His career as a daredevil and performance artist has led gonzo to his current post as head writer on up late with miss piggy. In the muppet show and the muppet movie, he performed as a performance artist, stunt double and daredevil under the name the great gonzo (or gonzo the great). Gonzo, formally known as the great gonzo or gonzo the great, is the resident daredevil performance artiste on the muppet show.

The meaning of gonzo is of, relating to, or being a style of journalism marked by a lack of objectivity due to the writer's immersion in the subject and often participation in the activity being documented. Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative.