Bam Margera Interview
The first time I ever saw Bam, he had tits. He didn't show them off or anything, but they were pretty easy to see through his baggy T-shirt. I remember watching him just shit all over this mini-ramp and wondering, "Who the hell is this roly-poly fat kid blasting face high frontside airs?" Then someone told me his name and that he was from Westchester, Pennsylvania. Then I started feeling bad for him, like, "It's bad enough his name sucks, he's fat, and that he's from Westchester. He'll never go anywhere in life." And I was right. He's still sitting back in Westchester messing around, only now he's the star of Jackass, one of the highest-paid skateboarders in the world, is working on a major motion picture and hangs out with rap stars. What a shame.
For the record, tell everybody how you got the name Bam again.
I got the name Bam from my grandpa. I was like three or something, just running into walls being an idiot, and it was just like bam, bam, bam, chill out, bam, bam. So it was Bam Bam forever, and then when I reached the fifth grade, everyone called me Bam, even my teachers and shit.
Do you even remember what your real name is?
Yeah, it's Brandon. Nobody ever calls me that though.
Would you get pissed off if they started calling you that?
No. I don't care.
And why don't you tell everybody what it feels like to be confused for a little girl when you were growing up.
What do you mean?
I heard that you looked like a little girl when you were little.
Oh, did I? No, I never had long hair. Maybe when I was like two or something.
But you sure you weren't maybe like nine or ten and had long hair?
No, I never had long hair. Maybe I just looked like a girl with short hair?
What's the most expensive house in Westchester?
Yeah, I just bought a new one right outside of Westchester in Glen Mills. That was $400,000. My mom really liked it, so I got it for her, and i'm always on tour in California and stuff, so it's pretty much her house. I just said that I wanted the three-car garage and I wanted the basement and I want two rooms upstairs.
How big is the house?
There's six rooms, and there is one big one. I'm probably gonna put a halfpipe in the back and just make it a fucked-up film house, like put trampolines and pools and diving boards off the top of the roof and make it complete madness.
So you finally started drinking?
Yeah, finally. I got so pissed off at my ex-girlfriend, that was the first reason why.
Why, what happend?
She got fingered at the beach by some random dude. I was like three hours away in Ocean city, Maryland, and i'm like, "What the fuck, man?" I'm like, "Fuck it, I'm just gonna get hammered because i'm so mad."
How did you find that out?
She told me. I was on tour, on some random Toy Machine tour in Chicago, and she was like telling me how much she loved me and how much fun we're gonna have 'cause it was senior week and shit, and I was like, "Chill out, I'll be there in two days," you know. So I didn't talk to her for two days, and then I just decided to drive up there without calling her, and then when I was like 20 minutes away I decided to call, and then she told me that she hooked up with somebody. A week later I found out that it was her getting fingered at the beach instead. So whenever somebody says that they hooked up with somebody, it's always probably a little bit more than that. But I have a really cool girlfriend now. Her name is Jenn.
You've been with this girl Jenn since you turned into a superstar?
Well, I've known her since I was like 13, but she's six years older than me. I'm 21, and she's 27.
Since you pretty much blew up and you're all famous and shit now, you've been with the same chick?
Yeah. I mean I could go away for two months and not have to worry about anything. I broke up with her for a little bit just 'cause I knew I had to think about stuff, and then when I got home, I realized it's good, I couldn't ask for anything better, so why not.
Yeah, but aren't all kinds of fuckin' hot-ass model chicks trying to get into your pants?
Sometimes, but it's just like it would only be that night and is it worth it? Do you think it's worth it?
Man, you know how you feel about all those years of drinking that you missed out on?
Yeah.
It's gonna be the same feeling in a couple years with chicks.
I go to these radio stations in Philly, and they're always saying, "What are you doing, man, this is like your time, and why do you have a girlfriend right now?" I'm just like whatever, I just try to blow it off. It's so mellow though, I'm like so busy filming and skating and just doing other shit that a girlfriend is like fifth on the list, and she totally knows that. It's such a mellow relationship that it's perfect the way it is right now.
