The acclaimed interactive performance art installation returns to the place where it all began. (Still only 50¢ per play!)About this Event
In 2011, Brian Feldman, “Orlando’s greatest living performance artist” (Orlando Weekly) first climbed inside of a playable claw machine in his winning piece of performance art counterprogramming, The Skill Crane Kid. Now, 15 years later, Brian is bringing one of his most beloved and signature projects back to the place it all began and in the very same spot, inside Orlando’s iconic and unduplicable hangout, Stardust Video & Coffee. This Father’s Day, spend time with your Kid.
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 16 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!
This will be Brian’s first scheduled performance in Orlando in seven years (, coincidentally also at Stardust Video & Coffee). In May 2024, he helped break his own record for the longest Orlando Fringe show in history when he unexpectedly performed in eight hours of Martin Dockery’s 24HR INESCAPABLE. The previous record was for Brian’s Fringe of Nature (2010) at 16 hours.
Aside from its February 6, 2011 world premiere at Stardust Video & Coffee, The Skill Crane Kid has previously been enjoyed by audiences at The Daily City Mobile Art Show, SAK Comedy Lab, IMMERSE Orlando, Tampa Museum of Art, and on Jimmy Kimmel Live!
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📅 Date
Sunday, June 21, 2026 from 8:00 AM – Midnight (16 hours)
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🗺️ Location
Stardust Video & Coffee
1842 Winter Park Road
Orlando, Florida 32803
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🎟️ Admission
Free to view, 50¢ to play (Bring your quarters!)
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Public Transit
🚍 LYNX:
Link 13 (University Boulevard / Winter Park)
Nearest Bus Stop: General Rees Ave & Lower Union Rd (Walk ~11 min, 0.5 mile)
Link 28 (E. Colonial Drive / Azalea Park)
Nearest Bus Stop: E. Colonial Dr & N. Bumby Ave (Walk ~34 min, 1.5 miles)
Link 29 (E. Colonial Drive / Goldenrod Road)
Nearest Bus Stop: E. Colonial Dr & N. Bumby Ave (Walk ~34 min, 1.5 miles)
Link 51 (Conway Road)
Nearest Bus Stop: Colonial Plaza Superstop (Walk ~42 min, 1.9 miles)
Link 102 (Orange Avenue / South U.S. 17-92)
Nearest Bus Stop: N. Orange Ave & N. Ivanhoe Blvd E (Walk ~45 min, 2.0 miles)
Link 104 (East Colonial Drive)
Nearest Bus Stop: Colonial Plaza Superstop (Walk ~42 min, 1.9 miles)
Link 125 (Silver Star Road)
Nearest Bus Stop: N. Mills Ave & Nebraska St (Walk ~29 min, 1.3 miles)
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☯ Hashtag
#SkillCraneKid (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 from Orlando... a sideshow performance like nothing else.”
– David Warner, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay
“Children were excited and the odds of getting an attractive plushy 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
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About
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). 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: tsck15.eventbrite.com (Eventbrite)
📢 Press Release: tinyurl.com/tsck15-docs (Google Docs)
🙋 Volunteer Sign Up: tinyurl.com/tsck15-volunteer (SignUpGenius)
Event Venue
Stardust Video & Coffee, 1842 E. Winter Park Rd., Orlando, United States
USD 0.00
