gorilla flicks

to the memory of craig mack

The other day, and quite sadly so, we learned that Craig Conolly, aka Craig Mack, a friend and former crew member of ours, had passed away. We first met Craig during production on jackass the movie in 2002, when it came down to shooting the "professional" looking part of the film—the great big shopping cart opener—and we needed a First Assistant Director, or First AD for short, to successfully merge our amateur hour crew with the big-time professional crew. Craig was pretty no-nonsense, but he still managed to roll with all of our associated nonsense, of which there is never a shortage, and got along great with everyone. A few years later, he returned to our production flock on the last season of Wildboyz—perhaps the greatest season of Wildboyz—where he traveled the globe as the show's Coordinating Producer in 2005.

Our last roll in the Hollywood hay with Craig came in 2010 on the big time cinematic shoots for jackass 3 and jackass 3.5, where we all still fondly recall his patented First AD patter of "We're back, we're back, we're back, we're back," and, "Wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap." Craig was a man who genuinely loved a good glass of wine, so with that in mind we'd like to raise a collective red in honor of his life. Rest in peace, Craig. —Sean Cliver

(Photos by Helena Lazaro, Rick Kosick, and Dimitry Elyashkevich)

wee-man's chronic tacos—now in long beach!

Rick Kosick: So I’m here with Wee-Man at his new Chronic Tacos location. Where are we?

Wee-Man: This location is off Bellflower and Stearns, in the city of Long Beach. Right down the street is Cal State Long Beach.

How long has this location been open?

This location was open before; it was already a Chronic Tacos location. The previous franchise let it die down, so Ricardo and I took it over to remodel and put it back on its feet. The local people around here were bummed when we closed for three months, but we came in quick and put up signs saying we were remodeling and going to be opening soon, so it stoked them out.

Do you still have your Redondo Beach location?

No, we closed that location. I was over that location two years into it. I didn’t even like the location.

What happened?

It was in a bad spot. I always got a lot of complaints about the location. People coming on north PCH from the Torrance/Redondo area couldn’t even see the place. It was hard to get to and hidden behind cement pillars that were on the property. Parking was hard. The building itself and the front patio were awesome, and we had great parties, but the location sucked.

Preston Lacy eats Chronic Tacos!

Now that you’re here in Long Beach it seems like it’s a great area and has easy access.

Easy access off the street and easy to get here from the freeway. I love this spot. It’s central to everything. We’re close to a neighborhood where families can walk over. When we first opened, one lady said it took them an hour to get across the street because she had a one-year-old who walks really slow. But they were still determined to come here and have tacos.

So everyone in Long Beach is happy you’re here?

We’re in the fourth district of Long Beach, and I know that because the councilman of this area always comes in and he’s stoked. He came to our grand opening, he came to our taco-eating contest, and when we were on the news. He loves this store and he loves we’re a part of his district.

Do you have any specials?

We have Monday Madness, and it’s a big burrito. Then we have Taco Tuesday. On Wednesday Unwrapped you can get bowls, so it’s for the healthy that don’t want a tortilla—you get a burrito or a taco in a bowl, so we do different versions of that. Thursday, Friday, and the weekend are busy days, so nothing special on those.

Are you going to bring back Wee-Man Wednesdays?

I don’t know… maybe eventually. Lately I’ve been busy on the road and I don’t have the time to be consistent enough with it, but I can see it happening in the near future. We do want to do more parties. Our grand opening party went off without a hitch. The landlord was super stoked and so were all the tenants around us—everyone had more business the day of the party. Starbucks is our neighbor and Trader Joe’s is the other neighbor. Everybody was pumped and it brought a good feeling to the area. So yeah, we’re going to do more parties and have things going on all the time.

Are you a bigger part of the Chronic Tacos spectrum?

Yeah, I’m one of the business partners that own all the Chronic Tacos. There are seven of us. It’s me, the two original founders Dan and Randy, and then four brothers from Canada. Once we went into Canada, they were really stoked on it, so they came down and invested in the company.

How many Chronic Tacos are in North America?

There are about 38, with four or five up in Canada, and we’re all over the United States. We’re in North Carolina, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and soon to be in Washington state.

Someone told me you should open one up in Long Island, New York. They said there isn’t even a Chipotle there.

Ooooo, I didn’t know that. We’ve had interest with groups that were supposed to do franchises in the New York and New Jersey area. We need a good group to come in so they can watch over that location. Like in Washington, we have a family that does that one, and in Arizona we have a group that runs that area. Las Vegas, there’s a family that used to be a part of the McDonald’s franchise and now they’ve bought into the Chronic Taco franchise. So you need people who have heart behind the name and product to watch over it. Like if I opened it up there, I wouldn’t be able to go in once a week and check things out. So it would have to be a New Yorker who wants to run a business.

