Above, Karter's mother, RJ Sebastian, Levi Karter, Jake Jaxson and Liam Riley at the January 9 screening of Leave It to Levi. Photos above and below by Rick Garcia/@IndustryByRick.
HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—Last night’s kick-off event to the Str8UpGay Summit at the Montalban Theater in Hollywood drew a warm, supportive crowd out for a screening of Jake Jaxson’s heartfelt documentary Leave It to Levi. The movie, which stars CockyBoys performer Levi Karter, is a coming-out story in triplicate in which Karter reveals himself in three different ways: as a gay man, as an adult performer, and as his once-secret drag persona, Sassy Frass Meaner.
But even more touching, it’s also a coming-in story about integrating Karter’s two families: the single mother who adopted him and raised him, and the new family he found when he joined the New York-based CockyBoys clan, led by Jake Jaxson and RJ Sebastian.
Erik Schut of TLAGay.com, which is making the movie available on DVD later this month, introduced Leave It to Levi and praised its depiction of “what family is like.”
Noting that he met Karter’s drag alter ego—as well as Karter’s partner in drag, fellow CockyBoy Liam Riley, aka Bambi Wadley—even before Jaxson himself knew about Sassy Frass, Schut called the resulting documentary “funny, touching and fabulous in spots”—and that’s an accurate assessment.
As befits the title, Jaxson chose to leave the opening segment of the movie to Karter himself, showing multiple selfie videos—including an initial masturbation scene that may have some mainstream viewers reaching for the remote. But as Jaxson said afterward in a Q&A session, he felt the footage was important to give the flavor of Karter’s personality. While Jaxson’s point is valid, some viewers may find it a relief when the professional footage rolls in.
Though the beginning segment is chaotic and jumbled, as befits its homemade feel, we learn Karter is from Athens, Ohio, and has dropped out of college. His mother is devastated when locals discover that Karter has done porn, and he’s going through a tough breakup. But there are also lighter moments, such as when the camera catches Karter in bed, experiencing a little morning wood in real time.
Team CockyBoys at the Leave It to Levi screening.
Things get decidedly more fun when Karter meets Liam Riley—an L.A. boy who was obviously a crowd-pleaser for an audience of locals. As Karter drives Riley to his first day at the CockyBoys compound in upstate New York, Riley complains about the cold. Karter points out it's only October. The Cali boy chirps, “We experience summer 24/7,” eliciting laughter from the crowd. The two chat about their sexual adventures. “My high school days were scandalous,” the innocent-looking Riley says slyly.
So begins the portion of the movie that will be beloved by anyone who enjoyed One Erection: The Un-Making of a Boy Band, the hilarious, sexy rockumentary co-directed by Jaxson and Chi Chi LaRue. Karter and Riley were a key part of the movie’s charm, and Jaxson includes bits of footage here—including the video “Sticky Face.”
But in between the light-hearted fun, Jaxson gets to the heart of what drove him to make Leave It to Levi. “A lot of things changed for me as a pornographer when we signed Levi,” Jaxsons says in a segment that cuts back and forth between his comments and footage of Karter talking about his mother, a schoolteacher in Ohio. “I realized he did not tell his mom what he was doing.” Inevitably, she found out—as did everyone else in town. She walked into class one morning and the name “Levi Karter” was written on the blackboard.
Finally, though, Karter’s mother made peace with her son’s decision and met his new porn family. “It was the first time I’d met somebody’s mom who wanted to kill me,” Jaxson jokes. But after the meeting, the director said, he was deeply moved by her love for Karter. And he lets the audience witness their evolving relationship. “What mom wants her son to be a porn star? I don’t think there’s one on this planet,” she says. “But we don’t get to choose.” And she now fully supports Karter’s choices—not only his career in porn but his new porn family. As the only son of an adopted parent, she says, “You need to make your friends your family ... if it’s real, it's great.”
Sassy Frass Meaner and Bambi Wadley
The last third of the film is dedicated to learning more about Sassy Frass and Bambi, and exploring “the tension between the hypermasculinity of gay porn and the femininity of drag.” Sebastian and Jaxson both talk about how the two CockyBoys only gradually “came out” as drag performers. The cameras also accompany Karter to his home town for a big drag show where Sassy and Bambi strut their stuff. Karter demonstrates his acrobatic style, complete with splits and high kicks, while Riley undulates in a fetish-style rope ensemble (“a very Cardi B moment,” Riley jokes).
After the movie ended, the curtain went up to reveal Jaxson on stage with Karter and Riley in their full drag finery for an interview session with red carpet host Sister Roma, while RJ Sebastian worked the camera below the raised stage. The audience learned that both Jaxson and Sister Roma were adopted, and that Jaxson has mended fences with his own estranged family. And Karter’s mother was able to affirm her acceptance of her son in person: “He was a great kid, and he’s a great adult.”
As for the future, Karter plans to continue doing both gay porn and drag performances. But for Riley, he’s putting all his focus on his new career. Fresh off of a long tour with Shangela, a star of RuPaul’s Drag Race who has twice hosted the GayVN Awards, Riley says, “2020 is the year I’m going to take Bambi and run with her.”
Leave It to Levi is now playing on the Dekkoo Films and Amazon Prime platforms. It will be available on DVD from TLAGay.com on January 28.
Jake Jaxson RJ Sebastian and various members of the CockyBoys family are up for awards at the 2020 GayVN Awards Show; click here to see the list of nominees.
