Channel: Mythical Kitchen
YouTube Video ID: _Cfo55unVzM
Episode Post Date: March 19, 2026
Transcript
Hello, I'm Johnny Knoxville and this is my last meal. [bell] [music] Every person has exactly two things in common. We all got to eat and we're all going to die. Today's guest is an actor, writer, producer, and legendary stunt performer who starred in four jackass films. He's a host of Fear Factor House of Fear. And his high school guidance counselor, Mrs. Handley, once said his most outstanding attributes [music] were his humility and his propensity for selfmutilation. Johnny Knox, welcome to the show. >> Miss Hanley said that. >> Miss Hanley said that. I'll tell you where I got that from. I was reading this old magazine and she's quoted in this. This is April 1998. Big Brother. >> Miss Hanley was quoted in >> Well, you quoted Miss Hanley. If you flip open to this here, bookmark, we have a really cool article. >> Man, I haven't seen this in a while. Mrs. Hanley was uh she was a homeck teacher, but every time I get kicked out of class, I'd always go hang out in her class cuz she was just the coolest >> and she was really pretty. So, it she was just the best from top to bottom. >> You quote her in the first paragraph of the self-defense equipment, I think, right down here, actually, second paragraph. >> Oh my goodness. >> How long has it been since you've seen this article? >> 20 years. >> No way. Yeah. >> And this is the original article that would become effectively four. >> Yeah. I was just going to write the article on self-defense equipment. And Tmaine, who now directs Jackass, said, "Well, you should film it, too." >> Thank you so much for joining us on Last Meals. Have you thought about your last meal before? >> No, I actually haven't thought about my last meal. Cuz admittedly, I'm not a foodie. I just eat food because I have to. It's something I have to get out of the way. >> Uh I'm more of a drinkie. >> Yeah. But um >> they've developed other words for a drinky >> alcoholic. >> That's the one. More Latin. Yeah. Yeah. >> But I am pretty psyched about all the salty uh foods I have on the menu today. >> Did any of your choices surprise you? You're like, "Oh, I didn't realize I had that memory of a hamburger." >> Well, okay. Here's what happened. They're like, "You're supposed to send your food uh choices about a week ago and they're about to cancel, so send in your choices." Yeah. Yeah. >> And I'm like, "Oh, no. Uh, fried chicken, fries. I like hamburgers." >> Is that generally the way that you've operated in life? Like, it comes down to the deadline. You're like, "Shit, I got to go shoot myself in the chest in the desert." >> I leave things to the last second, >> especially that there was no pre-production on this. >> This is, of course, when you put on the bulletproof vest and couldn't find anybody that was willing to shoot you for the Big Brother magazine video. >> That was the thing. I knew I was shooting all the the taser gun, stun gun, and pepper spray at my buddy's house. Mhm. >> I can't shoot myself in his backyard. It's right in the middle of Hollywood. So, we just drive out the 14. And I'm like, >> "Pull off here." And then we pulled off there and we ended up on a fire road. But we got out there and he says, "I want no part of this." >> Yeah. Fair. >> And from the video, if you watch it, you can hear no one wanted any part of it. Uh, except me. But it worked out. >> This is probably a stupid question. How often do you think about death? >> Not really. [music] You know, every now and then I'm like, "Wow, one day I'm going to not be here and my kids will be and and and but that's as far as I get into it because why?" [music] >> I mean, you seem like a tremendously well- read person, though. There's a lot of people throughout history who have taken a tremendous amount of value in learning about death and thinking about a lot. There's also a lot of people who have done the complete opposite and equally smart. You're the one who's taken the route of I'm not going to think about this and just live my life. >> Yeah. It's like, you know, it's coming. It's happening. But until then, I'd rather just live my life. >> Yeah. >> Otherwise, you're you're looking forward or looking behind. You're never here. >> You ready to eat? >> Yeah. We ordered some drinks, too. Right. >> Let's get those drinks lined up. [bell] >> Johnny, for the first course of your final meal, we have the wedge salad, the beer, the fried chicken, potato chips. >> When I read my food choices to my wife, I said wedge salad. and she laughed. >> Why? [laughter] >> I don't know. It's just just I just threw something in random. But this looks delicious. >> It's the best salad in the game. We've taken about a quarter head of iceberg lettuce, sliced it, added a homemade blue cheese dressing, some bacon, chives, tomatoes on it, simple and clean. And then these are classic Cape Cod kettle chips. >> Has anyone complained about the food? >> Mhm. >> Really? Couple people. Like what? Like Well, you know, you get We've had some chefs on the show and they're very particular. They're really like picking through all of it. Some people from New York were like, "This isn't New York pizza." Are you a Are you a complainer about food or no? >> No. >> Well, [music] cheers, man. We got an ice cold. >> All right. Cheers. >> Um, >> dig in, man. This is your last meal, Johnny. This is your last meal. Okay, >> go wherever. I I feel like I don't want to recount certain stories for fear that it might ruin your appetite. Do you think you're still sensitive? >> No, I don't give a [ __ ] >> I once watched you pour a beer into a man's [ __ ] through a funnel. >> You mean Steo? That was Steo. Yeah. Uh he really drank it uh uh