What Jackass Fans Need To Read About Star Brandon DiCamillo

"Jackass" stars like Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, and Bam Margera who were there from the very beginning have gained so much fame over the decades that they have broken into the mainstream. Yet among these veterans of the show was another individual who was just as important in the early days and considered by many to be one of the crew's best comedy writers at the time. Brandon DiCamillo, affectionately known as Dico, worked closely with Margera on several films and TV shows both before and after he was one of the reality stunt show's top cast members.

Yet, it did not take long before Dicamillo began to distance himself from "Jackass," and even refused larger roles in the films that came out of the popular series. For years, he remained connected with his close friends in the group and continued to be involved with Margera's major projects like "Viva La Bam," but after working on further productions for MTV up to 2008, he seemingly had enough with that line of work. In the following decade, Dicamillo purposefully faded out from the picture, which is why he never got anywhere near the popularity of others in the group even though many of them thought he was one of the most talented among them. Here are the fascinating details about one of the most underrated stars of the greatest prank/stunt crew of all time. 

Long before the premiere of the "Jackass" show on MTV, Brandon DiCamillo and Bam Margera were simply classmates growing up and nothing more for some time. However, the situation changed dramatically for the two once it became apparent that they both spent free time with friends by goofing around and then recording their ridiculous hijinks. In an interview, DiCamillo said that at this time, future major members of CKY were in his early crew of friends, like Rake Yohn and Dave Battaro, a.k.a. Lord Battaro (via YouTube).

The revelation that the two shared a similar hobby occurred spontaneously, as DiCamillo explained to the website Jackass Freaks Anonymous when he said, "In high school, we had a class where we had to do video projects. He played his s*** and I played mine. His videos had him and his friends f****** around. My tape had my friends and me doing crazy s***. So, we all just got together back then." CKY formed shortly after the merging of the two friend groups, which was a major part of the foundation that would become the famous MTV series years later.

There were several members of the CKY crew that would become part of the cast of the series "Jackass," including Brandon DiCamillo, Bam Margera, Ryan Dunn, and Chris Raab, often called Raab Himself. But the comedy footage of the prior group was definitely its own thing. Aside from Margera, DiCamillo played the most significant role in the early productions of the group, not just as a co-writer but as one of the main actors. In fact, The Village Voice called him "probably the most naturally gifted actor of the bunch" in a 2009 article.

All of the wacky videos captured on camera by CKY culminated in the creation of three main films before the release of "Jackass: The Movie" in 2002, according to IMDb. The first, "Landspeed: CKY," premiered in 1999, followed by "CKY2K" in 2000 and "CKY 3" in 2001. Margera directed all three, but DiCamillo also worked as the co-director for the final one.

After the outrageous stunt show had become so popular that it led to "Jackass: The Movie," Brandon DiCamillo and Bam Margera did not let their newfound fame distract them and cause them to forget their own passion projects. The duo continued to team up for productions, but unlike the CKY videos, they began to write, star, and direct in their own feature-length films with full storylines, not just the sketch comedy and stunts that they were used to.

The first of these films was the romantic comedy, "Haggard," released in 2003 and was about a heartbroken guy named Ry (Ryan Dunn) who went on a mission with his friends, Valo (Margera) and Falcone (DiCamillo), to find out whether or not his ex-girlfriend, Glauren, has been hooking up with the heavy metal fanatic, Hellboy (Rake Yohn), as per IMDb. Then in 2009, the team co-directed "Minghags," a tale of two trailer park heroes, Lenny (Margera) and Ponce (DiCamillo), and their fight with an evil billionaire who stole their awesome invention, the Garbage Juicer.

By 2006, "Jackass Number Two" premiered and Brandon DiCamillo's comedic talent was appreciated by MTV to such an extent that he was able to create his own show for the network called "Blastazoid," (via IMDb). Unfortunately, the series was very short-lived, but it was a unique opportunity to work on a project without his frequent co-creator, Bam Margera, as he collaborated with another longtime friend, Joe Frantz, instead.