Didn't Pink try to get with you?
No, I used to skate with her back in the day, and she was just saying call me up when you get to L.A. because I just moved to Venice. So I gave her a call, and I just went over to her house, and we were just watching TV and shit. I don't even remember skating with her back in the day, but she was naming all the friends that were my friends, so I was like, "All right, I believe you."
Could she skate?
She says she can, she says that she's building a halfpipe in front of her house, so I guess she's pretty good. She sais she went to Cheap Skates all the time and went to Woodward and she knows Tom Boyle and stuff, and I was like, "Damn," you know?
Did she remind you of how fat you used to be when you used to skate?
Dude, I made this CKY documentary, and I had to go through old footage, and I was so bummed to use my shit because I'm a fuckin' fat bastard right there.
And you used to fucking skate with no shirt on too, you had tits.
I would be like, "Dude, I think I'm fucking fat," and my mom would be like, "No, you'll spread out when you start growing. You're 15 right now, you're gonna squirt up." I'm like, yeah right.
You were just fat.
It's just that Phil goes to the supermarket and gets all these coupons and brings home all these goodies and shit. I was just eating what he was bringing home, what the hell did I know? I was like some 15-year-old punk, and then when I went to California and met Ed [Templeton], and he's like, "Yo, vegan, vegan, vegan," you know like you can't eat turkey, you have to have vegan turkey. You can't have aspirin, you have to have vegan aspirin, so like---
What the hell's vegan aspirin?
Just everything was vegan. Then I'm like, "Damn, all right, health food," so then I started doing that, so now when I go home, I just get my own shit.
How was that working with fuckin' Ed, him being so hardcore about that shit?
Sometimes it sucked. I remember driving across country with him, and we would be driving on the 80, and we would go two to three hours outta the way to stop in like Roanoke, Virginia, to get some health food at this really cool health-food store. Kerry [Getz] was so pissed 'cause he liked McDonald's and shit and he thinks that all vegan stuff just takes like air, and he's just like, "This is bullshit, I don't know why we're driving three fuckin' hours outta the way to eat this vegan bullshit when I'm just gonna cross the street to Wendy's anyway." You know, just so angry about it, it was hilarious.
So after Toy Machine where did you go, over to Element?
Well, I didn't really wanna leave Toy Machine, but Tod Swank was ripping me off for the CKY video, so I was just like, "Ed, what am I supposed to do? I wanna be involved with Toy Machine, but I don't want to be involved with Tum Yeto," and Ed didn't do anything about it, so i'm like, all right, well I'm gone then, see ya. Then Maldonado left, and then Kerry left, and it's just like fuck Tod Swank, you know, and now I'm on Element. It was the best move I've ever made because what I was making over there at Tum Yeto was a complete joke.
When I hung out with you, what was that gay drink you were drinking?
I like girly drinks. I was into Midori sours. And then Danny from the skatepark got meinto blackberry brandy.
Tell me about the last Tony Hawk tour, what highlights were there that didn't make it on camera?
Yeah, I know there's so much good stuff that you just can't play on Jackass and ESPN and stuff. I'm surprised they put the hotel jump in there. That was probably the funnest thing. It was the sixth floor of a hotel. I just jumped off into an eight-foot-deep pool. It was just madness, it was so easy. You would skate a demo for a day and get $1,200 and then get to chill the next day and then it was like have fun all day, and then the next day's demo and then have fun again, and then the next day's demo -- it's so simple.
Tell me about Kris Markovich's stage diving.
Yeah, at the Foo-Fighter's concert. He was just getting all hammered, and he gives me the camera like, "Film this, I'm gonna jump into the crowd," but there wasn't anybody standing, they were all sitting down in chairs. I was sitting there waiting for like 15 minutes to hit the record button. I'm like, he chickened out, he wussed. I was getting ready to shut it off, and then I look up, and there he goes running full speed. I'm like, "Fuck, fuck, fuck," and I missed the whole thing. He got so worked, he hit people and chairs and stuff. He had little bruises all over the place.
