With Friends Like BAM
Tuesday 3rd November 2026
Written by: Tom Wilson
Photographed by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
…Who needs enemas?
The Brisbane Powerhouse’s Underground Theatre is absolutely packed, and there is an electricity in the air as filmmaker and longtime BAM collaborator JOE FRANTZ introduces himself as the MC for the evening. Last night’s show was postponed due to travel delays, so they’re doing two shows tonight, but from the comments under the postponement announcement, there are those who aren’t convinced Bam is even going to show up tonight.
Frantz gets the crowd buzzing, before Bam emerges from the wings in dark sunnies and a bedazzled coat, looking every inch the rockstar, and the whole room goes bananas. He’s here, it’s happening, and they take their seats in front of a projector screen and get down to business, answering audience questions from a top hat sitting between them.
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
If you’re still haunted by the mental image of Chris Raab downing a bottle of ex-lax and running down the road in a jockstrap while shitting himself, you’re going to be thrilled to learn that there was more to this story, as Chris tried to take a girl back home the same day. A scene of Ryan Dunn going over an Icelandic waterfall in a plastic barrel, with nothing but a pillow to protect his head, will have you absolutely wincing, particularly when his barrel tips while going into the water, and he makes the whole trip head-first. I’m glad I’m not friends with Bam Margera. This isn’t because I don’t like him, but because being friends with him has meant enduring a lot of on-camera pain over the years, and we see prank wars escalate horrifically until someone is getting woken up by a stream of piss to the face.
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
The audience questions lead to a special moment, as they reflect on the video for GNARKILL’s Skeletor/Beastman, a rap song about the two characters having sex, and a girl in the front row mentions that she knows every word. As luck would have it, so does Bam, and when she is handed a microphone she gets to throw down on the track with him as the video plays behind him, and she doesn’t miss a single word. She’s going to remember tonight for the rest of her life. As someone whose young children are about to be teenagers, I took a lot away from seeing footage of Bam’s parents, who seemed endlessly supportive of the chaos gremlin causing bedlam around their house. If my kids ambushed me with a paintball gun while leaving work, I doubt I’d take it as well as Phil Margera does.
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
It’s good to see Bam seemingly healthy and happy, and I know his friends will be relieved he’s doing well. Hopefully it won’t be too long until he’s on our shores again.
Pictured: BAM MARGERA AND JOE FRANTZ
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
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