SANTA MONICA—Anybody remember the classic XXX movie Nothing to Hide? How about Irresistible? Talk Dirty to Me? Bad Girls? Vista Valley PTA? Screwples? (If not, why not?)
The common thread is that they all had veteran adult actor Richard Pacheco in major roles. But Pacheco retired in about 1988 to become just plain Howie Gordon, and is reportedly working on an autobiography, though he still signs emails as "The Ghost of Richard Pacheco."
Now try to imagine a young boy growing up with "the ghost of Richard Pacheco," veteran of about 85 hardcore movies, as his father.
That lad would be Bobby Gordon, and we're guessing that he had a few issues to work out as he approached adulthood—which is probably why he wrote the one-man show that he's performed several times in his home town of San Francisco, titled Debbie Does My Dad. (The title may refer to another of Pacheco's movies, Debbie Duz Dishes 3, starring Nina Hartley as "Debbie.")
And now, the younger Gordon is bringing the play to the Highway Performance Space in Santa Monica on April 8 and 9.
"I am absolutely thrilled to be performing my first solo performance, Debbie Does My Dad, at Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica on April 8-9," the younger Gordon wrote in a press release. "I have poured my heart and soul into the piece that tells the story of growing up with a former adult film star dad, and it would mean the world if you were there to support and to share in the night."
"I've had the amazing good fortune to work with my director D'Lo to build the show and I promise you it's going to be an amazing time," he continued. "It's a night of Poetry, Porn, Pussy, Penises and Plenty more. All of the good 'P' words. The theater has limited seating so please go online asap to buy tickets. (Click on the 'Buy Tickets' link on the left side of the page and choose 'Debbie Does My Dad' from the menu. They're just $20/$15 for students.)
"In 'Debbie Does My Dad,' performance artist Bobby Gordon uses spoken word theater to tell the bawdy yet beautiful story of his experiences growing up as the son of a former adult film star," one reviewer wrote. "Gordon’s father, Howie Gordon (stage name Richard Pacheco), won Playgirl Man of the Year Honors in 1979 and appeared in over 100 pornographic titles. Having spent his childhood 'in the shadow of his dad’s erection,' Gordon dives into his experiences dealing with overly excited friends, meeting (or really failing to meet) unreasonably high expectations from female classmates, his own sexual development, confronting and rebelling against his father, and ultimately working to redefine manhood for himself. Nothing is what you’d expect in this show where the words 'sensitive' and 'male porn star' go together as easily as 'masturbation' and 'inevitably getting walked in on by your parents.' Gordon offers an intimate window into his journey to come to grips with his father’s former career, and create a world where a man can be an emotional and a sexual being; a world where fucking and feelings can co-exist."
Sounds like a look at the early XXX industry and its aftermath that's unobtainable at any price ... unless you lived it.
