it’s showtime!
on dave england's new short and being a second-rate jackass star
Credit: It’s Showtime dir. Brennan Stasiewicz
Without being hyperbolic, there probably isn’t anything more humiliating than being a second-tier star of Jackass.
I mean how could it not be? Your entire livelihood, all your notoriety, your literal body, is constantly dependent on the other guys feeling like making a movie. On the other guys working with their more expensive lawyers, getting deals for more expensive paychecks, and, again, feeling like making a movie.
And that feels stupid right? I can only imagine at least. You’re already known for getting your tooth yanked out of your skull, but that’s nothing next to the guy who shot himself or the guy who swallowed a goldfish or the guy who broke every bone in his body landing skate tricks. And now that you’re older, maybe worse for wear after everything, what does that feel like?
And not only that but you’ve been doing this for decades and, yes, you held onto a niche at some point in time, thank God, but now that niche has been co-opted by new people with new technology. Your original work came out on a VHS tape for a magazine for chrissake.
That’s exactly what Brennan Stasiewicz set out to figure out in his new short, It’s Showtime starring the one and only, snowboarding, stunt puking, shit-eating Dave England.
While England’s stunts are coveted to people like me, the vomlette, the firehose rodeo, beehive tetherball, any time he’s been exploded off of something, the list goes on, he is, as he admits in this short, a secondary player to Jackass’ stars. Like many members, he was pulled into the crew early via Big Brother and his extreme sports skills, mostly snowboarding but skateboarding too. He was also in most episodes of the TV show and every movie, but his stardom never broke out the way Johnny Knoxville’s did immediately or Steve-O’s did infamously.
It’s Showtime, which was co-written by Brennan Stasiewicz and Dave England (and stars England’s own family), explores that post-Jackass Forever weirdness. It not only studies this character-version-of-England’s embarrassing hunger for attention but unearths a pathetic hunger for a small amount of instant attention via social media and nostalgia. I don’t want to give anything away but I’ve decided this is a pretty earnest project. The Jackass guys are largely earnest so while it’s overtly tongue-in-cheek, perhaps riddled with some getting-to-the-joke-so-other-people-don’t-make-it-for-England finality, it also shows England’s cards. He knows exactly how famous he is and exactly how he is perceived and that is ultimately and automatically vulnerable.
I think the whole thing is great, funny, and unexpectedly meditative. Anyone cool knows that Jackass wouldn’t be the same without Dave England’s totally gross out, gag-inducing legacy. Check it out!
Hell of a project to release the same week that Chris Pontius rejoined Cameo.
Hey it’s me — been a little busy this past month traveling and whatnot but I’m back on my Jackass World grind. Next up is Part 2 of my Jackass: The Game saga!