aggressively as well. Um did that turn you off from beer at all? >> No. No. A stupid question. >> I uh I can compartmentalize uh buttholes and beer. >> Maybe a stronger man than I am. If you asked me to guess how many jackass episodes there are, I would have probably said like between 100 and 125. >> No, there's like 24 plus two specials, right? >> That's nuts. 24 episodes of Jackass that were all shot within the same year, right? >> Yeah, within 9 months. >> Do you look back at those 9 months and do those feel like a very long portion of your life or did that just happen in a blur? >> That's what happened in a blur. I went from basically like doing PA work and being unemployed to 3 months later being on the cover of Rolling Stone. So, it was it was a a little adjustment, but man, I gotta say, >> we took the jackass episodes down off of Paramount Plus because I watched a few of them about u ago and they've been recut, rescored, and re-edited, re-sequenced. We didn't even know. >> Why is that? >> I don't know. So, we're like, get those down. That's not anything that resembles what we put on the air. Paramount to their credit said, "Okay, but they're still up on other places." I'm like, "Don'ting watch the episodes, the Jackass TV show right now because they're terrible and we had nothing to do with it." Now, when we re-edit and rescore them and resequence them, they you still may think they're terrible, but at least we did it. Are you able to draw like a very clear through line in your life from your childhood? >> Can I try the chicken? >> Eat the chicken, man. Eat the chicken. >> All right. >> Also, do not ask for permission again. Godamn it. Just eat the food and I'm going to follow you. But I'm so happy about you. >> Thank you. What was your question? >> I don't remember. I just want to watch you eat this chicken now. >> Well, that's a sign of a real pervert. >> Thank you. Absolutely, man. You got salt and vinegar chips. These are the official chips and perverts, man. >> The amount of eye contact involved. [laughter] >> It's a weird show. M. >> How do we do on the chicken? >> I just took a bite. Give me a second to eat it. [laughter] >> Jesus Christ. >> Your leisure. >> I find silence uncomfortable. I fear it. >> It's very good. >> I was going to ask, we have Steo on the show and it was very clear how he ended up where he did on Jackass. He didn't get attention from his father. All he craved is attention. Ergo, he butt chugs Miller high life in front of millions. Are you able to draw a clear through line between your childhood and how you ended up doing stunts in front of millions of people? >> Yeah, you can see how I got there. My dad was a big huge [music] prankster and he pranked all his friends >> constantly growing up. Uh I was the baby of the family. I was just spoiled. Um, I was from a part of the country that goes pretty hard and uh, sometimes my childhood was pretty happy, but my father drank and so, you know, that wasn't so good. >> Uh, so yeah, you can kind of see how I got here. >> With your dad drinking, was that something where you internalized this like feeling of adrenaline cuz so much of what we do as adults? >> No, adrenaline wasn't what I was feeling. >> What was it? >> Fear. >> Sure. >> Yeah. Do you think they're [music] not related in a way? >> You can eventually get there, but >> you also came out to LA to [music] act and you've been in a lot of blockbuster movies. I mean, like proper >> some blockbusters either. >> Sure. But like, you know, it's um you're in the NBA, right? There's only going to be one Jordan. That shouldn't take away from the fact that like you were in [music] the NBA. You know what I mean? >> I'm in the NBA now. >> You're in the NBA? >> [ __ ] >> But I mean, you like, you know, starred in movies. You wrote articles for print magazines, these are all dream jobs that other people would want. >> No, I've been extremely lucky. I give you that. >> Sure. >> Do [music] you think between like doing stunts and running your own show like jackass, being a a journalist, and then being an actor, if any one of those three things took off, do you think you would have been just as happy? >> I think it took me a long time to uh be happy, >> you know? >> Sure. But I think if I had chosen one of those paths and found success, sure, I would [music] yeah, I I would have felt uh fulfilled. But the the the deal I made with myself, which maybe contradicts what I just said, that it's like, okay, I'm going to move out to LA to act and I'm going to stick around till I make it. >> Yeah. >> But when I started writing for magazines, I felt like, oh, maybe I have another thing I can do. >> [music] >> And that took all the pressure off. >> Yeah. >> All the pressure. >> And then the acting role started coming from that. >> I started getting call backs. I never got call backs before that. And then I'm like, "Oh, okay. Well, maybe I'm not so tethered to this part of my life." [music] >> Yeah. At that time, you also had your daughter when you were 24. It's interesting hearing the way that you talk about that was like you had the daughter and then there was this impetus that you had to be successful. >> [music] >> had to do something. >> Yeah. >> Most people though when they have kids they become uh let's say risk averse. [music] >> But your idea of making it in the world was to take a tremendous amount of risks. >> Yeah. That was my best guess. >> Sure. >> Of how to support my family. >> Yeah. >> Was or kind of do a participatory journalism thing but kind of uh more intense. [music] It was so intense that um you basically had a Democratic senator try and soft launch their presidential campaign [music] on the platform of cancelling jackass. >> Yeah, [ __ ] that