American funnyman Johnny Knoxville changed his name - because his real name made him a source of ridicule at school.

The JACKASS star abandoned his birth name, PJ CLAP, as soon as he got the chance.

He says, "At high school I used to get made fun of a lot for that. Then I started writing for underground magazines under the name Johnny Knoxville.

"Knoxville's a town in Tennessee, where I'm from. You see how clever that is?"

01/11/2004 10:49