skateboarding
Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...
magazine
A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...
street skating
Street skateboarding is a skateboarding discipline which focuses on flat-ground tricks, grinds, slides and aerials within urban environments, and public spaces. Street skateboarders meet, skate, and hang out in and around urban areas refer ...
and the sub-culture of skateboarding. ''Big Brother'' ceased publication in 2004.
No subject was taboo. Early articles featured step by step ways to commit suicide and rip-off schemes such as how to make a fake ID. They would often use odd gimmicks like printing the magazine in different sizes, packaging it in a cereal box, and throwing in items like trading cards and a cassette tape. Early writers were Sean Cliver, Earl Parker (Thomas Schmidt),
Jeff Tremaine
Jeffrey Tremaine (born September 4, 1966) is an American television director, television producer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating the reality stunt show '' Jackass'' with Spike Jonze and Johnny ...
, Marc McKee, Mike Ballard, Pat Canale, and others.Skimthefat.com /ref>
They also released a few videos, including "Shit", then "Number Two", with a few stunts and
pranks
A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
Hulu
Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television serie ...
on June 3, 2017. The documentary featured interviews with
Bam Margera
Brandon Cole "Bam" Margera ( ; born September 28, 1979) is an American former professional skateboarder, stunt performer, television personality, and filmmaker. He rose to prominence in the early 2000s as one of the stars of the MTV reality ...
Johnny Knoxville
Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), best known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, writer, producer, and professional wrestler. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ...
,
Spike Jonze
Adam H. Spiegel (born October 22, 1969), known professionally as Spike Jonze, is an American filmmaker, actor, musician, and photographer. His work includes commercials, film, music videos, skateboard videos and television.
Jonze began his ca ...
,
Jeff Tremaine
Jeffrey Tremaine (born September 4, 1966) is an American television director, television producer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating the reality stunt show '' Jackass'' with Spike Jonze and Johnny ...
, and others who were involved in the magazine's creation.
History
The magazine contained mostly articles about skateboarding, as well as some nudity, stunts, pranks, and random ramblings from its staff. Its later days were characterized by the clever wordplay of editors
Dave Carnie
David Ross Carnie (born December 14, 1969) is an American writer, magazine editor, and skateboarder. He is the former editor-in-chief of '' Big Brother'' and current writer for numerous publications.
Writing career
Carnie writes freelance and ...
and
Chris Nieratko
Chris Nieratko (born February 19, 1976) is an American humorist and author. Nieratko is a past editor of '' Big Brother'' magazine, and currently reviews pornographic films for Vice magazine, as well as being the author of the related ''Skinema'' ...
. The magazine was purchased by
Larry Flynt
Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. (; November 1, 1942 – February 10, 2021) was an American publisher and the president of Larry Flynt Publications (LFP). LFP mainly produces pornographic magazines, such as ''Hustler'', pornographic videos, and three por ...
in 1997. After Flynt began publishing the magazine, the nudity was toned down or scrapped altogether, though the vulgarity remained.
In 1998,
Laura Schlessinger
Laura Catherine Schlessinger (born January 16, 1947) is an American talk radio host and author. ''The Dr. Laura Program'', heard weekdays for three hours on Sirius XM Radio, consists mainly of her responses to callers' requests for personal adv ...
was in Beach Access, a
Costa Mesa
Costa may refer to:
Biology
* Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy
* Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus
* Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral
* Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...
surf shop, with her son when she began perusing ''Big Brother''. Schlessinger deemed the magazine to be "stealth pornography" and said so on her radio show. When Tom Moore, the owner of Beach Access, publicly denied that she found pornography in his store, Schlessinger sued Moore for lying and claimed that his denial had hurt her reputation. When Schlessinger's case went to court, the judge said it was a frivolous lawsuit and dismissed it. Moore's $4M countersuit against Schlessinger, lodged for hurting the reputation of his store (defamation), was allowed to stand. The suit has since been settled, but terms of the settlement have not been revealed. Behind the scenes and off the record, Moore's lawyers and friends claimed victory, indicating the settlement was "about the amount of a moderately priced
Orange County
Orange County most commonly refers to:
*Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area
Orange County may also refer to:
U.S. counties
*Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando
*Orange County, Indiana
*Orange County, New ...
home" (at the time, $650,000 to $2 million).