Did the security guards do anything?
Yeah, yeah, the one guy punched him in the face, and everybody was all angry and stuff, and I think I have footage of him getting punched.
Did you ever shit on anybody's skateboard, Bam?
I had nothin' to do with that. Oh, man, I got into the Hawk tour, and everybody was pissed at some skater.
Who? The one who only wears yellow shirts?
Yeah, and somebody pooped in this skater's bearings, and like I had nothing to do with it, but I saw the whole thing happen. That's about it.
Making new CKY stuff now and then looking back on the old stuff, how has that changed for you?
The quality and just everything is much more legit now, and we actually have money to work with. Before it was just an 8mm video camera, and we would have to keep recording over the same tape because no one wanted to buy a new one. And I mean MTV always has these schedule's like, "Arrive in L.A. at 3 p.m., film the Ice Skateboarding skit at four o'clock," just having all these legit things, it's hard to just get footage like that. The best footage is so spontaneous, like I go in the woods with Brandon and Ryan and just walk around and just fall outta trees and shit and that's where we get our best footage. Just going in the woods and just being an idiot.
How do you handle dealing with the MTV mentality?
I just do it. Sometimes I get bummed because they try to be all legit about it, and people start arguing like when they came out to Westchester to film. The first day we were filming "Straight Jacket" where I was like barging out of a mental institution, and Tremaine and Mike Ballard were arguing so bad because I had this super-good fall and the only person that could film it was Ballard because there was a wall blocking the other two video cameramen, so they were like, "Ballard, you were the only person that could have got that shot, why didn't you get it?" And he said, "You told me to film reactions, everything that I do is gonna be wrong, so fuck this." I didn't even feel like being funny at all anymore, I was just like, this sucks.
So do you still do most of the stuff yourself and then just send it over to MTV?
Yeah, I do everything myself. I film it, but if it's me doing it, then I'll get Gee to film it, and I have Media 100 at my house so I edit everything and then send it over there. But I hate it 'cause they cut it up into nothing over there, like the skit will have to be three minutes long, and they'll make it like a minute and 25 seconds, and you don't even know what the fuck is going on.
Do you have any say in any of that shit?
Kind of, now that I know everybody over there, It's a lot easier, but in the beginning I didn't know anybody, and they were just choppin' shit up, and they would put Johnny Knoxville on there for like five minutes, but if it was anybody else it would be for like two seconds.
I hear horror stories about how MTV just doesn't pay a lot of money?
Yeah, I know. I'm doing good just because I film, edit and other shit. It's better than nothing. I tell Ryan Dunn and those guys, "Yo, if you were getting no money you're better off doing it anyway because what else would you be doing? Putting stereos in cars and shit in Westchester?" I'm just like, I'm gonna do this and don't bitch about it, and then cooler shit will happen later on, and it is, so I'm not really worried about it.
What's the basic outline of the movie [Haggard]?
It's actually a true story and it's gonna be funny. It's about Ryan Dunn and how his ex-girlfriend fucked the town of Westchester behind his back. She was such a slut. She seriously humped loads of people while he was going out with her, and he found out a year later. She would do gnarly things. She would see her ex-boyfriend at the bar, and Ryan would be like, "Dude, why are you talking to your ex-boyfriend, why?" And she would be like, "I think that you're overreacting and you need to go home and think about this." So he would go home, and then later on he would find out that her ex-boyfriend drove her to Ryan's house, fucked her in Ryan's driveway, and then she went in and fell asleep next to Ryan.
Are you kidding?
Swear. That's like haggard shit. So it's basically about that and how Ryan was so whipped and stuff.
Was she hot?
I mean she was pretty, I guess, but then you'd meet her, and you see what she's like and it's kind of a turn off because Ryan's like, "That big gaping hole, she's such a dirty whore." So then she turns really haggard right when he says that.