guy >> when Joe Liverman came after you guys. >> I mean, he's dead, but >> that's how I felt. >> You know, could have won with G anyways. M and it's such a no position type of move like hard on Hollywood like oh that's that's all you can think of >> cuz there's no consequence to being tough on Hollywood right >> yeah yeah >> so yeah Lieberman came down on Viacom MTV and me personally what is happening like >> six months ago I was unemployed now I got a senator up my ass [laughter] >> at that point. Did you know you were doing something right? Did you know you were doing something wrong? Or did you just feel like, "Oh [ __ ] I got to center it up my ass. This is crazy." [music] >> I felt like we were on to something, but because of all the heat brought down on Viacom and MTV, it we had all these by the third season, which was like 6 months into it. It's like they bought eight episodes, eight at a time and there was like suddenly there was a OSHA guy. >> Tough set that to have OSHA a part of, Johnny. >> Yeah. Oh, you guys can't jump off anything higher than 4 ft. I'm like, what are you talking about? Have you seen what we do? So, I was like, I I love Jackass too much to like [music] do it half ass, so I just quit. >> Yeah. >> And MTV was pretty surprised. It's funny even when you say I love Jackass so much like you said [music] Jackass had existed for you know roughly nine months or a year at that point >> right >> you had a bunch of different iterations that could have been jackass jackass could have been a 5minute segment on SNL Jackass could have been a show where you hosted it from behind a desk until I think it was Jones that convinced you not to do that there could have been a bunch of different things you pivoted to but what did you found that made you so connected to it >> I was offered four shows within Jackass includ included within [music] like 6 7 months. >> Damn. >> And I'm like again th this [ __ ] was unemployed a few months ago and I decided to take a uh chance on me and my friends. It's something that we created together and we would have all the control and and I just felt it was the better idea for me and us. If you're doing this kind of thing for a living, you're already taking some chances. So, what's one more? >> I think one of the things that made Jackass and specifically you so charming on the show is that you're doing all these crazy stunts often with some of the most skilled athletes in the world. I think in Travis Pastana, most decorated motorsports athlete ever. >> You know, uh in the original Jackass movie, you have Eric Cton, one of the best skateboarders of all time, just throwing your ass down a rail. >> Matt Hoffman. >> Matt Hoffman. Even though Jaws Hamoki is one of my favorite skaters of all all time and y'all gave him a concussion thrown him out of a hammock. >> That guy's he just is an accordion. >> Unbelievable. That man's ankle so big and just accordians. [music] >> But you get these people that are um let's say uh uh prednaturally skilled [music] wanting to hang out with y >> people who have no skill whatsoever. >> A little bit. You're pretty good at magic. >> Oh yeah, thanks. Yeah. The bull didn't think so, but I thought I did it pretty good. Was your lack of skill? Was that something that actively made Jackass as good as it was? >> Well, we're all trying things that we're no good at and have never tried before [music] because at the end of the day, no one wants to see someone make a stunt, you know. >> Is that true? >> I don't. >> Yeah. I don't know. I I mean, I I you know, [music] didn't grow up in like the Evil Conval era, but I grew up in like the Travis Pastana era where you know, well, those got Travis goes so big he has to make it or he dies. >> Sure. Right. So, it's a little different thing. >> Yeah. >> Um, have you seen his X-ray? >> No. >> There's X-ray and and it's just he's the bionic man. There's metal everywhere. >> Yeah, I know. He's in medical journals for being like one of three people who's ever survived the level of spinal severance. >> And that was when he was like a kid. >> Matt Hoffman, too. He's like [music] >> he's really put it on the line. And against all odds, like your name is >> If you ask Travis who his hero is, he'll say Matt Hoffman. >> Yeah. >> You know, [music] everyone looks up to Matt. >> Who's yours? >> I love Matt. And uh I mean I I have a lot of people I looked up, but [music] Matt's one of them. >> You said Matt Hoffman was the only person you'd ever met who had fully conquered fear. [music] >> Yeah. >> Do you think you're on that path or you think a healthy dose of fear is good? I've found a way to just [music] uh cannibalize it and and control it to do what I need to do. So I realize it's beneficial, [music] but for what I, you know, did it wasn't really beneficial. >> Yeah. >> So it was one of the things that would [music] possibly kill a bit. But sometimes it's good because you you know if if you show fear in an entertaining manner, that's great, too. Yeah. >> Like like Aaron McGee from J. He shows it. [music] Steo shows it in a very entertaining manner. >> Yeah. You ready to go on to course number two? >> Sure. [bell] >> Johnny, for the second course of your final meal. This is nothing you've asked for, but something we wanted to surprise you with, and I'm wondering if you can name it by sight alone. >> Um, yes. Bacon. >> That is bacon. If I said four bloody maryries, two grapefruits, a pot of coffee, rangu and crepes, a half pound of either sausage, bacon, or corn beef hash with diced chilies. >> It sounds like a Hunter S. Thompson style breakfast, but you're leaving out the cocaine and amphetamines and all the other [ __ ] he was on. >> We were hoping your publicist could get us