We are Bam Margera and Brandon Novak, professional skateboarders - Ask Us Anything!

Bam - This has been fun. Shit, I don't know what else to write. Element's got a bunch of awesome stuff with me coming out, so stay tuned for that. The re-release boards and some brand new stuff. Thanks for having us.

Novak - Addiction isn't a death sentence. Your history does not have to dictate your future. As long as you're breathing, it's never too late. If you're looking for help, you can reach me at 610-635-9092.

Hey Bam! Congrats on the future baby. Do you plan to allow your child to beat the shit out of you, as you did Phil?

Bam - I'm gonna cross that bridge when I get there, but my main priority is to teach him how to not be an asshole like how I was. I gotta be a better influence.

HEEEEEEE’S BAM MARGERA! WHAT WILL HE DO NEXT?

Bam - Continue to skate.

I am battling alcohol addiction and live in the baltimore area. Do you know any good treatment centers ? I am below rock bottom.

Novak - That question entails a lot of information that I need. Can you call me? 610-635-9092.

where is brandon dicamillo? are you still in touch with him?

Bam - Once Viva La Bam ended, I completely lost contact with him. I know he has a kid and he spends most of his time with him, but I haven't seen Dico in ten years.

Was Vito honestly really like what he was with the outbursts and getting mad? Or was that just for show? Was he still the same way off camera or did he calm down?

Bam - Vito was Vito, 100% on and off camera.

Novak - They made street signs after him called "one way".

I want an April and Phil travel TV show, can you make it happen?

Bam - That's a possibility, I know April's busy with her antique store called Rose Hip. Phil spends most of his day at his desk, handling my bills.

Bam and Novak. How do you deal with the fact that so many people have grown up looking up to you guys and wanting to be like you? I know from personal experience that you guys got me and so many of my friends to start skateboarding ourselves and would all chill after school and watch your movies and videos. Thanks for taking the time to answer this and I wish you guys the best of luck in the future!

Novak - I think it's a privilege that anyone gives a fuck.

Bam - I'll vouch for that.

Bam, Why are blink-182 thanked in the ending credits in Haggard? Jess has given 2 very different answers on this before

Bam - Because at that point, I was friends with Tom DeLonge and Travis Barker. I figured I'd thank them. What was Jess' answer?

Would you guys make another show like Viva La Bam again?

Bam - Nah, I think that show was fun as hell to film and I miss it. But it's run its course. For instance, it's not so funny kicking the shit out of your dad on the toilet at age 37. People would think I need to check myself into a fucking institution.

How involved were your parents in the pranks you pulled? Did they genuinely have no idea? Also, can you bring out more shoes, yours were the best.

Bam - In the beginning, they had no idea. Eight episodes in filming every day, April started to realize her shit was bound to get broken or fucked with, she didn't know what. It's funny because I destroyed their house and their cars, but the most mad Phil has ever been was when I asked him to say "Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville, welcome to Jackass" and made me promise that I wouldn't do anything, and I promised, and then I threw a banana as hard as I could right in his face. It was the most mad I have ever seen him. With April, the most mad she ever was when I painted the whole kitchen blue. Ten years later, to this day, she still finds blue shit in the kitchen.

With the shoes, I've been talking with Element, Es, and DVS with Kerry Getz about a potential shoe coming out.

Does Rake still hate Mustard?

Bam - Yeah. He always will. He thinks it's the filthiest thing on the planet. He's a chemist, he works at SmithKline Beecham, so whatever ingredients are in mustard, he finds completely gross.

Novak - Chlorophyll, more like boreophyll.

Bam and Novak - What is the most mad you have made each other?

Bam - When Novak crashed my brand new S55 Mercedes when he was on pills going to Baltimore going to get more pills as I was filming the CKY video for "Afterworld", he stole it. When the nurse told me what room he was in the hospital, I said, "Fuck him, who gives a shit if he's alive, I'm going to kick is ass."

Novak - When Bam kicked me in my ass on tour and forgot that I blew my asshole out and just got surgery on it because I just shit out a rock. I did that because of a dare for $30 and I needed the money.

If you need to choose between the two, Snakes or Branding on your butt again?

Bam - Brand my ass again.

How often did Don Vito get laid?

Bam - One time I was fucking amazed in Ocean City, Maryland. There was a dude outside of Vito's hotel room crying. I asked why he was crying, and he told me it was because he gave his wife a hall pass to hump Don Vito, and he never thought the day would come, and now he regretted it incredibly. And his wife was hot.

Novak - I remember seeing dime pieces walking to his hotel room and thinking "if your mother could see you now..." But for him, he got laid a lot.

How supportive have your friends been since you both have started on new journeys? And have you cut loose people that brought out the "dark" in you?

