I 100% grew up in the 'Jackass' generation in the UK, my friends and I would be inspired by their dramatic stunts and re-create our own in a friend's garden with similar over reactions and rolling around in pain.
And as you said David, it brought friends together. We were total dicks to eacher but felt bonded and bonded to the films.
After Ryan Dunn died it all turned a bit sad for me, I haven't watched a Jackass since as I kinda felt like I had lost someone, a fellow jackass friend.
A bit odd really.
Anyway.
Great blog David, you've inspired me to watch em all again and get some feels from 20 years ago!
Subscribing to these emails is the best thing I've done in 2020. I too have been screaming from the rooftops of small town New Zealand that Jackass IS INDEED ART. I started as an innocent 12 year old - Jonny Knoxville was my second celebrity crush - right next to Ville Vallo of HIM. Jackass not only transcended to another level of what a group of random dudes in their twenties can endure but also gave me great insight into underground bands that gained recognition through Jackass (HIM was my very first concert - so thank you very much Bam).
As excited as I am for Jackass next year I just hope and pray they don't bring in phonies from the youtube community who poorly mimick their work for clout. Jackass is pure. I also hope it gives Bam a second wind to get back to his skate boarding roots. Because watching him be the weird third wheeler in King of the Road gave me major second hand embarrassment. (If you haven't watch King of the Road - its young Jackass with talented as fuck skaters in it. Highly recommend!)
Anyway - I too hope we all get to go back to the theatres sitting a couple of seats apart to watch the gloriousness of Spike Jonze, Jeff Tremaine with some great camera work by Rick Kosick even though he throws up on the camera half the time :)
Perfectly said, I still remember me and my mates would set up limewire to download then head off for the day to skateboard and come home to a whole range of terrible Jackass/CKY clips. I think it shows that while society is telling us all to grow up, you can still retain some sense of humour about silly things like getting smashed with a giant spring loaded hand.
oh i’m definitely feeling this as well, i so badly miss seeing films! it’s weird to think that i saw a last movie in theatres before this all started and i didn’t even know it was my last. i wonder what my first movie in a theatre post covid-19 will be? and when will i feel safe to go back to a movie theatre? what will change about the experience?
that’s something i’ve noticed with this whole lockdown thing, i think a lot of us are getting super nostalgic, not just for a time before covid-19 but also for our childhood/teens/early adulthood, a time when things (at least in hindsight) seemed simpler. i strongly stand by the fact that you never love things in quite the same way that you did when you were a child, they just hit different.
i’ve found myself coming back to stuff that i discovered when i was a kid, jurassic park, the princess pride etc, and hamish and andy. it’s fun to look back on stuff you loved as a kid, feel that mix of nostalgia. but it can also be double edged, where when i revisited hamish and andy i found their humour had actually aged well, it was still funny and pretty much totally good hearted. but when i think back on top gear (which for some reason i was OBSESSED with through ages 10-12 yikes) i realise just how much sexism and homophobia i was consuming without even having the understanding of what that meant. and then it becomes that thing of whether i can still watch it in good faith, does the nostalgia still hold strong? or is it one of those things that’s best left in my past?
anyway i hope you’re going well, and you have inspired me to watch the jackass films, i hope the fourth one lives up to your expectations :)
Thank you! I’ve been arguing this for YEARS! It feels good to have someone put it into an eloquent argument rather than me just going, “you just don’t GET it, man...”
I grew up with a brother and lots of boy cousins, so Jackass was a staple of my early teens which was also the perfect time for any self respecting girl to declare that she “wasn’t like other girls” (yawn, Brigitte. Forging a teenage identity based solely on ‘being one of the boys’ to IMPRESS the boys? You should write a book.) (Also turns out that trick kind of works on impressing the girls too, so there were some positives)
So anyway, I am extremely excited for Jackass 4. I cannot wait to see how their ~older and more abused bodies handle the stunts or if they’re going to tone it down a little.. Much to think about
My brother, sister and I loved watching the CKY tapes and Jackass growing up. Actually, my mom did as well... It was one thing we all agreed on and it was mostly good, idiotic fun. You could try to resist watching it, you could try to look down your nose at it, but eventually everyone surrendered to the hilarity of watching guys get their nuts tapped or crash around a hotel room.
