And Welcome to Jackass

About

“And Welcome to Jackass” (also known as “And This is Jackass”) is a catchphrase based on the signature opening line by American actor Johnny Knoxville from the MTV reality series Jackass. On the web, its snowclone derivatives are typically paired with various image macros depicting FAIL scenarios or self-destructive behaviors.

Origin

The phrase “Hi, I am X and This is Jackass” was first introduced as the opening line of the MTV reality series Jackass^[1] by American stuntman and actor Johnny Knoxville. Since the airing of the pilot episode in late 2000, the show became a mainstream hit and gained a cult following for staging a variety of dangerous, crude and often self-harming stunts and pranks set in the American suburbs.

Hi, I’m Johnny Knoxville and Welcome to Jackass

During its original run from October 2000 to February 2002, Knoxville’s quote grew into an iconic slogan associated with the revival of American daredevil entertainment and became reiterated by other guests and celebrities in numerous episodes of the TV series.

Spread

Throughout the decade of 2000s, the opening scene also became frequently imitated through amateur parodies and tribute productions.^[11] However, snowclone parodies of the quote didn’t emerge until April 2011, when YouTuber AlkaroSmb^[2] uploaded an edited clip of the 2004 American film The Passion of The Christ^[12] titled “Hola, mi nombre es Jesus… y esto es Jackass” (English translation: “Hi, My Name is Jesus and this is Jackass.”)

Following its upload, YouTuber AlkaroSmb’s parody video continued to pick up referral traffic through various English and Spanish-language discussion communities like Denunciando^[3], Taringa^[7] and Speakeasy Clinic^[4] forums, as well as Tumblr blogs^[5] and video-sharing sites^[6] among others. Throughout the rest of 2011, dozens of image macros began to follow suit on Tumblr^[8] and Reddit^[9], as well as via internet humor blogs like FunnyJunk^[10], Cheezburger, MemeGenerator and 9GAG.