Bam - Yes, I actually moved from the Castle house five miles away to a house where nobody knows where I live. After doing a year in Europe, doing my best to stay sober and skate, I think the drinking buddies of town have figured out by now that my agenda is different.

Novak - For me, unlike Bam, I didn't have to worry about changing people places and things. No one wanted anything to do with me, I didn't have a place because I was homeless, and I sold everything for heroin. I needed to have some repercussions for things for once, not people to condone it. Once I got clean, I stayed clean, and I didn't have to tell people I was. My actions were proving the difference. I let my walk talk for me. Before I knew it, my true friends were fully self supportive. Whatever drug associates I had didn't contact me, because they knew my agenda had changed. They weeded itself out on its own.

Do you think Gregg Hughes resents you for making him raise your children, or is he still in denial?

Bam - I think someone made that up. I've never met the woman in my life.

What's your favourite Viva La Bam episode? Mine was the Mall of America one

Bam - The Civil War was probably the most fun because there was 200 Yankees and Rebels having a re-enactment in my backyard. They had the whole tents set up and the whole violin setup, I felt like I was back in that time.

Novak - Anyone that I was in.

What do you think of Steve-O's stunts he's been doing? Do you still talk to him much?

Bam - I'm stoked that he's still doing it. He just texted Novak the other day and asked if we want to come to LA to help duct tape him on a bus to drive all the way to Vegas.

Novak - He's killing it. When I go to LA and we get together, we go to meetings.

Will there ever be a Jackass 4?

Bam - at the moment, no, but as always, we're writing ideas. You never know, maybe in the future. Knoxville has been real busy doing movies, he just got back from South Africa - Steve-O's going his own shit. As of now, no.

First, I wanted to say that I am so proud of both of you. I'm glad you guys were able to beat the odds and reclaimed your sobriety. My question is for Novak, was it hard watching Bam slowly take that fall to the bottom as you were starting to work on your sobriety, especially knowing that he had to fight a lot of his own battles to come back?

Novak - Yeah, it really sucked. It was a taste of my own medicine, I knew how he felt for years, watching me kill myself for so many years. Watching him do it to himself and know there's a better way, but knowing that his process is his process. It was a real bad taste in my mouth. I just keep doing for him what he did for me, when he calls for help, I show up.

Bam what happened to the purple lambo?

Bam - I still have the purple Lambo. Taking it on the Gumball Rally around the world in eight days really fucked it up. The Dirty Sanchez dudes from England did a donut in Thailand without my knowledge and ripped the clutch, leaving me no reverse, first, or second gear. Then Cleveland put diesel in my car and that was a pretty penny to drain that. Right now, it's in the driveway, alive and well.

Good evening, dear gentlemen! What are your thoughts on HIM calling it quits?

Bam - It makes me upset, but I'm sure whatever project they're gonna work on the future is going to be great. I just hope that HIM saying it's a farewell tour doesn't mean they'll stop playing music in general.

Novak - I think they're all really creative people in their own right ,so i"m really interested to see what comes from this. Like with Pete Doherty left the Libertines and started Babyshambles, and that was amazing. Now they have these new albums from Libertines. But it would be a shame if that was the end of music for the band together.

Hey Bam, what happened to that red ferrari that we see on cky 4 and your sponsors videos? And do you plan to make a new cky video?

Bam - When I bought it brand new, whenever I would get in traffic, it would always overheat. I just thought that's how sports cars were. When I finally returned it, the dealership realized they had sold me a car with two coolants in it instead of four. I traded it for the S55 Mercedes... which Novak inevitably totaled.

What's your favorite type of cheese my dudes?

Bam - I would say it smells like a fucking rancid foot, but it's called Locatelli cheese.

Novak - I'm simple, I like mozzarella.

Novak since you've been sober has you taste in women changed? And do you ever plan on starting a family?

Novak - Actually, yeah, I don't really go about women the way I used to. I don't do one night stands, chasing skirts all night. I'm trying to find someone who has some substance and a personality. I'd love to have a family, but I believe my role right now is to be alone a lot. My schedule doesn't entail a wife, girlfriend, or family. When the time comes, it'll happen, and I'll love it. When you're looking for love, you'll never find it, and that seems to be the case. I'm really content with having a relationship with me, I've never really had that.

If you could go back in time what year would you pick and why?

Bam - I would say 2002, because that was my prime year of being top notch at skateboarding. Now my legs are not the same and it would be nice to know what it felt like again to be a top notch athlete.

Novak - 1994 and 1995, just because all I lived for was to skateboard. As long as I had a skateboard, I was happy anywhere I went. Life was simple, and I just wanted to skate.

Bam- I saw in the documentary that you still own Castle Bam. You keeping it or selling it? Also, how's Phil?

 

Novak- When your addiction was at its worst, did you think you could ever get to this point that you've gotten to? What advice would you have for people who are struggling or know someone who is currently struggling with addiction?

