By Mark Kramer
The curtain is falling on New York City’s largest and glitziest porn palace: Show World, the four-level, Times Square-vicinity, peep emporium that has operated non-stop since 1975.
Screw once described the 20,000 foot establishment as America’s “most enduring monument to the masturbatory arts”.
Tonight, “l-keford.com” learned exclusively, that Show World executives publicly declared their intent to take the business non-adult--as a coin-operated, interactive entertainment arcade with a snack bar.
In a presentation before Manhattan's Community Board 4's Land Use Committee, Show World controller Scott Wexler, its site manager Tom Simmons, and attorney Fred Becker admitted to the near-impossibility of conducting a peep-show business in today’s “Disneyfied” 42nd Street milieu.
A decade ago, Show World attracted up to 4000 patrons a day, according to Crain’s New York Business.
The beginning of the end came with New York City’s updated, porn-averse zoning code --which Show World violates because it is within 500 feet of a church.
In attempting to comply , Show World first eliminated its contingent of live-peep performers, known as “booth babies.” To further meet the requirement that 60% of its establishment's merchandise be non-"adult", Show World filled its display windows and retail spaces with a miscellany of goods including luggage, family-oriented videocassettes and beepers.
Not present tonight was Show World’s owner-- Gambino associate Richard Basciano. According to the Village Voice, the seventysomething convicted felon has earned approximately $12 million by selling much of his peep-show empire to the 42nd Street redevelopment effort.
At least two other Basciano-owned scumatoria in the Times Square vicinity--unaffected by the zoning regs--will continue to pump cash into the peep tycoon’s coffers.
Reclusive former prizefighter Basciano--known to have maintained a fully-equipped gym and boxing ring upstairs from Show World--has not appeared publicly or been photographed by media since the 1982 interview in which he characterized his operation as “a deterrent to rape.”
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My web site is causing consternation and anger within the adult industry. Rob Spallone at Star World got lots of angry phone calls from porners like Tony Martino and Jack Hammer complaining about things I've written.
Gloria Leonard phoned this afternoon highly annoyed.
David Sturman and Sin City are annoyed with my coverage of their organizational mess. I was supposed to come on the set of the their latest production today but I was cancelled, presumably for what I wrote below.
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In an interview with www.punkrocksex.com, photographer Charles Gatewood said his collaborater [David Aaron Clark] on the book True Blood had ripped him off for $1200.
Mark Kramer (a former journalist for Screw like Clark) writes for www.bme.com:
In counterdistinction to the ingenuously ominisexual Found Objects populating Gatewood's earlier work, the naked, gore-streaked, vampiric goth grrlls of True Blood--which itself is pegged to a 1995 Gatewood video of the same name--are posed and styled to the point of inanimacy. Brandishing syringes and intravenuous tubes as though they were sprigs of blood-swollen mistletoe, their synthetic sepulchritude is the negative afterimage of Gatewood's past triumphs in destigmatizing once-forbidden acts.
The text to True Blood was written by career pornographer David Aaron Clark, best known for his role as the adipose human pincushion in the recent Al Goldstein documentary film Screwed.
The 300-pound Clark is, according to Gatewood [in the Village Voice], "a heavy player in the scene as well as a vampire. He says that the main ideas are achieving wisdom through excess. It's about a kind of magical transformation."
Elaborated Gatewood for the Soft Toy Dept.: "Dave Clark's a genius who does it all. He's writing all the time, reviewing stuff for both Screw and the Bay Area's Spectator. He and I have the perfect collaboration. I get him laid sometimes and sometimes he gets me laid. Not only did he write the copy to True Blood, but he also did the page design."
And this is where the porno praxis kicks in: that 64-page impulse to give buyers as little as possible for their twenty bucks.
Clark's ham-handed layout is built around a miscellany of Gatewood color photos and cannibalized video stills--all intended to promote the creators' claim that 'blood sports' and vampirism represent a kind of sex-radical vanguard.
This objective is furthered through prose and verse which Clark has recycled from his own career as a writer and performer, such as this 1993-vintage rant: "Each time she forces open a door between the sticky pores of his flesh, his body shudders with the headlong thrust of his spirit trying to surf its way on the pounding blood waves of his heart...."
Given that Gatewood's past textual collaborators have included the late William Burroughs [Sidetripping], cartoonist Robert Crumb [Forbidden Photographs 1996 reissue] and critic/educator A.D. Coleman [Charles Gatewood Photographs]--True Blood is the byproduct of an artist undeterred by the possibility that his best work is behind him.
The Body and Beyond will be on view at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center though October 13.
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David Sturman's Sin City production company in Chatsworth is a mess. Though he's sick, David flew into town Tuesday from his home in San Francisco to try to straighten the place up. It's been a disorganized mess for years. "Too many chiefs and not enough Indians," says an observer.
David flies home Wednesday.
Sin City's general manager Steve Karmelin has quit and now works for Wicked Pictures. Steve has not been replaced.
Sin City sorely misses the leadership of Mickey Blank, a friend of David Sturman, who now runs his own production company.
Sin City's head of warehouse and shipping has also quit, creating chaos.
