The Skill Crane Kid (D.C. Premiere)
About this Event
In 2011, Brian Feldman (Best Performance Artist, Washington City Paper Best of D.C.™ 2026) first climbed inside of a playable claw machine in his winning piece of performance art, The Skill Crane Kid. Now, after 15 years of laborious effort to bring one of his most beloved and signature projects to Washington, D.C. audiences*, it’s finally happening. The D.C. premiere of The Skill Crane Kid will be on Sunday, December 20, 2026 from 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM at iconic independent music venue Black Cat, presented as part of , one of D.C.’s longest-running holiday markets. *Over 100 venues in D.C. turned it down.
The Skill Crane Kid is a one-of-a-kind interactive performance art installation that literally “captures” the nostalgia of childhood and the artist himself. Claw machines (aka. skill crane machines) were common memories of big box retail stores and local arcades for ’80s and ’90s kids. For a quarter or two, we could attempt to grasp at a stuffed animal prize and liberate it from its glass cage. The game is a rescue mission. All ages gambling. A chance for backseat observers to clench empathetically with the player or chime in with unsolicited claw coaching.
At one point or another, every kid has attempted to hack the game by sticking their arm up the prize chute of a claw machine. In rare situations, children have actually gotten inside the machine. In 2004, a 7-year-old walked away while his father was using a payphone at a supermarket in Sheboygan, Wisconsin and proceeded to climb inside one. When later asked by the news why he did it, he replied, “I just, like, wanted to go in there.”
This project is Brian Feldman’s re-creation of that Sheboygan skill crane incident, literally “grasping” and embodying that childhood dream to just “go in there.” He becomes The Skill Crane Kid. For a span of four hours (with no breaks), he provides “inside assistance” from inside the machine to all who drop their quarters into the coin slot so that every player leaves a winner. This project engages the public in a moment of whimsy and significantly improves the odds of winning a prize, leaving an indelible memory for all those who interact with The Skill Crane Kid. As The Washington Post noted, “[Brian Feldman’s] endurance work follows in the tradition of great performance artists such as Tehching Hsieh and Marina Abramović, but it’s more playful...”
Social media has made claw machines more popular than ever. There are tens of thousands of claw machines worldwide. But only one claw machine provides comedic durational human performance. No one leaves empty handed, because with The Skill Crane Kid everyone’s a winner!
The Skill Crane Kid has previously been enjoyed by audiences at five venues in Florida – Stardust Video & Coffee, TheDailyCity.com Mobile Art Show, SAK Comedy Lab, IMMERSE Orlando, Tampa Museum of Art, and on Jimmy Kimmel Live! This will be Brian’s first in-person performance in D.C. in two years ( at Rhizome DC).
This project is supported in part by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
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📅 Date
(4 hours, no breaks)
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🗺️ Location
1811 14th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20009
(between S St NW & Swann St NW)
presented as part of
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🎟️ Admission
Free to view, 50¢ to play (Bring your quarters!)
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Public Transit
🚇 Metro Rail:
(Green Line) (Exit A: Walk ~7 min, 0.3 mile)
🚍 Metro Bus:
(U St-Anacostia)
Nearest Bus Stop: U St NW & 14 St NW (Walk ~4 min, 0.2 mile)
(U St-Congress Hts)
Nearest Bus Stop: U St NW & 14 St NW (Walk ~4 min, 0.2 mile)
(LeDroit Park-Georgetown)
Nearest Bus Stop: P St NW & 14 St NW (Walk ~8 min, 0.4 mile)
(11 St)
Nearest Bus Stop: 11 St NW & S St NW (Walk ~7 min, 0.3 mile)
(14 St)
Nearest Bus Stop: 14 St NW & T St NW (Walk ~1 min, 308 feet)
(14 St Limited)
Nearest Bus Stop: 14th St NW & U St NW (Walk ~4 min, 0.2 mile)
(16 St)
Nearest Bus Stop: 16 St NW & S St NW (Walk ~7 min, 0.3 mile)
(16 St Limited)
Nearest Bus Stop: 16 St NW & U St NW (Walk ~9 min, 0.4 mile)
🚲 Capital Bikeshare:
(Walk ~2 min, 466 feet)
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☯ Hashtag
(Note: Brian is no longer active on social media.)
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📰 Reviews
“Had a Kafkaesque quality, reminding me of ‘A Hunger Artist’... I seldom had an unobstructed view of the skill crane. More often than not families blocked my view as they took pictures and stuffed quarters in the machine.”
– Thomas Thorspecken, Analog Artist Digital World
“Hats off to Brian, who obviously has a direct line into what kids like!”
– Bess Auer, Central Florida Top 5
“A truly original performer... a sideshow performance like nothing else.”
– David Warner, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
“Children were excited and the odds of getting an attractive plushie was much better than normal.”
– Carl F. Gauze, Ink 19
“As usual, no other sponsored spectacle pushes the boundaries of performance quite like Brian Feldman...”
– Seth Kubersky, Orlando Weekly
“The premise is simple, though thoroughly unhinged: Feldman installs a fully functioning claw-grabber/skill crane machine... enters said machine, and stays in there for the duration of the “performance.” And 50 cents a play in this economy is a damn steal.”
– Matthew Moyer, Orlando Weekly
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About Brian Feldman Projects
Brian Feldman is an internationally presented performance artist and actor. Since August 2003, he has presented 1,000+ performances of 140+ projects at 175+ venues and festivals in cities worldwide via Brian Feldman Projects, one of the world’s premier presenters of experimental time-based art. His work has been favorably compared to Marina Abramović, David Blaine, Chris Burden, John Cage, Christo, Marcel Duchamp, Tehching Hsieh, and Andy Kaufman. It has also been recognized with government, civic, and cultural organization grants; and featured on movie screens, television, radio, in print, and online. He has been named Best Performance Artist by Orlando Weekly (2008, 2009) and Washington City Paper (2018, 2024, 2026). He lives in Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, where he has presented work in all 8 Wards and 30 D.C. neighborhoods. As the news site DCist noted, “In a city that has an advocacy group exploring how to ‘make D.C. weird’ – and is still struggling – Brian Feldman is a shining beacon of eccentricity.” He is a three-time marathon finisher.
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🎟️ BFP Event Page: tsckdc.eventbrite.com (Eventbrite)
📢 Press Release: tinyurl.com/tsckdc-docs (Google Docs)
🙋 Volunteer Sign Up: tinyurl.com/tsckdc-volunteer (SignUpGenius)
Where is it happening?
USD 0.00
