Good Guys - Steve-O Choked Us Out!

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

This week the Good Guys are joined by prankster, best-selling author, standup, and friend Steve-O! The guys discuss Steve-O's long career in Hollywood, his reputation, controversies, his tattoo, Dave Portnoy, sobriety, and more. What are ya nuts?! Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode. Sponsors: Hero Bread is offering a special 10% off your first order with the code GOODGUYS at Hero.co Visit quility.com/goodguys to learn more and match with your perfect life insurance policy Visit seed.com/goodguys code GOODGUYS to redeem 30% off your first month of Seed's DS-01® Daily Synbiotic Drinklmnt.com/goodguys for a free LMNT sample pack with any purchase Masterclass.com/goodguys for 15% off an annual membership Produced by Dear Media. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The following podcast is a dear media production. I'm Josh Peck. And I'm Ben Saffer. And we're the good guys. There's a lot of guys out there. And we're the good ones. Steve, you know, Ben gets mad at me for not introducing the guests properly. But I can't imagine someone who needs an introduction less than you.

Is that the intro? That's the intro. I love it. I told you. I told you. It's unbelievable. It's all good, man. I always just say,

ladies and gentlemen and then the name of the guest. Really good. That's it. Do you have a written bio or intro? Because you do so many live shows and stuff like that. Like, is there anything people have to introduce you with? I always say, do not care. Say whatever you want.

You're not going to offend me. You could try to offend me, and you're probably not going to be able to. Do you find, because I know with stand-ups. I take that back. I'm very sensitive. You could easily offend me. What gets you? Oh, man, what gets me?

Like, I'll tell you that I really try very hard to avoid reading comments on my social media pages. Because it'll just mess me up, you know? It will just absolutely destroy my day. Do you respond to DMs when you see them or do you just leave them alone? You know, when you respond to a DM, you open that door. I guess now you can restrict them afterwards, but I have somebody on my payroll who, one of their primary jobs is to go through my DMs so that they can alert me to anything that really does demand or deserve my attention.

Yeah, an opportunity. Right, an opportunity or something that really just, something that's important. So I don't want to miss things that are genuinely important. I want to be alerted to them, but I just don't need to see, you know, any of the other stuff. I don't need to see chicks making themselves available to me. I don't need to see insults or any other form of negativity. You know, I just, I don't want to do it. I don't got a single girl in my DMs.

What am I doing wrong? I don't even know that they are in there. I know that there were some in the past, but I know that my lady genuinely appreciates the fact that I don't really mess with my DMs. I can confirm that I don't have one woman. I'm also married, but not one woman is in my DMs. It's either very, very nice people. 99 out of 100 or great,

and then one is probably calling me the K word, which is bad for Jews. I don't need to focus on. But that's a popular one amongst the folks in my DMs. Yeah, I don't think that I am a particularly polarizing. I don't, I don't think that, that I invite, like, hate on any, you know, large scale. Yes.

I think I'm generally, like, you know, I mean, I don't think that people hate me that much. But still, there's always going to be that one comment. And it's going to mess me up. I remember I got the times in which I've ever been caught in, like, some, and when I say controversy, I use it with, like, a very small C, right? Like, ridiculous. but and you immediately want to defend your yourself, your being, your, your track record as a human and the restraint of pen and tongue of it all. And me also like, I remember a friend of mine

gave me some of the best advice. He's like, remember who you're hearing from now, which is in any, itty-bitty, micro-mini, extremely small, extremely loud group of people. It's like a micro a percentage of the people who even know of you, and they just have very loud voices. That's how the world has become. I had this one situation, which still even pops up from time and time. I would say it was the worst situation

to bring on hate on a notable level. And it was from this terrible decision I made, almost 20 years ago to get this awful tattoo. It was, it started out, like, as a conversation where we were, I just talking about, you know, we don't want to have kids, you know. Like, oh, I'll get a tattoo of a, of a, you know, the circle with the slash going through it, you know, and like a baby, like a no baby sign. Great.

Great. But we're drinking, you know, like, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, the tattoo will just say fuck babies, you know? That's going to be my next one. Keep drinking, keep drinking. The next day I end up with a tattoo of a guy fucking a baby. How do we get there?

I mean, I don't know. But I know for a fact that the idea was to be crazy. Like, you know, like cross the line. I was crossing the line very deliberately. And immediately after getting, getting the tattoo, I realized that it wasn't rat or funny. You know, like, and it lasted for maybe a month, and I just blotched over it.

Then my buddy Bam looked at, he said, you should turn that black blob into an ostrich. And so then it became a guy humping an ostrich. Now it's a guy in an ostrich riding a motorcycle backwards. I mean, whatever it was. But like, the end, like, it would have been probably 2018. I think it was 2018 when the internet caught wind of this in my past. How did they?

I don't know. Is there a photo? There's absolutely a photo. Okay, got it. Yeah, there's absolutely a photo. I don't know what inspired it to come up. What is it that when we're on drugs, we go, we're going to want to remember this. Someone film it.

worst days. Yeah, I have no idea. But yeah, I was a particularly upsetting photo. You know, and it made the rounds. One day, you know, my lady said to me, she said, Instagram is mad at you. And I was like, huh? You know, and sure enough, like, there's just all of this like,

stevo, like, you know, you're a peto. Now, like, I think that we can probably safely assume that the last thing an actual petto would get tattooed on that would be that. But in any case, like I said, I'm a sensitive guy. And just like while that was going on, and it's out there, you know, it pops up every once in a while. You know, and what made me think of it was what you said about how we want to defend ourselves, you know? like, you know, and it was all just really upsetting. There was a point when I was like in fetal position, you know, like inconsolable and,

and just powerless over it, you know? And it's like, hey, man, like, I recognize that getting that tattoo was an awful, awful. I don't even want to call it a mistake because it was so deliberate, but it was an awful decision. There was the, and, you know, if I were to go back in time, I'd certainly like to not have done that. But this is the beauty of it all. It's like obviously, like how many times can you apologize for something?