So after all these years, you became a restaurateur selling burritos and tacos.

I actually became a businessman—a business wee-man. Hahahaha…

Chronic Tacos restaurateurs Richardo Torres and Wee-Man.

(Photos by Rick Kosick; 2017)

last call: the dumb big brother premiere at tribeca

I don't think any of us ever imagined a documentary about Big Brother skateboard magazine would find its wayward way into a film festival, but by god it did! The Tribeca film festival no less. So it was with great grandeur and a little red carpet that several of us (and Tony Hawk!) kicked Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine into the spotlight at New York City on Thursday, April 27th. A jam-packed Q&A session followed the premiere, during which time questions were asked, some were answered, and a brief but ludicrous debate ensued regarding the metal talents of Dio versus that of Ozzy in Black Sabbath.

Unfortunately the formal after-party will not go down in history as a legendary Big Brother shit show, as so many have in the past, so there are no new tales to tell of tallied up damages. Several more screenings and Q&As followed in the days after, but now the documentary is back in the can until the wide release happens June 3rd on Hulu.

Photos left to right: Tony Hawk was always a good friend to the magazine and he proved it once again by happily talking us up on the red carpet; And here Tony proves yet again how good of a sport he is by making ridiculous poses for a press feature on the premiere; Oddly enough, and appropriately enough, Dimitry Elyashkevich was the only one to wear Dave Carnie's signature pro model DC Shoes shoes.

Photos left to right: The Q&A session that followed the premiere was not the shit show it was widely anticipated to be. Rick Kosick was the monkey in the middle of all 10 dudes with varying levels of hair gel or loss at play.

Photos left to right: Dimitry poses with Alex Corcoran, a staple feature of the New York skate scene; Fun fact: Brendan Canty, the drummer of Fugazi, did the original scoring for the Dumb documentary, and he's shown here interlocked with Supervising Post-Producer Volney Howard IV; Assistant editor Lacey Reilly and Associate Producer Lizbeth Gonzalez hang tough with Director Patrick O'dell of Epicly Later'd fame.

Photos left to right: Former Big Brother editors Dave Carnie and Chri$ Nieratko; Steve-O was perhaps the most handsomely dressed dude of the night; Travis Pastrana and Lyn-z Pastrana made an East Coast leap to attend the event and sit beside the right arm of Gorilla Flicks, Shanna Zablow Newton.

Photos left to right: Former Big Brother editor Sean Cliver with fiancee Donna Stack; Former Big Brother art/editorial director Jeff Tremaine with wife Laura; Scene-stealer and maker Atiba Jefferson with the man who was pretty in pink, Steve-O.

Photos left to right: Portrait of a man asking a question at the post-premiere Q&A; Matt Deis, Jess Margera, Brandon Novak, and Raab Himself brought an air of CKY ambience to the affair; Can you spot Rick Kosick in this photo from the world famous bathrooms of Max Fish?

(Photos by Rick Kosick, Donna Stack, and Sean Cliver; 2017)

the first ever banta bonanza comedy show

That's right. And you saw it here first! Unless you happened to be one of the 40-odd people who crammed ass into Bret Banta's house for his inaugural comedy show in Los Angeles, California, which would make this the second time you saw anything about it. All wordy technicalities aside, though, Bret Banta is an old friend of ours (not to mention a former intern at Big Brother skateboard magazine roundabout 1996 or so), and he's since forgone an intense life of graphic design to pursue his calling in comedy. He's performed at numerous clubs around the nation, so setting up a show in his own backyard must have seemed like the next logical step. Unlike me, Rick Kosick managed to not only attend the show but then secure a few minutes with the man himself to talk about the past, present, and future of the "Banta Bonanza Comedy Show."

When former Big Brother interns collide: Steven Randolph performs in Bret Banta's house.

Rick Kosick: Hey, Bret, I just wanted to talk to you about the comedy show you hosted the other night at your house. How did that come about?

Bret Banta: I did a show at the Westside Comedy Theatre with my friend John and we paid money to the theatre. Steven Randolph hosted the show and he was like, “Bret, you should do your own show at your house or somewhere where it’s cheap.” Then our friend Ari Mannis had an apartment show, which was really awesome, so that’s how it all came about. 

I couldn’t believe how many people showed up. Your home was packed.

