Before finding fame with MTV’s OTT stunt show Jackass, Steve-O had already had some wild experiences. He’d lived in five countries, been arrested multiple times, and worked as a clown on a cruise ship. Then, as Jackass evolved from TV hit to worldwide movie franchise, he drank a goldfish and threw it back up. He snorted wasabi. He tightrope-walked over alligators with raw meat in his trousers.
Since the TV show ruled the world, from 2000-2007, Steve-O’s started looking after himself a bit more. He quit drinking and drugs in 2008, before branching out into the less-taxing worlds of podcasting and YouTube. But he’s still a fucking nutter. For his recent run of comedy shows under the banner The Bucket List Tour, he filmed himself jizzing while skydiving and getting anaesthetised on a bike. It may seem mindless but, as Steve-O explains to Hammer, it’s all part of his philosophy of ‘distraction therapy’. After all, whatever problem you’re facing, it can’t be worse than having some staples in your scrotum, right?
Your recent UK tour was promoted as something of a homecoming, since you were born in London. What was your upbringing like?
“I was born in Wimbledon, then moved to Brazil when I was six months old. I