I don't know that I ever. Sorry for interrupting you, but I don't know that I ever apologize because the people that were, you know, I mean, it's got to be different to apologize to somebody compared to just that I simply regret that I did that. Yes. I don't owe anybody an apology, let alone these assholes who want to like literally destroy my livelihood. That's what it felt like a really highly, not highly coordinated, but like a, you know, like a mob.

It's like a mob that wants to tear you down and destroy your livelihood. They want to do as much damage to you and your reputation as they possibly can. And that's upsetting. And I know I don't owe those people an apology. I simply regret that decision I made so long ago. It was 2006. What I meant to say was how many times do people need to remind you of something that you regret? Right.

Right. Like you for sure, don't know anybody in apology. And honestly, the way you described it, I was in tears. Right. Look. I had a, like, I don't know if I'd call it a bit, but in my first stand-up special, which I taped in 2015, but it came out. in 2016.

I told the whole story of it. And at the time, there was nothing controversial about it. It hadn't come up into an outrage thing. I just told the story of it for what it was. And my punchline

at the end was when your cover-up tattoo as a guy fucking an ostrich, you know you started off with something bad. That's good. Yeah. And it just wasn't controversial.

and then it became controversial. And yeah, I didn't like it, man. I did not like it. And I know that I would hate to be in a position that I'm sure, of course, so many people are imagined, like to be hated. Like, I would not do well to be a Jake Paul. But first of all, I think people like Jake Paul are, I think they understand something on a level, on a deeper level than we do, frankly.

Probably. And I think it. He and Logan both subscribed. And it's wrestling, right? It's funny that Logan's in wrestling. It's the heel. Yeah. Right?

And they're like, I'm down to be hated just enough so that I get as many eyes on me as possible. Because I know plenty of, like, he might get a little, you know, he might get some shit from people. I also don't think Jake Paul's waiting in line anywhere. Right. Like there's no way you go like, oh, screw him, make him wait. You go like, that's Jake Paul. Get him inside. Right.

So he's kind of winning. What do you think, Ben? you're so smart with media and the way these things and Ben's wife is a media genius. Like, what do you think? It's no, I mean, it's a confidence thing with the Paul brothers. Like, that's their persona. That's their thing. They're always going to be that mysterious type of person.

But we've spoken about a guy like David Doberk, for example, like David, instead of taking what was some negativity and finding a way to make himself more famous, sort of retreated, owned the fact that it was a bad thing and sort of, went into less relevancy, right, versus the Paul brothers, use this no presses, bad press mentality, fuel on the fire, build themselves bigger and bigger. I think it's just a difference of perspective. But they're also not, again, I don't know the Paul brothers. So I can't speak to if any of this is true or not.

But it also takes a very specific calculated person that can completely block out all of the noise to be like that. So you mentioned, Steve, that you're sensitive. I'm sensitive too. I don't like the idea of anybody talking negatively about me if it's not true. And I think that there are just some people that are, they're thicker-skinned and they put their careers before I think their karma. Is that like the right thing to say? Maybe.

I don't know. I disagree on one level, which is that I think I'd be okay, more okay with people talking badly about me if it wasn't true. It's when they're saying negative stuff about me. that I agree with that it hurts the most. Yes, but even so, there's context, and you have to be so careful with the things, because to your point, when you were telling it in your act

and you were explaining the full story, no one misunderstood. But of course, when they see it in a 10-second chunk, in a clip, and I think it's interesting, too. What do you think of people like Dave Portnoy who basically never shirks from defending himself? right like any kind of intrigue or controversy happens he addresses it immediately he goes head to head

with it he goes let me explain or you're not seeing this and it seems to have served him well i i remember i think it was when our this last jackass movie came out just over a year ago i i was asked the question by my publicist are you okay with having an you know and like a barstool sports interview, you know, like, like, like, as if it was just super radioactive, like toxic, like, do not. And I was, I remember being kind of caught off guard. And I think I was like, oh, no, I'm, I'm cool with barstool sports. Like, I don't think, I can't remember very well. And I don't know what the controversy was, but I do remember Mr. Port and I got got himself some, some hot water. Okay. So I'm so proud to announce that Masterclass is a sponsor of the Good Guys podcast.

because I have used Masterclass since 2020. And I remember seeing the commercials and seeing these like Titans from Gordon Ramsey to Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm Gladwell, who's master class, I watched the whole thing while I was writing my book. Happy people are annoying just to take a, even if I could just get like the smallest little hack or tidbit, which I did, or other Titans like Steve Martin, Chris Voss, who by the way was a hostage negotiator in his past life and now teaches business. negotiation and tactics. That's right. I watched that one too. And you're probably like, Josh,

you're an actor and you're a dad. Why do you need to, you know, hostage negotiation tactics? Because it wasn't that. I mean, he'll teach you everything from you trying to renegotiate your new contract at work to trying to get a better room at a hotel. But it was also so compelling to hear what an insane and crazy and intense life that this guy has led. So you're going to be able to access the mind and the teachings of true masters. This isn't hyperbole here. And when I saw the commercial, I remember thinking, like, can this be? But it really is.

I've been wanting to get better at screenwriting. So I've watched David Mamet's master class, Aaron Sorkin, and these people are true masters. And I always find myself taking away a few indelible sort of bits of information that will stay with me forever. And the lessons are broken up into these little like 10 to 15 minute lessons. And sometimes it's a dozen or two dozen of these. But it's easy to sort of check in whether you're on the train or you have some downtime at work or just in between sort of work things. And, you know, better yourself, baby.

Look, how much would it cost to take one class from the world's best? Well, with a master class annual membership, it will only cost you $10 a month. Get unlimited access to every class. And right now, as a good guys listener, you can get 15% off when you go to masterclass.com slash good guys. That's masterclass.com slash good guys for 15% off an annual membership. Masterclass.com slash good guys. Seeds DSO1 daily symbiotic.

That's right. That seeds DSO1 daily symbiotic. What is that? It's a probiotic. Are probiotics good? I think we know probiotics are good, but which one is right for you? You don't know. You're like me.

You go to the store and there's 30 different brands and you're intimidated. And you know gut immune health is important because there's like 3.8 million posts on Instagram tagged with hashtag gut health. You know every person you talk to, every podcast you listen to, microbiome, you know, the connection between your gut and your overall health is becoming more and more prevalent in part of the conversation and you're like, I want to do something proactive. I want to be doing something for me, but I just don't know where to turn. Well, allow me to help you.

