MINNEAPOLIS — "Jackass" star Stephen Gilchrist Glover will turn 48 the day before he performs in Minneapolis. Don't bother wishing him a happy birthday.
"I couldn't care less," Glover, best known as Steve-O, said by phone last week. "To me, it's just a day that makes me one year older and causes my phone to be more annoying than it already is. You always hear from people you don't want to hear from."
If Glover is crankier about his age than most, it may be because his act depends so much on behaving like a reckless kid. His Bucket List Tour, part of the Minneapolis Comedy Festival, consists largely of videos capturing his most outrageous stunts, some of which were too graphic for the film franchise.
Glover offered a sneak preview of the show:
Q: You've set a pretty exhausting schedule for yourself. It looks like you're performing in 13 different cities in July alone. Why so much time on the road?
A: I think the answer is that I fell in love with the tour-bus lifestyle. I spent 11 years grinding it out on the stand-up circuit, battling my way through airports, checking in and out of hotels. But now I can have fun with my buddies on the bus and, magically, we show up where the show is. I bring an editor with me so we can crank out content and I can just cruise.
Q: This show is pretty graphic. Who shouldn't show up?
A: It would be illegal for anyone under 18 to attend because it actually qualifies for an XXX rating. That's because of a bit where I'm butt naked and strapped to another guy as we jump out of an airplane. I don't think there's anything to be scared of, unless you're the kind of guy who passes out. Three of the videos have caused fully grown men to pass out, which is really weird and kind of cool.
Q: Do you have a theory as to why people enjoy this kind of physical humor?
A: Number one, I think it's the sheer phenomenon of rubber necking, like the grandma slowing down to see the carnage from an accident. I think there's also something endearing about our ability not to take ourselves too seriously. We're comfortable looking uncool. We give each other a terrible time, but we're careful not to be mean-spirited. There's nothing negative about it. For that reason, it's oddly wholesome.
Q: Has the audience changed over the years?
A: I think the most notable new demographic is the movie critic. Twenty years ago, we got crapped on pretty hard. But in 2022, we became a critic's darling. I thought that was fascinating. Maybe it just took some time for the rest of the world to devolve to our level.
Q: How much longer do you think you can do this kind of comedy?
A: Yeah, all my worst injuries have been in the past six years. I broke my collarbone in multiple places. I was on a wakeboard getting towed by a horse. My bones are more brittle now while the bar keeps going up. I don't know how much more I have in me. But now I'm doing a podcast. I've got a second book coming out. I've never heard of anyone getting hurt writing a book. I think I'm going to evolve. I hope that I've attracted enough people with this high level of insanity that I can carry on in the future with low-impact comedy.
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