The impact that Jackass had on the world continues to be felt to this day. Without that daring show, the proliferation of “prank” YouTube channels, prank viral marketing, and prank feature films wouldn’t be nearly what it is; not to mention that the limits to which you can push an audience were only made stronger by their outrageous behavior.
There is, however, some charm to Jackass. By doing the things we only think about and never even say out loud, they scratched an itch that people couldn’t carry out and doomed an entire generation to forgo the warning labels and try it at home.
Today marks the 15th Anniversary since the release of Jackass: The Movie and to mark the occasion, we’ve picked what we think are the 50 best stunts and sketches from the entire series. Check out the best Jackass stunts in the gallery below, watch the clips linked in each slide (where available), and sound off with your thoughts in the comments below!
(Editor’s note: Though it should go without saying, as some of the things carried out on Jackass were quite disgusting, that the following list does contain some truly gross things. You should also not attempt anything you see listed below.)
Best of Jackass
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#50 The Swamp Chute (Jackass Number Two)
In and of itself, there is nothing remarkable in the idea behind The Swamp Chute. Wee Man stands in front of airboats that blow him into a nearby swamp, but the noise he makes makes it memorable and hilarious.
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#49 Mianus (Jackass: The Series)
In the early days of Jackass, they were still testing the waters of what they could and couldn’t do with the series, which resulted in the kind of skits that they started to shy away from like this one where the town of Mianus, Connecticut was the butt of the joke.
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#48 Broken Arm Guy (Jackass: The Series)
Another of their public pranks, the schtick of Broken Arm Guy is Johnny Knoxville has two broken arms and really needs to pee but he can’t get his pants down on his own. The absurdity of the situation, which no one seems to realize, is what makes it peak Jackass.
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#47 The Fish Hook (Jackass Number Two)
Steve-O, who would move over to the Wild Boyz series after Jackass: The Series concluded, would take the two things he was known for: Piercing his body with something crazy, and interacting with dangerous animals, and make one of the most boneheaded but must-see sketches.
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#46 Oklahoma (Jackass: The Series)
Preston gets beaten by some Dominatrixes (Dominatricies?) and his safe word is Oklahoma, so every time you hear the name of our 46th state you know two things: he’s in extreme pain and you’re laughing.
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#45 Krazy Glue Test (Jackass: The Series)
Glue isn’t an uncommon prop in the Jackass realm, but when Johnny Knoxville glued a construction helmet to a steel beam, and tested its grip by holding on over a mixture of olive oil, hot sauce, and human hair, he put the other instances to shame.
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#44 Big Red Rocket (Jackass Number Two)
One of the hallmarks of the second film almost didn’t even make the film since the first attempt didn’t go as planned (and could have killed Knoxville), but the successful instance of Big Red Rocket is flawless.
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#43 Night Pandas (Jackass: The Movie)
While there are many instances of “put on an animal costume and run around” in Jackass, when four of the cast members take to the streets of Tokyo and cause a ruckus it’s the culmination of this Jackass subgenre.
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#42 Johnny Coxville (Jackass: The Series)
Another early sketch with a simple idea, Knoxville has a fake erection in his pants and puts himself in situations that are less than ideal like playing basketball, going to a karate class, and knocking over a coffee cup.
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#41 The Loop (Jackass: The Series)
One of the many stunts performed out by a lake in Orlando, Florida, The Loop is famous for being a full pipe that skateboarders Tony Hawk and Bam Margered and BMX rider Mat Hoffman attempt to complete. It wouldn’t be enough for them to make it all the way either, they also complete it wearing chicken suits.
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#40 Roller Disco Truck (Jackass: The Movie)
One of the few sketches that has nearly the entire cast involved, a moving truck has the inside decorated like a cheap disco while most of the cast (attempts to) skate around while Preston drives erratically in a parking lot.
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#39 Punt Return (Jackass: The Series)
Johnny Knoxville gets his pads on and tries to return a punt against the USC Trojans during a practice, and naturally they let him have it. Worth watching specifically to see someone in a Tennessee Volunteers jersey get laid out.
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#38 The Omelette (Jackass: The Series)
Among the many incredibly disgusting sketches, this one may be the worst. Dave England eats all of the ingredients for an omelette, vomits it all back up into a pan, cooks it, and eats it again. I’m sorry.
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#37 Fire Hose Rodeo (Jackass Number Two)
Another Dave England joint, this time attempting to ride a firehose dangling from the air while it flails wildly. It sounds stupid, and that’s what makes it so great.