I take the DSO-1 daily symbiotic. It's the only probiotic I trust and take because it's scientifically validated, because it's clinically studied. It's the next generation of probiotics for people. And by the way, for the planet. Look, Seeds DSO-1 Daily Symbiotic is a plant-based prebiotic and probiotic with 24 strains that have been clinically or scientifically studied for its benefit. It's allergen sort of free.

It's free from 14 classes of allergens. That's allergen-free. But it's also sugar-free, vegan, soy-free, sesame-free, gluten-free. It just doesn't have any crap. And you are going to feel so good when taking yo crap. after you take Seeds DSO-1 daily symbiotic. Well, I don't know about you, but I just learned a lot. So join me in my gut health journey with Seed.

Visit seed.com slash good guys and use code good guys to redeem 30% off your first month of Seeds, DS01 Daily Symbiotic. That's seed.com slash good guys and use code good guys. I think there's also something powerful with, like Logan and Jake really and comedians do this, they really embraced making money in non-traditional ways, right?

Like, if you're a stand-up, you slightly become uncancelable because if people listen to your podcast, you're always going to get me undies or fucking, you know, who does the men's... You don't mean me and these. You mean my pillow.

My pillow. Me undies is like, what the fuck did we do? You're going to get, you're going to get Manscape to promote your pod. on your pod. And then if people are coming out to your live shows,

like you can literally be a millionaire and successful without having any of big business, give you the nod. If your sole income is based on Fortune 500 companies or massive studios employing you, you better walk a really fine line because you step out of line and it's done. And that's why Portnoy is fascinating

because his revenue does rely on Fortune, maybe it's not 500, but Fortune 1,000 companies. he's paying bar stool revenue. Of course, they have other revenue streams, and that's why he was so smart to start his sports book. Like, that's like, that was like a huge thing, right? And, like, having all these original shows, but that's why he's so fascinating that he will take jabs at these huge corporations when they do have mainstream sponsors. But on the flip side, like a guy like Chappelle, he knows he's funny enough. He can go away for how many years, come back, rely solely on

stand-up, and you're 100% right. That's the way to, that's the way to, that's the way to do it. Find a way to have these revenue streams. I mean, it's, it's, Steve, what you did really forever, like making movies and doing pranks. And, like, I think that, sure, you need somebody to underwrite it, but ultimately, if you're not, like, these content creators are so beholden to these, these companies that they feel that they can't necessarily speak their own truths. Yeah. I don't even know that comedians, I mean, just in general, the, YouTube, digital, you know, like the, it's crazy how Jackass came out in year 2000. And for the next 13 years, I was like 100% at the mercy of corporate executives, green lighting,

whatever the show or, or maybe, you know, right, exactly. And I, like, I was given permission to work. And then in 2013, for the first time I learned how to edit footage properly on a computer, and I started a YouTube channel. And at that time, I felt like this was such a depressing demotion. Like, oh, my God, like, I've had multiple TV shows with my name and the title. I've had multiple number one theatrical box office movies. like now I'm going to upload.

I'm going to upload a YouTube video. It felt just like such a demeaning step backwards. And at the time I was just banging my head against a wall, trying to like sell different projects and just getting flatly rejected everywhere I went. And I just turned to YouTube just as an exercise to stay sane. You know, like, let me just do something. And I had no idea how much that was going to, like, represent a rebirth for me.

Like a full revolution for my career and just me taking just control of my own stuff. You know, of all the jackass guys that I came up with, I don't think any of the other guys did that, you know. In general, I was thinking the other day, like, really, I mean, you think Knoxville, and really like you are the people who've been able to create their own sort of industry off the back of that fame, right? We Man was, he became a restaurateur. Tacos, right? Yeah, we Man's got like, I don't know, like somewhere between 50 and 100 restaurants. Oh, I want We Man's like, fuck this.

We Man's got to figure it out. Ben knows. Ben's in the alcohol business, Sprit Society. I mean, you're losing on two customers like me and Steve. You're not going to make any dough for months. But, oh, man, I, I dream of having that business that isn't associated with entertainment. Right. That's hot.

To get out of the attention whore business. Yes. Yes. Ironically, though, you use the attention whore business to build that business. So, it's all stepping stones. For sure. And the last thing I want to do is, is be disparaging of any of the other jackass guys. I mean, like, I believe that they're just.

genuinely happier than me in most regards because here like we're in this digital landscape and it's just like the views and the views and it's so just like upsettingly democratic you know you know exactly how much you're failing yes you know like the degrees to which you succeed like success is short-lived and failure just looms as as this black cloud of anxiety and you know and like to to just be okay with, like, hey, man, you know. I'm genuinely jealous of a lot of my jackass brothers for just not even subjecting themselves to that level of just anxiety and craziness

that we endure. And at the same time, I'm incredibly grateful and proud for what I've been able to build on my own initiative with my own, you know, me giving myself permission. need anybody and I just create. It kills me and I'm dying to hear both of your opinions, especially you, Steevo, on

these YouTube pranksters, these pieces of shit. They're no good. I'm talking about the guys who, because I love, I think you've talked, maybe you talked about it specifically, but overall, I think what we've learned so much more about jackass over the last 20 years was,

it was always you going at each other. Sure. And it wasn't you going at strangers or civilians or people who weren't, I mean, there was a, We would definitely target third party civilians, but never in a fashion that was mean-spirited. And that's the line that we see so many people having crossed on YouTube. The idea of making people feel bad,

and I'm super proud of the legacy that we have with Jackass. As counterintuitive as this sound, I really believe that it's wholesome for that very reason. because as hard of a time is we give ourselves and each other a very hard time, but we're super attention horrors and we love that. So it's permissible because we want what's happening to be happening. And it's just devoid of any kind of hatred or vagetry, malice. Like it's the spirit of Jackass is genuinely wholesome and positive, man.

