Who spoke the most impactful words in the English language? Was it Shakespeare? Dickinson? Auden? Al Yankovic (né “Weird Al”)? No. All of those hacks pale in comparison with the most handsome man in Hollywood when he said: “Hi, I’m Johnny Knoxville. Welcome to Jackass .
” Almost 25 years on, the Jackass ethos remains one to live by: happiness is not complicated. Credit: Jackass is a goofball stunt franchise that spawned three seasons of TV, nine movies, thousands of angry parents and enough injuries to fill an emergency room to capacity. After originally airing just 25 episodes on MTV, a prominent US senator pressured the network to cancel the show, to the tune of ‘thinking of the children’.
I’d hate to be a pearl back then lest I be clutched. It’s like it was manufactured in a lab to become a target for highly concerned citizens. Jackass is brainless, disgusting and just plain wrong.
And, growing up, it was exactly what I needed. I didn’t realise it at the time, but spending my youth watching Chris Pontius, Jason “Wee Man” Acuna, Steve-O and other reckless fellas pull off gut-churning feats of absurdity would teach me to become a better comedy writer, and a better person. Eternal dreamboat Johnny Knoxville.
Credit: The Jackass boys have often been compared to Buster Keaton. Their antics continue a long tradition of slapstick sillies. They fuse the death-defying feats of Evel Knievel with the unbridled chaos of the Muppets.
And the result rules. In th.