Do you still have her number?
No, he does though, I'm sure.
Do you think he'd be pissed if I called him and asked him for it?
Oh, no, he'd probably love it. He thinks it's hilarious. So yeah, the movie is about Ryan and me and Brandon like have to spy on her to see if she's cheating on him and stuff, and it turns out that she's humping this dude Hell Boy, which is Rake Yohn, and it's just a big comedy. Hopefully everybody will be laughing nonstop throughout the whole movie. There's so much funny shit in it thought, and everybody's gonna be in it.
Is there going to be a Johnny Knoxville cameo?
Um, no. I mean it would be cool if he was, but he's doing movies for a million, and I just want CKY dudes in there. People call up Knoxville like, "Hey, I want you to do this party tonight and I'll pay you $15,000," and he's like, "Nah." Shit, bitch, I'd do it for $1,500. Bring it on.
What was the deal with your night in New York City with Knoxville for fashion week?
He just called me up like, "I'm in New York, and if you could come up here at eight o'clock, then we could get into this limo and go to this crazy party." I just got in my car and left, made it there, perfect timing, and then we hopped in this limo and went to this party. That's where I met Pink.
You go to a lot of those big Hollywood parties now?
Not really. I go to 'em more now. I went to this Def Jam party, and it's just like, "Cool, I'm in this mansion in Beverly Hills with CKY dudes, and there's Nelly and there's Sysqo and there's Ja Rule. Too bad I don't have shit to say to any of 'em because I don't listen to their music."
But back to the night in New York, how did you and Knoxville end up in bed together with make-up on?
Okay, after the fashion party we went to this haggard bar that Janeane Garofalo likes to hang out at, and that's who we met there, and we got all this make-up from the party becuase it was sponsored by M.A.C. make-up or something, so we're just like look at all this shit we have, and then Garofalo, was puttin' eyeliner on me and then doing it to Knoxville, and then sooner or later everybody had it on, and we just got all hammered and we went back to the hotel and we both woke up with make-up on and shit, and we're all like, in bed together. I'm like, "Bro, chill out, I'm going back to Philly. Don't say a word about this." He called up Tremaine, like "Tremaine, I woke up the next morning and I'm in bed with Bam, and we both had make-up on."
But what's the deal with you and make-up, though, you like to wear make-up?
Yeah, well, Valo wears make-up, and he's---
Who?
The singer of H.I.M., and basically that dude's seriously awesome. I saw him live, and there were girls fainting because he was looking at 'em as he was singing, and I was like, I can't believe it. I ended up meeting him, and now I hang out with him and talk to him all the time. I did these photos: I drew my arm up, 'cause he has this tattoo on his arm, it's like all these vines and shit, and I drew it up, and it took like four hours, and then I did a mock-up picture of the same one that he did, so when I did the photo-shoot I put the fuckin' eye-liner on. I don't care.
 And you went and got the same tattoos as that dude?
Well, I got an upside-down heart on my arm. What I really wanted was the tattoo of the heartagram right above my cock area, so I ended up getting that, and Jenn got one on her back too.
Did you have to have your pants around your ankles when you got your tattoo?
No, I was wearing sweatpants, and I pulled it down as low as I could without having my cock stick out.
Did you get a hard-on?
No.
How do you feel about little kids immitating you?
I don't know how the hell they could ever think that they could sue Jackass because the kid poured gasoline on himself, or his friend did, and then lit him on fire. Of course he's gonna go up in flames. Knoxville had on a flame suit. He could just blame it on an Arnold Schwarzenegger film. I watched an Arnold Schwarzenegger film, and he was blowing shit up, so why don't you sue him? You could probably get more money. I saw that dude at Columbia Pictures and he was driving around in a $300,000 Mercedes Land Rover-type truck.
Are you worried somebody's eventually going to die trying to copy one of your things?
I don't know. I get scared sometimes.
That you're going to die?