We're here to make people laugh and make their problems go away for a short time. And yeah, again, a lot of the pranks going on on YouTube are very much the opposite of that. I mean, how are people not getting killed? I guess they are. But I'll see some crazy things on, you know, like the Fight Haven Twitter, shout out, where like people will, like, pranksters will do something and people will have a real reaction. And all of a sudden it's coming to blows, you know, threats, weapons. just because if you're a civilian,

if I'm at Home Depot and you scream in my ear with a PVC pipe, I'm not a violent man, but I'm going to go redline. I'm going to go redline and stuff you for your views, or at least try to and then get probably choked out. Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I haven't even, you know, I can't even remember a time recent, you know,

I can't remember recently seeing something that upset me in that way. I'm sure it's out there. Oh, yeah. The truth is for my family, I don't contribute much. But what I do contribute is financial security for my wife, for my kids, for my mom, so that they can live a life and support me emotionally, mentally, mostly emotionally because I'm a mess. And so I want to know that, God forbid, I'm not here one day that the people I love most

are going to be taken care of. And did you know that like 75% of consumers greatly overestimate the cost of life insurance per year? What people actually think cost over 50 bucks a month can actually cost 20 bucks a month, aka less than your car insurance or pet insurance or a dinner out on the town or probably the lunch you're eating right now while listening to the great podcast, good guys. Look, if you have people who depend on your income, don't leave them hanging, but also, So maybe you're like, oh, I have no one. I just had a bad, you know, first date.

And so I literally am all alone on this earth. Well, it's not going to be forever. And if you're relatively young, enjoy it. And get your finances in order because life insurance is so much cheaper to lock in when you're young and healthy. All right? Now, now do you, baby? You know what I'm saying? Look, check out Quillity.

It's really where you're going to have the easiest. most streamlined experience. And in fact, Quility has created a special life insurance guide just for Good Guys listeners to visit. Go to Quility.com slash good guys to learn more and match with your perfect policy. That's Q-U-I-L-I-T-Y dot C-O-M-S-Good Guys for more information. Be a good guy or gal and get life insurance for you and yours. Today's episode of The Good Guys podcast is brought to you by Element, which I am drinking. right now because I need those electrolytes replenish boy okay whether you have an active lifestyle maybe you had a couple glasses of wine last night or you just you know have a regular sort of

workout sketch nothing negative can come from replenishing your electrolytes and I promise you you're not getting that from just plain water look element is tasty it has a science backed electrolyte ratio a thousand milligrams of sodium 200 milligrams potassium 60 milligrams magnesium or as I like to call it them cramp busters, boy, you know what I mean? Like I used to get these crazy cramps after running and I just felt like I needed something to sort of mitigate that. And that's where Element came into my life. Now maybe you're dealing with, I don't know, headaches, fatigue, a sleeplessness.

All of those can be symptoms of electrolyte deficiencies. So why not go with something like Element, which can fit in your keto, low carb or paleo diet? It's only 10 calories. And there's no junk, no sugar, no coloring, no artificial ingredients, no gluten, no fillers, no BS. So right now, Elements offering my listeners a free sample pack with any purchase. That's eight single serving packets free with any element order. It's a great way to try all eight flavors or share element with a salty friend. Get yours at drinkelement.com slash good guys.

This deal is only available through my link. you must go to D-R-I-N-K-L-M-N-T dot com slash good guys. Element offers no questions-ask refunds, try it totally risk-free. If you don't like it, share it with a salty friend, and they will give you your money back. No questions asked. You have nothing to lose. Stiva, would you ever, and apologies if you have, and I just didn't know, would you ever, like, fight someone like WWE or like, you know, like these like celebrity fighters?

Like you brought up Jake Paul. Like, I don't, I know it's like not necessarily in like the true vein of what you do, but I feel like, would that ever be something that you'd entertain? Shortly after getting that awful tattoo of the baby. Also, in 2006, when we were promoting the second Jackass movie, we appeared on Monday Night Raw. And my, my comrade, Chris Pontius, party boy and I got in the ring and had a match with, uh, A wrestler named Umaga, also known as the Samoan bulldozer. And it was... It's kind of redundant or double negative, right?

You think Samoan, you think bulldozer. Right. I mean, dude, it's like it was absolutely unbelievable. It sits on my YouTube channel, this reaction video, Ponnius and I watching the match and reacting to it, as one of the most viewed things I've ever put on the internet, the worst beating I ever got. And what made it so just,

unbelievable was my ignorance. Number one, it was fascinating because we showed up and we did like a little bit of a rehearsal, like blocking through, you know, like there's going to be this move, there's going to be that move, you know, there's going to be, you know, and in the rehearsal, like the, it all seemed pretty, pretty mellow, you know, he's going to jump off the top ropes, this 300-pound guy, and I'm laying on the ground, he's going to jump off the top rope and like, It's called a splash, I think, like just jump off and him just land on top of me. Yeah. And that's the last move.

That's when it's supposed to be over. But what I didn't know in my ignorance is that the match, you're supposed to play dead. You're not supposed to keep moving around. And I didn't know that. And when I get hit particularly hard, it's just built into me to react. You know, so this final move, he jumps off the top. rope and just crushes me. It was the most crushing impact. And I roll over and I'm like, oh, dude, like, oh, you know, I'm like rolling him. I'm reacting to it, but I'm not supposed to. And this

this reaction to his move is in the world of wrestling, a sign of terrible disrespect. You know, I'm like, now I'm disrespecting him because I'm not playing dead. But I don't know that. So I hear I'm in the ring and I'm rolling it. And then he hits me again. Cibu's just screaming, I respect you. He, he hits me again, which is super weird to me because as I understand it from the rehearsal, now it's supposed to be over. It's like, why are you still hitting me?

You know, like this is over. And is he pulling his punches or? I mean, everything compared to the rehearsal was it was a whole other world. It was like, oh, God. Like, what are we getting into? I kind of, I don't know, because we're the jackass guys, where they like, you know. But he's hitting me again. And I'm like, you know, I'm like waving my arms at him.

