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Steve-O from Jackass.
 "I
fuckin' promise I'm gonna do some stupid fuckin' things tonight!"
Steve-O will announce at the beginning of each show. He will
smash a beer can on to his forehead until the booze erupts,
then with his cohorts (there will be two others onstage during
the Australian show) snort lines of salt, vomit, drink tequila,
squeeze lime juice into their eyes, spit phlegm into each others'
eyes, declare tearfully how PCP changed their lives, and vomit
even more. It's utterly chaotic, but the crowd laps it up. Steve-O
will staple his balls to his thigh or slice his tongue with
a broken glass. There'll be truly revolting things shown on
the screens. Audience interaction moments include getting a
female up onstage and setting her boobs on fire.
It's essentially a greatest hits set," slurs Steve-O, "Showing people things they can't see on television. I've come close to dying a couple of times, cracking my skull, once I broke my cheekbone falling over."
Apparently during a recent filming session in Mexico, half the cast quit, so Steve-O's enlisted a snake expert to come out onstage. Off stage, too, the star of the "Jackass" movie and shows like "Don't Try This At Home" and "Wildboyz" is a handful. He's big on bets - like having an orgasm under 60 seconds, or peeing into beer bottles. (That's why his lawyer, a college buddy, travels with him at all times). Also in Mexico, apparently, something went wrong during the scrotum-stapling experience. "It filled with blood and turned into this truly horrifying shape."
How does he prepare for the show? "It's a delicate science," he explains. "If I drink too much, the show can get away from me. If I go in sober... I dunno, I need to stop smoking pot an hour before the show, and then start drinking an hour before. You want me a little tipsy. The show itself involves so much drinking by the end I'm completely drunk."
And his fave tipple? "I'd have to say Jack Daniels: we pay homage to the great touring acts like Motley Crue and Ozzy Osbourne and that's all they ever drank. At 16 I wrote a letter to Motley Crue on their 6th anniversary of their forming. I said, 'Happy Anniversary' and signed it with two Xs. I never got a reply. But I tracked them down later that year and got a photo with them. I got it framed and used to snort cocaine off it. But I don't do cocaine any more."
In person, Steve-O is a lovable dag, who amuses you because he wants you to be amused. Probably this was due to his family moving continually (by junior high, he'd attended six schools), and the perennial new kid in class had to impress his new mates somehow. Born Stephen Glover on June 13, 1974, he says the idea for the show began when he'd fall off his skateboard as a kid and watched Evil Knievel on TV trying to ride his bike over six cars. Steve-O then went to the Ringling Brothers' Barnum and Bailey's Clown College. "I didn't get a contract with them, but my acting like an idiot had a sense of legitimacy, the bragging rights was amazing!"
He's also been angling to get into the Guinness Book Of Records for the largest self-portrait tattoo ever. What else would he like to get a world record for? " Highest blood alcohol ever. I can spend all my time trying to get cops to breathalyse me."
So, what does his mum think of his show? He sighs. "Yeah, she's proud but not very interested..."
Christie Eliezer
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Steve-O performs Jackass Live at Thebarton Theatre on Sun 18 April.
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