Bam - I still own Castle Bam, I just wanted a change of scenery and see what it's like to live somewhere else. Right now, Chad from CKY is living there, working on new music with the band. I invested too much in the house with a skate park driveway, an indoor skate park, music rooms, art studios, t-shirt printing, etc, that I know I'll eventually move back in there one day. Unless someone offers me an insane price to buy it.

Novak when is the new book coming out? I have ready the first 3 times now and am desperately waiting for the 2nd one.

Novak - Well, we just released the revised first book with two new chapters, epilogue, cover, and ending.

Bam - which was a great idea, because the book originally ended with him still on heroin.

Novak - the second book is 50% done with Joe Frantz helping write. Joe said "37,000 words done in the new book, 30,000 more to go." We're more than halfway done.

What do you both hope to be doing in 10 years?

Bam - Staying alive.

Novak - Helping people. Helping people find freedom from active addiction. Letting them know there's a light at the end of that tunnel, and helping those deemed unfixable like I was. I feel like if I wrote out what I wanted to be doing in ten years, I'd be putting a cap on what I could accomplish.

I gotta ask, what was the inspiration behind Bend My Dick? Because that song had me fucked up for a hot minute

Bam - On the school bus when I was in middle school, Mark Hanna and I would always sing these fucked up songs and the one that stuck was "I wanna bend my dick around the back of my ass so I can fuck myself", so one day when I met this Finnish dude who did dubstep beats, and one night we made it and it was one big joke.

Bam - you must hear it all the time but you sir are a full on legend and inspired me not only to pick up a board but a camera aswell (something i have now been able to make into a career) Having had some time away from your documentary edit has it given you a new outlook on it and how to tackle putting it together into a feasible timeline or is it still something youd rather not focus on again. (Would be amazing to see it! after watching epicly laterd i thought you could do a trilogy with it rather than squeeze it into one film)

Novak - again major respect man your a true legend been watching since the early cky days and ive loved watching you get better these past few years. do you have any plans to visit the uk and do talks here?

Bam - That movie made me mental just because of the 12 terabytes of footage I had to go through. Trying to make it a 2 hour movie made me nuts. It should be an eight episode season of something. It's different now that most of us are sober, we should call it "How to Kill Your Friends" because that's what we were doing.

Novak - I wouldn't be opposed to doing talks in the UK, it just has to be set up.

What's one do over you would love to have?

Bam - It would be to asking MTV during the Viva La Bam days if I could have more skating time on the agenda. Filming that much with a crew of 40 at your house every day at 9am till dark slowly made my skateboarding disappear.

Novak - I would say for me, trying heroin. Obviously.

Brandon I struggle daily with my own demons, you have been such an inspiration getting clean, can you give me your best advice on getting thru the rough days?

Novak - For me, I had to realize I had to get out of my own way. My very best thinking got me in the position I was in. I realized that I know that I didn't really know. Feelings aren't facts and I don't have to act off of impulse.

if you could give a piece of advice to a young film maker trying to break through with his own projects about the industry what would it be and what would you warn them of?

Bam - Warn them of telling their ideas to somebody of stature or importance. If it's a good idea, they'll take it and not even involve you. Which has happened many, many times. With all the videos I made, I've completely funded it myself. If somebody else is funding your project, they're gonna want to make it their way and not yours. They'll butcher it.

Was there ever anything you destroyed (like the Hummer) where you thought "oh shit" I want that back"?

Bam - On the Fuckface tour, I was so careless and drunk that every hotel room with eight different band members, all eight rooms would get a $500 smoking charge every night for eight straight nights. We missed flights, so I'd have to get private planes or helicopters. I was painting with oil paint so I'd get paint all over the rooms, and Rubbish Heap get tapping into the per diem to get $500 of cocaine every night. I wish I would've cared more then because I didn't care about the money, I just wanted to have fun.

Bam- what ever happened to Mark the Bagger?

And to both of y'all- congrats on getting better. Y'all have been my heroes since I was a little kid.

Bam - He's in Collegeville, PA. His mom did not like his 15 seconds of fame, so I think the Bagger is back to bagging groceries at Acme. I was supposed to film with him for Howard Stern last week, but I went to Spain instead.

Novak -

What's your favorite restaurant in or near West Chester PA?

Bam - Four Dogs or Vudu Lounge.

Novak - Mine would be Teca or Four Dogs.

So glad you did this dude!!

1) what was your favorite stunt or scene from cky and jackass

2) other than the snake scenes, which was your least favorite?

I just want to say me and my group of friends idealized you growing up. We watched all the cky films and all the jackass' a 1000 times. My best memory is watching the scene with you Dunn in the broke ass chairs! So happy you got clean man and an I'm glad to see you still stomping! Hope to see more from you in the future.