Like, stop, like, no, no, no, no. And again, that's not okay. So he hits me again. And then I start, like, I put my hands together. I was like a praying side. I was like, please stop. You know? And he drops this.

elbow on my head that was the last thing I remembered. I was literally beaten into a blackout in the WWE ring. And it was evidently so disturbing what happened that they didn't even show. Like on the broadcast, they just cut to commercial. Like the Monday Night Raw logo flies in, and they just, they stop showing it. And they never showed me leave. the ring. I don't remember ever leaving the ring. Like my, my, I came to my next, my next memory I was in like the, like the control room or something, you know, like I lost a lot of time, just straight. Did you ever talk to him after and say there was obviously a miscommunication? He was actually super cool, man. He since passed away, I believe he had a heart attack,

but he was super, super cool. And I'm positive that I was able to communicate to him, that I meant no disrespect. I was just ignorant. And in hindsight, like, even at the time, it was just obvious that that made it so epic.

Because, like, you know, say what you will about wrestling, you cannot say that that match was fake, you know, on any level. I was going to say,

for those that say that the WWE isn't real wrestling, talk to Steveo, that's incredible. Yeah, and I mean, that's incredible. And what those people do is outrageously impressive.

There's no way around that. And what Logan Paul... Oh, my God. What Logan Paul is doing in that space seems to rise above what's going on in the space. Yeah, he's like a savant. Yeah. Yeah, he's a wrestling prodigy.

Is there anything like, you know, that ever, you know, scenes you shot for Jackass that ended up on the cutting room floor, that to your point, you were like, this feels too violent or it feels too extreme. There was one thing very distinctly. When we were filming the first jackass movie in 2002, there was a kung fu legend named Gene LaBelle.

And I want to say he was in an Olympic, like a legend of the Olympics, like combat sports, Gene LaBelle was it. And he transitioned from legitimate, like, judo fighting or whatever his combat sport was. And he got into stunts. And Ronda Rousey, you know, quoted him as saying that he told her, like, every, like, real fight I got in, like, I didn't make any money. but every fake fight I got in made me like a very wealthy man

you know like like it's saying that like his his Hollywood career was much more lucrative for him than his combat sports career and you know because he lived on both sides of the you know of that dynamic they enlisted him

we shot with Gene LaBelle and like the whole cast of Jackass if not the whole cast like the majority of us were just standing in a row and jean labell masterfully like came behind he just like the rear naked choke and choked us unconscious and and he did it so fast it like it's just totally odd but he you know the one guy just rear naked choke like puts his sleep lays him down on the floor and then the next guy he just went down the line and choked everybody completely unconscious just laid us down on the floor, and we all woke up like, whoa, you know, and that was deemed

too dark and too imitatable. That's another piece that, you know. Yeah, what are the rules? Too imitatable? Yeah, imitability is a big one. If it's something that kids can easily, you know, replicate on their own, then there's a much bigger sense of liability around it. And I guess just like the spirit of it i don't know like they just didn't like it spike jones didn't like that like um none of the powers that be liked that yeah i don't think it came from even paramount like on a i just think it didn't yeah it didn't feel right right but however ryan done god rest his soul bless him having had that experience with jean lebel just came away from that experience feeling himself educated and qualified to start choking people out himself.

So we would be on tour and Ryan Dunn would say like, hey, to the audience, like, who wants to come up and get on stage and get choked out? And people would be like all about it. And I was so insanely uncomfortable with that. Like, please, God, for the love of God, Ryan, don't do this. Oh, man. But he would do it. I would leave the stage. I would want no part in it.

Dunn would choke people out and it looked very much like what Jean LaBelle did. He was actually pretty good at it. Well, you're doing enough times. Right. You know, learning curve. God, that was the year of 2003. Dunn's choking people out on stage.

We're on tour. We went on tour through like 12 different countries on the back of the first jackass movies release. And this was like the craziest heyday. Like Jackass the movie, like Jackass had been like big on MTV and then the movie was bigger than anything. And the movie comes out and we're just like on this world tour like thousands of people at the shows. Like it was it was really, I was in like the just the craziest levels of addiction. Like and everything was just permissible at that time.

You know, I could be awake for days and days on drugs. And like, nobody was upset about that, you know? Like, it was just, that's what was going on. Who's getting any of the drugs when you're on tour? Who isn't? You know? I mean, who, like, getting drugs on tour was always incredibly easy. But one day, while on tour in the UK, it's going around England,

I was just awake for enough days in a row. I was probably, like, maybe going into my third day of being. awake and I was feeling self-conscious that it was just all feeling like Groundhogs Day, you know, same show, same thing, same everything. And like, there wasn't like really epic high-level content being filmed for my too hot for TV DVD series. I own those. I own those. And so one day I just said, you know what, done today we're filming, you're choking me out. We're putting it out there. Be damned if it's too dark. You know, too dark for you. jackass doesn't apply to the don't try this at home you know and uh and so done not only choked me

out because and then i'm like do it again do it again he choked me out six times in one day and each time like it like at first he was laying me down like jean labell did then he was just kind of like just kind of let him go by the end he's like i'm unconscious he's just throwing me and i'm just like it was bad. Ben, what does that feel like? And I put it out. And I put it out. You know, even to this day, I kind of celebrate like the, the dark stuff and what goes

beyond, you know, the dead jackass stuff. Like, what's too hot for jackass is often perfectly okay with me. Hero bread is so bum. Hero bread has cracked the code of how do we make regular good old fashioned? delicious bread that can go on a sandwich if you need a tortilla, if you need a bun for that burger, but how can we make it like high fiber and ultra low-neck carbs, zero grams of sugar? Well, Hero did that, right? They did that with their bread, and that's per slice.

Remember, my son eats Hero Bread almost every day. I eat it a couple times a week, and every time you bite into it, you're just going to get that familiar mouth feel of your favorite. kind of bread and then your brain is going to be like, oh, wait, I'm doing something good for myself. Like, I don't have to trip on this, you know? Sometimes I'll be making like a little BLT at lunch and I'll sub in Hero Bread or maybe I'll use it for like a guilt-free French toast on the weekends. And they've got everything you need. Like I said, buns, tortillas, breads. You can go to Hero.com or Amazon to get them and it has fewer calories than the leading national brand. Five grand.

grams of protein per slice. Oh, you're going to feel so good. Look, visit hero.com and use code good guys to check out for 10% off your first purchase. That's h-e-r-o. Use code good guys for 10% off your first order. Let me tell you something. You're going to love it. Shout out hero bread.

