Professional prankster and stunt performer Johnny Knoxville is getting behind the podcast mic for “Pretty Sure I Can Fly” — a show that “explores and celebrates the remarkable and slightly unhinged people who have pushed history forward and redefined the limits of human potential,” per the podcast’s producers.
“Pretty Sure I Can Fly,” co-hosted by Knoxville and comedian and writer Elna Baker, will have an exclusive one-week window on Amazon Music and the Wondery+ subscription service before going wide. It premieres April 8 on Amazon Music and Wondery+ and April 15 on all major podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The podcast is produced by SmartLess Media — the media company developed out of the hit “SmartLess” podcast from Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett — with Campside Media and Amplify Pictures.
On the podcast, Baker and Knoxville, known for MTV’s “Jackass” show and movie franchise, will host guests including Travis Pastrana (pro motorsports competitor and stunt performer), Garrett McNamara (professional big wave surfer, featured in Amplify Pictures’ “100 Foot Wave” for HBO), Dudley Stokes (legendary Jamaican bobsledder), Ann Daniels (polar explorer), and Tori Murden (first woman and the first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean).
“Nothing makes me happier than reading about some wonderful nut who has achieved an extraordinary feat under impossible conditions while everyone is telling them it couldn’t or shouldn’t be done,” Knoxville said about his first podcast-hosting gig. “I find their stories endlessly inspiring and now, with this podcast, Elna and I will get to pick their courageous brains and see why they do what they do.:
Knoxville continued: “Why in the hell would someone want to surf a 100-foot wave or battle minus-56-degree temperatures and polar bears for weeks trying to reach the geographic North Pole? I mean sheesh am I the only sane one here?”
Baker, who formerly worked at “This American Life,” added, “It takes a particular kind of fucked-upness, or blind positivity or just being off your rocker to do the things our guests have done. Over and over I’m on the edge of my seat, not sure if the guest will live or die and they’re sitting right in front of me. It’s Knoxville like you’ve never seen him before — and that’s saying a lot since I’m pretty sure you can google image his balls.”
SmartLess Media was formed by Bateman, Hayes and Arnett in late 2022, home to the trio’s hugely popular “SmartLess” podcast. The company recently inked a three-year deal with SiriusXM worth more than $100 million encompassing exclusive distribution and ad-sales rights. Other SmartLess Media podcasts include “Bad Dates” Jameela Jamil, “Just Jack & Will” with Sean Hayes and Eric McCormack, “WikiHole” hosted by D’Arcy Carden and “Owned” with Rex Chapman.
“When you have an opportunity to create a podcast with Johnny Knoxville and Elna Baker, you say ‘Yes,’” SmartLess Media president Richard Korson commented. “We are so grateful and excited to share this funny, curious and inspiring audio series about folks that like to ‘fly close to the sun’!”
“Pretty Sure I Can Fly” is executive produced by Josh Dean and Mark McAdam. Producers for SmartLess Media are Bernie Kaminski alongside executive producers Arnett, Bateman, Hayes and Korson. For Amplify Pictures, executive producers are Joe Lewis, Rachel Eggebeen and Colin King Miller, with associate producer Brian Donahoe. Also senior producer Rajiv Golla and associate producer Morgan Jaffe.
Listen to the trailer at this link.