I’m not exactly what you would call a risk-taker. I look both sides before crossing the street and I never talk to strangers, particularly in West Philly. Yet perhaps it is my rather benign lifestyle that allows me to appreciate those who truly live life to the fullest. On this list of freestyle adventurists are Jackass stars Johnny Knoxville and Bam Margera – two goofballs not only willing to go out on a limb, but to balance on the very end of the limb and flip golf carts over it. Flipping gold carts is of course, dangerous, and not surprisingly, Knoxville and Margera have garnered quite a reputation for their crazy and wild stunts. Yet while parents and politicians have tried beating down the door, looking to chastise these evil hooligans for infecting the youth of America with a riotous spirit, Jackass fans have called out for more. And more is what they got – especially now with the release of a second full-length movie, Jackass 2. When I heard the stars were in town to promote this new outrageous comedy, I jumped at the chance to meet them. There’s nothing like the kings of outrage to add a little risk to my life.

The interview takes place on at the pristine Four Seasons hotel downtown, a seemingly incongruous location to host stars famous for stapling their balls to their thighs.

Even more incongruous is the immediate setting for the interview: a deliciously posh suite about 10 times the size of my claustrophobia-inducing dorm room. A buffet table is carefully laid out with gourmet desserts, coffee and sparkling water. I can't imagine that the order will remain once Knoxville and Margera pass through. I've just helped myself to a heaping portion of chocolate-covered strawberries when a strange woman in a blue dress and wedge heels totters in. She looks around briefly—probably checking out my gluttonous portion of strawberries—and with a flourish announces, "Here’s Johnny!" Finally.

Enter Johnny Knoxville. He wears all black except for a pair of blue and yellow striped socks. A black bowler derby sits atop his head. He glances at the dessert table with disgust and asks, "Where's the mini bar?" before plopping down on the couch, feet on the coffee table. The strange woman reappears with two beers for Knoxville. He opens both, double-fisting with skill that would put SAE to shame.

There's nervous laughter, and Jackass co-star Bam Margera stumbles in. Knoxville whoops. "Here comes Bam; he's famous!" he exclaims. Bam wears head-to-toe black as well, except for bright purple Doc Martens and a sparkly silver scarf draped around his neck. He reclines next to Knoxville, who graciously hands him a beer. The interview begins.

"So, Johnny, what's up with the sunglasses?" I immediately ask, noticing he dons aviators despite the dimly-lit atmosphere.

He laughs. "I'm always hung over," he replies. "But it's nothing a beer and some sunglasses can't fix."

Another journalist poses the question: "I heard you guys drink a lot of Miller High Life. Is that the inspiration for most of your stunts?"

Margera responds right away. "For me, I'd say it's red wine on an airplane," he remarks, seemingly unaware of the oddness of this statement.

Knoxville appears to ponder this for a second. "I'd say…scotch, amphetamines and ignorance," he finally decides.

The journalist pursues. "Is there anything you guys won't do?" she asks.

Knoxville shakes his head. "I think at one point, there used to be a line, but we just keep drawing over it." Margera is in agreement. "Yeah, I mean, I got 15 stitches on my head one time, and that wasn't even on Jackass." Knoxville snorts, "Yeah, it was on amphetamines."

But Margera insists on explaining. "No...I wanted to dive into this lake and my friend told me it was 15 feet deep, but really, it was only 2 feet deep...and I dove in headfirst.” "Didn't you notice it wasn't 15 feet?" counters an incredulous Knoxville.

No wonder these guys are on TV; their repartee is hilarious. Margera shrugs. "It was dark." An awkward silence ensues. I decide to break it.

"So, Bam," I ask, "when you play Tony Hawk, (Underground for Sony PlayStation,) do you play as yourself?" I mean this question to be light-hearted, but Margera answers with complete seriousness.

"I play as Geoff Rowley," he reveals. "He's better than me. Besides, I play with myself all the time," he adds with a smile.

Another question is asked - "Do you get recognized often in West Chester?" Margera nods. "Yeah dude. The other day I pulled up in my lambo (Lamborghini) and this guy walks up to me and goes ‘Fuckin' Fag’ and takes off down Church Street."

He grins. "Luckily, I knew there was like a 3-minute light there so I take off down the street after him and roll up next to him and I'm like, ‘I fucked your girlfriend this morning, so I'm at least bisexual. Stay jealous!’ Then I rolled away."

"What about those West Chester University kids? What's the deal with them?"

Margera's face fills with passion. "I hate those fuckin' frat motherfuckers," he replies, voice rising in intensity. "They're always trying to steal the alligator (statue) from the High Street Café (in West Chester) for like events and shit. But the guy who works there, he's my man, and I told him about (the attempted theft) so he covered the alligator with WD40 and put some string on it and shit so if those fuckers try to steal it will be slippery and fall on their head and shit. But I hate those motherfuckers. They always do stuff like throw refrigerators on my lawn and I have to deal with it."

Margera is getting angry, so I don’t press. Time for a subject change. "I heard there's a Jackass video-game coming out," I venture. "What can we expect from that?"

"We're still working on it," replies Knoxville. "But hopefully it will be a pretty good presentation of the show."

"What can we expect from Jackass 2?" asks another girl. Knoxville smiles; clearly, this is the question he was waiting for.

"This movie is just everyone going crazy from top to cunnilingus bottom," he describes. I make a mental note of his use of cunnilingus as an adjective. "Maybe like 30 minutes from the first one would have made it into this one," he continues. "It's fucking insane."

"Speaking of insane, whatever happened to the guy in the first movie who took off running when you fell through the air ducts, pretending to be diamond thieves?" asks a colleague, clearly remembering the quintessential Jackass moment from the first film.

Knoxville chuckles. "That dude was totally flipping his shit. We found him like four blocks away in a supermarket, huddling in the back aisle near the freezers. He was going totally crazy and muttering stuff about people falling through the ceiling. It took us like 10 minutes to explain to him that we were filming."

"So do you think there will be a Jackass 3?" presses another journalist.

Margera replies: "If there's a Jackass 3, I think we will die."

"Word," echoes Knoxville. "We said there would be no Jackass 2, and then we shot it anyway. But I had so much fun shooting it that I got permission to shoot for two more weeks in November, so who knows."

Margera gives him a look. "November might be your time to die," he responds seriously. Somehow I can't see the fear of death stopping these two. Neither can anyone else, apparently.

"Is there anything you guys are afraid of?" asks one girl finally. "Bulls," says Margera. "And snakes."

I laugh, inquiring, "so what did you think of Snakes on a Plane?"

"Fuck Snakes on a Plane," he barks. "What's next, fucking Bees in the Shitter? Fucking Turtles on a Bus? Fuck that shit."

Time for another subject change.

"How did you feel about Steve Irwin's death?" I ask, racking my brain for recent events.

Knoxville looks momentarily despondent. "It sucks," he laments. "I fucking love that guy. But it's a pretty gnarly way to go out, pulling a stingray out of your heart." I have to agree.

"Has Irwin's death changed your outlook when it comes to taking risks?" asks another reporter. Yeah, right, I think.

"No," replies Knoxville casually. "We know what can happen, and we knew before his death."

The woman in the blue dress and heels reappears warning us to wrap it up. A journalist from Drexel gets the last question. "In the trailer for Jackass 2, you feature negative reviews from critics. Are you affected by what critics think?" he inquires.

"No," retorts Knoxville. "We don't give a fuck about the critics. We started the show because we just wanted to entertain each other and have fun. We're just glad we get to fly around and act obnoxious and have other people pay for our beer." Sounds like the life to me.

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