Dave Attell takes a look back at his “golden age of dirty movies,” the 1970s, on Dave’s Old Porn. Stay tuned for season two. [It happens to be a little late for that advice, but this does not diminish our Legacy value, we think. -Ed.]
Talking Dirty (About Old Porn)
It’s hard to find a comedian today who’s more respected by his peers than Dave Attell. After beginning in stand-up more than 25 years ago, Attell conquered television with the Comedy Central hit Insomniac With Dave Attell (2001-2004), in which he acted as a tour guide to late-night destinations in various cities. He’s also starred in stand-up specials, appeared on pretty much every talk show that features comedians, and even hosted a 2008 revival of The Gong Show. Now he’s landed on Showtime with the hilarious Dave’s Old Porn, which pays tribute to sex films of the seventies. Season-one adult-industry guest stars included the legendary Ron Jeremy, naturally old-school stars Seka, Nina Hartley, and Georgina Spelvin, as well as modern beauties Kristina Rose, Belladonna, and Bobbi Starr. Attell was also joined last season by comedians Adam Carolla, Bill Burr, Jim Norton, Chelsea Handler, Whitney Cummings, the Sklar brothers, and Margaret Cho. Now he’s launched season two.
Dave’s Old Porn is very funny, and also very dirty. But there’s something about the mixture of comedy and porn that’s really interesting.
Yes! I always say it’s like Mystery Science Theater with porn. It’s a special style of TV.
And you’ve mentioned that the idea for the show came from your love of the golden era of porn, the seventies. What is it about vintage pornography that made you think, This needs a TV show?
Well, I’m not an expert on it. But the thing I find so attractive is that now I’m in my forties, and these are the girls who I started rubbing it out to. To look back and see it as an adult, it’s interesting. But also, this stuff was before political correctness and all the things we have today, like the internet and shaving. There’s a lot of political incorrectness in these videos, with language and such.
It seems the movies of that era were more memorable — for instance, Deep Throat and Emmanuelle. It doesn’t appear to be like that today. Why do you think that’s changed?
I think it’s because of the internet. I think the seventies were the last wild time. Now porn is just so easy. You can download it. Back then, you had to put in effort to get it. I remember going to Times Square, buying a tape, putting it in a paper bag, and taking it home. It was a big effort. Now people just take porn for granted. Back then, they were real movies. The good question is yours: Why the change? I really don’t know. Today, porn is so politically correct; there will never be a time like the seventies again.
Do you think people today, because there’s so much porn out there, have a difficult time sitting down and watching a full movie?
Yeah, it’s pretty difficult to watch a full porn [film] aside from what you need it for, which is the sex. So I understand why people aren’t watching the feature films. But the companies that I know are trying to reboot that feature film. They’re trying to do that high-budget I hope it works out for them. But at the end of the day, the internet makes it very difficult.
“The AVN Awards are not easy. But I will say that if the Emmys and Oscars had categories like ‘Double Anal,’ they’d be a hit. People would definitely watch.”
Dave’s Old Porn fits in well on Showtime. Did you shop it around first?
Oh, yeah. My executive producer and I took it to another network. They liked it and we made a pilot, but it was too dirty. The truth is, the only way to do a show like this is at Showtime. They’re really cool with it. It’s uncensored. I’m not allowed to show any penetration, but other than that, I’m pretty much allowed to show everything. Though you get a pretty good idea of what you’re seeing. It’s porn; you’re watching porn. It’s a late-night, dirty, unscripted, uncensored show, which I really like. I like that I never know what I’m going to say, and I don’t know what the other people are going to say. It’s fun as a comic.
It was a great idea having other comedians on. Does that break the ice when you have a porn star on?
The cool thing about this show is that I’m such a horrible host. The comics who come on, a lot have their own shows and are just great comics. It’s like a free-for-all. Everybody can talk when they want and ask questions. We’re trying to get inside knowledge on sex and porn, so it’s the best having other comics on. It’s also fun to watch the movie with them, make fun of it, and then ask the stars questions.
Does that make you feel more comfortable, having comedians there?
It just makes me feel old. But I do love having comics on. I think it’s a good show for a lot of different types of people. I like seeing how many people and what kinds of people will come on. I understand that porn is not a given for everybody. At the end of the day, the two things I’m going for with the show are, I want my comic friends to have a good time and to be funny, and I want to give a proper tribute to these legends. They were a part of this strange world, and I want to give them the respect they deserve. It’s not a show just about down-and-dirty porn.
