You knew her theme song (the rockabilly “Baby, Let Me Bang Your Box”), and you’d be able to repeat her phrases (“Lay down, get comfortable,” “Don’t forget to wear your rubber,” etc.).
That woman was Robin Byrd, now 71, a former adult film star who became a local celebrity with her eponymous public access show, which ran from 1977 to 1998 (and still airs in reruns, provided you have old-school cable). Featuring a gaudy heart-shaped set and decades-old phone sex ads, robin bird show Bird was shown interviewing a porn star or exotic dancer, who would then perform a striptease with unnecessarily long lingering close-up shots. She would end the show by dancing to its theme song (during which Bird would often dance comically with a pair of oversized breasts). The show was charmingly low-budget, with Bird giving out tapes of the show to her guests rather than paying them: “I called it tit-for-tat,” she tells me.
As beloved as Byrd is in New York City, a new documentary from HBO makes clear that her influence was much broader. Directed by Jillian Gunther and Stephanie Schwamm (two self-described “bird-watchers”), Bang My Box: The Robin Bird StoryStreaming on HBO Max on Tuesday, Bird was honored as a sex-positive icon who advocated for free speech and the LGBTQ community, promoted safe sex during the HIV/AIDS pandemic and led a landmark lawsuit against Time Warner Cable when it tried to censor her show. The film is also a love letter to the analog era of smut, with Bird becoming a meme long before the era of dial-up.
Wired spoke to Bird about the documentary, Internet porn, her advocacy, and, of course, how she wore breasts as hats.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
EJ Dixon: When Stephanie and Jillian approached you with the idea of making a documentary, what was your initial reaction?
Robin Bird: I had many offers before, but this one didn’t feel right. And Stephanie and Jillian, they were birdwatchers. [Byrd’s term for fans of her show]. I raised them. They used to carry it secretly when they were teenagers. They got it. This was during Mercury retrograde, and Mercury retrograde involves communication. It is a time to renew, recreate and rethink. I realized I’m not getting any younger, and my story needs to be told by the right people.
New York magazine compared you to Mister Rogers. Would you have ever expected in a million years to compare to that?
Well, I compare myself partly to him and also to Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson. There used to be a lady named Shari Lewis who had these puppet lamb chops. I was brought up with him. I was raised by TV. And look, I became a TV.
Your show ran for more than 600 episodes. Do you have a favorite guest or favorite episode?
first time i had [a trans person]No one in the studio knew she had a dick and she was gorgeous. And there was a gay male actor with me, and when he saw her, they got into a big fight in front of the camera, so I had to sit in the middle of them. It didn’t make any sense to me, and I had no idea he was going to behave like this. But there was discrimination in the gay world, just like there is discrimination in the straight world.
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