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🇦🇺 Australia /Culture & Society

Torn urethras and Oscar nominations: Jackass's journey to infamy

From ABC Australia · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The prank franchise "Jackass" began as a 2000s TV series and has evolved into a multi-film cultural phenomenon.
  • The show's creator, Johnny Knoxville, initially pitched testing protective gear, which evolved into filming dangerous stunts.
  • The upcoming film, "Jackass: Best and Last," marks a potential final installment for the franchise.

The enduring legacy of the "Jackass" franchise is set to continue with its fifth installment, "Jackass: Best and Last," heading to cinemas. What began as a breakout TV series in the early 2000s has transformed into a significant cultural touchstone, spawning multiple films, specials, and countless imitators. The crew, comprised of skateboarders and dropouts, turned gross-out hijinks and dangerous stunts into a nearly three-decade career, marked by injuries ranging from fractured bones to torn urethras.

the crew of skateboarders and dropouts parlayed gross-out hijinks into a nearly three-decade career of shocked testicles, fractured bones, split skin and, in one unfortunate case, a torn urethra.

Perhaps the greatest feat of prank franchise Jackass is that the crew of skateboarders and dropouts parlayed gross-out hijinks into a nearly three-decade career of shocked testicles, fractured bones, split skin and, in one unfortunate case, a torn urethra.

At the heart of "Jackass" is the concept of "immortalizing the natural pursuit of young people without fully formed frontal lobes: throwing yourself into situations just to see how they'd play out." This ethos was championed by Johnny Knoxville, who, under his birth name Philip "PJ" Clapp, initially sought to test the effectiveness of various protective equipment. His idea to test a bulletproof vest by being shot with a .38 revolver caught the attention of Jeff Tremaine, then editor of the skateboarding magazine Big Brother.

immortalise the natural pursuit of young people without fully formed frontal lobes: throwing yourself into situations just to see how they'd play out.

From its creation, the Jackass crew attempted to immortalise the natural pursuit of young people without fully formed frontal lobes: throwing yourself into situations just to see how they'd play out.

Tremaine saw the potential to elevate Knoxville's concept beyond a written article, convincing him to film the experiments. This collaboration resulted in the publication's first viral hit in the nascent era of the internet. Simultaneously, pro-skateboarder Bam Margera was gaining notoriety for his stunt videos under the moniker CKY (Camp Kill Yourself). Tremaine recognized the synergy and brought Margera to Los Angeles to meet Knoxville and other future "Jackass" members, laying the groundwork for the show's pilot episode.

the effectiveness of various items of protective equipment.

Knoxville had an idea for an article in which he would test the effectiveness of various items of protective equipment.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Australia. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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