PORTLAND, Maine — He's been performing crazy stunts and making people laugh for decades, and later this month, Steve-O will be making a stop right here in Maine. The 'Jackass' superstar will be taking center stage at Merrill Auditorium for his 'Bucket List' stand-up comedy tour. We wanted to find out what fans could expect.
You've got a lot on your plate right now between your podcast, you've got a new book, your comedy tour, and a new Jackass movie. How are you feeling?
Steve-O: I’m feeling a little overwhelmed if I’m being honest. There’s been a lot of anxiety around staying on top of my emails.
I know it’s a weird thing to be anxious about, but my email box has been up around like 600 or 700 emails, and it’s overwhelming. It gets to a point where I want to throw my arms up… but it’s okay. I’ve got it back down to like 100 now.
You've got your show here in Portland later this month on April 28th at Merrill Auditorium. What can fans expect?
Steve-O: If they’re not over a certain age, it’s illegal for them to be there. It’s very strict, it’s not for kids, that’s for sure, and it’s so crazy. I mean, the show that I’m doing is so crazy.
I’ve been doing this comedy tour for 12 years now, and over the course of those 12 years, it’s gradually evolved into a multimedia experience where for each new tour now, I’ve set about raising the bar for what I consider crazy, and I film all this super crazy stuff and make a comedy show out of it and then at the show itself, after each bit, I screen the footage of the item being checked off the bucket list.
I’m talking, I don’t even know how much I can share on your show, but we’ve got medical professionals assuming disguises to administer stolen drugs. There’s one where I’ve got general anesthesia being administered while I’m driving a bicycle.
I really went overboard on this one, and I love it. It’s all stuff that I would never have been able to do for Jackass, and I did it with no insurance and just like really, really crazy stuff. It all worked out pretty well, and I ended up with a truly phenomenal show, unlike any other. It’s really exciting
I’m glad you mentioned your approach because I wondered if you wanted to make the show like 'Jackass' or if you took your own approach?
Steve-O: It’s very different from Jackass in that it’s definitely a comedy show and what’s exciting about it is that I’ve let all my various worlds to converge. The video component certainly feels like Jackass and the idea that I have no limitations. You know, there are no rules for me to follow. Like, with Jackass, you can’t do anything illegal, but I can for my stuff.
What I’m proud of, I think, is that as crazy as this show is, it’s also really clever. I want to say that I really believe it's clever because I’ve recently become engaged to be married, and it would have been impossible for me to have carried out all of these absurd stunts and things I did for the show without there being implications on my relationship.
So, the throughline of it all, the backdrop to all of which this is set, it’s my relationship, and it’s fun, and it’s really compelling and just outrageous, and I love it.
Have you ever been to Maine?
Steve-O: I have, yeah… I remember when I was a kid, I went to baseball camp in Massachusetts, and we would get on a bus and head up to Maine to see triple-A baseball.
I remember performing in Bangor. I’ve been there. I can’t remember if I’ve been to Portland on tour before this might be a first for me, so I’m super stoked.
I know you’ve been sober for 14 years, have projects like this, your podcast, and others kept you on the straight and narrow?
Steve-O: I would put it the other way around. You know, sobriety for me is absolutely my number one priority. You know, here I am talking about doing all this crazy stuff. You know it’s illegal. I’ve got my own moral compass, and there’s plenty of stuff that’s okay for Steve-O to do, so I’ve reconciled all of the craziness with my recovery.
My recovery comes first, and because I’m in my recovery and clean and sober, I’m not wasting my time, you know, like chasing drugs and alcohol and promiscuous activity, all that stuff is such a waste of time it’s so much wreckage and just sort of bad energy, but I don’t have any of that, and I don’t waste my time as such.
I’m really able to focus all of my time and energy on being productive, and that’s the only way I’m able to accomplish as much as I have, and you know, putting out a new podcast every week doesn’t seem like a lot, but it is, and I’m so active with all of these digital platforms, and on top of that, I’m touring everywhere.
And I’m a hot sauce mogul now. I’ve got two brands of Steve-O hot sauce, and it’s crazy like we are among the top-ranked in all of Amazon. There are times that we are number one, and so that’s crazy. I’ve got two warehouses down in San Diego which I got to start my own fulfillment center, so I’ve got my own warehouse team.
I ship all of my online orders, and I have third party clients where I’m shipping orders for my buddy Tony Hawk for the production company behind Jackass, I do all their shipping of their merch and a bunch of the other Jackass guys as well, and it’s super fun
I’ve also got an apprenticeship going as a tattoo artist. I’ve got a tattoo portfolio I’ve been working on, and not too long ago, I gave a tattoo to Post Malone.
How did that happen?
Steve-O: We had been in talks with him about having him be in the new Jackass movie, and that ended up falling through, but the connection was made, and so I followed up and said we couldn’t do the Jackass movie but let’s get together anyway and do a silly tattoo. He actually tattooed me as well.
Wait, what did you get?
Steve-O: We got matching ones. It’s Ghost Malone.
Does any of this get old? Ever?
Steve-O: Sure, there’s plenty of stuff that gets old. I think that’s why I’ve been fortunate, and I’ve been able to maintain longevity because I’ve evolved and kept changing and diversifying. If you do the same stuff, of course, it’s going to get old. As far as the rest of it, being stopped to take pictures and stuff, I mean, it depends. I’m pretty good with it, but all of that sort of gets old, for sure.
What's next for Steve-O?
Steve-O: I subscribe to this idea that – I heard this, and I really like it – the idea was that there are effectively three trimesters of our life.
The first third of our life is for making mistakes, the second third of our life is for making money, and the third third of our life is for giving that money away.
You can watch the full interview with Steve-O below.
