Steve-O is bringing his "Entirely Too Much Information" standup comedy tour to Cedar Rapids and Dubuque on Dec. 15 and 16, 2011. (Mike Carano photo)

By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

Clowning around is serious business for Steve-O, a 1997 graduate of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Clown College.

That training provided the springboard the trick-skateboarder needed to jump from cruise ship clown to Hollywood stunt maniac.

He’s built a career around outrageous feats of derring-do in the “Jackass” television and film franchises, performing stunts with his cohorts in Cedar Rapids in December 2002 at the Crowne Plaza Five Seasons Hotel ballroom.

For the past 13 months, however, he’s been turning his fascination with standup comedy into “The Entirely Too Much Information Tour.”

That’s an entirely appropriate title, judging from YouTube tour clips. Fans ages 21 and over can see for themselves tonight (12/15/11) at Penguins Comedy Club in Cedar Rapids and Friday night (12/16/11) at the Mississippi Moon Bar in Dubuque’s Diamond Jo Casino.

None of the material can be printed here.

Steve-O, 37, intends it that way. He’s zeroing in on his target audience.

Asked if any topic is taboo, he replies: “Pretty much everything is taboo.”

“I stick mostly to stuff most people avoid,” he says by phone from his home in Glendale, Calif. “My comedy is based primarily on my life experience. It’s the most colorful anecdotes in my experience as a semi-famous, drug-addicted male slut.

“I’ll tell ya, being a part of ‘Jackass’ for 11 years now, there is absolutely no shortage of over-the-top, crazy, hilarious truth. I really don’t have to depart from the truth,” he says.

“I think comedy works best when it is true. I really do. I think the funniest jokes are ones that are truthful. That’s what sets me apart as a comedian, as well. When I’m telling a story, it’s something that very, very, very literally happened.”

He realizes, however, that people who come to his comedy show are expecting to see the devil-may-care stunt maniac who rode a skateboard through a glass window and jumped off an upper balcony into a pool, while clutching an inflatable orca. And those are two of his more tame stunts. He’s also known for driving staples through the most tender part of his anatomy.

“Of course I don’t have any delusion that people see me as a comedian. As hard as I’m working to establish myself as one, I really feel it’s important that I be faithful to my brand,” he says.

“That’s why my approach to this tour is very similar to the way I approached the Charlie Sheen roast. I really want to put myself out there as a comic and I want to tell jokes and get laughs, but I’m not really comfortable doing just that, because I feel as though I’ve created this brand. That’s why I ran into Mike Tyson’s fist on the Charlie Sheen roast (breaking his nose in the process). I wanted to do comedy and I wanted to give people what I’m known for. To be faithful to my brand,” he says.

“That’s how I’m doing this tour. It’s filthy comedy and crazy stunts.”

He’s been known to set his head on fire onstage, but not all comedy venues welcome that.

“Fire stunts are always cool,” he says, “I have different fire stunts. Sometimes venues don’t want me to play with fire. Sometimes I just gotta do different things. I’ve got a very diverse bag of tricks.

Steve-O, who shot to fame with the "Jackass" television and film franchises, is turning his attention to standup comedy and has been on the road for nearly 13 months. (Mike Carano photo)

“In any given show, I’m gonna want to do stunts that are funny, I’m gonna want to do stunts that are dangerous, I’m gonna want to do stunts that are painful and I’m gonna want to do stunts that are impressive. One of each of those themes. One way or another, I like to accomplish that goal. I wanna make people laugh, I wanna make them shriek, I wanna make them clap and I wanna make them groan. Those are all reactions I seek to elicit.”

And he wants to stretch audience perceptions.

“I have two very distinct goals with this tour,” he says. “At every show I want people to leave thinking a) ‘His comedy was a lot better than I expected it to be’ and b) “Wow, that guy’s still crazy.’”

Crazy like a fox.

He was actually very well spoken during our interview, making me think a) his answers were a lot better than I expected them to be and b) he’s still a little crazy, but on a much better path than when he was a semi-famous, drug-addicted male slut.

Now he’s a pretty-famous, sober vegan.

“I’m an active guy. Clean living is working for me,” he says. “I’m healthier now than I’ve been in years.”

His body is still holding up, despite his stunts.

“I haven’t had any permanent injuries,” he says. “I’ve recovered from everything that’s happened, unless you count teeth and tattoos and an esophageal issue. I have stage 3 esophagitis.” He says lifestyle changes have helped keep that under control.

Life came to a tragic end in June, however, for “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn, 34, who died in a high-speed, alcohol-related car crash in Pennsylvania.

“I love him and I miss him,” says Steve-O, who grew up as Stephen Glover, a kid who moved around the world with his family and “always had an unreasonable hunger for attention.”

Dunn wasn’t like that.

“He didn’t have that unreasonable hunger for attention,” Steve-O says. “He was a great Jackass and stuff, but he was just humble in a way. He didn’t really care for all the fanfare.”

As for whether or not “Jackass” films will continue, he says, “I wouldn’t put it past the powers that be to try and make another one happen. We’ve had four years in between each of the last movies and it’s only been a year since one came out. I really don’t know.”

Steve-O plans to keep on his path of being what he calls “a distraction therapist.”

“That’s what’s so important about comedy and entertainment in general,” he says. “Most people don’t enjoy their days, to be honest. I’m guilty of that a lot of the time, too. We get really mentally focused on negative things that are weighing us down. And entertainment is so important. Even if I’m like, diving into a pile of poo, no matter how degrading or humiliating or painful a stunt that I’m doing might be, I think there’s something very noble about taking somebody’s mind off of things that are weighing them down and ruining their day.

“A lot of stuff I’ve done has been degrading and humiliating and painful. I’m endlessly proud of the idea that I’ve improved somebody’s day by distracting them from some problem that they have. I think that’s a worthy title to strive for: distraction therapist.”

FAST TAKE

What: Steve-O: The Entirely Too Much Information Tour

Cedar Rapids: 7 and 9:30 tonight (12/15/11), Penguins Comedy Club, 208 Second Ave. SE; $27.50, 21 and older, (319) 362-8133 or http://penguinscomedyclub.com

Dubuque: 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday (12/16/11), Mississippi Moon Bar, Diamond Jo Casino, 301 Bell St.; $25 to $43, 21 and older; (563) 690-4758 or www.diamondjo.com/upcoming

Artist: www.steveo.com