the cocaine and empetamines, but this is Hunter S. Thompson's breakfast as seen in Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail 1972, which you wrote the forward for for the 50th anniversary edition. [music] Yeah, I forget all the drugs that were involved, but it was weed, coke, maybe LSD. I can't remember. But this morning, I'm like, "Oh, I didn't put bacon down." And now we have bacon. >> Please dig it. >> And the margarita, which is This is not salt. This is Tennessee walking powder. >> Is that what you call it? I call it Colombian bam bam. >> Colombian bam bam. [music] Well, I mean, both work. >> Cheers. Cheers. Yeah. >> I think Ken Casey told >> Hunter it's like if you're going to take all these drugs, >> you got to eat a big breakfast. He's like, "Okay, sure." Like probably pretty sound advice. Also, his breakfast, I think, would have been at least in the diary at 3:30 in the afternoon. And so, not exactly like an early riser, but he would write till 8:00 in the morning. How special was it for you to write the forward for Fear and Loathing on the campaign trail 72? Cuz you you knew Hunter personally, right? >> Yeah, I'd met him a few times and uh he was a big hero of mine. Yeah. To be able to write the forward was uh Yeah, it was an honor. >> Yep. >> You know, I I wish Hunter was around to know he'd have probably shot it down. Good god, he's an imposs. [laughter] >> The first time you met Hunter, I think was at Was it at the Viper room? So, we're on the Sunset Strip. And you said that you did kind of come off as an imbecile at the time. [music] >> Yeah, I was high on a bunch of things. Illegal and drunk and just overbearing and Sure. >> I was like, get this guy away. You know, he wasn't he was by no means frightened. He was just annoyed and rightly so. Yeah. >> But I met him uh later and it was [music] it was a it was good meeting except for he was in a very depressed mood. That was not great to see. >> I mean, you're right in this forward, like seeing him at this bar in New Orleans >> with his head on the bar. Yeah. >> Basically crying out in pain and how jarring of an experience that was for you. >> Literally, we walked up and his head was [music] on the bar in his arm. >> Not how I was expecting him, but his uh black medical bag was right beside him. >> Did any of that experience get you to rethink decisions in your own life? Was that like a big jarring moment for you or >> I was I was going full speed then? >> Yeah. >> It wasn't a lot of thinking period. It was just fast faster and disaster. >> Did you ever have that reflection point where you like maybe looked at the life that Hunter Thompson led because you read you would have read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas when you're what 19 years old. >> When you're a 19-year-old and you're reading, you know, uh the great of the beat generation, reading on the road, reading Fear and Loathing, it seems really awesome. And then a lot of people sort of mature out of that and they can still see how incredible uh you know the writing is and the sort of stories that they tell but maybe that's not all there is to life. Did you have this moment where you were like maybe going all the way faster to disaster isn't something that leads to happiness or did you just keep caring ahead? Yeah, for many years it was just uh fast forward and uh eventually you know you start thinking about things but I did it for quite a long time [snorts] even though I'd seen many pitfalls in different people along the way. I just you know I didn't equip myself until later in life. What was a big move in being able to equip yourself? >> If you have like little to no tools, yeah, therapy is an excellent place to start to give you some tools. >> Sure. >> So, [music] yeah, that was kind of the first step. Next step, bacon. >> Hell yeah. There's a funny thing about idolizing somebody in media and maybe wanting to follow in their footsteps because by the time you get there, the culture has changed so much that there can never be another Hunter S. Thompson, right? Like >> you got to be careful how you choose your heroes because then you're going to end up emulating that. >> What about people who have chosen you as their hero? Is there any flattery? Would you offer a word of condemnation? >> The same thing I just said to you. Be careful how you choose your heroes. >> Sure. [music] How much did Hunter's death affect you? >> That was very jarring. Well, >> because he was we were he was in New Orleans. I was in Baton Rouge and he called me one day looking for a trip like a plane to go back home with some urgency. I'm like, I I don't know. I'll see if there's I was on the movies. I'll see if anyone's taking a plane going home. And actually, Chesca Simpson was. And so I lined up. I called her. I'm like, "Is it okay if Hunter S. Thompson rides back with you?" She said, "Sure." And then I called him and said, "Hey, I got a plane for you." By by that time, he had secured another trip back. >> But when he died, I realized that that's why he wanted to go back. Mhm. >> And that was very jarring and incredibly sad. When you're at that point, I don't think you're you're you're no longer thinking clearly. >> Sure. I I think your Hunter S. Thompson is my Anthony Bourdain. Um he was somebody that I grew up watching and really idolizing the way that he used food as a lens to view the larger parts of the world, right? But when he took his own life, that was the first celebrity death that really affected me because I looked at him and said, "You lived the life that I wish I could live, but if that still wasn't enough to make you happy, I know those are oversimplified terms, but maybe that's not something enough to make me happy." And it