He rose to prominence in the early s as one of the stars of the MTV reality stunt show Jackass and subsequent films. Since the mids, Margera has struggled with alcoholism and subsequent legal troubles. He first entered rehab in but left after four days and has since had at least seven subsequent attempts at rehab without completing the program. Following the death of childhood friend Ryan Dunn and the end of his television projects in β12, Margera's drinking and drug use intensified. In , he was fired from the production of Jackass Forever due to his drug and alcohol issues.
He is the younger brother of rock musician Jess Margera and nephew of television personality Vincent "Don Vito" Margera. His grandfather nicknamed him "Bam Bam" at the age of three after noticing his habit of purposely running into walls; over time, that nickname was shortened to "Bam" by his schoolmates.
Margera got his first video camera from his father in [ 8 ] after he enrolled in a digital media class with childhood friend Chris Raab , where they also met future collaborators Art Webb, Brandon DiCamillo , and Ryan Dunn. They began shooting videos of Margera and his friends skateboarding and doing stunts, which eventually turned into the CKY video series. In , Margera dropped out of school after Chris Raab was expelled, [ 10 ] but was homeschooled by his mother and received his GED. In later interviews, Margera revealed that Raab had "forced him" to wear a seatbelt as the car was going nearly mph, and that this probably saved his life.
Other than his brother Jess suffering a broken arm, none of the four were seriously injured. The film is a collection of stunts and pranks interspersed with skateboarding tricks and footage set to music by CKY. Subsequent releases of the film removed the Landspeed subtitle. During this period, the videos and band projects were heavily interlinked, with two of the band's albums being unofficial soundtracks to the videos.
Margera and Ryan Dunn became mainstays of the cast while other CKY crew members played supporting roles to various degrees. In the original series, several of the features stunts were taken directly from the CKY videos. Several skits in the first Jackass movie were CKY-style pieces filmed in and around West Chester, while similar scenes in the second movie were removed after the arrest and conviction of Margera's uncle Vincent Margera also known as Don Vito inappropriately touching two minors.
