooling people far and wide across the internet, but it was initially targeted at one person: Rich Samis, the drummer in Brooklyn hardcore/punk act the Men. According to Impose, Samis' friend Ryan Vazquez made the listing and used Samis' contact information. Samis ran with it, creating an entire character (named "Sandra Z. Zzz") and doing interviews with media outlets about his human hamster wheel.

Talking with Gothamist about why he was giving away the wheel, "Sandra Z. Zzz" said, "I can’t make any friends anymore. Any time I bring one of my friends over, there will be like a hamster wheel, like too much of a conversation piece. I can’t function as a normal human being anymore... When I have a great conversation with someone and I bring them over to my house and there’s a hamster wheel, it’s this whole thing, then we talk about my childhood and stuff, it’s too much." 

As Impose reports, Vazquez has posted a few hilarious fake Craigslist ads in the past. Like this one for a haunted lawnmower.

Watch the Men perform "Open Your Heart" at last year's Pitchfork Music Festival:

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