Online Press Kit
Interview with Jeff Booth In radio interviews and by friends, he has frequently been referred to as "the smartest guy in the world." Not because he actually is, however, but because he figured out a way to turn having sexual adventures into a living. From attending swing parties and sex resorts to photographing adult video shoots, interviewing porn stars, and launching a school to teach adults about sex, Jeff Booth lives a life most can only fantasize about. His research and writing about all things sexual have exposed him to an amazing diversity of sexual experiences. He and his writing partner and wife, Kris, take a very hands on approach.
Q: "So you basically go around having sexual adventures and writing about it. Tough way to make a living."
A: "The way I see it, writing about sexuality is no different from writing about anything else that is very experiential. To understand it, you need to experience it. How much credibility would an author on mountain climbing have who had never left Kansas? In order to understand what I am writing about, I need to experience it first hand. Fortunately, I have an enthusiastic fellow explorer in my wife, who is even more adventurous than I am. The downside of it is, that although I work very long days, I get little sympathy. When I tell friends about how exhausted I am after putting in an 8 hour day writing and researching sex topics and then having to spend another six hours on an adult set interviewing the talent and taking pictures, they don't feel sorry for me even a little bit."
Q: "I read that both you and Kris have appeared separately naked on national television. How did that happen?"
A: "I think I was the first. I have a background as a comedian and magician, and a nudist group I was writing about challenged me to do a magic show nude. I accepted, and it got mentioned on news segments across the country including the Paul Harvey News, and it was taped for a segment on Extra. Everyone seemed quite amused pondering where things could come from since I clearly had nothing up my sleeve.
"Kris followed up not long after that by appearing on a game show called VS on Comedy Central. The winners had to appear naked in the final round, and, of course, her team won. She was playing opposite adult stars Ron Jeremy and the very smart Asia Carrera, but Kris wound up answering most of the questions and took her team to a resounding victory.
"I am also one of the few people to appear nude in the Los Angeles Times on the front of the Metro section. That was for an article on a nudist group, and in the picture I am in the background and fairly small, so you can't see much. While Kris still hasn't made it naked into a major metropolitan newspaper, she does have me well beat by having been in a men's magazine centerfold. I can't really compete with that."
Q: "I also read that you have appeared in a couple of porn films. What were they?
A: "They were actually explicit adult educational videos, although one was released by a major porn company, and I'm not going to mention their names because I was absolutely terrible in them. I am a well trained actor, but that counts for very little in adult video. There are other skills that are even more important and I basically had to throw all of my acting skills out the window. It is not something I would even want to do more of, because I know me, and I wouldn't want to wind up in the position of having sex and thinking, darn, if there was a camera here right now I could be making money. I'm already too much of a workaholic. I need some things to do just for fun. Having tried it and having been on a lot of sets, I can tell you it is a lot of hard work for the guy and very few people can actually do it. Male porn stars are really amazing sexual athletes."
Q: "What is the best part about doing what you do for a living?"
A: "Well, the obvious answer is that I get to have a lot of incredible sex with some incredible women, but the sex is really more part of my personal social life. For the business part of it, what I enjoy the most is the interesting and intelligent people I have had the chance to meet and interview. So many of those involved in the business of sexuality, both in the educational and entertainment ends, are some of the brightest and most fun to be with people I have ever met. When you come to grips with your own sexuality, I think it just opens you up more as a person. I know that for me it has certainly been a journey of personal growth, and I am a lot more open and happier because of it."
Q: "Finally, since this is a pretty unusual vocation, how did you get started in it?"
A: "Kris and I both had careers in show business, and we were both magazine writers. I wrote for a lot of technical and computer publications and she wrote for some women's magazines. We got involved in exploring sexuality personally about the time the magazine market started to dry up (a lot of the magazines I was writing for were getting thinner and thinner). I was getting bored with the technical stuff, and what we were doing sexually was so interesting and so contrary to what I previously thought was the way things were that I felt compelled to write about it."
"Looking back, it was amazing that we so quickly fell into all sorts of sexual adventures. Kris (who is bisexual) and I shared a girlfriend, we explored polyamory, bondage, S/M, fetishes, nudism, exhibitionism, foursomes, orgies, and other practices. We were and still are quite experimental. Certainly not everything is going to be something that works for me, but I'm willing to try things for the experience and to gain a better understanding of it. This is where Kris is invaluable, as her perspective often gives me a totally different take on things. Between the two of us, we have a very broad range of personal sexual experiences that gives us a lot of insight into sexuality.
"In my writing I got to talk to a lot of experts and people knowledgeable about sexuality, and I thought it would be wonderful if others could have that experience. This was the inspiration for Erotic University, so we started classes and brought in some terrific educators from all over the country.
"Still, only people who could come to L.A. could really benefit from it, which is why we developed the online virtual campus. This was a concept I had for quite awhile, but it was only recently that the technology has come together to make it possible. It incorporates 3D graphics, research on how the brain learns, artificial intelligence, video, animated instructors, and basically an entire virtual world that might exist if there really was a large campus devoted to adult sex education.
"What I find very satisfying about Erotic University is that it requires all of my skills. My years as a performer pay off in my seminars, and radio and television appearances. I used to produce live shows and industrial videos, which has paid off in the development of our new video series and in the live events we stage, such as our celebration of National Orgasm Month with a day long event of live shows and seminars. My knowledge of technology has paid off in the development of the virtual campus interface, the most technologically sophisticated approach to adult education ever attempted. And, of course, my years as a writer taught me the skills to communicate the positive view of sexuality and celebration of diversity in my writing that is key to what Erotic University is all about. I've done a lot of interesting things in my life, and now it seems like all the skills I have developed over the years are all coming together to help me realize what to me is a calling- the creation of the ultimate place for adults to learn about sexuality."