jackassworld

The first few months we started filming for jackass were real special moments—and by special, I mean like with those adorable little kids that ride the short bus and play in the Widney High band. There is no better evidence of this than the “Blind Driver” prank starring Ehren McGhehey (with a minor supporting role played by Dave England).

Let’s first examine the prank itself. Giving credit where credit is due, Ehren submitted this cockamamie idea to us shortly before a week of scheduled filming in Portland, Oregon, circa July 2000. The prankish concept of a blind driver was indeed utterly preposterous, but, as such, highly fucking improbable—a total longshot at best. I mean, who in their right mind would ever fall for something so stupid as a blind man driving a car? Enter the upright citizens of Portland.

However, before getting to these loveable, gullible, and politically correctible folks, let’s address the truly “special” aspects of the “Blind Driver.” Although he might debate this point, I would go out on a limb to say this was probably Jeff Tremaine’s first instance of having to seriously “direct” on jackass. Due to the rather convoluted nature of the prank, more camera direction than usual was required to cover all the action going on…unfortunately, he learned this only after our first botched attempt at filming it.

Now for everyone on the crew that wasn’t responsible for holding a camera on this first drop (historical point of interest: this was the very same intersection Dave England first upended his bicycle and tot for “Daddy and Baby 1”), the prank appeared to be an unequivocally amazing success. The bystander reactions were beyond priceless and people were literally chasing Ehren’s car down the street. (More than a few of them, however, were less than amused once all was said, done and revealed to their huffing, puffing and concerned faces.) But then we huddled up to review the footage afterward and it became glaringly apparent that Ehren wasn’t the only one acting like a blind man—our cameramen had missed the bloody meat of the bit altogether. Tensions soared, accusations flew, and Tremaine’s blood pressure skyrocketed (unfortunately, no one filmed this either).

With this specific intersection sufficiently blown for reactions, we drove across town to stage a second attempt. After extensive talks about camera placement and angles, everyone took their positions and Ehren was sent in. Off he went, tik-takking down the sidewalk in the tentative manner of a blind man, when all of a sudden some random dude walked up, grabbed the cane, and snapped it in two. We were all dumbfounded for a good moment (Ehren even suspected it to be a double-cross courtesy of the crew), but then surmised that a few of the disgruntled reactionaries from the earlier “Blind Driver” episode had covertly tagged along to sabotage any of our further attempts at making funny—which was actually quite funny in itself.

Following a lunch break (mostly to fashion a new cane and let the uptight dust settle back into the cracks of the city), we then went back to the general vicinity of the first drop spot and targeted a café on the opposite end of the block. Prior to going into the shoot, Tremaine saw fit to sit down, draw a map, and painstakingly run through the camera plan with the increasingly confused crew. The absurdity of this moment shines through in an inadvertent prelude to the actual bit that only further underscores the riptide of idiocy we all struggle against on a daily basis.

Despite all odds, the prank went off without a hitch, the cameramen captured the goods, and Ehren surprised us once more with his dumb ideas. This isn’t to say we came to believe in every half-baked thing he sent our way. One example that immediately comes to mind was this idea called “Fruit Wrestling,” where Ehren wanted to go into a supermarket wearing a pro-wrestler outfit and get outlandishly aggressive on say a single banana or watermelon. We never shot that one, but given the success of “Blind Driver”…shit, who knows what would’ve transpired.