Porn Star Extraordinaire Joanna Angel Talks To Us About Gang Bangs With 8 Dudes And Other Things

Joanna Angel
Joanna Angel
For those prudes out there who might not know, Joanna Angel is a leader—one might even say champion—in the field of alternative porn. She is one of only a select few porn stars who began their career in Brooklyn (to say nothing of the fact that she was also raised in a Jewish orthodox household). Back in 2002 she started the porn company and website Burning Angel in Williamsburg. Since then, her business has thrived so considerably that she was forced to move her company’s headquarters out to Los Angeles, if she was planning on pursuing this for real. And to think—Joanna and Thought Catalog could have been neighbors…But she just had to go all “responsible” on us and move out to Los Angeles with her company. Read on; she spoke to us about blowjobs and stuff…

RACHEL HODIN: Lets just dive right into it. How long does it take you to come?
JOANNA ANGEL: I mean, some guys have tried and not succeeded at all! But It really doesn’t take me that long. Anywhere from like, 3 minutes to 20 minutes. It takes me a lot longer to have an orgasm when I’m drunk for some reason.

RH: Why did you choose to change your last name to Angel?
JA: I thought of the name “BurningAngel” first for the company. When my naked photos originally went on the Internet, I used my real name because I really didn’t think anyone would care at all. It just seemed so pompous of me to pick a stage name because I thought that implied that I was famous, which was too hard for me to imagine. Then a few years later, I had a few fans and it was just too late to change it. When we made our first DVD I decided to pick a last name because it seemed like most porn stars had last names, and I chose the last name of “Angel” because it was the last name of my company—so it was kinda like me and my company were married and shared a last name.

RH: How would you describe your parents’ reaction to your career?
JA: My mother was upset when I first told her and she blamed herself. She wondered what she did to have led me to that career. My father was concerned. Now they accept it and we just ignore some of the details about it that they don’t need to know.

RH: In an interview with Bruce LaBruce in Richardson Magazine, Tori Black said that porn stars are prostitutes. Would you agree?
JA: There are lots of porn stars that are also prostitutes. This is a fact. I am not one of them. But there are also a lot of school teachers who moonlight as prostitutes, so…yeah.

RH: Tori Black said that a huge part of the reason why she went into porn is to gain back the control that she feels she lost at a young age when she was first abused. Can you relate?
JA: No. It is more of my desire to have a job that allows me to be creative, and yes I have achieved that. The “power” I have is my least favorite part of my job. It really is not easy to be the boss.

RH: There’s obviously a huge difference between being a porn performer and being a prostitute—namely, that as a porn performer you are getting paid by the studio, not the person who is having sex with you. But has anyone ever confused what you do with prostitution? Like, tried pay you to have sex with them?
JA: Yes, people have offered me 6 figures to have sex with them. And I just politely tell them no, and I thank them for the offer.

RH: Critics tend to single out the statistic that 60-80% of women in the sex industry were abused as children. Were you ever abused?
JA: When I was in the 4th grade I really wanted to go see Bon Jovi on a Friday night. My mother said no, because it was the Sabbath. I think that was total religious abuse! But other than that misfortune, no. I wasn’t. And 3 out of 5 women EVERYWHERE were abused. Not just in porn. The ratio of abused women to not abused women is pretty similar in porn as it is anywhere else.

RH: What is the craziest fetish you’ve stumbled upon?
JA: There is a fetish for “hair ironing” on clipsforsale.com. It is girls straightening their hair. That made me laugh!

RH: What’s the craziest thing you’ve been asked?
JA: To take a photo with their new born baby, who was named Joanna… because I had a lot to do with why she was born.

RH: Craziest thing you’ve done?
JA: A gangbang with 8 dudes.

RH: Speaking of which, what’s the price of a gang bang?
JA: I only work for myself so I don’t have a rate. I do pay other people though. The average range does not apply for what the top girls with huge names get in porn. Those girls do very few scenes a year and have very high rates and I am really not sure what they are, but here is what is average. Guy girl—anywhere from $800 to $1200. Anal is generally $200 or $300 on top of whatever your rate is for a non-anal scene. A gang bang—anywhere from $1700 to $5000 depending on how many dudes are in it, and what is going on in it (there could be DP’s, double anal, anal, etc).

RH: Do you have any tricks or tips to our male and female readers?
JA: Relax, and be confident in bed. Don’t do things just because you think you’re supposed to, pay attention to your body and get in touch with your own sexuality.

RH: How ’bout any blowjob tips?
JA: Use your hands, and use a lot of spit.

RH: Who’s better in bed – LA guys or Brooklyn guys?
JA: San Diego guys trump both

RH: Favorite locations to have sex?
JA: My bed, my couch, and sometimes my car.

RH: Have you ever faked an orgasm?
JA: Yeah. I used a really uncomfortable glass toy for a solo scene once and there was no way that thing was going to give me an orgasm. Why did I do it? Well, it’s my job to turn people on. And who the hell wants to watch a girl masturbate without cumming? If you order a pizza from Dominos, it should arrive hot and at your door in 30 minutes. If you order a porno, the girl (and the guy) should have orgasms.

RH: Fair enough. How do you feel about guys who play games in relationships?
JA: It drives women insane. You can recover from a heroin addiction quicker than you can recover from hanging out with a guy who flip flops on whether he wants to be in a relationship with you or not depending on how the wind blows.

RH: Is there anything having to do with sex that you think every man and/or woman should try at least once?
JA: I think every woman should get DP’d* at least once. It’s an intense experience, even if you just do it with a large toy and a person, or two toys and yourself. I just think every girl should try it.

RH: Do you consider yourself to be a feminist?
JA: Yes I do. I don’t let the fact that I am a woman get in the way of anything that I want in life.

RH: So, what’s your stance on drugs? Are you into them?
JA: No I am not intro drugs at all. I used to be into drugs several years ago. I did cocaine, and I mostly just wanted to stay awake and have very long pointless conversations with people, and then find more coke. I didn’t really get horny on it all. I think the best sex you have is sex when you’re sober, or maybe on just like, a glass or 2 of wine. If you have to take a drug to have better sex, then you should probably find a new partner or learn your body a little better.

RH: Any fun insider facts you can share? Maybe a weird hygiene technique?
JA: Girls put water into an enema bottle and then squeeze it into their butts before an anal scene. Some girls will get up at like 4 am and do a water enema like every hour or every half hour until it’s time to go on camera. It makes sense. Spreading your butt hole open on camera, in a room full of people…can be stressful.

RH: Any myths about porn you want to bust?
JA: We aren’t filthy rich.

RH: Do you have a boyfriend?
JA: Yes.

RH: How do you manage your personal and professional sex lives? Do the two bleed together?
JA: They bleed together sometimes, because I have sex with my boyfriend on camera.

*Double penetrated Thought Catalog Logo Mark

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