Two years later, DiCamillo teamed up with Margera again to create an animated series together called "Bamimation." The show also did not last long, which DiCamillo could not have been happier about since he despised the project. When discussing the possible cancelation of the production, an interviewer asked him about its status and he said it was "f*****, thank God. It's such a pain in the ass, I'm so glad. I hope it never happens. I don't ever want it to happen. It's that unfun. TV shows suck, movies are better" (via YouTube).

Both before, and even after the creation of the "Jackass" series, members of the CKY crew worked on so many other side projects that it is a little hard to keep track of them all. Of these ventures, one of the most impressive was the formation of the parody band, Gnarkill. The group consisted of Bam Margera on keyboards, his brother, Jess Margera, on drums, Matt Cole on the mixer, Rich Vose playing the guitar, and Brandon DiCamillo as the lead vocalist (via FANDOM).

The music of the band was featured in some of the "CKY" films and released on two albums as well. The self-titled "Gnarkill" was recorded first back in 2002, and a few years later "Gnarkill vs. Unkle Matt and the S***Birdz" was released in 2006. However, most of the videos of the comedy troupe were instead accompanied by music from the official CKY band formed by Jess Margera, according to AllMusic. The CKY band lasted much longer than Gnarkill and was considerably more successful, with their fifth album released in 2017.

On top of "Jackass" and all his other work in TV and film, Brandon DiCamillo also created his own record label, Roman Sausage, to release songs and comedy recordings. One of the sketch writer's first projects that he produced was a collection of prank phone calls, "Otimen Recording Hell! (A.K.A. Bran's Freestyles)," back in 2001, so he went to his roots for the work in his personal studio. Under the alias Gnarkall, a twist on the name of his former band, Gnarkill, DiCamillo flooded the market with four volumes of "Gnarkall Prank Calls" in 2010, which included hours of audio recordings in the comedy collections (per FANDOM).

In 2012, the entertainer also produced two solo music albums, "Pizza Pasta Pizzelle" and "Halloween Foot Fetish," often featuring his unique brand of freestyle rap. DiCamillo has long since abandoned his former performance pursuits, but romansausage.com is still listed on his Twitter profile, even though the website is currently empty. Plus, his collections are still available to purchase on Amazon as well.

As the top writer for CKY and many of Bam Margera's projects, it is clear that Brandon DiCamillo had a talent for sketch comedy. Though, arguably, far more impressive was his ability to freestyle at will. On the podcast, "Knockin' Doorz Down," Margera commented on how amazed he was every time DiCamillo pulled it off and said, "I just played the beat; he doesn't even have to hear it. I hit play and he shows up and he just goes. It's incredible. Listen to ['Skeletor/Beastman!'], it's incredible." The song was from their band, Gnarkill, with many of their other songs produced in the same way as well.

When DiCamillo was asked about his extraordinary ability in an interview, he joked about how there was a specific day when he realized how good he was at it. According to the prankster, on July 16, 1987, he was strolling down the boardwalk in New Jersey when he tripped and accidentally snorted up his nose some of the root beer he was drinking at the time (via YouTube). He claims that awkward moment unexpectedly sparked his ability to randomly generate song lyrics at will, though he's probably not being completely serious with the story.

With so much experience writing comedic scenes for multiple different projects, it would be logical to wonder if Brandon DiCamillo ever dabbled in stand-up as well. Yet, when the writer was asked that very question in an interview, he confirmed that he did give it a try once and it did not go well, to say the least.

In an expletive-filled explanation of the calamitous night, DiCamillo said, "I didn't write anything down. I did it at the Trap Tavern in Collegeville, PA and they had an open mic night. This is like f****** holy s***. I think I was like 19 and they were like, 'Open mic night, you gotta go up there.' And they're like don't you want to write s*** down?!' And I'm like, "I ain't writing s*** down. I'll just go up and f****** talk,' and it was horrible" (via YouTube). From then on, he just stuck with sketch comedy, pranks, and funny stunts.

