Jackass and Viva La Bam star Bam Margera will revisit the people, skate culture, music and behind-the-scenes chaos of his career with filmmaker Joe Frantz, including footage that has never been publicly seen.
by Paul Cashmere
Bam Margera will bring a collection of previously unseen footage from his CKY and Viva La Bam years to Australia in November, joining filmmaker and longtime collaborator Joe Frantz for three nights built around stories from one of the most recognisable eras of skate and punk culture.
An Evening With Bam Margera will begin at Brisbane’s Powerhouse on November 3, followed by the Factory Theatre in Sydney on November 4 and Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne on November 5.
The format will take Margera back to the period before and during his rise to international fame, with Frantz using material from his personal archives to revisit moments that did not make it to television.
Frantz was closely involved in several of Margera’s projects, including Viva La Bam, CKY and Jackass. His archive provides a different way into Margera’s history, moving beyond the familiar television episodes and films to footage from the skate scene, band tours, stunts and projects that remained outside the finished programmes.
“I’m fuckin’ stoked to be coming to Australia this November,” Margera says. “I’m gonna be telling some stories and talking about some of the craziest shit from that whole time in my life.”
He says the presence of Frantz will allow the pair to revisit material that audiences have not previously seen.
“Skate demos, Viva La Bam stunts, touring with the bands, all the stupid shit we got ourselves into, and a bunch of stuff we filmed that never even made it onto TV,” he says.
That history began well before MTV. Margera started skateboarding as a child and was making homemade videos with friends by the 1990s. Those recordings developed into the CKY video series, combining skateboarding, stunts, pranks and music and establishing the group of friends that would later become closely associated with Margera’s television career.
The CKY material ultimately brought Margera and Ryan Dunn to the attention of Jeff Tremaine, leading to their involvement in MTV’s Jackass. Margera subsequently appeared in the Jackass films while developing Viva La Bam, which followed his family, friends and the CKY crew through increasingly elaborate stunts and adventures.
Music was also central to that world. Margera hosted Radio Bam from 2004 and later established Filthy Note Records, directing videos for artists including Clutch, Turbonegro, Viking Skull, Vains of Jenna, CKY and Finnish band HIM. He also played keyboards in Gnarkill and was involved in other music projects.
That makes the Australian shows more than a retrospective of television stunts. Margera’s career crossed skateboarding, filmmaking, television and music, with the CKY crew providing the connective tissue between many of those projects.
The evening will also address a more difficult part of Margera’s story. The event description says Margera will discuss addiction, drugs and the consequences of that lifestyle, alongside his experiences of coming through those periods. His struggles with alcoholism and drug use have been publicly documented for many years, including periods of rehabilitation and the disruption of his professional career.
His relationship with the Jackass franchise also became complicated. Margera was removed from the production of Jackass Forever in 2021, later appearing in the film through material filmed before his termination. In 2026, he permitted archive and unused footage to be included in Jackass: Best and Last, while declining to film new material for the project.
The Australian appearances therefore come at a point when archive material is again part of Margera’s public story. Rather than presenting a conventional career retrospective, the shows will pair first-hand recollections with footage from the period when skate videos, punk music and MTV television were increasingly becoming part of the same cultural landscape.
Frantz will question Margera, add his own memories and provide context around the footage. The result is intended to move between the well-known Jackass and Viva La Bam years and the less familiar material that existed behind the finished productions.
Tickets go on sale Thursday, September 24 at 9am AEST, with presales beginning Tuesday, September 22 at 9am AEST.
Tuesday 3 November, Brisbane, Powerhouse
Wednesday 4 November, Sydney, Factory Theatre
Thursday 5 November, Melbourne, Thornbury Theatre
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