Lansing has a new group of pranksters causing light-hearted fun and mischief.
So far, the collective Stupid - Lansing has added fangs to a bridge known for trapping trucks and encouraged Lanstronauts to create silly odes to the city.
A well-known bridge on Pennsylvania Avenue is infamous for its shorter-than-typical height which for decades has caused numerous trucks and RVs to get stuck under it. It’s gained the name “Big Penny” among locals.
The collective Stupid - Lansing wanted to have a bit of fun with it.
One of the group’s members who is choosing to remain anonymous, explained.
"It's just kind of iconic, I think in Lansing,” they said. “There was a big uptick in people talking about it online and interacting with it. “
Stupid - Lansing placed sharp teeth and googly eyes on the bridge to commemorate its status for “eating vehicles.” There are also signs that are being continuously updated to indicate the number of trucks “Big Penny” has munched. As of Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024, that number is 19 this year and 72 since 2004.
Since the prank, love for “Big Penny” has grown with a tribute to the bridge and its victims set to Enya’s Only Time shown at a recent Lansing Lugnuts game.
The Stupid - Lansing member says it was a city government employee who suggested they add the eyes and teeth to the other side of the bridge.
The collective says they have a simple goal.
“The whole mission of all of this is to just make Lansing smile and make Lansing a happier place than it already is.”
Their name is a joke in and of itself. Stupid is an acronym for “Society for Totally Useless Pranks and Immature Dumbassery.” They say they choose to remain anonymous to allow more people to feel included.
“I think it's a little more fun with no face or name or anybody claiming credit for it. It lets it have a life of its own, and it lets the community kind of interact with it too.”
Their latest project went up this week. It’s called Letters from Lansing.
The group installed three large metal panels in Old Town encouraging visitors to write their dedication to Lansing using several thousand words on magnets. The phrases include local references like “burning couch,” “pants baby” and “gas station giraffe.”
"There was over 600 of them that are just Lansing-centric and Michigan-centric,” they said.
When asked if there was any connection to previous viral pranks in Lansing like a monolith appearing from “space” in 2020 or a satirical mayoral campaign to “make Lansing classy again” in 2021, the Stupid - Lansing member had this to say.
“We can neither confirm nor deny any connection to any previous silliness in the city, but we can say that we're looking forward to a pretty fun future.”
In their words, “the future of Lansing is stupid.”