What does that feel like? Like, is there any fear in it? Oh, my God. I did it. I did my farewell choke out. like two weeks ago. Did you see it on like TMZ and stuff? No.

I did see it. I did see it. Yeah, right in the mid, dude, this was covered by Sports Illustrated. You've made it. TMZ. Michael Jordan, swiping on Instagram. And he's sports illustrated. He's like, is this the shit I was on?

Daily Mail. I mean, it was one of these like super viral publicity jackpots. And God, do I, I'm a big UFC fan. I go to the events a lot. Yeah, me too. You know, a lot of the non-paper-view UFC events take place at the apex. Yeah. So this was two and a half weeks ago, the Angela Hill versus McKenzie Dern is the headlining

bout. I'm in the apex. Steve will do it. Of the Nelk Boys is there. I did see this. Okay. I'm like, I say to Steve, yeah, let's get some content. You know, like when I get together with Steve will do it and we, um, we, um, I did

And we, you know, it's always I come up with something that's outside of his comfort zone and I get him to do it. We got to get to that side of Steve-O-Ben. That's what we got to do. We got to, Steve will do it. Ben will do it. By the way, Ben won't do it. Ben should be your name, Ben won't do it. I had my tour bus out in Vegas.

and I'm just like, you know, like I love it. You know, I flew out the tour bus driver. I'm like, hey, we're going to Vegas for the week and we're just going to have fun. So, but after the fights, my bus is going back to L.A. So I'd tell Steve, we'll do it. Like, hey, you know, we should do something epic, but it's got to be here and I got to go right away after the fight.

So I was just like, dude, we should get choked out in the octagon. You know? And so I see the number three contender in the middleweight division, Marvin Vittori. I love this guy. I'm like, hey, Marvin, do you, you're down to choke us out? And he's like, hell yeah.

Do you know? And then I'm like, all right, let's go check with actually, you know, like the UFC people. And they were like, yeah, sure, I have to the fight me, good for him, whatever, you know? Wow. I'm so surprised. I know.

But, I mean, like, it's actually not that dangerous of a thing. What's dangerous is if you fall down and hit your head. Sure. But if you get laid down, like, it's not that big of a deal. It happens all the time in fights. But the problem is that I have a condition in my cervical spine, my neck. I've got degenerative disc disease where the space in between the vertebrae is, like, diminishing. You know, like, it's a degenerative thing.

And, like, I can feel like my neck's not good. And I'm thinking, man, like, getting choked out. and laid down, like, I asked Mike, Mike Bisping, we got Marvin Vittori's choking out, Steve will do it. And, you know, a former world champion, Hall of Famer Michael Bisbank's choking me out. And I asked him, like, you know, I was like, you know, my neck's not that good.

And, you know, we're getting ready to be joking around. He asked Steve will do it, how old are you? And Steve will do it's 24. They asked me how old are you? I'm like 48. And like, as I said, I'm 48 years old. Like, it just really struck me. God, I'm

I've aged out of this man I shouldn't like this is not something that I should be doing and sure enough man like I didn't know what was going he choked me out and to answer your question it is super creepy it's like everything about like not being able to breathe and being strangled until you're unconscious that you think is creepy

you know like it's exactly as creepy as you it's like when when oh I can't breathe like you can't try to breathe, but you're not going to breathe. And like, you're being strangled until you lose consciousness. Like, imagine how creepy it is and that's what it is. But everything just goes dark. You don't even know. And then you come back to, and it's eerily similar to, um,

Whippids. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's eerily similar to Whippets. Ben, you don't know how me get stevo roll. Yeah. And I remember, like, I woke up.

Yeah, I came to, didn't know, what was going on. I hear people asking, are you okay? I don't know what they're talking about. Before I put together that I'm in the octagon and I just got choked out already, my neck's just not okay, man. I'm like, and I'm like, and I'm like, oh, yeah, oh, dude, that was awesome. And I get up and I hug Michael Bisping, but really I'm just thinking, dude, my neck is just not good. And I'm automatically having like these like terrorizing, like just neck surgery. Thoughts of just vertebrae being fused together.

And I was just in a really dark, like, panic, you know, like a really just, I was very upset about it for, like, a couple days. And then all of a sudden, it just felt better than ever before. Like, I was like, wow, Michael Biswick's like a chiroprach. Now it's kind of back. It's chiroprice. He snapped it back into place. Yeah.

I mean, now, like, I don't know. I know. Now it's back to just being like what it is. I'm not concerned. And I'm glad that, I'm glad I did because I'm that much of an attention horror. Yeah, sure. You know, and for all the times that I've been choked out prior to that, I had Chuck Liddell choke me out in the mountains of Peru. There is no news stories about that. You know, on my first comedy special, I had Tim Kennedy of the UFC. Sure. He choked down. There were no news stories. When Ryan Dun did it six times in a row all those years ago. You made it.

This was the farewell chokeout and we made it count. That's gorgeous. Yeah. What an honor. I don't ever need to do that again. And I can't say that with my neck, like, with like that people ask me

frequently, like, how's your body holding up? Do you wake up? Do you have aches and pains? Like, it's all the damage, the accumulation of all the damage is it affecting you? And I've been, Until recently, my answer has been that I'm in surprisingly good shape, given what I've gone through.

And now, like, I just, I'm feeling it more, you know? And I think a lot of it's probably, like, pretty normal for, like, a 48-year-old dude, like, notwithstanding, like, what's going on with my neck and my shoulders just acting up. I threw the first pitch at a Major League Baseball game. I saw that. Yeah, I was pretty happy with that one, too. But just my shoulders mess. Yeah, like even practicing, because I wanted to get it right.

I didn't want to pull a Baba Booie, you know. And just practicing just hurt my shoulders. So like, I don't know, man. It's a little bit upsetting for me that I feel my body is starting to degenerate. Yeah, really, really starting to degenerate. But I'm at the same time really excited about that because my next show, you know, I'm wrapping up this tour that I've been on the bucket list tour. And my next show that I'm putting together is generally like an analysis of Stivo confronting middle age and the breaking down of my body.