Dude, I'm on so many airplanes, like suppose I just crash on one? What's gonna happen? As long as I'm listening to H.I.M. music I'll be all right. I've seen videos, and it's either them completely copying what I did, or it's just like something else that's really half-assed. Like if they give me a video of them like slapping each other, it's such half assed slaps and stuff, it's just kinda gay. I don't know. I never really got a video that was like, "Damn, they're going all out." I haven't seen that.
When you're trying to skate, do you get a lot of kids pestering you?
Yeah. I'll try to skate in a demo, and I'll have at least ten kids that are just dead seriously like, "C'mon man, punch me right in the face," I'm like, "Dude, I'm skating, why do you want me to punch you in the face?" "Just do it man! Throw me down stairs, push me off this bridge," They would seriously let me kill them to be in a video. I went to Japan, and this kid was just wanting to be in a video so bad. He jumped off this loading dock, and the railing was about five feet high, and he couldn't jump high enough, so he clipped his belly and then did two flips because he was running full speed toward the fence, and he jumped it and got whipped around, and then he flew into this serious dirt river, and there was no ladder to get out, and he's just floating around in this sick, disgusting, garbagy river, and I was like, "Dude, that's disgusting."
Did that make it into CKY?
No, some kid was filming it in like high-8, and I was like, "Bro, I don't want it."
Do you ever take kids up on the offer of punching them in the face, like if you're pissed off?
No, I don't realy do it. I just like punching Ryan and Brandon or Raab. I don't know. Ryan has a big, fat head, like he could handle it.
Do you get thrown out of bars a lot?
When there's a bunch of people, like just in a bar, and nobody's paying attention because there's such loud music and so much shit going on, you could just piss on somebody's leg and they wouldn't even notice. I would just piss on the dance floor, and nobody even knows. I do it all the time. Like next to an arcade game or something. If you're just sitting there talking, acting like nothing is going on, nobody even looks because they never think that would happen.
Did you ever get caught pissing on somebody or a dance floor?
I pissed on a dance floor in Sweden, and they mistook me for Ryan Dunn, so the next thing you see Ryan Dunn get thrown outta the fuckin' club by his head through the window, like straight out of a movie. And he's like, "What the fuck did I do?" I was kinda bummed for him, it was so funny though 'cause they totally thought it was Ryan, and he's getting thrown out by his head. I was dying.
What's the gnarliest thing that yous guys have filmed that you're not allowed to show on TV?
Raab himself on Sunday morning. He was shitting in the middle of the street with a newspaper and he was naked, shitting in the middle of the street, and there was actually like a foot of turd hanging out of his ass, and it's such good footage, but MTV of course couldn't play it. They couldn't even blur out the poop. They ended up using him just sitting there, but there was a foot of turd hanging out of his ass, and the best part about that was the dude who pulled up to the stop sign was the superintendant for Chester County High Schools, and that was the guy who kicked him out of East High School for shitting on a locker. So he sees him four to five years later, and the kid hasn't learned one bit, he's still shitting out in public. I didn't know it at the time. That guy called the cops, there was three cop cars circling around while me and Chris were hiding in the woods, and he's all naked and shit. We ended up breaking out to my house, and we watched the footage when we got home, and he was like, "That's the motherfucker who kicked me out of school for shitting on a locker!" It was hilarious.
So with all this shit happening to you, with all this money you're gonna be making, how much is skateboarding still a part of your life?
I'm always gonna skate. It's just that there's so much business stuff to be handled that there's hardly any time to skate, but of course I make time. But when I'm in L.A., sometimes I just come for strictly Jackass or movie scripts. I'm in L.A. and Arto's like, "Yo, I'm in Huntington, come and skate with me." It's just like, "Dude, I'm not ready to be jumping down 14 stairs after doing these meetings for two weeks; I only got to skate mini-ramp for a while."
I guess that's it. I don't think we need anything else. Do you got to give your plugs or your shout-outs or whatever?
No, everybody knows who they are.
