Andy Bichlbaum is not his real name. He tells me this casually at the end of a 30-minute interview at the chic boutique hotel Villa Florence, where he's pitching his new film, The Yes Men Fix the World, which got a standing ovation at the Castro Theatre during the Jewish Film Festival, and opens in theaters on Friday.

Of course it's not his real name! Duh! Did I learn nothing from watching the DVD twice? He and his partner-in-activism Mike Bonnano are con artists who specialize in social justice. It's all very Robin Hood, or do I mean Zorro? Scarlett Pimpernel! They pose as members of the ruling class indifferent to the suffering of the planet or the poor, for the sole purpose of demonstrating how different this world would be if people with money and power had a heart, social conscience, sense of humor, brain, or any other humanizing organ.

The Yes Men's stocks-in-trade are made-up names and titles, simulated oil-company websites, bogus keynote speeches at energy conferences, and ludicrous prototypes of the latest must-have post-apocalyptic hazmat-wear. Why would I expect Bichlbaum to be who he says he is? Because he seems so honest! Such a deep-down truth-teller. Like a master magician with nothing to hide. He's so good at what he does, I'm utterly convinced of his integrity precisely because of how many lies I've watched him tell, how few props he uses to create his illusions, how he turns the power of the system against itself. How bloody bold this guy is. Give you an example.

The film opens with Bichlbaum speaking into Bonnano's handheld camera, walki

Andy Bichlbaum in The Yes Men Fix the World.

ng along a cobblestone street in Paris on his way to speak to 300 million viewers of BBC Worldwide in his self-scripted role as Dow Chemical spokesperson Jude Finisterra. His message? After 20 years and 18,000 deaths, Dow's finally accepting full responsibility for its subsidiary Union Carbide's catastrophic chemical accident in Bhopal, India. He looks a little nervous.

You watch the Yes Men get away with that stunt, hit the Reuters international headlines, give Bhopal survivors a vision of a righteous world, and force Dow to publicly state that, in fact, they still won't do the right thing. Interviewed next day by a red-faced BBC about the "hoax," Bichlbaum says, "I wouldn't say it's a hoax. It's an honest representation of what Dow should be doing."

This profound sense of truth is what distinguishes the Yes Men from megabuck pranksters like Sasha Baron Cohen, although initially their effects are similar. Uber-gullible conference-goers who've paid good money to be shown "the future of energy" listen raptly to the Yes Men's ruthless mockery. Some never awake from their stupor, which only goads the Yes Men into upping the ante next time with a more flamboyant trick.

The Yes Men Fix the World features several irony-based, grisly good ideas for surviving the 21st century without changing our delusional, Gaia-hating, greed-based ways. On one level, this highly entertaining documentary functions as a how-to for applying politically conscious conceptual art and performance practices to real-world contexts.

What's cute about Andy is that if and when the moment comes to abort the travesty, he comes clean without a flicker of regret or remorse. The film shows several scams, and suspense builds as the assembled dupes wise up and start asking the hard questions. That's when Andy, who's really quite handsome despite or because of that maniacal gleam in his eyes, faces Mike's camera with an intimate deadpan that asks, "Is it time? Are they on to us?"

This removing the mask as the charade winds down is the most radical aspect of the Yes Men's work. Slipping into character and out again demonstrates the ease with which bad corporate habits could be broken. All that's required is a massive shift in consciousness.

"We're at a moment in history where things can change," says Bichlbaum, "if people rise up and make them change, give Obama the pressure he needs to do it. The issue at hand is climate change. We're planning actions for the fall, in the lead-up to Copenhagen, the next step after the Kyoto Protocols, the climate negotiation that will save the planet – or we're going to be in big trouble."

Bichlbaum suggests visiting the Yes Men's real website, www.theyesmen.org, for more information about past and future actions by a wide network of activists. Why should B.A.R. readers get involved?

"Climate change is a gay issue," he says. "Tropical gay tourist spots will be disproportionately hit."

Is Bichlbaum gay? So he says.