In one of the most bizarre episodes of the magazine's history, the subscriber list for ''Big Brother'' got mixed up with ''Taboo'', one of Larry Flynt's hardcore magazines: ''Big Brother'' subscribers were sent pornography, and those who subscribed to ''Taboo'' got a skate magazine. This incident was parodied on ''
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that first aired from May 25, 1992, to May 29, 2009. It resumed production on March 1, 2010 and ended on February 6, 2014.
The fourth incarnation of the ...
'' in which one of the band members was delivered an issue of ''Big Brother'' live on stage, suggesting that he subscribed to ''Taboo'' and received it in error.
The magazine was unexpectedly dropped by Larry Flynt publications in February 2004. In early 2008, it was announced on Jackassworld.com that ''Big Brother'' would be returning in a digital format.
Volume 1 No. 1 of ''KingShit'' Magazine, based in
Toronto, Ontario
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, was released in May 2009. Dave Carnie is the editor-at-large, and Chris Nieratko is a contributing editor.
''Big Brother'' was also credited for the development of the television series '' Jackass'', as
Jeff Tremaine
Jeffrey Tremaine (born September 4, 1966) is an American television director, television producer, film director, film producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-creating the reality stunt show '' Jackass'' with Spike Jonze and Johnny ...
recalled in the ''Jackass'' episode "Where Are They Now?".
Dave Carnie
David Ross Carnie (born December 14, 1969) is an American writer, magazine editor, and skateboarder. He is the former editor-in-chief of '' Big Brother'' and current writer for numerous publications.
Writing career
Carnie writes freelance and ...
attends
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in 1984 in Manhattan's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Continuing, with a few gaps, until 2005, the festival would traditionally act as the unofficial end to the summer for the ...
and calls cross dressers fruitcakes.
Number Two
Year released: 1998
* Cover: Johnny Lee Countee in a
Devo
Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs (Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a ...
suit
* Showed an obscure old school skateboarder (Johnny Lee Countee) skating in front of his house, the only area he ever skated at.
* Showed
Johnny Knoxville
Philip John Clapp (born March 11, 1971), best known professionally as Johnny Knoxville, is an American stunt performer, actor, writer, producer, and professional wrestler. He is best known as a co-creator and star of the MTV reality stunt show ...
testing out self-defense equipment, including
pepper spray
Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, or capsicum spray is a lachrymatory agent (a compound that irritates the eyes to cause a burning sensation, pain, and temporary blindness) used in policing, riot control, cr ...
pistol
A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...
. This footage was the basis for the
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
reality series '' Jackass'', though MTV omitted the last part of the segment that showed Knoxville shooting himself in the chest with a small handgun while wearing a kevlar vest.Skimthefat.com /ref>
boob
Year released: 1999
* Cover: Editor Dave Carnie in a gold spandex suit and rollerblades; ("boob", when looked at in a mirror upside down, reads "poop").
* Contained several skateboarding tours and also featured a Steve-O stunt section and editor Dave Carnie skateboarding in a gold spandex suit.
Crap
Year released: 2001
* Cover: photographer
Rick Kosick
Rick Kosick (born May 25, 1967) is an American photographer and cinematographer. He is a crew member, and supporting cast member of the '' Jackass'' TV series and the four '' Jackass'' movies.
Early career
Kosick started out as a freelance ph ...
in an adult diaper while tied to a cross
* Showed the " Depends Olympics" and/or "Jesus Games," which involved the ''Big Brother'' staff getting drunk, wearing adult diapers, and participating in games. One of the games was the Jesus Race, where people race while heaving a large wooden cross on their backs.