Porn Valley Dispatch: Tina Tyler’s Handymen

Tina Tyler, once known as "The Thinking Man's Porn Star", is now a director with pal Lexington Steele's Mercenary Pictures, where she runs seven series of movies, including the "Ironhead" blowjob line, the "Fresh Out the Box" newbies imprint ("18-year-olds feel better when it's a woman telling them to take off their clothes," she says) ... and the male masturbation series "Handyman".

I talked with Tyler about the mood she needs to create to film fellows jerking off. See how she goes the extra mile after the gap. - GP

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To prepare for this interview, three years ago I walked into a North Hollywood clinic and spent a demoralizing 25 minutes jerking off into a cup in the back bathroom while toddlers wailed outside and the lab guy hovered just outside the door. Unlike depictions of this sort of process in movies, I was provided with no visual or frictional aides, unless I were to count the Norman Rockwell needlepoint sampler above the sink (and I didn't). And there were no nurses in minidresses to help out, either. Despite this, I proved fertile as America's Breadbasket.

But with the advent of "Handyman 2" I wondered what needed to be present in the room for men to feel comfortable not hiding the salami.

Tina Tyler is smoking while hot.

"So you walked in there, they gave you a magazine and some lube, and they - " she said.

"No Tina Tyler," I said. "They gave me nothing."

"Wow," Tyler said. "Sometimes I take my shirt off to help guys out."

Where were you when I needed you, Tina Tyler? Why was there only one set of footprints?

Even though she was working with professionals, Tyler did her best to make things pleasant.

"First off, I scale down the crew," Tyler said. As she shoots camera herself, that would leave her alone in the room with the talent (including veteran Herschel Savage, Marcos Leon, Johnny Castle, Marcus London, and Jack Lawrence). "I don't even have someone shooting behind the scenes footage."

"Handyman 2" is marketed to women, though Mercenary's Black Viking label also features "Blow Hardz", a gay blowjob line (also directed by Tyler), as well as "You'd Never Know", a transsexual series.

"There's a huge gay following of straight male porn stars," Tyler said. "The bigger you are, the more of a gay following you have. 'Handyman''s something that definitely appeals to the gay market."

Tyler isn't dumb. "I know the fellas will buy it too," she said.

The gay following of any of the men involved will have to endure their idols addressing the camera like a woman, however.

"They can always turn the sound down," Tyler suggests.

Tyler does not perform anymore, but Argus-eyed fans will see her topless in a mirror (almost like the dead kid in "Three Men And A Baby") as she gives friend Herschel Savage some inspiration.

"I tell the guys to bring their wives, girlfriends, or flavors of the week to stand naked behind the camera," Tyler said, "or I will provide a special service for someone like Herschel, who's an old friend and who's always had a crush on me."

The ages of the talent range from 25 to 53, Tyler said, "so I think there's something for everyone, including people who'll go 'Ewwww, that reminds me of my dad'. But for people my age, that will be a plus."

Tyler entered the porn business at 27 after dancing in Canada and Los Angeles for several years.

She thought of an alternate headline: "Tina Tyler's boobs still inspiring poshots at 41."

· Tina Tyler (yahoo.com)
· Buy "Handyman 2" (gamelink.com)

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Previously: DVD: "Stra8 Shots", Porn Valley Dispatch Archive