PHILADELPHIA — A former bouncer with hands like 5-pound hams was peppering Bam Margera with rib punches in a small gym at his Chester County castle.

Every few minutes, Margera waved his hands in surrender. He started looking for a place to sit down. Sweat poured down his face, and he struggled to catch his breath

“I need a second,” he said.

Margera had strung together years of bad days recently, but, despite the pain, this wasn’t one of them. Today, he’s sober, in love, skateboarding, spending some time with his family and son, Phoenix Wolf, and, on this early June afternoon, working out too.

Fans of the "Jackass" series will get to see him this weekend when "Jackass: Best and Last," the fifth and final film in the series, is released.

“I think this is the grand finale of it all,” he said.

While Margera didn’t film new stunts or pranks for the latest film and had no interest in attending any premieres (his parents attended) or promotional events, he signed a deal allowing unseen archival footage and outtakes from early "Jackass" days to be used in the film.

Margera had a public falling out with the Jackass crew over sobriety demands they placed on him before the release of 2022’s "Jackass Forever." (He still blames Johnny Knoxville’s “sharp tacks” stunt in a "Viva La Bam" episode for damaging his feet and hurting his skateboarding career.)

“I’m not ready to reunite with anybody,” he said recently.

Paramount Pictures alleged Margera broke a “wellness agreement” that required him to undergo regular drug and alcohol tests and take prescribed medication to be in the 2022 film. When the film was released, Margera had a brief cameo, and The Inquirer noted that it suffered without Margera’s trademark heartagram symbol and Philly hoagiemouth accent.

Some stars of the show and films, including Stephen “Steve-O” Glover and Brandon Novak, a longtime friend of Margera’s, have gotten sober. While Margera was seemingly blowing up friendships at his worst, Novak, a former pro skater, said he never took it personally.

“I always have and will still love him, wherever he is in his journey,” he told The Inquirer in June.

Three years ago, Margera seemed hellbent on burning his own bridges to a better life. He was in California, a long way from his home and family in Chester County. He was even further from good publicity, from his passion — skateboarding — or any semblance of a normal life. In his own words, he became a professional “piece of s—.”

Margera was mired in a custody battle with his ex-wife, Nikki Boyd, along with a slew of other legal issues and lawsuits in Pennsylvania and beyond, plus the subsequent attorney fees. He was in and out of rehabilitation centers for drugs and alcohol, too, and was also dealing with medical and mental health issues.

When The Inquirer spoke to Steve-O about Margera in 2023, he said he was ready to help.

“I just can’t do it for him,” Steve-O said at the time. “I tried everything I could to encourage him to want to get better, and none of it worked, so here we are. He has to want to get better.”

Margera was placed on a 5150 psychiatric hold when he was found acting erratically outside Trejo’s Tacos in Los Angeles in June of 2023. When he was released, he checked into the Sunset Marquis hotel with more drugs than he’d ever had. Looking back, Margera said he wasn’t suicidal, but he didn’t really expect to wake up.

Still, he said a little prayer that night.

If he survived, Margera expected God to deliver him the “hottest eye candy with a tan pit bull” to save him. When he woke up, surprised to be alive, Margera went out by the pool, ordered a bloody mary, and met Daani Marie, a model and stretch coach he later married.

Margera and Daani Marie, who now spend most of their time in Florida, hit it off immediately.

“I really like you,” she said, “do you want to walk my dog with me?

“What kind of dog do you have?” Bam asked.

“A tan pit bull.”

He looked up at the sun and smiled.

While he didn’t get sober immediately, Margera credits that night, that chance meeting with Daani Marie the next morning, for at least putting him on the path. The two were married in New Mexico a year later.

“Enough was enough,” Margera said. “I knew if I continued this lifestyle, I’m gonna die this way.”

Margera said he hadn’t been back to Castle Bam in 10 months, and on this June afternoon, was paying Andrew Mehan, a former bouncer in West Chester, for boxing lessons.

Mehan had to kick Margera out of some West Chester bars back in the day. He’d seen Margera in worse shape.

