The Skill Crane Kid (D.C. Premiere)

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 Rock‘n’Shop, 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 (“#txtshow (the 250th performance”) 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.