CKY (film series)

Lore & Background

The CKY videos feature Bam Margera, Brandon DiCamillo, their friends, and Margera's relatives performing various stunts and pranks, interspersed with skate footage of Margera and other professional skateboarders. A trademark of the skating footage was to show unsuccessful trick attempts immediately followed by the same skater pulling the trick off. CKY started when Margera and his friends were in the same graphics arts class at school in West Chester, Pennsylvania. During class, they would go out to a field and film skits, eventually being compiled into the CKY series. In a 2002 interview, Margera said that more than 400,000 copies of the series have been sold.

The core members of the CKY crew included Ryan Dunn, Chris Raab (aka Raab Himself), Rake Yohn, and Bam's elder brother Jess. CKY2K was discontinued primarily due to a lawsuit over a scene involving a minor exposing himself, which was initiated in 2002.

Reader's Guide

The CKY videos brought Bam and his friends to the attention of Jeff Tremaine who drafted them into the cast of Jackass, which aired for three seasons on MTV from 2000 until 2001. Most Jackass skits featuring the CKY crew were lifted from previously released CKY material or were recorded by the crew in West Chester, Pennsylvania, while the Los Angeles-based faction of the Jackass team filmed in California. The series spawned multiple spin-offs including Viva La Bam (2003–2006), Bam's Unholy Union (2007), and Ryan Dunn's Homewrecker (2005). A spin-off movie titled Haggard: The Movie was released in 2003, with a loose sequel Minghags: The Movie in 2009. In 2018, producer Joe Frantz confirmed that he had begun remastering all four videos for HD release, which were released in 2019 on the now-defunct streaming service DCTV. The CKY series remains significant as the direct precursor to the Jackass franchise, documenting the raw, homemade stunts that later reached a global audience through MTV.

Did You Know?

• The name CKY comes from Jess Margera's band.
• More than 400,000 copies of the series had been sold as of a 2002 interview.
• CKY2K was discontinued in part due to copyright issues, including from Björk.
• A scene in CKY2K showing a minor exposing himself led to a lawsuit in 2003, resulting in a court order to delete the images from future versions.

Origins & Creative Roots

The CKY series was born not in a studio but in a high school graphics arts classroom in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo, along with their friends, would slip out during class to a nearby field where they filmed short skits and pranks. These raw, homemade clips eventually compiled into what became the first CKY video. The title itself is a nod to Margera's older brother Jess and his punk band, who called themselves CKY — short for "Camp Kill Yourself." A signature element of the skating segments was the deliberate pairing of a failed trick attempt with an immediate successful repetition of the same maneuver, giving the footage a satisfying rhythm. The videos blended stunts, pranks, and skateboarding with the original music of Jess's band, creating a chaotic, lo-fi aesthetic that felt completely unscripted and deeply personal to the small group of friends who made it.

The Crew & Evolving Cast

The core of the CKY crew remained remarkably consistent across all four releases: Bam Margera, Brandon DiCamillo, Ryan Dunn, Chris Raab (who later adopted the moniker "Raab Himself"), Rake Yohn, and Jess Margera. However, Jess's on-screen presence gradually faded as his band's touring and recording schedule consumed more of his time. Each installment introduced new faces and family members. The first video featured Ryan Gee, Mike Maldonado, Chris Aspite, Kerry Getz, the Hanna brothers, and Art Webb, with Bam's father Phil appearing uncredited. The second brought in Jenn Rivell, David Decurtis, and Bam's mother April, also uncredited, alongside skateboarder Tim O'Connor. The third added CKY bandmates Deron Miller and Chad I Ginsburg plus pro skaters Tony Hawk, Brandon Novak, and Mike Vallely. The fourth highlighted Bam's uncle Vincent, known as Don Vito, and even included a brief appearance by Jenn Rivell's daughter.

From West Chester to National Fame

The CKY videos served as the direct springboard for what would become MTV's Jackass. Producer Jeff Tremaine discovered the crew's work and recruited them for the show, which ran for three seasons between 2000 and 2001. Many of the Jackass skits performed by the CKY faction were actually lifted from previously released CKY material or shot in West Chester, while the Los Angeles-based group including Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, and Chris Pontius filmed separately in California. The momentum continued with Viva La Bam (2003–2006), which followed Bam and his crew tormenting his family and causing chaos both locally and internationally. Ryan Dunn got his own MTV show, Homewrecker (2005), where he helped "victims" redecorate their friends' rooms in retaliation. DiCamillo and Rake Yohn appeared in the 2006 MTV special Blastazoid, building a live-action Donkey Kong. Haggard: The Movie (2003) and its sequel Minghags (2009) extended the universe further. Bam also hosted Radio Bam on SiriusXM from 2004 to 2013.

The Releases & Production Details

Four main videos were produced: Landspeed presents: CKY (March 1, 1999), CKY2K, CKY3, and CKY4: The Latest & Greatest. The "Landspeed" branding on the first release came from Landspeed Wheels, a skateboard wheel company founded by Rob Erickson and distributed by Tod Swank through Tum Yeto Inc., which operated from 1998 to 2000. The first video's soundtrack featured original songs by Jess's band, including "96 Quite Bitter Beings." In a 2002 interview, Margera claimed over 400,000 copies of the series had been sold. The VHS and DVD editions of the first video differed notably: the DVD removed the Landspeed title from the opening credits, stripped the copyright notice due to Tum Yeto references, and cut a scene of DiCamillo running through a Christmas parade dressed as Santa while the real Santa was late. The Round 1 DVD version also trimmed various skits and extended bits, compensating with additional bonus footage at the end. Two CKY Trilogy compilation sets and a supplementary CKY Documentary DVD rounded out the box set. In 2018, producer Joe Frantz confirmed he was remastering all four videos in HD, and they were released in 2019 on the now-defunct streaming platform DCTV.

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