kind of really reframed a lot of the way that I thought about my own life. Did you ever think about that? It's very sad in those instances because these people that we sometimes admire, they're just like anyone else. Their brain is giving them bad information [music] and that's I just have a lot of sympathy for people in that situation. >> Yeah. >> And uh some people sometimes people make it out and unfortunately sometimes people don't. >> Yep. >> Pass the bacon. Are you [snorts] able to look at like the larger cultural impact of Jackass and see it through the same lens as you would have viewed Hunter S. Thompson's work through? >> No. >> I don't I don't sit around and compare myself to people. [music] >> Fair. But if you were to like zoom out right now, I was trying to explain Jackass to my wife as I was watching it last night [laughter] >> and I found myself having a little bit >> lots of [ __ ] >> There's lots of [ __ ] lots of male touching and [ __ ] but also in a way that is very artistically beautiful. Are you able to look at it and say like, well, the turn of the 2000s, the rise of [music] cable, or you just don't give a [ __ ] You were just there doing it all? >> Yeah. I don't that's not my job. >> Sure. >> You know, maybe one day I'll look back and try to think about that a little more, but I I don't. >> Yeah. [music] I'm I'm very grateful that Jackass means so much to people and uh but I also have no control over that, >> you know. So, I [music] just keep trying to do what I'm doing and hopefully not up. >> I remember uh at my high school there was a separate click that were just the jackass kids [laughter] >> for real. >> The bad kids. No, but they would have been the bad kids if not for being the jackass kids. >> They had an outlet. >> They [music] had an outlet. And I remember once I was leaving football practice and I kind of walked in between a bunch of different clicks, but I remember seeing them. One of them was throwing up in the bushes as somebody had like a little, you know, camera with a little flip out [music] digital lens and I was like, "What's up, Zack? What are you guys doing?" I'm like, "Oh, well, uh, Nick ate six habaneros and then he rolled down the hill and now he's dizzy, so he's throwing up the habaneros into the bushes." And I was like, "Oh, carry on, gentlemen." And it was something that was it was so very normal. And in a weird way, I was trying to think of like what they would have been doing without that. They wouldn't have been taking the AP classes. [music] They wouldn't have been student president. They would have been doing something that frankly was probably less productive. >> Probably been stealing your hubcaps. >> Probably would have been stealing your hubcaps, you know, for all the Liberman [ __ ] of the >> That makes me happy that there were jackass kids that >> a fully separate click >> that that uh I haven't heard before. And that actually makes me uh very happy. So, >> cheers. >> Cheers, man. Have you gotten stories from fans saying that like, hey, you gave me a purpose in a way that I didn't have before? >> Yes. people have been very kind about coming up and sharing those kind of sentiments and and then I've met people that I work with whether it's an actor stunt guy and and when they tell me that and you know that >> uh has weight if you can touch anyone's life at all that has weight [music] especially doing the dumb [ __ ] that we do. Yeah. >> So, >> do you take that role as patriarch very seriously? Do you consider yourself that? I know a lot of the crew calls you captain. >> Like, do you feel a paternalistic relationship towards the Jackass guys? And is that one of the reasons you came in? >> Yeah, they're my they're my friends and you know Jeff and I or seem to be [music] like uh their mom and dad or you know I'm the mom [snorts] uh he's the coach, I'm the player coach. Uh and they're a handful. Jesus, you can't imagine some of the stuff we've dealt with over the years. And but Jeff and I have been no better roses either, [music] you know. Everyone has been a huge problem at some point. >> I think that goes for everybody in life. >> Yeah, but especially for our [ __ ] >> Ready to go on to course number three? >> Oh, yes, [bell] >> Johnny. For the third course of your final meal on Earth, we have hamburger and French fries, lettuce, tomato, mustard, and then we have some chocolate milkshakes. You do not request a chocolate milkshake, but I know your dad [music] used to prank people by putting laxatives in a chocolate milkshake. >> Yes. Yes. >> I don't know if there are laxatives in these milkshakes, but I don't know that there aren't lax. We're sort of in like a Schroinger's milkshake situation right now because I saw the box in the kitchen. I don't know if it's open or not. >> You're telling that to me like I care. >> Look, man. >> Very good milkshake. Oh, by the way, all the food's been very good. Compliments to the chef. I'm not some son of a [ __ ] that come on here and and complain about the food. I may be a son of a [ __ ] Yeah, sure. >> But I'm not the son of [ __ ] who complained about the food. [laughter] >> Why hamburger and French fry? >> Like I was pressed for time. >> Johnny, you're a writer and storyteller. Make up a story about a hamburger you had once. Tell me. >> Oh my god. >> Johnny, tell me about any hamburger you've ever eat. >> I love hamburgers, Josh. Boy, let me tell you. >> Me, [snorts] too, man. >> They get me harder than a turnbuckle. >> Johnny, you host a show called Fear Factor: House of Fear. I don't know if you know this about yourself. >> No. >> Real deep cut from the archives. What's your own relationship to fear? >> Who took away my beer? >> We got another round of supporters, please. Thank