Shooting the Bull – Page 2

X3 2025

XBIZ returned to the Hollywood Palladium for its fourth edition of the X3 show where fans get to meet some of their favourite performers. Given the ongoing fires in parts of Los Angeles, some industry talent from out of town were apprehensive about attending. However, XBIZ LA and X3 went off without much of a hitch.

The start of the X3 show was delayed by an hour due to a reported bomb threat. Once the police and their bomb dogs cleared the venue, we had the busiest X3 show ever in terms of attendance. The organisers run a good ship. The most popular booths were Brazzers, Fleshlight, and Ricky’s Room while the most popular signer was Violet Myers.

The show also featured a musical performance by rapper, Bia. I didn’t know her beforehand, but she was entertaining and led a raucous concert.

I couldn’t attend the rebrand of the XMA Awards, but the judges made the right call on many of their picks. Congratulations to Anna Claire Clouds on winning Female Performer of the Year, Gal Ritchie for Best New Performer, and Lilly Bell for G/G Performer of the Year.

For the rest of the photos on Flickr.

Exxxotica Miami 2024

Three weeks and one hurricane later, I should just give an abbreviated summary of the most senior Exxxotica show in Miami. The Miami show gives me an opportunity to meet some of the newer talent that are based in Florida. The show is easy to access in the sense that it’s near the airport and the convention center is next to the host hotel. The crowds are not too heavy, and the food in the surrounding area is excellent.

Suck and Blow, a stage game by James Bartholet

I didn’t see any signing talent with huge lines but that may be because of the constant entertainment at the main stage where crowds gather. I also saw Florida-based talent randomly walking around the show like Kelsi Monroe, Leana Lovings, and Daisy Lavoy.

Rest of convention photos

As for the off-hours, I didn’t stray too far away from the hotel with Mr. Blue Lou Boyle. Even though I kept getting invited to the after-parties by my feature dance friends with incentives of free alcohol, I was just too beaten to hang out at strip clubs.

Oh, and Rose Carter, thank you for being magical.

X3 2024

The third annual X3 show on January 17-18 in Hollywood was the most successful with attendance being at a max. There were no omicron fears to worry about as in the first year, and the weather mostly cooperated with the outdoor lines unlike less year.

Logistics for the show also changed. I noticed that only Hussie Models had an agency booth this year, and the lack of agency booths contributed to less talent signing. Less talent and more people made for some tight spaces. The stage presentations by exhibiting companies brought large crowds to the front, but also hampered the people that were signing in front of the stage. Fortunately, there were no distracting celebrity musical performances so people signed on until the end.

Brazzers had the busiest booth for the third year in a row, and Angela White again was the most popular signer at the show. Their security coordinated lines that did not impede the flow of traffic.

I liked how the organisers ran the show overall and made on-the-fly decisions to improve the flow of traffic. For example, many of the talent signing upstairs were brought downstairs to the perimeter on the second day to make them more noticeable and pull some of the traffic outwards.

Naked News crew — Cosplayground featuring Naked News

I did not attend the XBIZ Awards this year due to an emergency back home. I heard it went well, and there were no surprises. The red carpet photos looked dazzling.

Gallery on Flickr

Exxxotica DC 2023

Exxxotica returned to the DMV (DC-MD-VA) area for its third appearance. Even though this location is probably the smallest of the tour, the crowd was steady and happy to see their favourite performers. There was a good attendee-exhibitor ratio, and the crowds tended to congregate at the stage where multiple feature dancers performed like Christiana Cinn.

I did not see many performers that I did not recognise and mostly visited with the people that I knew. The smaller show allows you to have conversations without feeling a rush even if there is a line waiting. Outside of the stage, people mostly congregated near the webcam companies, Chaturbate & MFC, and the Spotlight booth sponsored by Loyalfans.

In terms of after-hours, I took it slow and forwent the after-parties that were mostly inside the District over 40 minutes away from the expo. I mostly stuck to bourbon tasting inadvertently.

The rest of the photos on Flickr

Exxxotica New Jersey 2023

The busiest traveling show celebrating pornography returned to the New Jersey area this month and again crowds were overwhelming on the Friday and Saturday of the show.

Kayley Gunner, Angela White, and Kendra Sunderland

Brazzers was the busiest booth with Angela White and Abella Danger having the longest lines that were stretched across several roped sections that were designed to allow foot traffic between them. Abella was only there on that Saturday since she was taking a break from her studies to meet her fans. Angela continued to sign every day past closing time for the people that were still in line, and she graciously took selfies with random attendees who sought her out afterwards. I stood in line early one day which had the Brazzers staff incredulously asking what I was doing, but sometimes it’s easier to meet and greet the performer that way rather than interrupt her while she is engaging with the fans.

The second busiest booth was Ricky’s Room (Ricky Johnson) next door featuring Kylie Rocket, Blake Blossom, and Roxie Sinner. Kylie was the first person to greet me when I walked in. I talked to Blake about her “Blake Blossom Only” fan account’s penchant for removing watermarks for no reason. Roxie was giving attendees dances on a bed which created a patient line of people waiting to be motorboated.

The show was so busy that I didn’t realise certain people like Spencer Bradley were at the show until Saturday. I also had trouble finding performers who were just wandering about and networking without a booth. Some performers were signing for autograph companies, and the companies were somewhat strict with the girls’ interactions with their fans.

Photo gallery on Flickr