Yeah, there were over 40 people that showed up. It was awesome, but we ordered two pizzas from Dominos. Next time I’m going to order Little Caesars because it’s cheaper.

I was disappointed because by the time I showed up all the pizza was gone.

Yeah, but you’re healthy. You’re like a lean marine now, Rick, so that was good that it happened. 

Left to right: Stephen Furey makes the funny; Joe Marrese makes the funny, too.

So who all did you book to be on your show that night?

We had Steven Randolph, the old intern from Big Brother. We had Ari Mannis, who is a friend. We had Stephen Furey. We had Joe Marrese, who happens to be one of my good friends in the comedy world. He’s from Chicago. And we had Brody Stevens! To have him headline at my first show was awesome. He was great.

He’s pretty much a comedy legend. To have him on your show in your house is a big honor, if you were to ask me.

Yeah, I was trying to keep track of the show and time and I look in my backyard and there was Brody sitting there by himself staring at the wall. I don’t know what he was thinking about, but I was so stoked. I was like, “Holy shit! Steven Brody Stevens is in my backyard!” Hopefully we can get some more awesome people for my next show.

Left to right: Bret Banta, just as the wall word would indicate; Brody Stevens is, as they would say, in the house.

I really admire that you put together a comedy show like this. It makes me think back to being a teenager, getting into punk rock music and going to backyard parties… seeing slam pits and bands playing and the cops breaking up the parties. This is kind of along the same line, but instead of a slam pit going crazy in your living room you have people laughing.

It did have a backyard vert ramp jam vibe to it, even though it was inside. I hope the next one will be in the backyard. I would be stoked to have it there once it stops raining and gets hot in the summertime. I’m hoping to do 12 shows for the year, and I’m working on a logo and stickers right now for the "Banta Bonanza Comedy Show.”

Maybe you could keep that punk rock vibe going by putting on comedy shows in different homes, backyards, or wherever.

Another thing I was thinking about, it was great that people took it serious like it was any other comedy show. Can I give a shout out to William Hooper, Jeremy Levy, Jason Shelton, and Melissa Mize? I grew up with them in Texas and they all came to the show that night. It was awesome to do some material from my past and have them know what I was talking about.

Cool, man. I’m looking forward to the next comedy show at your house.

Thank you so much. You’re awesome. Both of us need to stay away from the pizza.

Ari Mannis: a portrait of a man, his stool, and a bed sheet.

 (All photography by Rick Kosick; Los Angeles, CA; 2017)

comedy night at the covenant house

This past Wednesday night in the city of Los Angeles, Gorilla Flicks and Superjacket Productions came together in Voltron-like fashion to host a night of free comedy at the Covenant House. If you're like me and had no prior idea about the Covenant House, it's an organization that provides basic needs, e.g. shelter, food, crisis care, transitional living assistance, and several other services, to homeless and runaway youth. In addition to the laughs and stories provided by the night's special guests—MC Brandon Broady, Rob O'Reilly, Ryan Conner, Eric Andre, Wee-Man, Chris Pontius, and Steve-O—there was a crap ton of pizza and various goods available to the Covenant House residents before and after the show, all thanks to generous donations made by several companies and individuals. To learn more about the Covenant House or to make a donation, please visit: https://www.covenanthouse.org

Left to right: Chris Pontius regaled the crowd with a selection of timeless stories and giggles from his trip to Okinawa, Japan while filming for the first jackass movie; Eric Andre threw caution to the wind and gave a no holds barred performance that may have caused at least one person to urinate while laughing (I know that for a fact because I am that person and I should probably get my bladder checked out or at least start stocking up on Depends for my retirement years).

Left to right: Thanks to Rob O'Reilly, I now have a better understanding of the cervix, dilation, and what horrors may happen when a baby pops out bottom first; Wee-Man planted his flag in the grounds of urination and all the pee-pee that his wee-wee has sprayed over the years (and mostly on Tremaine); Ryan Conner, of NBC's Last Comic Standing fame, is also a writer on Ridiculousness.

Steve-O closed the night out with an amazing recount of his "worst protest ever," when he scaled a 150-foot high crane in Hollywood in defense of Shamu and wound up in a whole heap of trouble, a spot of jail time, and a really big bill from the city. Yeah, dude!