you so much, Blaine. >> I just experienced real fear [laughter] >> when it comes to my kids and >> someone I my wife, my dog, I'll get fearful. But as far as like my safety, I I'm having to, you know, think about that more. Uh, now I'm trying to like it's okay. You're you're not doing that. >> When you say it's okay, you're not doing that. Who are you imagining saying it's okay? >> Me. >> Yeah. >> Cuz I've already shared that. >> Oh, here we go. Hey guys, >> the feeling when you're staring down a bowl, you know, you listen to Matt Hoffman and he there's a story about Matt Hoffman that I'm sure you heard a bunch of times about him and Travis was trying to I think base jumping the Grand Canyon when Matt Hoffman refused to get close to the edge of the Grand Canyon and Travis was like, "Is this because you're afraid?" And he goes and he goes, "I'm not afraid of the drop. I'm afraid that I'm going to get so excited that I'm gonna want to jump and fly." >> Yeah. >> You know what I mean? But do you have that when you're staring down a stunt? Say there's a bull or you're going to get fired from a cannon. You don't seem like the guy like Matt Hoffman who's afraid that he's so excited that he's going to get in the cannon that he's going to do it too early. You seemed like you had fear more than some other people who seemed eager despite the fact that you were, you know, the the deacto ring leader and actually orchestrating a lot of this. like some stunts that aren't as perilous, uh, I wasn't as um energized to do them, but the more dangerous they are, I just wanted to get the set and do them. Like I couldn't wait to get to set and do them. >> So they were over >> like I didn't want to stand around on the set and wait. >> Yeah. >> You know, I was like, Jeff, I'm just going to go sit in my car. someone tap on the window or text me to come and when I get there it it's go time. I don't want to have all the cameras please worked out because I don't want to stick sit around and wait on the cameras or anything else. And to his credit, he always had everything. All I had to do was stand in one spot or hold on to something. So it was pretty easy. >> That feeling of when you're standing in the one spot or holding on to something. Do you use the term dissociation? No, I just wanted to do it. I just wanted like let's do it and it just immense anticipation I experienced. >> By that time I was just excited and wanted it to happen. It got to a happy excitement like like less you know of course there was fear but that you don't have to really you don't have to consider that. >> I was just wanting to do it. Talk to me about survivors euphoria. >> Colonel John Paul Stappa, one of the most brilliant men of the 20th century. Uh he did a lot of groundbreaking research on uh deceleration and [music] it was because it was the 1940s and they were trying to see what would happen to pilots when they ejected at altitude. [music] So he built this giant sled in the desert and get up to several hundreds of miles of hour and stop within 10 to 15 ft abruptly and he experienced incredible amount of G's. He was injured so many times. Eventually he experienced more G's than anyone in history on purpose and lived. It's like 48 G's. Mhm. >> But survivors euphoria uh was something that would happen for him after he completed a run on the sled and he survived. It's a thing. I just I didn't have a name for it, you know. >> Yeah. But that was a feeling that you'd always felt and then when you read it >> Yeah. It's like, "Oh, man. I'm actually going to walk. I'm actually walking out of here. That's good." Truly not every stunt you've walked out from scot-free. Were there any stunts that you >> Well, even if you get taken out by a stretcher or some you're like you're cognizant and you're, you know, >> Sure. >> and you're moving your feet some, you know, hopefully. >> Yeah. Do you take other people's safety more seriously? >> Yes. >> Than yours? >> Yes. >> Cuz you got like, you know, you you've talked about your dad's your dad's group of friends, right? You had a Woodro Wilson Boxar Johnson Jr. >> You know what I mean? like he has all these like this this pirate crew and you've ended up with the Steo and a wee man and a danger Aaron and whatever and you know you're sort of the captain. Um were there any moments where you were like we can't do this because somebody else is going to get hurt. I need to be the person to jump in and take the bullet. >> I wasn't trying to write the most dangerous things for myself but I in hindsight I did. I don't know why. It's just what I found interesting. >> And I did not like being on the other side of it watching one of my friends about to do something dangerous. It's no fun. >> Yeah. >> No fun at all. If it's like especially if it's like a lifealtering type of could be situation. So I understand what my family went through. Did you have an internal kota on Jackass that was like we're not going to prank you during certain hours or was there always a baseline level >> my guys >> of anxiety? Yeah. When you were like shooting the movies? >> No. No, there was no there was no boundaries with the guys. There was no boundaries at all. >> People acted worse when the cameras were off >> for sure. >> Why do you think that is? >> They just couldn't help themselves. >> No one's faking it. >> Yeah. You know, it's kind of who they are and we just got a special group of guys together. >> Hey, goddamn right you did. [bell] >> Johnny, for your final course of your final meal on Earth, we have frozen grapes and sugar-free popsicles. Now, we've frozen cotton candy grapes normal style. Then, we've also I know you have a secret recipe. We tried to divine it and so we soaked some of them in