Over the years, the Jackass crew have pushed themselves to the limits with all kinds of extremely painful stunts, pranks, and other segments that leave many of us asking how (and why) are they still doing it after all this time. Few members of the gang have put their bodies, minds, and souls through more hell than Steve-O, who has done everything from stick a hook in his mouth and going swimming with sharks, to playing tetherball with a bee hive in the Jackass movies. And, that’s just the beginning of his painful stunts.
So, in honor of the release of the extremely painful and shockingly nostalgic Jackass Forever, I’ve put together a list of the best Steve-O stunts, ranked them, and provided some background information for each.
10. The Fart Mask - Jackass: Number Two
Starting off is a rather short and simple, yet effective, stunt from Jackass: Number Two that involves Steve-O wearing a helmet in which Preston Lacy farts via a rubber tube. Almost immediately after the smell of fart wafts into the enclosed helmet, Steve-O (who is probably one of the best Jackass pukers not named Rick Kosick or Lance Bangs) fills it with vomit. This segment is also the perfect way to pay respect to the more low-key skits from the original MTV series.
9. Steve-O, Ryan Dunn, Jeff Tremaine, And Henry Rollins In Off-Road Tattoo - Jackass: The Movie
Getting tattooed can be rather painful, and I can only imagine how uncomfortable it can be to ride in a Hummer over rough terrain. Combine those and you have the notorious “Off-Road Tattoo” segment from Jackass: The Movie. In this stunt, Steve-O gets a tattoo from director Jeff Tremaine as Henry Rollins drives like an absolute maniac through the desert. While not as intense or terrifying as some of the other stunts Steve-O pulled off in the first Jackass theatrical release, the segment remains just as brutally injurious and iconic 20 years later, and also has one of the best celebrity cameos in the series.
8. Steve-O In Tropical Pole Vaulting - Jackass: The Movie
Definitely one of the better Steve-O stunts from Jackass: The Movie, but still not as insane as what he would do in the years to come, “Tropical Pole Vaulting” is a hilarious segment that starts out simple enough — Steve-O pole-vaulting into a palm tree, but quickly devolves into absolute madness. Jumping into a ditch on the side of a highway filled with stagnant water and a dead cat? Check. A game of volleyball? Check. A pier? Check.
7. Steve-O And Dave England In Bee Hive Tetherball - Jackass 3D
A lot of the focus of Jackass 3D was the use of the 3D technology and high-definition cameras that weren’t readily accessible when its predecessor was released, but there are still some old-school style stunts peppered throughout. One of the best is “Bee Hive Tetherball,” featuring Steve-O and Dave England in bear hats and underwear playing the playground game with a hive of bees. What makes this so great is how Steve-O remains calm throughout while England flips out and makes things worse for himself. But, this wouldn’t be the last time Steve-O kept cool in the presence of bees.
6. Steve-O In The Leech Healer - Jackass: Number Two
One of the most disgusting segments in any of the Jackass movies, The “Leech Healer” stunt shows Steve-O apply an actual leech to his eye while the crew is visiting India. Words cannot express how much I wince in pain whenever this part of Jackass: Number Two comes on, but I still can’t look away. Even though it was one of the standouts of the franchise’s second entry, there are some segments coming up that somehow trump this one both in scope and danger.
5. Steve-O And Chris Pontius In Alligator Tightrope - Jackass: The Movie
Early on in Jackass: The Movie, Steve-O gives the audience a glimpse of what the future would hold for him with his Wildboyz show alongside Chris Pontius, who would also appear on the MTV spinoff series. There’s a lot about this stunt that ranks it so high on this list. First, it’s a stunt that shows that the crew was upping the ante from the original series. Secondly, it’s dangerous as all hell, with Steve-O dangling over alligators with raw chicken in a jock strap. And finally, there’s a moment at the end where an alligator is so close to taking a chunk out of Steve-O’s foot when he finally gets out of the water.
4. Steve-O And Chris Pontius In The Fish Hook - Jackass: Number Two
Like “The Leech Healer” segment mentioned above, “The Fish Hook” is another standout moment from Jackass: Number Two that sees Steve-O inflict bodily harm with and near animals with a thirst for blood. This time around, however, there were much higher stakes (and a whole lot more pain) as Steve-O drives a hook through the side of his mouth and then goes swimming in the shark-infested waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Despite having safety measures (Chris Pontius could reel him in), Steve-O was very much in danger, especially when he was inches away from a shark bite at one point. And the look of pure pain on his face throughout the entire stunt really sells it for me.
3. Steve-O, Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius And Others In The Marching Band - Jackass: Forever
Like the films that came before it, Jackass Forever didn’t pull any punches with its various stunts, pranks, and other segments. One of the most intense (both in the movie and of all of Steve-O’s movie appearances) is “The Marching Band,” which saw the thrill seeker, Johnny Knoxville, Chris Pontius and other members of the crew dress up like a college band and walk onto a treadmill, instruments and all. This painful stunt, which resulted in hospitalizations, at first doesn’t seem all that dangerous, but its severity is awfully visible when a slow-motion replay is shown, and wowza!
2. Steve-O In Poo Cocktail Supreme - Jackass 3D
One of the most stomach-churning Jackass stunts, “Poo Cocktail Supreme” is undoubtedly the most disgusting segment featuring Steve-O, which is saying something. Near the end of Jackass 3D, Steve-O is strapped into a portable toilet that is then hooked up to a rig you would use for bungie jumping before being shot into sky. Steve-O is drenched with feces and other bodily waste as the structure flips up and down in the air. Adding “Supreme” at the end of the title of this disgusting and dangerous segment is perfect, because there is no way you can top this, at least with human excrement.
1. Steve-O Hanging A Colony Of Bees Off His Junk - Jackass Forever
And then there is the moment in Jackass Forever where Steve-O takes a stunt first carried out by Johnny Knoxville on the original series and makes it seem like child’s play. I’m talking about Steve-O putting an entire colony of bees on his junk and throwing the mass around. It starts with him putting the queen on this private parts which draws in all of the bees, creating a mass that keeps on growing and growing. Have you ever seen a colony of bees sticking together on a tree branch? Well, imagine that, but instead of a tree, it’s Steve-O. Equal parts gnarly and terrifying, this segment, which was featured in the Jackass Forever trailer received a mixture of laughs, gasps, and screams at my screening, and it’s one I won’t forget.
After revisiting all of these iconic Steve-O moments from the Jackass movies, I’m just amazed he and the rest of the crew are still putting themselves up to all of this after all this time.
