Bathhouse managers say their customers are bored by the same old porn and are looking for something new and exciting. And they all say they’re providing it.
“A lot of people are getting turned off by all the current American buff look stuff because everyone tends to look the same. Whereas with the older porn and the European stuff, people are different – there’s variety and spice,” says Ron McRae, the assistant manager of Yonge Street’s St Marc Spa.
St Marc’s switches its porn twice a week, and has an agreement with the movie store Barbwire, which supplies videos in exchange for ads on the stands in the 18 TV rooms.
The point is to get people hot and in the mood. “The porn is to arouse people and to visually remind them of where they are,” says McRae.
McRae shows porn that ranges from young European guys to leather and a bit of fisting. The only major debate is between retro porn and modern porn.
“Sometimes we’ll play old stuff, the old ’70s and ’80s material and people don’t like it. On the other hand, we have people who come up and request it instead of the current buff stuff, and that’s the only debate – whether to play the new stuff or the old stuff.”
Unlike most new stuff, there are no condoms in the older movies.
Spa Excess manager Ryan Thatcher says 95 percent of the porn played in the Carlton St establishment “promotes safe sex. The other five percent are classics from the ’70s that don’t have condoms.”
All the TV rooms in Spa Excess have two channels, bought from the porn shop Priape, for customers to choose from. Usually one channel has a leather theme, while the other features your average US buff boy porn. “We don’t play porn with women or drag queens and anything morally improper like sex with children,” says Thatcher.
Thatcher says his customers are bored with the typical buff boy look and that amateur porn is increasingly popular.
“The trend that seems to be going on is amateur – it’s a little more life-like, people aren’t doing all these cheesy lines with bad music in the background. Amateur porn is just two people having sex and being taped.”
At The Spa On Maitland, 300 porn films are constantly rotated. General manager Jim McMullin says Hungarian porn is popular right now.
“One thing I notice is that the new stuff coming out of Hungary with Budapest Videos and that kind of stuff seems to be very popular. They’re kind of a new thing, they’re big guys, generally uncut, not California pretty boys, just kind of natural looking boys.”
Curtis Deer, manager of Central Spa (on Dundas West), which has two common rooms where porn is shown, says his customers are also more finicky.
“People are asking if there’s more daddy videos – older guys with younger guys. They’re really tired of the twinkies – the younger, hot little boys.”
Deer says his clientele is mostly married or bisexual. “They don’t like any of the fisting or any of the stuff with water sports. They just want straight fucking or sucking. They don’t want anything out of the ordinary, they’re pretty basic men who come here.”
Uncut does matter.
Says Deer: “Most of these guys want uncut guys. They’re tired of cut twinkies because most of these men were born at a time when their mother had them cut and I think they want something different from what they have.”
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