Steve-O: Jackass with a bucket list
Long before he joined “Jackass,” a young Stephen Glover — re: Steve-O — was obsessed with Niagara Falls. Its history, its power, but most of all its stunters.
Whether they lived or died, the people who went over the falls in a barrel, tube or other contraption were his heroes.
“In my bedroom to this day, there’s like an 1890s map of Niagara Falls that’s literally eight feet wide,” he says on the line from Portland, Ore., where his “Bucket List” tour is ready to shock and awe another audience. “It’s the whole wall.”
Sixteen people have challenged Niagara Falls since 1901. Steve-O was determined to join the list, even after “Jackass” on MTV made him a superstar. But then co-star Chris Pontius burst his bubble.
“He said, ‘Dude, it’s been done.’ He said, ‘We don’t do things that people have done before.’ And that was the antidote to my insanity.”
But hold on — years after the show left the air and the three “Jackass” movies became crude comedy classics, Steve-O will actually be in the city he once dreamed of this weekend.
But the authorities can rest easy, he isn’t taking a header over the falls.
He’ll instead be bringing a show to Yuk Yuk’s that’s so overthe-top, buying a ticket comes with a disclaimer that you can’t sue “any person or entity connected in any way with this show.”
Considering his epic history of legal problems, that’s just Steve-O’s way of covering his butt. The one he once stuck firecrackers in. And filled with hot sauce. And pierced together. And … well, if there’s a body part Steve-O hasn’t abused yet,
give him time.
But if you ask him, standing on stage at a comedy club is far more terrifying than Port-aPotty bungee jumping or the Alligator Tightrope. When he first tried it more than a decade ago, he bombed out after a few gigs. Now, sober since 2008, he makes it a multimedia romp. In addition to stories from the trenches, he has filmed all new graphic stunts he screens for the crowd.
He doesn’t want to give them all away, but one involves skydiving and masturbation that must be seen to be believed. After you’ve agreed to the disclaimer, of course: “It’s really the crown jewel of my career.”
His act used to be filled with “Jackass” stories, but he soon grew bored with that.
“I decided to dispense with memory lane because it’s depressing to live in the past,” he says. “For this new tour I’ve set about creating entirely new material based on what I call my bucket list. It could just as well be called ‘the bottom of the barrel,’ because there have been ideas I’ve been sitting on for the longest time — really absurd stuff.
“There’s one where I’m having general anesthesia administered through an IV while I’m riding a bicycle. Which is so flagrantly illegal and recklessly dangerous.”
But there’s an urgency to the show as well. Now 45 and engaged to girlfriend Lux Wright, Steve-O feels he’s “racing against the clock” to get every stunt, gag and borderline insane antic out of his system.
“I’ve found the love of my life, and for me to be doing the things I’ve been doing for this tour, it’s inconceivable there would not be implications on my relationship,” he says. “Every
bit ties into my relationship, whether my girl is oddly OK with what I’m doing or she’s equally bothered by something else.
“She’s there supporting me and helping me execute the most absurd idea, or unwilling to be present when certain things happen. Her take on all the things I’ve been doing is a really fun, interesting dynamic.”
Even if “Jackass” stories fill less and less of his show, the classic series and its three movies are a constant in Steve-O’s life. And there may be more to come, with the show celebrating its 20th anniversary on MTV next year.
“I said for the longest time I was sure there would not be another Jackass,” he says. “Now, I’m not so sure. I know there’s going to be some kind of nod to the 20th anniversary, which comes up October next year.
“We’ll see what happens. It could be a social media post, it could be a documentary, it could be a special episode, it could be a full-blown thing.”
If it happens, there will be one bittersweet aspect to it: cast member Ryan Dunn died in a fiery car crash in 2011.
“That’ll certainly be in the forefront of our consciousness, no doubt.” Whatever stunt he has planned for a reunion, he insists nothing will scare him more than the one he’s doing right now: Stepping on stage alone, without the rest of Johnny Knoxville and Co.
“Knowing that I’ll have to follow this up is legitimately terrifying, but as I run with this show right, it’s the best s - - t I’ve ever done,” he says. “I’m really psyched.”