Steve graduated from the final class of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College before it closed in 1997. However, he was not one of the ten chosen to join the circus.

After graduating from Clown College Steve-O returned to his home in Albuquerque and filmed himself doing stunts for skateboard videos and later became involved in Jackass and Jackass: The Movie. Attempts were made to boycott Jackass: The Movie partially in response to claims that teenagers and children had injured themselves in attempts to perform stunts similar to those in the Jackass TV Series [1].

Following the filming of Jackass Steve-O released four DVDs showcasing his stunts. The first, Don't Try This At Home: The Steve-O Video, is a ragtag collection of footage that couldn't be played on TV. His second DVD. Volume 2: The Tour, follows Steve-O on his journey across America performing his live stage show, Don't Try This at Home. Volume 3: Out On Bail, follows Steve-O and his crew across the globe on the Don't Try This At Home Tour. His fourth effort Steve-O: The Early Years chronicles his rise as a performer and features interviews with his family, crew, friends, business associates, etc.

Steve-O documented his experience taking PCP, a trip lasting five days, on his DVD PCP Saved my Life. He precedes the showing of the tape with an announcement that he will never watch the tape of his 'trip', that he will never take PCP again, and that he remembers no part of the five day trip in which he frequently proclaims that PCP has saved his life.

Third party companies have released DVDs including Steve-O footage without his approval including: Steve-O � Gross Misconduct, Steve-O � XXX Porn Show, Steve-O � Greatest Hits, and Steve-O Quad Pack. On April 25, 2005, Steve-O filed a lawsuit against a company producing some of the DVDs, J&N Media [2]. The videos consist of a patchwork of early footage of him that he had sold, given away, has been used without his consent, or that he as otherwise abandoned the rights to throughout his career. While he has expressed displeasure at being presented and marketed in a way beyond his control, he seems to have taken the whole affair in stride. He certainly has recommended against purchasing them, however, and receives no compenstation for their sale beyond what he may have gotten when some of the rights were sold [citation needed].

Since 2003, he and Chris Pontius along with others have appeared on the semi-nature show Wildboyz, featuring various stunts involving wild animals and remote cultures. It is currently in its fourth season, airing on MTV2 after being moved from MTV during a shuffle of content between them.

Steve-O has recently lent his talents to National Lampoon's TV: The Movie and Jackass Number Two.

In mid 2005, Steve-O launched his own shoe company called Sneaux Shoes [citation needed]. Television commercials promoting the shoe company include such acts as Steve-O jumping into garbage, getting his foot bitten by an alligator, and drinking rotten milk. His slogan is "They're darn good shoes."

On July 31, 2002, Steve-O was arrested in Los Angeles on obscenity and assault charges for performing his now infamous stunt, The Butterfly (in which he staples his scrotum to his leg) at the Abyss, a nightclub in Houma, Louisiana, and for being a principal to a second-degree battery, both of which occurred at the nightclub on July 11, 2002 [3]. After posting a $150,000 bond in the Los Angeles court system, he was allowed to return to Louisiana where he turned himself in to the local authorities. Steve-O was released from Louisiana's custody with a $35,000 bond on August 14, 2002. The Louisiana courts had originally set his bond at 1.12 million dollars, but it was reduced after he convinced them he wasn't a flight risk[4]. Steve-O was required to return to Los Angeles on August 16, 2002, and prove that he turned himself in to Louisiana authorities [5].

The arraignment was originally scheduled for September 16, 2002, however Steve-O was granted a continuance extending it until December 16, 2002, [6] and then granted a second continuance extending it to February 10, 2003 [7]. Finally on March 24, 2003, Steve-O made a deal with Louisiana prosecutors placing him on supervised probation for one year, requiring him to make a charitable donation of $5,000 to a shelter for battered women and children, and forbiding from performing in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana ever again [8].

The Abyss nightclub was in danger of losing their liquor license as a result of the events on the night of July 11, 2002. They were allowed to keep it until the trial against Steve-O was complete [9].

On May 22, 2003 Steve-O was arrested and jailed while in Sweden in response to a joke he made about smuggling drugs in to the country, remarking that he swallowed a condom containing ganja to get it past the authorities. Steve-O reached a plea bargain with the Swedish prosecutors and was released on May 27, 2003 after paying a 45,000 Kronor (about 5,800 dollars) fine. As part of the plea bargin Steve-O admitted to possessing one ecstacy tablet and five grams of marijuana, although he claimed he had no knowledge of where the ecstacy came from [10].

