CKY

CKY (video series)
The covers for all 4 videos: CKY, CKY2K, CKY3, and CKY4

The CKY video series is a series of videos produced by Bam Margera and Brandon DiCamillo and other residents of West Chester, Pennsylvania. Four videos have been released to date, Landspeed presents: CKY (later called CKY), CKY2K, CKY 3, and CKY4: The Latest & Greatest. There is also a CKY "documentary" DVD, which is a supplemental item in the hard-to-find CKY "Box Set," as well as two "CKY Trilogy" sets, both of which are compilation DVDs featuring scenes from the previous CKY DVDs. The videos were named after Bam Margera's brother Jess Margera and his band CKY (with Deron Miller and Chad Ginsburg. "CKY" stands for "Camp Kill Yourself".^[1]

The videos feature Bam Margera, Brandon DiCamillo, their friends and Bam's relatives in various stunts and pranks, interspersed with skating footage of Bam and other pros.^[2] 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 Bam and his friends were in the same Graphics Arts class at East High School in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Instead of attending class, they would go out in a field and film skits. Eventually, they had so much footage of themselves, they decided to compile it into a video.

The CKY Crew

In addition to Margera and DiCamillo, the core members of the CKY Crew include Bam's brother Jess Margera, Ryan Dunn, Chris Raab (later called Raab Himself) and Rake Yohn (real name Ted Webb). Jess's involvement with the video side of CKY became increasingly limited as CKY the band became popular, and touring and recording commitments took up most of his time.

The first video stars the crew as well as The Gill (Ryan Gee), Mike Maldonado, Chris Aspite aka Hoofbite, and Kerry Getz. Bam's father, Phil Margera, was also featured (uncredited) in the first video. Bam's ex-girlfriend Jenn Rivell and David Decurtis aka Naked Dave was starred in the second video, which also features Bam's mother April Margera (uncredited). Chris Raab was called Raab Himself in the third video, which also featured CKY band members Deron Miller and Chad Ginsburg as well as Tony Hawk and Brandon Novak. Bam's uncle Vincent Margera aka "Don Vito" was starred in the fourth video.

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. Most Jackass skits featuring the CKY Crew were lifted from previously released CKY material or were recorded by the crew in West Chester, while the Los Angeles based faction of the Jackass team featuring Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Chris Pontius and others recorded in California. A subsequent MTV spin-off entitled Viva La Bam followed Bam Margera and his crew as they tortured Bam's family and generally wreaked havoc in West Chester and around the world.

CKY

CKY
Original 1999 VHS release
Directed by	Bam Margera
Produced by	Bam Margera, Brandon DiCamillo
Written by	Bam Margera, Brandon DiCamillo
Music by	CKY
Cinematography	Bam Margera
Distributed by	Tum Yeto (1999); Ventura Distribution (somewhere later in 1999)
Release date(s)	1999
Running time	apprx. 45 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Followed by	CKY2K

Landspeed presents: CKY, the first film in the CKY series, was released on March 1, 1999. The name Landspeed comes from Landspeed Wheels, which was a subsidiary of Tum Yeto Inc. that made skateboard wheels and clothing from 1998 to 2000. The name CKY comes from his brother's band. The video shows a random variety of cheap, homemade, low-budget humor, and mostly focuses on stunts, pranks, and rude behavior, as well as skateboarding. The music features original songs by the band CKY, including 96 Quite Bitter Beings. Landspeed originally produced the video, allowing Bam to distribute it in the public domain^{[citation needed]}. Bam discovered that the man who owned Tum Yeto, Tod Swank, was ripping him off.^[3] Because of this, Bam left Toy Machine and took the CKY video with him, re-releasing as simply CKY. This made the original VHS version now relatively rare. Somewhere later in 1999, he removed the Landspeed title and other references, and wrote "A film by Bam Margera and not by anyone from Southern California" on the back inlay. Landspeed Wheels later went out of business.

Differences between the VHS and DVD versions

• The copyright was taken off because it has Tum Yeto references.
• In the opening credits, the Landspeed title was taken off.
• A scene was also removed. It featured Brandon Dicamillo running around a Christmas parade as Santa Claus, because the real Santa was late. No one at the parade except for Bam and his crew knew that Brandon was not involved with the parade.

CKY2K

CKY2K, the second film in the CKY series, was released on May 22, 2000. The video features a trip to Iceland, the rental car, a baseball game, "Bran's Freestyle", and other random items. The music features early versions of Flesh into Gear and Sporadic Movement by CKY; as well as many other artists, including an opening scene with Rammstein, Iceland scenes with Björk and Orbital, and a skateboarding scene with Aphex Twin.