It’s kind of cool that you’re going into it for that tribute.
Yeah! That’s what it was designed for. It’s really hard to convince some people that we’re legitimate. We’re not using them at all. It’s their moment. The comedy aspect is a little difficult though, because there are so many good jokes. You look at a hairy vagina and a million ideas come out.
Is it at all difficult having the stars of the films on set, or any porn star? You have to separate yourself from seeing them have sex.
Well, that’s the cool thing. They’re all great. The first season I met Seka; she’s become an amazing friend of the show. But meeting her with Jim Norton for the first time, I was blown away. I had seen her all these years, and she was so much cooler than we could have ever imagined. She really rolled with it.
In keeping with the adult industry, you hosted last year’s AVN Awards for the second time. How was that?
I’m a horrible host [laughs]. I’m not really good at hosting anything, even this show. The AVN Awards are not easy. Everybody there is really amped up, a lot of drinking. People think it’s funny, but those in the industry take it very seriously. I give it to them though; it’s their night. But I will say that if the Emmys and Oscars had categories like “Double Anal,” they’d always be a hit. People would definitely watch.
Speaking of different categories, would you ever expand Dave’s Old Porn to include fetishes and gay pornography of that era?
I’m really glad you brought that up, because I want to do gay porn on the show. There’s a lot of retro gay porn. We’re slowly working our way there. I’m sure the network would have a say. We already show girl-on-girl, but it’s not really taboo now. But guy-on-guy; I hope we get there. That’s a really great question. This season we had Andy Dick on, and he kept asking, “Where’s the gay porn?”
I do a lot of interviews with comedians and nearly every comic has mentioned you, whether as a source of inspiration or as someone who has helped them out. After all your years of performing stand-up, is it still the thing that gets you most excited?
Wow, you’ve blown me away here, man. That’s so cool. I’ve spent so many years doing comedy. I guess you can say it’s what I do, you know? But honestly, I don’t consider myself that good, though I do try. If I’ve inspired anyone, that’s amazing. It’s all about the joke to me. I’m not the best performer in the world, and I’m not the best show-biz guy, but I know talking about jokes. That really gets me off. It’s always so exciting when you tell a new joke or a new idea onstage and you can gauge the audience’s reaction. Unfortunately, today, it’s hard to actually work out your material. I think Patton Oswalt said that even if it’s not done in your head, it’s done in their heads, you know? People tape things.
But that’s cool that people think that way of me. It goes both ways. I definitely had people help me out. But comedy, it’s what I do.
Stand-up fascinates me. It’s really a unique thing.
For me personally, I was never a performer. Everybody that comes to a comedy club, they just see the people that made it in that club. But there are so many people in that city who haven’t gotten into the club. There are more people thinking, I wish I could be that. Should I try it? Should I not? I think, for me, all those years of doing open mikes and being a horrible comic really put into perspective how good it is, and how lucky I am to do comedy.
Old Porn Epilogue:
Dave’s Old Porn was not renewed for a 3rd season the last episode aired on December 27th 2012. Season two featured porn starts Ginger Lynn, Chrisy Canyon, Kayden Cross, Jesse Jane, Asa Akira and Joanna Angel, and many more. Season 2 featured comedians Andy Dick, Amy Schumer, and Kathy Griffin, among others. Special guests Joe Rogan and Rob Zombie.
Should you have noticed our earlier Dave Attell Legacy reminisence, Dave does not care much about securing web sites he may no longer care about, so to avoid you getting scary (but not dangerous) browser warnings, we cannot link you to davesoldporn.com either. The seasons seem to be off of Vimeo now too, which makes us sad. People should talk about porn more, as a rule. Maybe it would cease to be as shocking if that happened, and folks could have honest conversations about sexuality. (This will almost certainly not happen in Florida any time soon, by the way.)
Just a final word to the wise, based on our personal experience. You might not want to put “old porn” into Google should you wish to assess any serious academic consideration of the topic. You will get a lot of results, but maybe not so “academic” really. On the other hand, should you be of the opinion that life can no longer shock you, go ahead and give that a whirl. …
