I’m a Banksy copycat! Comedian Joe Lycett reveals he was behind Wizard of Oz-themed mural appearing on Birmingham Street

Comedian Joe Lycett has admitted he was behind a Wizard of Oz-themed piece of art in Birmingham that was compared to works by Banksy – one of several fake news stories he planted in the media in recent weeks.

The 35-year-old comic says the fake Dorothy was one of a series of false tales he managed to sneak into several established media outlets in recent weeks.

Speculation about the authorship of the work – which appeared to mimic Banksy’s style of integrating their artwork into the surrounding environment – even forced the artist’s spokesperson to issue an outright denial that they were responsible.

Lycett revealed his trick on his new series of Late Night Lycett on Channel 4 on Friday night.

He said he planted the Banksy story, as well as three other fake new stories, to take up media space that would otherwise have been used to ‘spread hate, misery and images of Amanda Holden’.

The 35-year-old comic says the fake Banksy-like Dorothy artwork was one of a series of false stories he managed to sneak into several established media outlets in recent weeks.

Speculation about the authorship of the work – which appeared to mimic Banksy’s style of integrating their artwork into the surrounding environment – even forced the artist’s spokesperson to issue an outright denial that they were responsible

His other bogus stories were a five-a-side footballer from Birmingham with a bruise on his thigh that resembled Prince Harry’s face, research shows Birmingham men have the longest penis in the UK and an eight-foot tall statue of H from Trappe being erected in his hometown of Cowbridge in Wales.

Media organizations that fell for one of the pranks include BBC News, The Sun, The Daily Star, ITV News, Sky News and the Independent.

MailOnline covered the story of the five-a-side football bruise that resembled Prince Harry’s face on an eerie March 19.

Some of the supposed hoaxes, like the woman who thought she was rescuing a hedgehog that turned out to be a hat bobble and the North Korean row over Alan Titchmarsh’s trousers, turned out to be real.

Lycett said the story of Ian ‘H’ Watkins from Steps had been ‘covered everywhere… they even discussed it on BBC Breakfast’.

Speaking to BBC Wales just after the show, Watkins said: ‘I’m good friends with Joe and he had the idea that he wanted to create funny fake news to divert away from all the bad fake news – and it worked!

Ian ‘H’ Watkins of Steps promoted the hoax story on his Instagram page

MailOnline was fooled by the story of a bruise that looked like Prince Harry’s face

It was claimed the bruise was caused by a five-a-side football collision

Lycett revealed his trick on his new series of Late Night Lycett on Channel 4 on Friday night (pictured)

The comedian is known for spreading mischief and has published numerous pranks over the years

Joe Lycett shredded £10,000 in a chipper to protest David Beckham’s controversial £10m ambassadorial role at the 2022 men’s World Cup held in the homophobic country of Qatar, although the money was later revealed to be fake

‘And many of these stories have gone unnoticed – this one did for a long time.’

“I love that Joe has put this on a national platform when there’s so much hate and we can shed some light on some joy and some fun,” he said.

‘It was the most ridiculous thing but people bought it, I had to text my mum and go to mum just to tell you this is going to happen and she said “I’m not saying anything”. ‘

Watkins said the hoax had diverted a lot of negative news in the media and “turned the spotlight on people sitting behind keyboards whining and whining and not contributing”.

Lycett then went on to reveal that he was behind the fabricated story that ‘Brummies have the biggest penises’ after The Daily Star reported: ‘A new annual survey by Myriad Researching for Spartan Layers, a top men’s underwear brand, found that guys in Birmingham have the highest average manhood in the UK.’

The comedian from Birmingham is known for his stunts and pranks.

Last year the comedian teased the public with a stunt to launch his fake podcast, Turdcast, in which a giant inflatable toilet he dubbed ‘the Turdis’ accidentally ‘leaked’ fake sewage into Liverpool Docks.

The spill was later revealed to be marine mud, which had no environmental or biological impact on the habitat.

In 2020, he changed his name to Hugo Boss in protest of the massive German fashion brand sending cease-and-desist letters to some small businesses and charities that used ‘boss’ in their names.

He also shredded £10,000 in a wood chipper to protest David Beckham’s controversial ambassadorial role at the 2022 men’s World Cup held in the homophobic country of Qatar, although the money was later revealed to be fake.