Recently, I sat down with porn legend Jeff Stryker to talk about his career, his personal life and what's bringing him to Chicago. Jeff Stryker is one part imagination, two parts lust, and two parts marketing savvy. The man behind the image, a man whose real name is Charles Peyton and who was born in Springfield, Ill., is a little closer to the rest of us than the porn God with whom we've become acquainted. That man is low-key, quick to laugh, realistic about his place in the world, and even a bit self-effacing.
Jeff was in town to oversee auditions for his play Jeff Stryker Does Hard Time, which opens at the Bailiwick April 19. The play's been around for a few years now, playing to horny audiences in New York, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Houston. Jeff describes it as "a dark comedy about a bunch of guys in prison."
RR: I hear you put the play together with ( porn director and producer ) John Travis.
JS: Well, he assisted me. In the beginning, it was a showcase for the Jeff Stryker show. With clubs closing down and the limitations put on clubs, this was perfect. We said, "We'll take it to theater then. If you won't allow us to do what I do in clubs, we'll go to theater. In theater, they allow nudity. And that's my specialty. Extreme nudity."
RR: So you and John Travis go back a ways.
JS: He discovered me. He's been my friend for 17 years. He brought me out to LA and created Jeff Stryker. I just followed his game plan. I'm like his prize pupil. I usually have him direct any scenes I'm in because he watches out for me like I'm his child.
RR: It sounds pretty comfortable.
JS: Oh, totally. I'm doing the movie version of Hard Time, which is a triple X version of the play. What I've done is taken over two years of time to create this, shooting two shows per city on digital and building a story line. In Los Angeles, I used a guy named Randy Savino who was the January 2000 Playgirl centerfold. I used him in the play as pretty boy. I raped him nightly and then we did a sex scene based on his audition, so it dissolves from the sex scene into the actual scene on stage with 150 audience members.
RR: Did you ever imagine yourself having this kind of life?
JS: No. I'm from Illinois. I imagined coal miners and hot summers.
RR: If you had to recommend one Jeff Stryker title for someone who had never seen you in a movie, which one would you pick?
JS: Probably Bigger Than Life. I sing and the sex in it is extremely hot.
RR: So what do you like to do when you're off the set?
JS: Well, actually, it's been, knock on wood, my life. Just work after work after work ... like I fly down here for the weekend for auditions then I fly back to work on the video production, then I fly back again to do the show 4-6 weeks, then I fly to Vienna and it's like the ultimate dream for me. I'm doing the Life Ball in Vienna. Life Ball 2001. It's an AIDS benefit, one of the biggest in the world, and it's hosted by Elton John. So I'll be on stage with Elton John.
RR: And Eminem?
JS: Yeah, takin' Eminem's place.
RR: I hear you're pals with one of my favorite directors, John Waters. Any chance you'll be in any John Waters productions in the future?
JS: I might even be too risqué for John Waters.
RR: Are you in a relationship?
JS: No, I haven't been really. I married the Jeff Stryker image.
RR: Tell me about the last scene you shot for video.
JS: It was with Randy Savino and it was four hours of non-stop sex. When you can have a hard-on for four hours, you know something's happening.
RR: Ever have any trouble in that area?
JS: Oh sure, in fact the first few movies I did I was so scared, they had to have a stunt dick. But that's something you overcome.
RR: You always hear about fluffers. Is there such a job?
JS: No. If you're on a set and you wanted a little assistance, it usually wouldn't be any problem to find someone.
RR: How do you keep in shape?
JS: I work out now every day. And yesterday was my first break day in 22 days. Now today I'll work out and keep it up for a good 20-22 days—just intensive workouts, an hour, an hour and half a day.
RR: Do you go to a gym?
JS: Well, I have to here. But in LA, I have weights in my office.
RR: And when you go to a public gym, do you shower there?
JS: ( Laughs ) . Nooo, that would be a problem.
RR: I've seen a lot of your movies, but I've never seen you take any sort of bottom role.
JS: I have in several ... you should see JS Big Time ( Jeff points out that the bottom role is strictly oral ) .
RR: Do you consider yourself gay, bi, straight?
JS: It depends what movie you watch.
RR: That's why I ask. There's a whole gamut of movies out there.
JS: When I was given the Jeff Stryker image, I lost the right to have a sexuality. I have to be a sex object, which means you have to be able to do everything. I'm just a sex image.
RR: And that's true in your personal life?
JS: What personal life? I lost that years and years ago.
RR: So what happens when Jeff Stryker gets to be over the hill?
JS: I think more and more I'm gonna produce. I've shot enough footage over the years of my escapades on digital, that I'll be moving more into mainstream motion pictures.
