Steve-O Talks Stand-Up, Rap, and Sky Jacking
Steve-O
When it comes to wild, unimaginable stunts, there is arguably no one who can hold a candle to Steve-O’s resume. None of us thought that his stunts in the Jackass movies could be surpassed. They very much can, as he explains in this interview. He’s filmed a series of next-level stunts over the past two years. This never-before-seen footage will be showcased on his Bucket List tour. Steve-O has been doing stand-up comedy for the past 13 years and is combining that with this unreleased HD footage to make for a show that is Jackass on steroids, followed by a meet-and-greet with the entire audience. I had the great honour of talking to him before his upcoming show in Montreal.
Montreal Rampage Team: You’ve got your show coming up next week in Montreal. How many times have you been to Montreal before?
Steve-O: This is the third live show I’ve done in Montreal that I’m aware of. The first one was in 2004, and notably there were full-on riots outside the theatre after the performance, which I never wanted to have happen, but I felt a little bit honoured that it did.
Montreal Rampage Team: What was the cause of the riots?
Steve-O: I really don’t know, I guess people were just excited. Perhaps because I promoted the show myself. I promoted the whole tour, saying, “I will be drunk and on drugs, or your money back.” At that time there was a real emphasis on destruction, anarchy, and all this crazy stuff, and while I have evolved and become a much more thoughtful person, there’s still plenty of emphasis on recklessness and irreverence, but there’s more consideration for third parties than I used to have.
Montreal Rampage Team: Right now you’re doing your Bucket List tour. So you’ve always had this bucket list of these insane stunts you’ve always wanted to do?
Steve-O: The Bucket List is certainly a list of insane stunts. I can’t say that I always wanted to do them because I never thought that I actually would. When I decided I was going to go for it, it really represented a new level of craziness that I was excited to take on.
Montreal Rampage Team: Were these new stunts filmed in recent years?
Steve-O: Yes, everything was filmed in the last year to two years.
Montreal Rampage Team: How do they compare to the classic Jackass stunts? Are some of them even crazier?
Steve-O: I would say so, yea! I mean, no one ever ejaculated on camera for Jackass, and I ejaculated on camera with a dude strapped on my back while simultaneously falling out of an airplane, which I’m a little bit proud of.
Montreal Rampage Team: Wow. I did not expect that. That is crazier than the Jackass stunts.
Steve-O: Yea, Sky-Jacking. I’ve always said I wouldn’t waste my time going skydiving unless I was jerking off and blowing a load as I fell out of the airplane. I never thought I’d actually do it but I did. It was a very small plane filled with dudes while I had a guy strapped to my back. It wasn’t an easy task. I made an exception to my no-pornography rule. I brought a portable DVD player on the plane with me.
Montreal Rampage Team: That’s a very high level of difficulty….
Steve-O: Yea! I’m glad you recognize that because there were so many layers to it, and the difficulty of finding a company that would allow us to do it, a guy that was willing to be strapped on my back while I did it… the actual logistics of getting it done under those circumstances, it was so high-level in so many ways that I really consider it one of the more ambitious and proud accomplishments of my career.
Montreal Rampage Team: Is that one going to be revealed next week on your Montreal tour?
Steve-O: Yea. That’s one of the bits. After each bit in the show, I screen a video of a stunt. It’s multi-media, and everyone will see that money shot where the slow-motion camera which was mounted to the side of the airplane really takes a shot.
Montreal Rampage Team: Is there a stand-up comedy element to the show or is it mainly you revealing the footage?
Steve-O: Absolutely. I’ve been doing stand-up comedy in the purest sense of the word for nine years now, and gradually my worlds have converged. So it’s very much a stand-up comedy show. It represents a journey through my absurd bucket list and along the way, after each bit I screen the footage. It’s part Jackass, part stand-up comedy: it showcases all the elements of my career in a way I’m really excited about.
Montreal Rampage Team: So you’re coming full circle with everything you’ve done.
Steve-O: For sure. My worlds have converged and I’m super-stoked.
Montreal Rampage Team: Are you more passionate about one or the other, stand-up or stunts?
Steve-O: I wish I could say that I was, because I feel there’s more longevity in pursuing pure stand-up comedy but now I think that as an all-around attention whore and someone who really strives to push boundaries and continually raise the bar, I think that I’m pretty addicted to having it all rolled up into one experience.
Montreal Rampage Team: Who are some of your all-time favourite comedians?
Steve-O: My favourite comedian is for sure Jim Jeffries. I love Bill Burr. As a kid Eddie Murphy was very notable. Another comedian who’s going to be in Montreal – Big Jay Oakerson – is one of my favourite comedians and people. If you’re thinking of going to see his show, don’t walk, run. I love that fucking guy.
Montreal Rampage Team: So you had your stand-up debut at the Laugh Factory.
Steve-O: I have been doing stand-up for nine years, but the very first time I tried stand-up comedy was in 2006. So it’s been more like 13 years. But I really don’t count that too much because I wasn’t all-in and I was pretty sparked up on drugs. But I remember my experience being that when they called me to the stage that very first time at the Laugh Factory in 2006, I really felt that the crowd was rooting for me. I felt they were excited to see me, they wanted to have a good time with me. As scary as it was, it really inspired me so that I wanted to pursue it.
Montreal Rampage Team: You did a song with hip-hop legend Kool G Rap a bit over 10 years ago. Were you in the studio with him?
Steve-O: I was absolutely in the studio with Kool G Rap. We made a legendary hip-hop song called Poke the Puss.
Montreal Rampage Team: He’s one of the greats and you got to make a song with him.
Steve-O: And then we got together again to make a music video for Poke the Puss. It was a memorable experience even though that represented the darkest chapter of my life. It was the last days before my intervention and my ensuing recovery.
Montreal Rampage Team: You were also in the studio with Lil Fame from MOP at one point.
Steve-O: I was in the studio with both MOP guys. I was in the studio with MOP, I recorded a jam with those guys, I recorded another track with B-Real from Cypress Hill. I wasn’t in the studio with Daz and Kurupt but they recorded a couple verses for me in a song that never even got put together.
Montreal Rampage Team: Who are some of your all-time favorite old school rappers?
Steve-O: I’m a 50 Cent guy, an old-school G-Unit guy for sure.
Montreal Rampage Team: What are some of your favourite books?
Steve-O: Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn is a really eye-opening book. Also Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch — I’m a humongous fan. It’s shaped my views on spirituality and God and the universe.
Montreal Rampage Team: Is there anything else you’d like our readers to know?
Steve-O: My show in Montreal represents my urge to go all-out and raise the bar at least one more time by going through with things that for varying reasons I should not have. It’s completely nuts. I’m really excited about it. Plus I’m going to do a free meet-and-greet with the entire audience after the show. So it’s going to be part Jackass movie premiere, part stand-up comedy show and part meet-and-greet. I’m really always grateful to meet everyone who comes out. I go to every conceivable length to put on the best show that I can and I’m excited to do that in Montreal, particularly at the Just For Laughs Festival.
Steve-O performs The Bucket List at Olympia Theatre July 24 at 9:30pm. Tickets here. Just for Laughs continues until July 28. For other shows, click HERE.