Sin City produces Wednesday the Brat Pack starring Nikki Lynn (their new contract girl, six videos a year in her contract) and Shay Sweet, produced by Tony "shuttup bitch" Martino. Martino now heads production at Sin City. "Has David Sturman lost his mind?" asks an observer.
Tony Martino has a tiny office at Sin City. He has a 50-50 deal with David Sturman, I hear, to split whatever savings he can create for the company. Meaning that if Sin City would've given Roy Karch $15,000 to shoot an all-anal feature, and Chuck Martino can bring it in for $12,000, then Chuck gets to keep $1500 and David pockets $1500. Martino also earns a salary of $1800 a week.
Martino cancelled Jack Hammer from $3000 worth of work after reading remarks that Jack made to Luke F-rd about Chuck's habit of beating women.
I hear that Vince Voyeur remains in a hospital in Hungary. He supposedly tried to pick up a girl in a bar and her boyfriend stabbed him.
I hear that Kris Kramski supposedly appeared at Hal Guthue's talent agency at 7428 Santa Monica Blvd recruiting talent for a supposedly $3 million mainstream SAG flick. Probably European financing.
Three black male performers are in jail. Tony Eveready still languishes there after thrashing his wife. Suave supposedly for theft. Lindsey aka Lin Dog is in jail for battery. Israelis Yosef and Rita at Factory Home Video aka Sunshine Films supposedly owe him money. Lin Dog paid them a visit and threatened physical violence. Yosef called the cops. Lindsey supposedly beat someone up.
Two weeks ago, Sal Sodano left Star World under suspicious circumstances. "Sal's married to Rita of Factory Home Video. Rita told Sal that she'd pay him $10,000 to marry her so that she could stay in the country. He did it and she never paid him.
"Yosef flew Sal to Israel. Promised him a movie a week to shoot and a credit card. When Sal got back to the US, they only gave him $3000 and only let him shoot two movies. They took the credit card back immediately. Sal threatened to take them to INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) and she bought him a car - a red Mitsubishi Eclipse for $6500."
I hear that Stephanie Swift will soon sign a contract with either Wicked or Extreme Associates.
Raven McCall: "I'm ready to wage war with Jasmine St. Clair for her nasty remarks… I've got a nasty message from her on my voice mail saying how dare I try to knock down somebody of her caliber. I had to laugh. She pissed me off and it has been burning in my mind ever since. Her caliber? Her caliber of f---ing 300 guys to get noticed? I'm a boxcover girl. I do feature dancing. I make a lot of money. I also do regular acting and modeling. She couldn't hold a fire to me if she tried, she couldn't light a candle for God's sake. I have more intelligence, class and charisma in my little pinkie than that girl has running through her entire false tit body, liposuction and the rest. At least mine is all natural."
Bianca Trump blames Jim South and Mark Carriere for pushing her into getting a breast job that has backfired on her (infection in one breast). Mark paid for it and selected the surgeon.
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I arrive at Star World around 11AM, 9/15/98. Finding Rob's office empty, I open the door to the next room to find two men having vigorous sex under the hot lights while Horny Henry aka Mark Uhl videotapes the proceedings with the assistance of Wayne Crews.
The receiver was a feminine guy, a "transsexual" who'd taken hormones and secured breast implants thought he still had a penis.
Star World has been shooting lots of transsexuals for Legend over the past few days.
I exit hurriedly and soon find Rob Spallone renovating his studio where they shot the child molester in jail scene in Boogie Nights.
Rob says that the North Hollywood Clinic, of which he's a big supporter, has doubled the number of porners who've come by for HIV tests (240 last month).
"They don't want to deal with Sharon Mitchell," says confrontational Rob. "They won't go to her clinic. She's practically begging people to come there. She lost a lot of customers. She complains that the North Hollywood clinic is not sharing test results. Make sure you print it word for word Luke."
Rob Spallone and James DiGiorgio will shoot a $15,000 movie for Sin City next week, with Rob playing a producer and Jim a director. "Jim thinks he's Steven Spieldberg, and I have to go around and tell him that we're not making Gone With The Wind. Lukey, you can be in that one."
Rob boasts how Metro, VCA and Elegant Angel have been sending Star World checks for talent. "Your buddy Russ is the best payer in the whole business."
Rob regards Jim South as a whussy. Rob says that if he owned a bakery on a street, he'd never allow anyone to compete with him. If they tried to open a store, he'd blow them up.
Rob, Joe and I step into a locked private room full of white boxes filled with model releases going back to 1994. We look for the movie "Fire In The Hole," (shot 3/19/96) to find a release on Tatsianna (Claudio's wife) for Adam & Eve.
Joe pulls her release. Rob starts yelling at him. "You go make your copy, come back and put it back."
James DiGiorgio will shoot Tony D and his 18-inch black cock this weekend at Star World in a video for Mike Esposito.
Angel, male performer in about ten videos.
Rob, James Digiorgio and others laugh about their buddy Oliver, a strapping German, who had sex with three "transsexuals" (guys who want to be girls) on Friday. Oliver both gave and received. "Oliver took their load in his mouth," says Rob. "He took it up the ass too. I've just booked him and Dick Nasty in scenes for Eli's company [All Good Video]."