More than once in interviews, including for "Knockin' Doorz Down," Bam Margera reflected on how Brandon DiCamillo could not stand the fact that producers and directors like Jeff Tremaine would make millions from the comedy acts he would perform. And Margera was far from the only one to notice his growing hatred for how things worked. According to Joe Frantz in a Q&A session, it was very apparent near the end of his showbiz career that DiCamillo was simply not happy and having fun as he did back in the good ol' days of CKY (via YouTube).

Even back as early as 2002, the writer was complaining about the corporate nature of the TV industry. When talking with The Village Voice, DiCamillo said, "I'd only work for Bam. When you're out with five of your friends taping, and Bam's brother is the cameraman, it's fun as s***. But when it's dudes you don't know, and some lady's screaming in the background, you're like, 'Who the f*** are these people? I'm out of here, f*** this crap!' And the idea of getting headshots and all that? To me that's just like, get in the back of the line — it's ridiculous."

Since Brandon DiCamillo was not too fond of show business to begin with, he eventually decided to leave "Jackass" and everything else behind to live a considerably different life out of the limelight. According to longtime friend Joe Frantz, DiCamillo's major life change even led him to renounce his affiliation with the crew he started, CKY. On his YouTube channel, "JOEFRANTZfilms," Frantz explained during a Q&A, "As far as I can tell, he just wants to lead a normal family life. He has a cool job; he has a kid. He's doing his thing, man."

Along with the frustration DiCamillo felt over Hollywood businessmen profiting from his creative work, Bam Margera gave "Knockin' Doorz Down" an even simpler explanation for why he abandoned the entertainment industry and said, "I really think he's a genius. Sometimes geniuses do weird ass s***, and he just decided to end it all, call it all off, and then just work at a nice restaurant and call it a day."

Once Brandon DiCamillo began to tread down a far less public career path, the relationships he formed in his past life also became less of a focus as well. Almost a decade later in 2017, Joe Frantz described how bad the situation had gotten and said, "He hasn't talked to me or Bam since like 2009. He still talks to Raab and Rake every now and then. He stopped talking to Jesse" (via "JOEFRANTZfilms"). But it seemed that Frantz had come to terms with the way things were, as he added, "Sometimes people grow apart, right?" And then said, "I miss Dico too. I really wish we were still friends." Before realizing that statement could be misunderstood and quickly clarified, "I still am his friend!"

When Chris Raab, a.k.a. Raab Himself, was discussing DiCamillo leaving show biz with Steve-O on the "Bathroom Break Podcast" in 2019, he confirmed that the old friends were still talking and that the former comedy writer was doing well. Raab could also relate more to DiCamillo too because he shifted from on-screen appearances to more behind-the-scenes roles on "Jackass" related productions, so both of them had that in common.

As Bam Margera's longtime creative partner, Brandon DiCamillo was sorely missed by his friend upon leaving the industry. Margera knew that any production his co-writer was a part of would be better with his input, and said so when talking to "Knockin' Doorz Down," as he also spoke in awe of DiCamillo's freestyling skills.

But members of the old CKY crew like Margera and Joe Frantz were definitely not the only ones to miss DiCamillo after he left the TV industry. Even though he did not appear on "Jackass" for very long, major veterans of the group greatly respected the comedy writer's work. In a Reddit Q&A, while Johnny Knoxville was commenting on how "CKY" contributed to "Jackass," he said point blank, "God, I wish Brandon DiCamillo would have shot with us more cause he was so funny. But he just wanted to play video games all day."

Likewise, Steve-O admitted he was absolutely dumbfounded that DiCamillo did not want to appear in "Jackass: The Movie" when he had the chance because he was such a talented member of the team. On the "Bathroom Break Podcast," the stuntman said, "I guess we didn't have opening credits and principal cast members, but like, he was a major f****** player, you know. He was a major player throughout the TV series, and he just decided not to be in the first movie." Clearly perplexed, he added, "I didn't understand that at all."