Sprite and then covered them in sugar and citric acid to try and create our own little frozen cotton candy. >> I never heard of that. >> What's your recipe? [music] >> I can't give it away. It's a very uh protected >> Howing secret can this recipe be? It's grapes, man. >> It's frozen grapes, but I can't tell you how I freeze them. >> On your deathbed, I'm going to be lording over you and you will whiskey. >> I will maybe tell you on my deathbed. >> I'm holding you to that. And then we got some sugar-free popsicles. This is sort of the the assemblage of a madman here. The frozen grapes with the margarita, the beer, and the sugar-free popsicles. This is the meal of a man who has a disease that they haven't come up with a name for yet, >> you know? And you're like, why is he eating that? He obviously craves some sort of acid and liquor. >> I have a problem with cotton candy frozen grapes. I'm trying to eat less of them, but I'm not doing a very good job. You know, I think on the scale of you and cotton candy grapes and Hunter S. Thompson on amphetamines, I think I think I'd rather be towards the left of that graph there, Johnny. >> Well, I'm not telling you about the other [ __ ] [laughter] >> Fair. When did this problem with the grape start? >> About a year and a half ago. >> Was there a traumatic event that happened that kicked off this addiction? >> No. Someone I just I read someone ate frozen grapes. I'm like, "Oh my god, what have I been doing with my life that I have not eaten frozen grapes?" [music] I want to try some of these. They look shady, >> right? They're good. We have some trigger some citric acid. >> Cocaine sprinkled frozen grapes. >> Cocaine. We were going to have fake cocaine. >> I never really like cocaine. >> No, the throat drip gets you. >> I always get a sinus infection and like >> there's just a lot of >> I couldn't really perform on it if you know what I mean. Yeah, >> like shoot and pull with a rope. >> I get that. >> And I'm like, why am I even taking it? >> It's a good point. You can talk real fast though. You can sell people on your idea for a t-shirt company. >> The first line of cocaine you ever do is great. After that is total [ __ ] but that's a lot of sugar, >> right? When he got to stick to it. >> Wow. >> You tried to perform a magic trick for the bull and instead that bull gave you a hemorrhage. I would have probably tipped you $5 instead of giving you a brain hemorrhage. >> M Well, that would have been appreciated. Yeah. Yeah. How much did that trick completely alter the rest of your life? And was that the first time that you've done a stunt where it's like, "Oh [ __ ] this is going to be different. This isn't a broken arm. This is something that you don't come back from." >> No, I had a lot of concussions and some of them were worse than others, but this one completely sent me offline for like 6 months. [music] >> Yeah. >> When I was referencing someone's brain giving them bad information earlier, that's what was happening to me. >> Gotcha. Gotcha. Oh, interesting. It was terrifying cuz people would tell me like what you're thinking is happening is not happening. Your bl your brain's just playing tricks on you. I'm like, "No, no, it's not." >> Wow. >> And I have so much compassion for people who are going through that and they can't see that cuz I couldn't. >> Yeah. >> But luckily, I came out the other side. >> Who did you have in [music] your corner helping drag you to the other side? >> Well, I have very good friends, very good therapists, very good pharmacists. Sure. >> Good pharmacist is key. Uh it was uh one of the roughest moments of my life. >> You start shooting Jackass 5 soon. You got any trepidation about that or is it the same amount of excitement? But you know your boundaries? >> I can't get another concussion. >> Mhm. >> So that kind of stuff is out and that's tough. Well, we have so much idiotic stuff planned that I can't wait [music] to get to set. [snorts] So, that's where I'm going right after this. We're >> just prepping. >> Glad to give you the information. >> Well, I mean, come on. If I If you can't have a few drinks and prep, jackass. >> Yeah, I'm sorry. >> What movie can you prep? You quote a Christian theologian John Dunn in the original Big Brother article where he says humiliation is the beginning of sanctification. It's like a troll. It's like a trolls quote, right? It's very escape mag from the late '9s, but now after years of, you know, large group of dudes debasing themselves in front of millions, you all are veritably sanctified. Do you think that quote was prophecy? Well, there's a quote from Wise Blood said, "No man with a good car needs to be justified." And I have an old Cadillac. So, >> do you think there's some truth in that though? >> That we're sanctified. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. No, I uh I don't think we're there yet. >> Sure. [music] After Jack has six, maybe. >> No, this is it. >> This is it officially. M >> Have you said that in the past that this is it? Cuz I feel like I >> I know. I said it after the first movie and then I end up in Russia with >> Jeff and the guy shooting on Wild Boys and >> and I was a little excitable and Jeff finally pulled me aside. He's like, "Look, if you're willing to go this big [music] for basic cable, why don't we just do another one?" And I was like, "Ah, okay." But this [music] this is it. This is the worst question that anybody can ask anybody in entertainment, but what's next after this? Because I feel like you're somebody who could write the great American novel. If that's of interest to you, [music] I would be very curious to hear what you have to say. >> I got uh >> in a literary sense, >> consumed with living the great American