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#36 Beehive Tetherball (Jackass 3D)
Steve-O and Dave England (dressed like bears) play a self-explanatory game of beehive tetherball which is both horrifying and hilarious to watch.
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#35 Bar Brawl (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa)
Though the Bad Grandpa movie was more hit or miss than any of the other films in the franchise, the hits are grand slams; and the culminating event between Johnny’s character, his deadbeat “son in law,” and a crew of bikers that have no idea they’re in a movie is worth the wait.
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#34 Poo Diaper (Jackass: The Series)
Apologies in advance for another truly disgusting one, but Dave England’s chocolate pudding filled-diaper act, which he pulls out of a trash can and eats in front of people, is great despite being vomit-inducing.
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#33 Riot Control Test (Jackass Number Two)
The origins of Jackass actually stem from videos for Big Brother Magazine where Johnny Knoxville tested out mace, a taser, and a bullet proof vest on himself, so this seems like the proper escalation of the testing with a I-460 Stingmore Mine, which contains 700 .45 caliber rubber balls that are fired at the velocity of roughly 500 ft/s.
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#32 The Brand (Jackass Number Two)
Perhaps The Brand is so funny because it seems like the kind of ridiculous thing that a parody of the show would use as a joke, but they’re just crazy enough to do it.
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#31 Wedding Reception Crash (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa)
It’s hard to imagine something like this being real, but at the same time you can’t fake the reactions we see to an old man ruining a tower of champagne glasses and crashing into the table that the wedding cake is displayed on.
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#30 Ass Kicked by Girl (Jackass: The Movie)
The late Ryan Dunn goes up against Japanese kick boxer Naoko Kumagai in the most one-sided fight you’ve ever seen. This skit is critical to the oeuvre of Jackass though, as it answers the kind of question that is only hypothetical to most of us - “What would a regular person look like in a fight with a professional fighter?”
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#29 Tee Ball (Jackass 3D)
Honestly, it’s shocking it took until the third film in the series for a skit involving a revolving baseball on a tee hitting someone, but I’m glad they finally did.
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#28 Lamborghini Tooth Pull (Jackass 3D)
Honestly, it sounds way worse than it actually looks, but a rotten tooth gets roped up with some floss and tied to the back of a Ferrari which speeds away, yanking it out with a cartoon-like POP.
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#27 Duck Hunting (Jackass 3D)
The mixture of pain and humor is the cornerstone of Jackass, so when you get a few people dressed as ducks (complete with glued on feathers) and another group prepped to fire paintballs at them as they fly through the air, you get a killer stunt.
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#26 Poop Volcano (Jackass 3D)
Again, another gross one, but this is an essential sketch because it does the kind of thing with a high speed, 3D camera that absolutely no one else in Hollywood would have or ever will do.
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#25 The Strongman (Jackass Number Two)
Another great intersection of a few different Jackass ideals occurs here: Chris Pontius in an over-the-top costume and accent, a modification of an existing device, and nudity.
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#24 American Werewolf in London (Jackass: The Series)
What makes this “Animal costume runs around and terrorizes people” so great are the truly varied reactions that Chris Pontius gets out of the people he’s scaring. Also it’s named after the best movie ever made.
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#23 Golf Course Fishing (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa)
Though relegated to a flashback in the “narrative” of the movie, Johnny Knoxville’s Irving Zisman catches a giant fish with an incorrect piece of anatomy that is as hilarious as it is stupid.
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#22 Terror Taxi (Jackass Number Two)
The culminating prank of the second movie is so big that it’s a double prank. While “Danger Ehren” thinks he’s pulling a prank on a cab driver by posing as a (frankly racist) caricature of a “terrorist,” the crew pulls a fast one on him and has the driver in on the prank, resulting in the best moments of “reality” from this reality series.
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#21 Department Store Boxing (Jackass: The Movie)
Department Store Boxing is fantastic if only because it’s over before it’s even started. It earns its place among the various Jackass stunts for being among the many that happen in public and the people around them have no idea what went down. Also Knoxville’s final line, while wheezing through his broken nose, of “Is Butterbean okay?” is an all time great.
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#20 The Puppet Show (Jackass Number Two)
There may not have been a better way to start the second movie than by wrapping up Chris Pontius’ most sensitive part and parading it in front of a snake. To the uninitiated in Jackass it sounds horrible, and it is, but it’s also amazing.
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#19 The Switcheroo (Jackass Number Two)
Pranks pulled on Bam Margera’s mother April wouldn’t be so satisfying if she didn’t have the explosive and hilarious reactions she does, so among the best is when Preston Lacy (in disguise) switches places with her husband/Bam’s father, Phil, in the middle of the night.
