jackassworld

Soon after the third episode of jackass racked up another share of impressive ratings, MTV confidently placed an order for 16 more shows to air in 2001, officially revitalizing the self-destructive engines of our imaginations with new and inventive ways to abuse Johnny Knoxville and the rest of the cast. One of the first and finest ideas to sprout came from Johnny’s own good friend Loomis Fall, who proposed that Knoxville submit his groin to a variety of outlandish blows while wearing a protective cup—an entirely fitting follow up to the first season’s “Self Defense Test.” After all, the male cup supporter literally is the ultimate in self-defense.

The physical circumstances that followed Loomis’s idea were nothing short of brutally comical as Johnny’s guarded garbage met and successfully defended such formidable foes as: sledgehammers, tennis balls, croquet balls, head-butts, a forklift, paintball pellets, an eight ball dropped from 30-feet above, and full frontal kicks and misses delivered by little children and one Academy Award nominee. Even funnier though, was the piss-poor aim of all the jolly sadists involved—particularly Jeff Tremaine’s. By the end of the day, Johnny’s legs were covered in black-and-blue countries of various shapes, sizes and physical unrest, the result of his uncanny ability to bruise like an overly ripe avocado.

(photos by Sean Cliver; Hollywood, CA; 2000)