(All photos by Rick Kosick; 2017)

a photo ode to sable ranch

Los Angeles burned again, which comes as no surprise if you know anything about this drought in Southern California. The El Niño that never came did little to no good in the moisture department for 2016 and it's been dry as a desert tortoise fart. Sadly, Sable Ranch, one of the great wildery locations we'd used on both Wildboyz and jackass 3D, was incinerated during the recent "Sand Fire" that blazed through over 40,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest in the Santa Clarita Valley, aka Greater Los Angeles. The following represents a li'l photo ode (photode?) to a few of our more stunty times on the Sable Ranch property, which included a pond, a shack, a strip of the "wild west," and many other grassy, meadowy, and foresty formations—all of which now are charred to a crisp. R.I.P.

You might remember this shot from a little movie called Jackass 3D, where Steve-O went to the moon and back in the great port-a-potty-o-poo.

Photos left to right: Wieners and the California bears that gobble them (and the Wildboyz); Remember that time the Wildboyz went to the old west with Manny Puig and Method Man in 2005? It was our single most expensive episode of the show (not that that was Method Man's fault, nor Manny Puig's).

The little old west village from 2005 that is no more in 2016—but hey, there's the man who now runs the Viceland network (third white shirt from left)!

Photos left to right: Johnny Knoxville had a dream to be bitten on the butt by a Belgian Malinois and we made it come true at the Sable Ranch; Before the "Sand Fire" came along, Sable Ranch was first devastated by one of the most powerful poo waves to ever waft through the Santa Clarita Valley in 2010.

celebrating 25 years of hoffman bikes

Mat Hoffman recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of Hoffman Bikes, a company he founded in 1991 when all others had decreed the sport to be deader than a spent mongoose. But Mat had plans. Big plans. I mean, obviously he had big plans, because when has Mat ever had small plans? That's just silly. Mat doesn't do anything small! Rick Kosick gets the skinny straight from the President of Hoffman Bikes himself...

RK: First off, I would like to say congratulations on your 25^th anniversary of Hoffman Bikes.

MH: Boom! Thank you, sir.

When you started your company did you see it lasting 25 years?

I didn’t really think about it, because I didn’t really start it as a business. I started it more as a necessity. I needed a bike that I could trust my life with and I needed to make my own equipment so I could push the sport to where I wanted to push it.

the steve-o interview

In the week before Steve-O was supposed to be placed in protective custody, Rick Kosick sat down with him and his menagerie of animals to talk about standup, animal activism, and the finding of oneself. Since that time, Steve-O spent less than eight hours in jail before being released back onto the streets—well, maybe a few less streets as now required by law, but he’s a free man just the same.

Kosick: I’m sitting here with the one and only Steve-O and his dog Walter who’s trying to attack and bite me. So, it seems like you’ve been consistently on the road for work… or is it pleasure?

Steve-O: Oh no, dude, I’m always on the road. Except for this past week because I just taped my comedy special, which I’m thrilled about. It went really well. I had a week off and I’m getting ready to go to Atlanta. Then I come home from Atlanta and then I go to jail. And then I guess I go home and visit my family for the holidays. Then from the beginning of the year it gets fucking stupid.

Standup comedy is your main focus right now?

I always have time to do dumb stuff, like if I want to make a video, but other than building the social media and putting content online it’s been standup and, of course, the special. Now my focus is going towards a movie project that I’m trying to get off the ground. I’m really excited about it. I got a deal with a movie producer guy who does super legit shit and we got a rad idea.

a what's up with street bike tommy

Rick Kosick got curious with our favorite Nitro Circus star and hardcore meat eater, Street Bike Tommy, when the crazy train of the live show rolled through LA not too long ago. Here's what's up and going down with him nowadays...

Kosick: Tommy, how are you doing today?

Tommy: Just kicking it, getting excited going into the day.

So you’re deep in the Nitro Circus world tour?

Yeah, thankfully it’s in the states right now.

How’s it been on the road all this time?

It’ll wear on you, but we do have a really good time. There’s not a day we don’t have something to do, but the things we do are really, really fun, so I can’t complain too much.

coming soon: the preston lacy comedy tour

This November our friend Preston Lacy is hitting the road for a round of solo standup shows around the United States. Check the listing below to see if you're geographically desirable to witness him live and in person onstage, but only do so after reading this interview with Preston conducted by the one and only Rick Kosick…

RK: I’m glad you’re finally out there doing standup, because I’ve been telling you for years that you should be doing this, so I’m really fucking stoked for you.

PL: Thanks. It’s fun. I really like it. You really get to feed off of the laughs from the crowd. You know, it’s addicting. It really is. Once you get into it, you don’t ever want to stop doing it.

Have you run into a heckler yet? If so, how have you handled it?

Oh yeah, I’ve had some hecklers, just drunk people, you know, and I had a bombed show too one time. I just did terrible. It really makes you think about life.