novel. And I think at some point I have been thinking about [music] trying to write something, but I'm just too consumed with trying to figure out different things to shove up my friend's butts. >> You ever do a Costco chicken bake? >> Is that like code for something? Like >> do you ever do the old Rochester Gallup? >> No. >> Chattanooga choo choo. Never do a Rochester Gallup for free. That that cost that's at least triple digits. No. Costco chicken basically. It's like a long cylindrical calzone [clears throat] and go right up right up an [ __ ] though. >> Well, so it is code for something. >> It's not code for No, the it's a it's a menu item. >> You're shoving something up someone's ass. >> Yeah, but you're shoving it's called a Costco chicken, but it was on our last guest last meal. He didn't shove it up his ass. He ate it normal style. >> Well, that heing failed. >> Then heing failed. Tell that to Dr. Mike Varovski. [laughter] >> American. Way to halfass it, Doc. >> Steo was the only guest we've had on this show who stood up and showed his ass to the camera. So, that was a unique first for us. >> Yeah, I've seen that so that [ __ ] so many times. It's just >> it's something else. [laughter] Oh my god. I have something on my phone right now. It's the from him all [ __ ] >> Like, I wouldn't be doing anyone any favors by showing it. >> After the cameras, please. I'll give you 10 bucks. >> Um I'm sorry, Steo. He'll be upset if I insulted his [ __ ] You have a gorgeous uh bottom, [music] but I've seen it too many times. >> Yeah. [snorts] >> Do you fear death? >> No. >> Do you long for it? >> Um I think there's times in my life that I romanticized it >> and and that's tough. >> That's a a dead end street. >> What do you think happens when you die? >> I don't give a [ __ ] I think it's a great big sleep. >> None of the none of the none of the philosophers, none of the John Duns of the world have ever convinced you that it's nothing but a big sleep. Is there any part of you that hopes that it's not? >> No, I'm pretty uh reasonable about it. I'm not floating off somewhere, you know. You ready to go on the lightning round? Look, I'll tell you what, one of my biggest phrases is um >> talking with your mouth full. >> No, that's not fair at all. Cold cold food. I have sensitive teeth. >> Oh, he's you're nothing if not sensitive. I picked that up very quickly. [laughter] >> We got lightning round popsicles. >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Johnny, um I feel like I know the answer of why popsicles. Um but why popsicles? Well, I'd like to hear your Well, this one kind of looks like a penis. >> I mean, right. >> That's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. >> No wonder I picked this one. >> Mine was uh I was going to say I had 10 minutes to answer and so my wife was there and she said, "You eat those popsicles." I said, "I don't even knowing popsicles. My last meal beer." >> You kidding me? Like I would I would never think about talking to my wife like that. >> I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. No, I'm that was not I was not a >> boy. He has a couple of drinks and the anger that was me. No, I my >> demons got the better of me on >> Jesus Christ. >> And I should let the better angels and Right, Johnny, if you want to take this lightning round, I >> Yeah, we should uh do this lightning round quick before the wheels completely fall off. >> Who's the one person dead or alive you'd want to share your actual last meal with? >> Yeah, I just You kind of want your family there, you know. >> What song do you want to be played at your funeral? >> Can the circle be unbroken? [music] I'm not a religious man, but that's like a family song. Who's the greatest outlaw country musician of all time? >> That's a tough one. Willie and Whan were and are pure musical outlaws, [music] but Johnny Paycheck shot a man over a bowl of uh turtle soup. [snorts] So, it's a real tossup. >> Do you regret the fact that you made Bad Grandpa instead of the asskicking Karate Grandpa Willie Nelson Broken Lizard movie? >> Oh my god. We we pitched both of those movies one day at Paramount and we only wanted to do the movie with Willie and we pitched both ideas. One which is [music] incredibly difficult. Bad grandpa. >> Yeah. >> And they chose Bad Bad Grandpa. And we walked out of the studio. Usually when you sell a movie you're psyched. >> Mhm. >> Me, Jeff, and Derek. It's like they said no to both of our movies. They're like, we're like, we got to do it. So, I would have loved to made that movie. Willie is the absolute greatest. >> What's your biggest fear? >> I would say for my [music] fears for my family. >> Finally, Johnny, are you happy? >> Yes, I am. Finally. [ __ ] >> Finally, man. >> Jesus Christ. You get to this age, you think at least be happy. And I'm finally very happy. I'm not at war with myself. >> And I'm very happy that you join me here today. Truly, man. You've been a massive inspiration um from every single part of your career. >> Cheers, brother. >> Oh, thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you again, man. If you don't deliver your last words to that camera right there. [music] >> My last words. Ask people for what what did Poncho Via say? He's like, "Please tell them I said something." Oh, Poncho didn't really think it out now, did he? >> No, he didn't. He didn't get the power of editing. Poncho. >> Yeah, I I guess mine would be Who's holding? >> Everyone, make sure you check out Fear Factory House of Fear. Johnny, what time does this air in Siberia? >> Oh, I think at uh 300 a.m. >> Is that Kamchatka time? >> Yes. Yes. >> Or Makachkala? >> Uh the second one. >> Check out our last meals hat and more over at mythical.com.