ackass star Steve-O says that being sober does not impact him doing crazy and painful stunts and has made him a more creative performer.
The US comedian and prankster said he had been determined that sobriety would not turn him into a “pussy” and had made him “more determined than ever” to prove himself.
Steve-O is due to embark on a tour of the UK with his new multimedia comedy show, titled The Bucket List, which he says “pushes everything a lot further than Jackass ever did”.
He will visit major cities including Manchester, Glasgow and Birmingham, as well as two dates in London – the city where he was born and grew up – which will be filmed as specials.
The show combines stand-up comedy and video footage of stunts, which Steve-O says aim to “literally give you the receipts” for his anecdotes.
“Most stand up comedians who tell stories are telling stories that are either completely made up, or just embellished to the point of hyperbole,” he told the PA news agency.
“Whereas the stories I tell are just ridiculously implausible. But then I play the video and literally give you the receipts.
“And the way that the details of my utterly absurd, implausible stories match up to the details in the videos, like, really makes for some outrageous comedy.”
Steve-O said he was “so goddamn proud” of the show, and that its purpose was to “show what Jackass could not show” – so-called “forbidden stunts”.
The stunts link back to his routine, which explores his relationship with his fiancee.
“It is a wild-ass show, like, I took Jackass and raised the bar from where Jackass left it. I pushed everything a lot further than Jackass ever did – all of this stuff is so absurd,” he said.
“You can’t come up with these ideas, and then carry them out without there being some really colourful stories to tell.”
Steve-O has been sober for 15 years.
His UK tour show in 2003 – titled Don’t Try This At Home – saw him promise audience members he would be drunk or on drugs “or your money back”.
“That was an absolute f****** shit show,” he told PA.
“Just getting loaded, I mean, we’d go through a bottle of tequila and the stage would be covered with vomit and blood. It was really, really something else.”
But he said his decision to go clean had not impacted his career or love of crazy stunts, despite having an initial impact on his confidence.
“Generally, the reason why I’ve done everything is that I’m an attention whore. And you can take away the drugs and alcohol and all you have is a sober attention whore,” he told PA.
“In recovery the focus is on deflating the ego, practicing humility and spirituality in all of your affairs – all of this crazy stuff that just didn’t seem to jive with being Steve-O from Jackass.
“So there was a big question mark on my future when I got sober (but) I absolutely had no better priority – sobriety was my priority.
“I just focused on that and put the camera down for the first couple of years, and then we started filming the third Jackass movie and at that time, it wasn’t any easier to do that shit.
It is a wild-ass show, like I took Jackass and raised the bar from where Jackass left it. I pushed everything a lot further than Jackass ever did – all of this stuff is so absurd.
“But I was so determined to prove that sobriety didn’t turn me into a pussy that I was just more game than ever.”
He said that after returning to Jackass for the first time sober he had agreed to do “anything” that did not risk his life or spine.
“I said ‘as a rule, if I don’t have to worry about being killed, or paralysed then I’ll do anything’,” he said.
He continued: “Creatively, I wrote more bits for that third movie than the first two movies combined.
“In that third movie, I was super not comfortable in my skin. I was still like newly sober, and I was this awkwardness and lack of confidence.
“And then on the fourth, with 10 years of between, I felt like I really came out of my shell on that for my voice. I was confident.
“So the difference between Steve-O in Jackass three and Steve-O in Jackass four – there’s a lot of growth there – and it’s the same thing with my specials.
“Being sober doesn’t bother me doing stunts at all. I am currently running f***** circles around every version, every younger version of myself. Hands down.”
He added: The beautiful thing about being an alcoholic, and or a drug addict, is that it’s the only disease where once you treat it, you become a better version of yourself than you ever were before you got sick.
“Any other disease the best you can hope for is to get back to as healthy as you were before you got sick.
“But again, drugs and alcohol, we become improved versions of ourselves. And it’s so awesome.”
Steve-O says that ahead of the UK tour of The Bucket List, he is already working on another special, which will examine the effects of getting older on his career.
“There’s gonna be a lot of lashing out at Father Time – I’m not going to shy away from the fact that I’m clearly too old to be f****** doing this shit,” he said.
The UK leg of Steve-O’s The Bucket List Tour kicks off on June 30 and tickets are available now online.