James DiGiorgio turned 49 today. He was born 9/15/49.
2PM: Jack Richman, co-owner of Legend (with Bruce) drops by, driving his white Jaguar. He meets privately with Joe and Rob about their producing more transsexuals and other product for his booming company.
Jack teases Oliver about f---ing transsexuals. "They're guys, Oliver," booms Jacks. "You're the man."
Oliver: "They're chicks."
About half a dozen people tease Oliver unmercifully. Some seriously warn him that doing transsexuals will hurt his straight porn career.
I sit in the sun with Oliver, Angel (a hispanic male performer) and his buddy when Jack emerged from his meeting. Jack, a pale paunchy white guy, asked Rob "to clear out all the weirdos," so Rob shooed us inside.
Jack told me that he does not do interviews.
Oliver told me about last Friday: "I got to work with three really cute chicks and it turned out that they had something extra [a penis] which was hardly noticeable as they were so mindblowingly beautiful. I got paid to do a job ($350), I did that job and I had a good time.
"Ass-f---ing goes both ways. That's only fair. I don't have a double standard… The main thing to stress here was that it was chicks. I'll do basically anything with a girl. I won't do dudes of course. I'm not bi, I'm strictly straight."
Angel says he entered porn for fun. He holds down a regular full-time job. Angel did the "The World's Biggest Anal Gangbang" of Brooke Ashley in early 1998, where she caught HIV.
Oliver overflows with ideas for the new movie to be made by Wayne Crews. "Mila likes to piss when she has sex. She should piss all over me, rub it all over me and I'm going to drink some."
Rob to Oliver: "Could we take a clear plastic tube with one end open and stick it up your ass?"
Oliver: "No."
Rob: "Listen. A three-foot long tube. We stick it up your ass two inches. That end is closed. Through the open end we put in live mice, so it looks like they're going up your ass."
Oliver: "Ahh, probably not."
Oliver turns to me. "Anyway, you've seen pictures of Mila's open asshole. Her guts inside out. I come on her open ass and then I lick it up and basically suck it off her guts. Do you like that idea?"
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From Dave Cummings:
Another summer gone! The older I get, the faster time seems to fly by. For many of us, I bet there's been a lot of beers drank, hamburgers consumed, condoms used, Viagra tried (although I've yet to hear of anyone in the Industry using it), grass cut, and summer vacations taken!
Rumor has it that the scrumptious Stephanie Swift and porn stud/producer/director Brad Armstrong have recently become an "item" (now that I think back about it, while on set awaiting to do my sex scene with Serenity for Wicked Film's recently-released "Pornogothic", I saw signs of glowing happiness between Stephanie and Brad during and after the filming of their sex scene earlier in the day)!
Shooting Star's recent filming of "Summer Swinger's Party" brought back pleasant memories of my pre-porn activities in the world of swinging. With almost 100 people on the set, including a nice mix of porn stars and real swingers, there was action everywhere. Sex in the jacuzzi was a favorite, as well as orgying on the patio, on the lawn, in the bathrooms and bedrooms, the living room floor, etc. Three camera operator's recorded everything, caterers kept us strong and happy with delicious food, and the 25+ active participants burned off a lot of f---ing calories. The actual film will be released in 8-10 weeks, and I'll try to alert you to it's availability.
Vol. 15 of "Dirty Dave, The Sugardaddy" was just released. Eight different sex scenes, all with different porn starlets. You can see the box cover at www.davecummings.com along with FREE film clips.
This year's gathering of porn stars, insiders, fans, and media at the gala "Night of the Stars" was held at the Sheridan Universal in Universal City in conjunction with the World Pornography Conference. During the outdoor cocktail hour preceding the formal Night of the Stars event, TV crews and media swarmed every time another limousine pulled up carrying more gorgeous porn starlets. Sponsored by The Free Speech Coalition it truly was a classy event in all aspects!
The World Pornography Conference was well attended and provided insightful and interesting seminars, as well as an opportunity to see, hear, and interact with porn stars, academic folks, medical and counseling experts, media personnel, legal people, and others. I felt honored to be on a number of panels, including the closing session which was titled "All Star Porn Panel: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About the Actors and Actresses in Erotic Films and Video From the People Who Know" --- participants included Nina Hartley, Ron Jeremy, Juli Ashton, XXX, Annabel Chong, Miss Sharon Mitchell, Veronica Hart, Mike Horner, Richard Pacheco, Bill Margold, Will Jarvis, R. Bolla, Gloria Leonard, Johnni Black & David Black, Shayla La Veaux, Annie Sprinkles, Candida Royale, Meridian, Shane, and others. Throughout the event (one day of which I missed due to being in the recently-released Tight Ends Production of "Screw My Wife, Please #6 and Make Her Cum" J), I also saw Serenity, Alexandra Silk, Luc Wylder, and Anna Malle. The entire conference was a serious and academic look at various elements of adult entertainment.
In closing, remember that sex is a totally natural God-given gift for consenting adults to enjoy, and that harmless fantasies and healthy sexual desires are normal.