Bam - The stunts I dreaded the most were the ones I liked the most. The Toro Totter was scary as shit, but when it was done, I liked it so much. The one thing that I did not think would work was the Switcheroo, with Preston Lacy sneaking into Ape and Phil's bedroom and feeling her up. I was like "she's never gonna buy this, this will never work." But it worked.

Novak - I agree with Bam, whichever one didn't want to be done usually worked out the best.

Where was the worst place you've ever skated?

Bam - I was in Romania for a month, and the only thing to skate was the shittiest half pipe ever built. It was my only option, so there I was skating.

Novak - When I was 7 years old, and my mom gave me my first skateboard, I had to skate in the basement. I had to wear swimming floaties as a helmet. I'd put a 2x4 and a piece of plywood, and skate that all day with a fucking floatie on my head. It was like a bad dream.

What newer bands do you guys listen to nowdays?

Bam - Lately, I really like Kasabian from England. Believe it or not, I really like the new Tokyo Hotel called "Dream Machine". Volbeat.

Novak - I haven't listened to anything new really, just a lot of classic rock and reggae.

Do you consider yourself retired or are you going to be back in the spotlight again soon?

Bam - I'm just skating strictly to have fun. Sometimes I film it. Once I was filming with Vice, we've been brainstorming ideas for a new show for me to do.

Novak - What the fuck is "retired" even mean? You retire when you die, and even then you don't retire. I'm in the spotlight every day that I'm not drinking and drugging, if you ask me.

Where the fuck is santa?

Bam - He's in Finland, I just showed up at the wrong time when I was filming it. He does exist, and he lives in Finland.

Bam...Are you afraid to be a dad?

Bam - I'm nervous about it, but not really afraid.

Is there a change in you guys & the skateboard scene from when you guys started out to now?

Bam - Before, there would always be somebody at a demo or a skate spot who would do the same trick that I was trying, not to be a dick, just to show me how good this hometown hero is. I kind of took that as like "well if he just did it why would I continue to try?" That's what kind of made me stop for while. Now, I don't give a shit who did what, I just have fun skating wherever I am. Novak went to Spain for the first time, and it seems like out of his ten year out of his skate time to do heroin, it's like he just got off his board yesterday.

Novak - For me, I think its changed because I can open a skate mag and there's a ten year old doing a 40 stair handrail who I've never even heard of... there's so many good kids, it's overwhelming. It's like Bam said, I just go with my friends to a skate spot, and get in my zone. I admire it from a distance but I do it for the soul. In turn, it makes me the happiest I've ever been on a skateboard.

Would you rather swallow someone elses tobacco spit or snort a live bee?

Bam - Tobacco spit.

Novak - Fuck yeah, tobacco spit.

Who's the top and who's the bottom?

Bam - Novak will do both if the price is right.

Novak - I'm gay for pay or boredom. Put me in the game, coach.

If you could only pick one car out of all the cars you've ever owned to have for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Bam - The Bentley.

Bam, massive fan. If there's one thing that you would attribute your success to, what would it be?

Bam - I would attribute it to all the people that helped me in skateboarding - Terry Hardy, Ryan Kingman, Ape and Phil, Jeff Taylor, Johnny Schillereff, Tony Hawk, and Danny Way.

Novak - My mother, who always believed in me, no matter what I was doing. My friends from the skateboarding world who always pushed and motivated me. Bucky Lasek, Bam, Tony Hawk, Jason Chapman, Sports Elite, Reach for the Beach, Todd Hastings, Jeff Taylor.

Are you still on Element? Whens your new part coming out?

Bam - Yes, Element just started printing up my boards again, and I just got back from Barcelona yesterday to edit the skate footage that I got there the past year.

Hey Novak, any plans for "Doo Doo Falls Pt2"?

Novak - Not in the foreseeable future, unless there was another jackass.

To Brandon novak who's idea is it to do the Human raccoon in jackass 2.5? It is the most painful skit I saw on Jackass

Novak - Who else? Bam. But I got poison ivy for like four days after that. Someone put it in the raccoon suit before I put it on.

Bam - Any chance you’d consider working with Spike Jonze (outside of Jackass) to co-direct/write a feature film?

Novak - Have you considered turning Dreamseller into a movie? If so who would you want to play you?

Bam - If that opportunity was given to me, I'd say yes.

Bam - I can answer the Dreamseller question. It was going to be a movie . We flew to LA more than four times about this movie, but on the fourth dinner, Novak and I got so fucked up that I went to jail for brass knuckles at LAX - it was a really awful night. I think it put a sour taste in the mouths of the investors.

Novak - Bam was gonna play me.

Bam - Too much time has passed, it'd have to be someone else now.

Which song from The Phoenix is your favourite?

Bam - Replaceable