As an adult whenever I discover someone else grew up also watching CKY and/or Jackass, it feels like we have an instant connection. Thank you for Webworm, it's so fucking delightful!
I loved the nostalgic post David - thank you. Those were definitely the good ol’ days! I used to love watching Jackass and Viva La Bam on MTV.
I just wonder how it’ll work now. They must all be quite different people (compared to the risk taking lads back then). Just to think, Steve-O & Novak are clean, but Bam is always in and out of rehab. Time will tell...
I was in high school when Jackass became big in the UK, I was lucky enough to have cable tv so my pals and I would have a weekly sleepover to watch new episodes. There was also a bunch of welsh guys who made a similar programme called Dirty Sanchez. From what I can remember it was a bit more gory than Jackass.
I really miss going to the cinema. I’m tempted to buy a projector to watch films at home but... eh, won’t be the same!
I watched #2 this weekend after seeing your insta post about it. Watched the show since I was in intermediate and it was still an enjoyable nostalgia black, however I don't know if it's just an age thing but some of the stuff was hard to watch now (Steve-O putting the hook through his cheek springs to mind).
Some of the bits also made me feel bad for the animals (snakes in the ball pit, all of the rodeo stuff), and I wonder if Steve-O's veganism/pescetarianism will mean a move away from animal stunts for the next one?
Good read, loved watching the TV series on, perhaps C4? back in the day. The movies are always rewatchable and much like you I will be looking forward to the movie coming out.
One and only time a movie made me vomit. I watched the jackass where the guy is on the treadmill and then Steve-O drinks the sweat. I puked all on my carpet from it! I’ll have you know, I do love the jackass movies tho. There’s an art to sacrificing every part of your body for a dare or a rush. Gosh, those are the definition of late 90’s MTV and I long for those days. That show fear would come on too where they’d send the kids into haunted places and have them do dares for so much time. Ohhh I loved that too! Thanks for the trip down memory lane and cheers for jackass 4. I hope it’s as engaging and gross as all the others!
I 100% grew up in the 'Jackass' generation in the UK, my friends and I would be inspired by their dramatic stunts and re-create our own in a friend's garden with similar over reactions and rolling around in pain.
And as you said David, it brought friends together. We were total dicks to eacher but felt bonded and bonded to the films.
After Ryan Dunn died it all turned a bit sad for me, I haven't watched a Jackass since as I kinda felt like I had lost someone, a fellow jackass friend.
A bit odd really.
Anyway.
Great blog David, you've inspired me to watch em all again and get some feels from 20 years ago!
Subscribing to these emails is the best thing I've done in 2020. I too have been screaming from the rooftops of small town New Zealand that Jackass IS INDEED ART. I started as an innocent 12 year old - Jonny Knoxville was my second celebrity crush - right next to Ville Vallo of HIM. Jackass not only transcended to another level of what a group of random dudes in their twenties can endure but also gave me great insight into underground bands that gained recognition through Jackass (HIM was my very first concert - so thank you very much Bam).
As excited as I am for Jackass next year I just hope and pray they don't bring in phonies from the youtube community who poorly mimick their work for clout. Jackass is pure. I also hope it gives Bam a second wind to get back to his skate boarding roots. Because watching him be the weird third wheeler in King of the Road gave me major second hand embarrassment. (If you haven't watch King of the Road - its young Jackass with talented as fuck skaters in it. Highly recommend!)
Anyway - I too hope we all get to go back to the theatres sitting a couple of seats apart to watch the gloriousness of Spike Jonze, Jeff Tremaine with some great camera work by Rick Kosick even though he throws up on the camera half the time :)
This is a fantastic piece of writing and thinking from a delightfully unexpected angle. Love it, David.