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#18 The Gorilla (Jackass 3D)
Another April prank where Pontius dresses like a loose gorilla inside her hotel room and crashes around. How everyone plays along like he’s in fact a real gorilla is the icing on the cake, and Phil Margera’s final line in the prank is the cherry on top.
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#17 Jet Engine Stunt (Jackass 3D)
Though without a proper name, the crew stands behind a blasting jet engine and though they attempt mundane things like sitting in a chair or catching a football, the velocity and fierceness with which they happen make this one a classic.
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#16 Butt Chug (Jackass Number Two)
A beer, a funnel, and Steve-O’s rear end are all you really need to know about what happened here, but the end result has to be seen to be believed.
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#15 Paper Cuts (Jackass: The Movie)
Of all the countless sketches with vomit and poop, none of them come even close to the grossness and cringe factor of Paper Cuts, where the crew willingly get paper cuts between their fingers, toes, and other sensitive areas.
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#14 Oddly Shaped Men (Jackass: The Series)
This recurring sketch is simple: Preston chases Wee Man while the pair only wear undershirts and tightie whities. It's a fitting title for a sketch that always gets a laugh.
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#13 Antiquing (Jackass: The Series)
Another recurring bit that followed the series throughout: find an unsuspecting person and hit them in the face with a handful of flour. Stupid? Yes. Hilarious? Every time.
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#12 Bad Grandpa (Jackass Number Two)
The sketch so good that it spawned an entire movie is actually a masterwork. Johnny Knoxville, and his young cohort, play the parts so well that the people around them have absolutely no idea they're on camera and being pranked.
“Do you want to step outside?”
“We're already outside.”
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#11 The Toro Totter (Jackass Number Two)
Angry bulls, and other horn-headed animals, quickly became a staple for the franchise when they started working with more money and the four-man teeter totter competition with a live bull running around it was the pinnacle for sure.
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#10 Jackass: The Movie Intro
The opening sequence of Jackass: The Movie captures the entire absurdity of the series and scores it to "O Fortuna" in perhaps the most epic mash-up of stupidity and classic music.
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#9 Hardware Store Crap (Jackass: The Movie)
Dave England enters a hardware store and defecates into a display toilet, the kind of thing you always heard about or giggled about in a Home Depot, and what happens is about what you expect.
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#8 Fireworks Wake Up (Jackass: The Movie)
This April and Phil prank is worthy because it's a double whammy and has some of what is actually the funniest cinematography of the entire series. A whole series of fireworks are set off in their room in the middle of the night and seeing the full verocity of the explosions in ONE window of a completely dark house is a hilarious image.
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#7 Poo Cocktail Supreme (Jackass 3D)
One of the first ever stunts done for the television series saw Johnny Knoxville enter a port-o-potty and have it turned over by a garbage truck, dumping the contents all over him. They revisit the skit by strapping Steve-O inside the portable toilet and hanging it by two bungee cords from two cranes, the result is about the only time they've truly outdone themselves.
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#6 Golf Course Airhorn (Jackass: The Movie)
Sometimes you don't have to overthink a sketch for it to be amazing and the crew hiding in the trees of a golf course and blasting an air horn at unsuspecting players will never fail to get a laugh.
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#5 Old Man Balls (Jackass Number Two)
Another sketch that would go on to influence the Bad Grandpa movie sees Knoxville as an old man with a pair of nards that love to be in the world and don't mind getting too close to anyone.
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#4 Butt X-Ray (Jackass: The Movie)
The kind of sketch that could only be pulled off when the crew wasn't as well known as they became. Ryan Dunn was the unlucky man who inserted a toy car into himself and went to get an X-ray done. The confusion of the doctor and the image of the X-ray itself make this a must see.
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#3 Stuck in a Vending Machine (Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa)
One of the first stunts done in the spin-off movie sees Knoxville's most sensitive anatomy stuck inside a vending machine coin slot. Don't ask how it got there, just appreciate the people that have truly no idea what to do with this man.
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#2 Bam’s Mom Says F**k (Jackass: The Movie)
The king of April Margera pranks is when a live alligator is placed in her home just in the right spot for her to see when she returns home. It's a freakout that has aged like a fine wine and is truly timeless.
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#1 The High Five (Jackass 3D)
An unseen giant hand that quickly enters the frame and smacks unsuspecting victims. It's perfect, it's hilarious, and it's the quintessential Jackass sketch.