Comments
rankly
01 Mar 2007, 05:02
this is about 5 years old right? nevermind. i declare ENTERTAINING on this interview which is funny because when ive seen bam margera speak on tv he cant really string a sentence together. when i was 16 he was my no. 1 crush i even went to many gay messageboards to stake my claim on him. (all in one evening) i aged the next day and was like fuck that i feel rinsed and filthy.
cody ellwood
16 Mar 2007, 18:20
bam is the biggest god damn fag i have ever seen he can go suck on a dick
he is shitty at skateing and he should be a pro or has a show
Gatsby Blastyn
13 Apr 2007, 11:44
Cody... calm down. Bam is a good guy.
You on the other hand can't even form a sentence or express a thought. If there's anyone we should all be concerned about, it's you.
hard charger
20 May 2007, 04:18
haha, yeah good point.
bam is kind of whatever though. he'd whore himself out for anything as well as grow the fuck up with all that emo gear and makeup.
not cool.
Cherry Poppins
31 Oct 2007, 07:13
Isnt life funny? Did you know a rat can last longer without water than a camel? Or that a female ferret will die if she cant find a mate when she's on heat? And then theres Micheal Barrymore. And riddle me this: why do any of you dorks hate a guy so hard when he lives the funnest life ever? I mean, I dedicate my life to having a fun job and then blowing all my money on fun, Im funned out my nut, but this fellow takes that doctrine to a new level.
If I were him, and even if I werent, all Id do all day is watch my wife do her thing on this here video:
(go to youporn and search McDonalds)
Ok, in the eyes of the law we're not married, but the law is my ass.
Ive jerked off over her so many times we're practically in a mid-marriage lull. We should probably go to councelling. I mean, I know I still love her and she loves me but theres a lot of other girls out there that keep trying to get my attention. And i dont even know her name. can you believe that? i dont know my oen wife's name. Plus Im worried she might have 'hooked up' with someone recently like Bam was talking about. If I didnt like drinking so much already that girl would drive me to drink. Hey Im sory to moan, I mean Im married to a total babe, I should be happy. Look, dont listen to me, Im sure we'll work through it though. Ill keep you posted ok? What was I talking about?
cherry sluttins
04 Nov 2007, 16:26
I can't believe how dumb people are that comment in this place. (see the corey duffel thread of comments)
But this last idiot takes the cake. LOOK I TOOK MY SLUT TO MCDONALDS!! ANYBODY CARE!? SHE'S A HUGE WHORE BUT WE'RE SOOOOO HAPPY!! YAY!!
Dude, get a life, nobody cares.
Cherry Poppins
07 Nov 2007, 03:25
She may be a whore but thats no reason to call her a slut is it?
But then, I dont imagine you are someone who has ever been troubled by paradox- you called everyone who commented on this page dumb within your comment on this page, you thick cunt.
Cherry Poppins
12 Dec 2007, 12:15
UPDATE::
I found out my wifes name!
Jim
13 Feb 2008, 12:26
Bam is a fucking legend!!!
Ronald
22 Mar 2008, 18:26
yeh man, i can't beleive how dumb people are that comment in this place... what a mug!
Ronald
22 Mar 2008, 18:26
yeh man, i can't beleive how dumb people are that comment in this place... what a mug!
MUGS ARE PEOPLE WHO...
23 Mar 2008, 14:19
POST TWICE.
blahh
20 Apr 2008, 22:03
why the hate every1 needs to chill..
jamann
13 Jul 2008, 15:03
Bam OWNS!
CW
20 Jul 2008, 03:29
bam is so freaking awesome, damn
bam
31 Jul 2008, 14:49
bam is frickin awesome and hotttt!
Landorf
21 Oct 2008, 05:02
people really need to stop hating and carrying on about their hate for succesful people just because its likeley that their own life are never gonna get anywhere. boo hoo, nobody gives a shit if you hate bam so get over yourselves and wine about some other celebrity. :)
skim
21 Oct 2008, 07:41
I HATE CELEBRITY'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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