“Come on, get up,” he commanded.

Suddenly, Margera would rise from his rest with a groan — he still smokes — and snap a few jabs at Mehan.

His father, Phil, the lovable victim of countless pranks and a few punches from Bam over the years, sat in the wings, beaming with pride as his son countered with a few jabs.

“Yeah, he put me through it, but I’ll sit through anything as long as he’s sober,” Phil said.

Margera’s solo show, "Viva La Bam," was set almost entirely in and around “Castle Bam,” his notorious home and compound in Pocopson Township, Chester County, and also at his parents’ home. The show ran for five seasons on MTV, from October 2003 to August 2005.

Many of Castle Bam’s mainstays were still there: purple luxury cars — a Bentley and Audi in the driveway — skateboard decks on the walls, and lots of Margera’s paintings leaning against the walls. Margera described his style as “Jackson Pollock-ish.”

One skateboard deck featured Ryan Dunn, another steady fixture at Castle Bam back in the day. Dunn, Margera’s longtime friend and a fellow "Jackass" star, died in a fiery crash after a night of drinking in Chester County in 2011. The two met at 15, at West Chester East High School, and were nearly inseparable thereafter. In the wake of Dunn’s death, Margera turned to food and alcohol — pints of vodka and Gatorade, food binges followed by purges — to deal with the grief.

Margera was interviewed by a television station at the scene. He was mostly sobbing, and when asked how he would get through it, he said he “couldn’t.”

On this June afternoon, there were people, young and old, everywhere at the Castle: in the pool, putting skateboards together, or doing yard work. His wife doesn’t love the cold, so he didn’t plan on spending too much time back at the Castle or any one place, for very long. Pocopson Township, he said, cracked down on his ability to host big gatherings and do outlandish stunts.

“I love Pennsylvania, but I love to travel too,” he said. “Boredom is my trigger.”

Friends popped in and out, including Dennis Wood, a West Chester native who used to skate at Margera’s as a teen.

“Obviously, there’s been trials and tribulations throughout the years; he took some steps forward, some steps back,” Wood said. “In the last couple of years, this is the best I’ve seen him.”

Margera had very public fallouts with his family during the worst years, too. He was charged with assaulting his brother at Castle Bam in 2023.

Margera’s mother, April, said his legal issues have been resolved and that he seems to be “out of the darkness.” She went to California with him and Phil recently to visit Phoenix Wolf.

“I would like to say I’m really proud of him. He came a long way. We’ve all been through the fire and brimstone, and we seem to be coming out on the other side,” April said in a text message.

Novak, a former star of "Jackass" and "Viva La Bam" who now owns sober living houses in Delaware and New Jersey, said Margera’s family was always the grounding force, a source of unconditional love, and he was happy to hear the Margeras have made amends.

He also loves that Margera is skating again.

“Where he seems to be now is a healing stage,” Novak said recently. “To what degree, I can’t speak on, but it’s better than it was when he wasn’t speaking to his family or the majority of his friends.”

Margera started skateboarding as a teen, with Phil driving him all over the area to pursue his passion, including the late Love Park and FDR Park. Margera’s earliest stunts appeared in videos for his brother’s alt-metal band, CKY, and he got noticed by MTV. His crew was teamed up with other wild men, like Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O. "Jackass" was born. Margera and Dunn were featured in the first episode on Oct. 1, 2000, riding — crashing, rather — shopping carts.

Phil watched his son’s recent torturous boxing lesson with pride.

“He’s still cute, even at 46,” Phil said.

When the final sparring round was over, Mehan helped pull Margera’s gloves off. Margera slumped down and took deep breaths. A few minutes later, he shuffled out of the gym and walked straight into the deep end of the pool, fully clothed.

“I need to quit smoking,” he said along the way.

Mehan put the day’s boxing lesson into a deeper perspective while he unwrapped his own hands.

“That’s the worst he’ll ever look,” Mehan said of the boxing lesson. “Here’s the deal: he fought through it. He kept saying he was done, that he wanted to quit, but he kept going.”

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