Yeah. It's intense. I feel it in my, I have like a knee thing. How old are you? I'm 36. Okay. So I'm like, but I got two kids. It'll age you quicker.

Right. And it's like, it's just wild. Young Ben's only 30. So he's 31, 31. It puts me into a different class. I just needed to clarify. Yeah. I, you know, I'm dying.

I have, I have some neck problems. I have some, I find that now when I go to sleep, I wake up, my arm is, if I slept on my arm wrong, I'm completely fucked for the whole day.

Yeah. It's gnarly, right? Like, I've got that going on right now, too. Like, where you breathe in so much like, It's like there's some kids you feel like you pulled a muscle. You was a sober guy getting choked out and feeling that whipets hit.

Does it feel like a freebie? I think so. That's how I would feel. Yeah, for sure. So what are you doing later? You want to choke each other? I don't want anything to do with that. You know, it's interesting to bring that up.

And I remember we spoke about sobriety at quite a length. And on your last podcast. And I remember I was either getting ready to or I just had filmed this bit where I was having like fully stolen general anesthesia drugs injected into my vein while I was riding a bicycle. Yeah. I mean, that's like, like I said, I'm okay with the dark stuff. To me. That was one of my, that's for this tour that I'm wrapping up right now. And if anybody listening is listening from London, England, I'm actually taping the bucket.

list special in London, England at the Hackney Empire. As this comes out, it'll be imminent. I'm taping it on July 14th and looking to add a show on July 13th, which means I need to promote. But, um, Steve, I want to go get tickets. The UK folks, go get tickets. But when I told you about the, the general anesthesia bike ride thing, like as a sober guy, I remember like coming away with it thinking, man, like, I don't know, I, I don't,

like in the context of sharing it with you, a sober guy, and like kind of describing what it was and what, you know, involving just, you know, not only not medically necessary, but like completely illegal, you know. And for like, and I just remember coming away with it, coming away from that context with you and wondering if I should be questioning, if not actually I was questioning my integrity is a sober guy you know interesting and and now it's been a number of years since then I've I you know I did it in consultation I didn't there's no secrets about it yeah you talk to sober guys for sure I shared it shared it with my home group you know like

like there was no there was no secrecy and I was very clear on what my motives were you know this was not like seeking to get loaded. This was seeking to get footage, you know, on a professional level to do a stunt. I had a moment like that, too, at like 23, 24 years old where I'd gotten to the point where, like, being that young and getting sober at 21, where I could still have a good time and do the things that young people want to do, which is like, you know, hook up and still have fun experiences while doing it sober. And I'd found a good balance of like, it's certainly not a big part of my life, but every now

and then I'm going to go out while people are getting blasted and just kind of be around, right? And I remember I was at a party I probably, in theory, would have loved to be at a different time of my life where there were porn stars running around and people doing nose beers and Snipple snacks. Yeah. Boga sugar. The devil's dandrum. I heard a darker one the other day that injecting heroin can be called arm beers, which I was a little

Arm dart. There was no arm darting, but there was plenty of nose beers and just people. And I had that exact same thought of what would the guys of my sober home group think of me being here? And not even a judgment on the people doing it because they're having their own experience. It's more about like, what are you doing here, John? Well, right. I mean, like in our literature, it describes that to a tee. You know, you got to ask yourself, what's your motivation for being there?

Like, do you have a legitimate reason for being in this environment, or are you seeking to somehow vicariously experience the party? Yeah. Well, I wanted to ask you, because we do do some news stories on the show, and there was this one news story that felt like having an expert like you. Can I guess, like, sorry for I'm just being rude at this point and cutting you off. And I've been improving a little bit with my conversational etiquette, but I've been slipping off as we've gotten deeper in this.

I just feel compelled, though, to bring up just what an obvious thing. I almost feel like we'd be doing your listeners a disservice if we didn't draw a comparison between, and I don't know much of the details, but I'm vaguely familiar with you having worked with somebody in the past who like has just gone into a dark place and is in a dark place and and somebody I work with in the past in a dark place you know like yeah and we're the sober guys and we have these people that were so closely linked to you know professionally in our past who just weren't so lucky you know they they haven't been able to get it and something recently today happened with bam right yeah locked up in uh 5150

I actually was going to ask you about a kid who's a 15-year-old kid who's photos. He sent nude photos to a girl and now he's been sexually blackmailed. And I wanted to say, well, you've shown your penis a lot in photos. Right. But no. And by the way, credit to you for not automatically bringing up the BAM situation. You know, like that's just classy on your part. And I'm not like, I'm kind of an open book.

I'll talk about whatever. But obviously it's something. there's a new layer to it today. It's there, yeah, I mean, to your point, I don't want to lead you in any way. Sure. So what are you feeling? I mean, I was, I brought Bam on tour with me

at the beginning of this year, January. It was kind of like a Hail Mary pass. Like, I just felt like, man, let me just bring them on tour with me, keep them close to me, show them how, like, great, life is, how not boring it is to be a sober guy, you know, like, help him, like, put together an act. He can open up the show and do, like, 10 minutes, and I'll work with him on that,

and maybe that'll be, like, the beginning of what could become his own act that he could, like, legitimately tour with and comedy clubs, maybe. And while I had him on the road, like, I was really, like, just kind of chipping away at him, you know? Like, my bros on the tour are, sober guys. Right. Like, we're on like a tour bus full of sober guys.

Yeah, you're hoping you're planning, planning the seeds so that a truth forest blooms sometime soon. Right. And just trying to urge him to see his part,

you know, to, you know, like, I was telling him like, hey, man, every time that you're pointing your finger

as something being a problem, I want you to understand that it is the direct result of the underlying issue. You know, your point, I said, you're pointing at the top of the pile of problems. Yeah. Which have been piling up as a result of your drinking.

Yeah. And every time you complain about something, I'm going to tell you, bam, top of the pile. You're pointing, you're pointing to the top of the pile. You stepped on toes and people retaliate. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. You know, and every time you point at the top of the pile, I want to redirect you to the bottom of the pile.