Perfectly said, I still remember me and my mates would set up limewire to download then head off for the day to skateboard and come home to a whole range of terrible Jackass/CKY clips. I think it shows that while society is telling us all to grow up, you can still retain some sense of humour about silly things like getting smashed with a giant spring loaded hand.
oh i’m definitely feeling this as well, i so badly miss seeing films! it’s weird to think that i saw a last movie in theatres before this all started and i didn’t even know it was my last. i wonder what my first movie in a theatre post covid-19 will be? and when will i feel safe to go back to a movie theatre? what will change about the experience?
that’s something i’ve noticed with this whole lockdown thing, i think a lot of us are getting super nostalgic, not just for a time before covid-19 but also for our childhood/teens/early adulthood, a time when things (at least in hindsight) seemed simpler. i strongly stand by the fact that you never love things in quite the same way that you did when you were a child, they just hit different.
i’ve found myself coming back to stuff that i discovered when i was a kid, jurassic park, the princess pride etc, and hamish and andy. it’s fun to look back on stuff you loved as a kid, feel that mix of nostalgia. but it can also be double edged, where when i revisited hamish and andy i found their humour had actually aged well, it was still funny and pretty much totally good hearted. but when i think back on top gear (which for some reason i was OBSESSED with through ages 10-12 yikes) i realise just how much sexism and homophobia i was consuming without even having the understanding of what that meant. and then it becomes that thing of whether i can still watch it in good faith, does the nostalgia still hold strong? or is it one of those things that’s best left in my past?
anyway i hope you’re going well, and you have inspired me to watch the jackass films, i hope the fourth one lives up to your expectations :)
Thank you! I’ve been arguing this for YEARS! It feels good to have someone put it into an eloquent argument rather than me just going, “you just don’t GET it, man...”
I grew up with a brother and lots of boy cousins, so Jackass was a staple of my early teens which was also the perfect time for any self respecting girl to declare that she “wasn’t like other girls” (yawn, Brigitte. Forging a teenage identity based solely on ‘being one of the boys’ to IMPRESS the boys? You should write a book.) (Also turns out that trick kind of works on impressing the girls too, so there were some positives)
So anyway, I am extremely excited for Jackass 4. I cannot wait to see how their ~older and more abused bodies handle the stunts or if they’re going to tone it down a little.. Much to think about
My brother, sister and I loved watching the CKY tapes and Jackass growing up. Actually, my mom did as well... It was one thing we all agreed on and it was mostly good, idiotic fun. You could try to resist watching it, you could try to look down your nose at it, but eventually everyone surrendered to the hilarity of watching guys get their nuts tapped or crash around a hotel room.
As an adult whenever I discover someone else grew up also watching CKY and/or Jackass, it feels like we have an instant connection. Thank you for Webworm, it's so fucking delightful!
I loved the nostalgic post David - thank you. Those were definitely the good ol’ days! I used to love watching Jackass and Viva La Bam on MTV.
I just wonder how it’ll work now. They must all be quite different people (compared to the risk taking lads back then). Just to think, Steve-O & Novak are clean, but Bam is always in and out of rehab. Time will tell...
Everyone wants to crap in a hardware store toilet. They just did it first, and so well
High Five!
Bam, sweetie im so sorry
I was in high school when Jackass became big in the UK, I was lucky enough to have cable tv so my pals and I would have a weekly sleepover to watch new episodes. There was also a bunch of welsh guys who made a similar programme called Dirty Sanchez. From what I can remember it was a bit more gory than Jackass.
I really miss going to the cinema. I’m tempted to buy a projector to watch films at home but... eh, won’t be the same!
'I'm Ryan Dunn, and I'm surrounded by morons.' ❤️
David, those shorts are amazing.
I watched #2 this weekend after seeing your insta post about it. Watched the show since I was in intermediate and it was still an enjoyable nostalgia black, however I don't know if it's just an age thing but some of the stuff was hard to watch now (Steve-O putting the hook through his cheek springs to mind).
Some of the bits also made me feel bad for the animals (snakes in the ball pit, all of the rodeo stuff), and I wonder if Steve-O's veganism/pescetarianism will mean a move away from animal stunts for the next one?
Good read, loved watching the TV series on, perhaps C4? back in the day. The movies are always rewatchable and much like you I will be looking forward to the movie coming out.
One and only time a movie made me vomit. I watched the jackass where the guy is on the treadmill and then Steve-O drinks the sweat. I puked all on my carpet from it! I’ll have you know, I do love the jackass movies tho. There’s an art to sacrificing every part of your body for a dare or a rush. Gosh, those are the definition of late 90’s MTV and I long for those days. That show fear would come on too where they’d send the kids into haunted places and have them do dares for so much time. Ohhh I loved that too! Thanks for the trip down memory lane and cheers for jackass 4. I hope it’s as engaging and gross as all the others!