Bam Margera (born September 28, 1979), born Brandon Cole Margera, is an American skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, filmmaker, and musician. He became widely known through the CKY video series and MTV's Jackass, later building a successful solo career with the television series Viva La Bam.
Margera grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where he began filming skateboarding and practical jokes with his brother Jess Margera and a group of friends that included Ryan Dunn, Brandon DiCamillo, Chris Raab, and Rake Yohn. These homemade productions developed into the CKY series, whose mixture of skate footage, stunts, pranks, and dark humor gained a strong following within the skateboarding community. The name CKY was also adopted by Jess Margera's band, which provided much of the music for the videos.
Margera's skateboarding brought him into contact with Big Brother magazine editor Jeff Tremaine. Tremaine recognized the potential of the CKY footage and helped bring Margera and Dunn into the cast of Jackass, created with Johnny Knoxville and Spike Jonze. The MTV series premiered in 2000 and turned its performers into international celebrities. Margera's contributions often centered on elaborate pranks involving his family and friends, as well as dangerous skateboard stunts and carefully staged physical comedy.
He continued the format in the Jackass films, appearing in Jackass: The Movie (2002), Jackass Number Two (2006), Jackass 2.5 (2007), Jackass 3D (2010), and Jackass 3.5 (2011). His work in the franchise combined stunt performance with a distinctive visual style developed through the CKY projects. He also had a small appearance in Jackass Forever (2022).
Margera became the central figure of Viva La Bam, which ran on MTV from 2003 to 2006. The show expanded his persona beyond the Jackass ensemble and followed his attempts to provoke his parents, Phil and April Margera, while involving Dunn and other members of the CKY crew. Its emphasis on recurring characters, travel, destructive practical jokes, and exaggerated family conflict made it one of MTV's most recognizable reality-comedy programs of the period. He later fronted related projects including Bam's Unholy Union, Bam's World Domination, and Bam's Bad Ass Game Show.
Margera also worked behind the camera. He co-wrote, directed, produced, and starred in Haggard: The Movie (2003), a low-budget comedy inspired by events in Ryan Dunn's life. He followed it with Minghags: The Movie (2009), another independently produced comedy featuring members of his regular creative circle. These films extended his interest in informal, self-produced entertainment beyond television.
Music remained an important part of Margera's creative identity. He hosted the SiriusXM program Radio Bam, formed the label Filthy Note Records, and directed videos for artists including CKY, HIM, The 69 Eyes, Clutch, Turbonegro, and Viking Skull. He also performed keyboards with the novelty group Gnarkill and later participated in the band Fuckface Unstoppable.
Margera's influence rests on the way he connected skateboarding, home-video culture, heavy music, and reality television. His early work helped define the unruly, self-filmed style that made the Jackass era a major force in 2000s youth entertainment.