Stephen Glover is known professionally as Steve-O and is most recognized as one of the founding members of MTV's reality stunt/prank comedy franchise "Jackass." Steve-O has expanded his resumé to include savvy businessman/entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, podcast host, Youtuber and social media star, and internationally touring stand-up comedian.
"Before the pandemic, all of my shows were in comedy clubs and, since then, I've made the leap to theaters," Steve-O says ahead of his comedy tour stop in Fort Smith on Nov. 16. "It should go without saying that I'm over the moon to be performing for such bigger audiences. Given this huge change, I can't speak to the impact all of the quarantine time has had on my shows. I'm just unbelievably thrilled with everything that's happening right now."
Steve-O's "The Bucket List Tour" is his third stand-up show following 2010's "Steve-O's Entirely Too Much Information Tour" and last year's multi-media special "Gnarly." The new theater tour brings stories from his "extreme" life -- told with his signature Steve-O edge -- to audiences around the world. In addition to the tour, Steve-O has lots to look forward to in the coming year with a new book scheduled to release in 2022, and the return of the "Jackass" franchise with "Jackass Forever," out Feb. 4.
Here, Steve-O chatted with What's Up! ahead of his Fort Smith performance, reflecting on his comedy, digital engagement and his body of work.
On his evolution between "Gnarly" and "The Bucket List Tour":
"Gnarly" was my first multimedia comedy special, in which I added archival footage in post-production to illustrate the crazy stories I told in the stand-up. As well as that worked, I was self-conscious about the way my comedy had been an exercise in regaining the craziest stories of my past. I didn't want to continue to live in the past, and I wanted to bring the multimedia component on tour, so for my "Bucket List" show I filmed all of the stunt ideas I had that were previously deemed "too much" to go through with. Every item on the list is so utterly ridiculous, telling the stories of each idea and its execution made for an even crazier stand up show than I'd ever done before -- plus, after each bit in the show, I screen the footage of each stunt actually happening. It's insane, and I love it.
On the various creative projects he maintains:
Regardless of what I do -- whether it's stunts, stand-up, podcasts, social media, writing books, etc. -- I'm doing it because I'm an attention whore, through and through. I really don't see any one form of creative expression much differently from the rest. It's all just me crying out for the world to remember that I was here.
On his relationship with the digital realm:
The average attention span has become terribly extreme, on both sides of the spectrum -- you've either got to blow people away within five seconds or, if you've won certain people over, they'll hang on your every word for hours on end. The common denominator is that it's all happening digitally.
Before I got on YouTube, I had the idea that it was beneath me to go from being in movies that were No. 1 at the box office to uploading videos on the Internet. Almost a decade after I swallowed that misguided pride, it's creating and posting my own videos on the Internet that has taken my career to entirely new heights. Being 47 years old and feeling like I haven't even peaked yet, is something I owe entirely to the digital revolution. The entertainment industry of the past was already through with me, but the Internet pulled me out of the fire.
On returning to the "Jackass" franchise:
I was sure the ship had sailed long ago for any new "Jackass" movies, and I didn't mind, because I'd become so active on the Internet. I was happy to make a new movie, but far happier that I didn't actually need to. With that said, it was a blast, and all the time off served to really refresh the franchise. We'd all had a whole decade to come up with new ideas, and we were so much older, there was a sense that we really needed to do something special if we hoped to get away with it.
In my opinion, nothing will ever beat the second "Jackass" movie, but I can confidently tell you that we obliterated the third one with this. What's crazy, though, is that the third one was by far the most successful. And now that we have a whole new generation of "Jackass" fans, on top of all the old ones, I think "Jackass Forever" might be an absolutely staggering commercial hit. Either way, though, I'm happy -- it's all good!
FAQ
Steve-O’s ‘The Bucket List Tour’
WHEN — 7 p.m. Nov. 16
WHERE — Temple Live, 200 N. 11th St. in Fort Smith
COST — $35-$49.
INFO — 222-6186, fortsmith.templelive.com, steveo.com