You know, the root cause. Yeah, oh, that could be the name of its tour, bottom of the pile. Bamarge. Yeah, and I just tried so hard. And, you know, he did stay sober. We did, you know, put together, I helped him put together like an entertaining 10 minutes. He was doing great. By the end of the tour, he was going out on stage alone, you know, as opposed to me with him.

The last night that we were together on tour, he brought his five-year-old son out on stage with him. like it just happened to be the last stop was in like central california where his uh estranged wife was living or it is living i'm not sure but like it just ended so she came to the show with the boy and like he was doing well enough for the you know 10 days that we'd been on tour together that the estranged wife said hey you know go ahead and like let go ahead and stay spend it spend a couple days with your boy. Yeah. You know, so we left without him.

And as soon as the tour bus rolled out without him, and he's got this opportunity to be with his boy, he goes, checks into a hotel room and just gets completely hammered. And it was like four, five, six in the morning that he's

still up and takes to Instagram to post some vile attack against Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine. And I was just like, I remember that that went up like I said like four or five six in the morning and and and I was just kind of like ruminating on it like that whole next day and the post had been up his post had been up for like 20 hours 22 hours or something and I was like and I just wrote a comment I was like bam dude like you know I can't remember what I wrote but it was something to the effect of like I've really tried everything I can and as much as I want to make you want to get better Like I just recognize that I can't make you want to get better. And it sucks because I wish I could.

But bro, you're dying. You're dying, dude. And there's nothing I can do and it sucks. And like, yeah. I posted this as a comment on his Instagram. I showed it to my girl like the second that she goes, that's something you should just say to BAM. I was like, yeah, you're right.

I deleted it. It was up for like less than two minutes. And somebody screenshotsed it. And it ends up on TMZ. And, you know. It's funny you say that because me and my buddy, there were three of us who grew up together and two of us are sober and our other buddy just wasn't lucky enough. And I remember he had like had a year sober and he was like just doing great.

He was just doing great. And then he wasn't. And I remember he like got it together for my boy's wedding and he kind of reappeared. And then he wasn't. And then he kind of came back around. And finally he looked at my friend and was. was like, you know, I love you. I love you a lot.

But this is probably the last time we're ever going to see each other. And it was right. It was like so, I mean, it was, it was just prophetic. It was like he was just predicting the future. And it's exactly what was going to happen to a guy like him. But I think we should, you know, we do this one thing in closing of every episode. We call it the Woody and Nuts moment of the week. And it's basically your gripe, your annoyance.

Anything, it could be big or small with the world, people, places, and things. So take a minute. Think about whatever your thing is. No answer. It's too small or too big. Ben, do you have one ready? Yeah. It's, again, going from such a powerful discussion right into what are you nuts?

But, yeah, I have noticed. I am getting in an Uber, going from my apartment downtown. I'm getting an Uber going from my apartment to the airport. and all of a sudden automatically it's $150. So my what do you nuts is what the hell is going on with ubers and transportation. You can call it inflation. I call it greed as a native New Yorker. I'm going back to yellow cabs because it seems to happen this way where once every three years,

the yellows are cheaper, the ubers are cheaper. The yellows are cheaper. The y'ers are cheaper. Now the ubers are three times the yellows and I won't stand for it anymore. So what are you nuts? Uber, too expensive moving to yellow cabs. Well, my Woody and Nets moment, and I really love that, Ben, and I agree with you, is, you know, I have a little four-year-old son. And I don't like when people put any kind of romance in quotes on kids.

Like, oh, she's his little girlfriend. Or he's her boyfriend. I don't like this. I think it sets kids up in, like, a weird way. I know it's mostly innocent. But, like, when parents do that, when a boy and a girl are friends and they call each other their little boyfriend and girlfriend, I think it's weird. And you know what else annoys me? My son, you know, I'll have friends who have little girls who are my son's age.

And my son will be sweet to them because I've created him to be sweet. And they'll go, whoa, you know, don't be too sweet. I don't want to have to, you know, I don't want to have to beat you up when you're 16 max. Like, almost as if like, you know, one day your son's going to go after my daughter and I'm really going to have to, you know, give you one. And I want to be like, you think my son. would want to date your daughter trust me he's not interested

that you think she's a trap that you think your daughter could get a catch like my son so what are you nuts to calling little kids boy friends and girlfriends I'm not a fan what are you nuts I like it

I had one just then I have really minor ones good minor is the best kind of what are you nuts I can't stand Do Not Disturb signs On hotel room doors You're hanging on the hotel room door

But all you got to do is just Gently open up the door to make it fall off It falls off Such a good point Like I mean you hang on the do not disturb sign Like I am You know To an extent a public figure

Like everywhere I go Like I am a public property You know Like people You know people, photos, yeah, I mean, I get it. It comes with the territory. But like, I don't enjoy privacy the way normal people enjoy privacy. And so when I'm in my hotel room, like that's kind of a really sacred space. It's like my one, you know, like now, like I'm like in this

hotel room. I'm not public property. Yeah, unplug. I'm not, you know, and I don't want anybody in that space. I don't want, I don't want anybody coming in. I just like, I don't want towels. I don't want like no I just want that I just want to leave me alone. And so that do not disturb sign is important to me. And when I hang it on the doorknob and then open up the door and it falls right off, it drives nuts. Word to every housekeeper at every marriot in the continental United States. Don't go into Steveo's room. Yeah, I mean, I used to and I'm going to add this to my carryout bag, bring a roll of tape to physically tape that do not disturb sign. That's not creepy at all.

Just, Steveo, thanks so much for joining us. This was great. Everybody buy tickets to Steveo's tour, mention the UK shows. And check out Steve. Steve, what else can we? Yeah.

I have something that you don't know. But Josh and I have discussed getting an episode of my Wild Ride podcast in the can and recording, uploading them simultaneously. So we can now drive everybody to the while right. Yeah. I'm going to be on Steve-O's. The link will be in the description.

Yep. And as always, remember to rate, review, and subscribe. I mean, this podcast, it's got to be five stars. Otherwise, what are you nuts? Yeah. Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect

financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.