On July 19, 2003, Steve-O was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct for urinating on potato chips in public during a Lollapalooza tour performance in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania. Steve-O claimed he was kicked off the tour by Lollapalooza producers because of the incident [11].

November 2, 2005 Steve-O was seen by reporters, and later officers in the Los Angeles Police Department, exiting a nightclub with a bag of marijuana. Though the officers confronted Steve-O they made no attempt to arrest him. The incident was documented on video tape by the reporters and resulted in an administrative investigation within the LAPD to see if the officers at the scene were negligent [12].

On September 26, 2005, a heavily intoxicated Steve-O appeared on Too Late with Adam Carolla [13]. He had originally planned on getting drunk, having a policeman give him a breathalyzer test, and then pulling a cloth out from under a table of food. Unfortunately, the plan fell through at the last second and Steve-O had already consumed a large amount of alcohol. On the show Steve-O yelled obscenities, attempted to tackle Adam Carolla, broke a glass table with his foot, inadvertently cutting his leg, and was taken away by security at the end of the segment [14]. In the following segment Adam attempted to perform the stunt Steve-O had planned [15]. This appearance gave Too Late its highest ratings to date [citation needed]. Despite the turmoil, on October 17, 2005, Steve-O appeared again on Too Late [16]. His second appearance was no less chaotic, with Steve-O lighting a table on fire, breaking the replacement for the glass table he had broken previously, and ended with him stapling his scrotum to his thigh.

Since the departure of Adam Carolla from Loveline, Steve-O has been periodically guest co-hosting the syndicated radio show with Dr. Drew as one of the many people considered as a potential replacement for Adam. However, Steve-O is no longer in the running after the Loveline producers rejected his contract offer [citation needed].

These are a few of Steve-O's many stunts, some of which may be seen on Jackass and others in his series of independent videos.

    * The Goldfish Trick - Steve-O drinks a glass of water with a goldfish in it, He then proceeds to stick his fingers down his throat to vomit the fish back up. He tries numerous times to vomit the fish back up and then finally vomits the fish back up alive into a fishbowl. This is quite comparable to goldfish swallowing.

    * High Dive - Steve-O gets into his thong and climbs a high dive, he puts stilts on and then jumps from the high dive into the pool.

    * The Double Back - Steve-O swings his penis back and forth with enough momentum for his balls to hit his stomach twice, then catching his genitals with his inner thighs he jumps and spins 180 degrees.

    * The Butterfly - Steve-O staples his scrotum to his thigh

    * The Butt Piercing - Steve-O went into a piercing parlor, and got his buttocks pierced closed.

    * The Earthworm - Steve-O snorts an earthworm through his nose and pulls it out his mouth, alive and well.

Steve-O was guest co-hosting Loveline May 23, 2006, and announced he had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a serious cardiac condition which can be life threatening. Steve-O claimed his doctor told him he was dying and had "the heart of a 90 year old man" also adding without treatment he "wouldn't live past 40." During the show Steve-O recounted what happened after he got his diagnosis. Immediately after leaving the doctor's office Steve-O called a girl he'd been seeing named Ashley who was indifferent to his news. Disappointed with her reaction and still in shock from the diagnosis he called a cab, went to the airport, and flew to London to get some "pickled onion flavored monster munch" (a snack only made there). Later he met a fan of his living in London who has Steve-O pictures tattooed all over him. Steve-O went to see Stonehenge with the tattooed fan and then went to Amsterdam where, in his own words, he "smoked a lot of pot" but refrained from drinking to ensure he didn't further damage his cardiac health. Steve-O had just flown back to Los Angeles from Amsterdam right before appearing on Loveline that night.

During the show, Dr. Drew remarked that if Steve-O's ejection fraction drops below 20% he could have a "sudden rhythm disorder and keel over." They also discussed some likely possibilities for treating Steve-O's cardiomyopathy including getting a heart transplant or implanting a kind of electrical defibrillator. Though Dr. Drew also remarked several times that with treatment he thought Steve-O would be all right. Dr. Drew has been very supportive of Steve-O. Throughout the show Steve-O laughed and joked about his condition to the extent that a caller accused him of "not taking anything seriously." Steve-O responded to the caller he thought of the laughter as a defense mechanism.

June 16, 2006, Steve-O Appeared on Radio Bam after visiting a heart specialist who said his heart was perfectly fine. Steve-O maintained he has stopped drinking and doing "hard drugs," only taking marijuana and nitrous.