Near the end of the video, a scene shows a minor exposing himself, with full frontal nudity, in front of a public restaurant. The video explained that "this is what happens when you tell Bam you'll do anything to be in CKY." In 2003, the parents of the boy later sued.^[4] Eventually, a County Court Judge ruled that images of the boy "must be deleted from future versions" of the video.^[5] Subsequently, CKY2K was discontinued due (in part) to copyright issues. The first major issue was from Björk.

Iceland

The video was notable for the documentary of their trip to Iceland. The music features "Hyper-Ballad" by Björk where Bam and the crew hang out on the top of a mountain with gorgeous views from the top.

As they stayed in a hotel somewhere in Iceland (the hotel at the airport), Brandon Dicamillo smeared feces on Ryan Dunn sleeping on the bed. Smeared with feces, Ryan fought back by urinating on Brandon sleeping on the floor. Later, they argued in the car about the incident.

The crew does a variety of stunts, including guys riding on furniture on the road as a sled, featuring music by Oribtal playing "Halcyon + On + On". Later, Bam was outside Björk's house calling her.

The rental car

Bam drives a Chevrolet Cavalier after paying $9 for extra insurance. With the car, Bam attempts crazy reckless driving maneuvers, knocking over orange cones and skidding turns. The next day, Rake Yohn finished off the already damaged car by setting fire to the radio, which completely burned the entire car. The music features an early version of Sporadic Movement by CKY

Differences between the VHS and DVD versions

• The warnings were taken off from the beginning of the VHS version, and used it in the beginning of the DVD menu, which then shows Bam playing with HIM.
• A small note at the end of "Bran's Freestyle" was taken off from the VHS version. It explains about money issues.
• In the VHS version, the end credits play Disengage The Simulator by CKY, and featured some clips after the credits, showing Steve Berra filming for seven teen sips, which includes a short preview of his film at the very end of the video. In the DVD version, the end credits were cut short and instead played One Last Time by HIM and featured alternate footage, including more furniture sledding and Bam commanding his father Phil to do push-ups.

CKY 3

CKY 3, the third film in the CKY series, was released on February 12, 2001.^[6] Soon after its release Margera and DiCamillo were sued over the fight scene involving Mike Vallely.^[7] The issue was settled out of court in 2006.^[8] It was also the first of the videos to be taken off the market due to copyright restrictions. Some of the musicians (or their legal representation) were unhappy with Margera using their music without their permission. This would later happen with CKY2K and the box set including all three videos and the documentary.

CKY4: The Latest & Greatest

CKY4: The Latest & Greatest
Directed by	Bam Margera
Starring	Bam Margera Brandon DiCamillo
Editing by	Bam Margera
Distributed by	Slam Films/Ventura Distribution
Release date(s)	2002-2003
Running time	apprx. 100 minutes
Country	USA
Language	English
Preceded by	CKY3

CKY 4, the fourth film in the series, was released on November 10, 2002. It has an marked improvement in editing techniques compared to the other films, mostly due to Bam Margera's newly-acquired wealth and ability to purchase motion picture film cameras and utilize advanced post-production facilities. However, it also features a lot of older video material, some unseen, some extended and some off-cuts from previous CKY films. Scenes include Don Vito's 50 Shots of Peach Schnapps (Bonus Feature) and Ryan Dunn rolling off a roof in a barrel.

CKY4 is the only CKY video to be censored, and one of the few DVDs to have been censored three times.

• A DVD Easter Egg showed Bam and his then-girlfriend mid-coitus with altered color mixes to avoid nudity. This wasn't the first time CKY videos have attracted trouble due of this sort, but it had never been cut until mid-2003.
• In 2002, Brandon DiCamillo and CKY drummer Jess Margera wrote a freestyle rap about Masters Of The Universe characters Skeletor and Beast Man engaging in extreme homosexual behavior, called Skeletor vs Beastman. Mattel, owners of the Masters Of The Universe franchise, heard about this, and were not pleased. Margera was sent a cease-and-desist order, and subsequent editions of the DVD (there have, to date, been four; the first two have the video) have replaced this video with skateboarding footage.
• CKY guitarist Chad Ginsburg, a large fan of punk rocker G.G. Allin, visited his grave one day and after consuming an entire bottle of Jim Beam bourbon (Allin's favorite beverage), he proceeded to urinate on the grave, and left an autographed copy of Infiltrate.Destroy.Rebuild. which was later stolen. Mixed in between the grave footage is CKY performing Allin's song "Bite It, You Scum".
• At the end of the "lil key key" skit performed by Chris Raab, there was a "Secret Easter Egg" also got cut in 2003 for unknown reasons.

External links

• Landspeed: CKY at the Internet Movie Database
• CKY2K at the Internet Movie Database
• CKY3 at the Internet Movie Database
• CKY4: The Latest & Greatest at the Internet Movie Database

References