A chat with Courtney Trouble, pt. 1

Talking sex toys, shooting their first ”straight" scene, and what the hell was up with the milk fetish in Roulette.

Courtney Trouble on a bed, holding a camera up to their eye.
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Courtney Trouble and I didn’t mean to have a drunken online chat; it just happened. I’d been meaning to email them my traditional interview questions and receive tidy paragraphs in response, but fuck that — this was a lot more fun. And informative.

In this part, Courtney and I discuss sex toys (duh), safer sex barriers, the first “straight” scene they shot, what the hell was up with the milk fetish in Roulette, and what’s next for the Roulette series.

Epiphora: are you still up for an interview?
Courtney: YES oh i thought we were doing it right now 🙂 jk
Epiphora: you wish, i’m too drunkish for that
Courtney: no really if you want a spectacular interview, let’s get drunk and gchat. i’m drunk too
Epiphora: would you really want me publishing that though?
Courtney: jiz lee just walked me home
Epiphora: lucky bitch
Courtney: um aside from bad spelling i’m an open book.
Courtney: i would love to talk about my learning process on a real level. i AM actually a lo-fi/diy novice and not afraid to admit that i learn something from each film. totally in the mood. you can print this chat. 🙂
Epiphora: i’ll fix your spelling for you and call it good, eh?
Courtney: YES hahaha
Courtney: omg i think you should print “WE were drunk, so ignore OUR typos” and then fuck up some of your typing, which is indeed, perfect.
Epiphora: clearly i need more kahlua
Epiphora: ooohh tell me about that first “straight” scene you shot. i thought it was interesting/awesome that you still found it queer
Courtney: oh yes. so i shot my first cisgendered boy and cisgendered girl scene this week. dia zerva is somebody i’ve worked with before, for the first roulette, and i’ve always loved her sense of strangeness. her “milk honey” scene in roulette has caused some trouble, people always ask me, “oh my god what is sexy about pouring milk all over your body?” but it was hot to HER and that’s why i shot it.
Epiphora: that was totally one of my questions. mostly i wanted to know if it was a comment on cum worship in mainstream porn
Courtney: so last week, i shot her and her boyfriend. they’ve been together for 8 years. he doesn’t do porn but he agreed to do it for me. we talked about porn formulas. and how to change that. like, what actually HAPPENS when a queer girl shoots a “straight” couple?

we talked about porn formulas. and how to change that. like, what actually HAPPENS when a queer girl shoots a “straight” couple?

Courtney: no, it wasn’t a comment on cum worship at all. truth is, dia zerva has a major fetish for splooshing — messy messes, masturbating with messy messes all over your body.
Epiphora: ha, so it’s not just milk then!
Courtney: no with dia, it’s like… milk, honey, balloons, sugar, cake, you know… whatever. i do think she’s a walking birthday party
Epiphora: lol balloons!
Courtney: duh! i can see how people totally “don’t get it” and then it’s obvious when i tell them who she is
Courtney: roulette, and nofauxxx, is all about who people ARE. and me never ever apologizing for what i shoot
Epiphora: yeah, i figured it was something she liked. it’s just jarring to see people doing things outside of the norm in porn. it’s totally fine if it’s cum, but the moment it’s milk, we’re like “WHA?”
Courtney: even if it doesn’t make sense
Epiphora: totally.
Courtney: totaaallly!
Epiphora: JINX
Courtney: i was just gonna say that!
Courtney: best 1 am interview ever.
Courtney: i think you should use this because i am never this candid.

Courtney: the next roulette is roulette road trip
Epiphora: ooooh, where all are you stopping?
Courtney: well, i start in las vegas with dia and wordman (the “straight” scene), then LA, portland, seattle, and hopefully vancouver
Courtney: to be shot early summer/late spring
Epiphora: that’s awesome
Epiphora: completely off topic
Epiphora: i have to ask you about the sex toys. where do they come from? do performers request specific toys? what happens when the shoot is over?
Courtney: i’m obsessed with good sex toys. i was the assistant buyer at babeland for a while, and also did reviews for good vibes when i worked there. i know the people who make the toys, and they give me them. sex toys are like the candy-canes of my queer porn christmas.
Epiphora: sex toys are like my year-round christmas
Courtney: my absolute favorite is the eleven. njoy is my favorite sex toy brand
Epiphora: don’t even! i yearn for it
Courtney: the eleven is the best investment anybody could EVER make in their sex life. it is worth WAY MORE than they charge. nobody who i have ever known has tried it and didn’t like it. it takes a warm up but it’s kind of like the lexington steele of sex toys. i own two of them
Epiphora: hahaha
Epiphora: so do the performers get to go home with the toys they used?
Courtney: sometimes they get to go home with the toys… but i also bring an arsenal of toys. i like to share. that’s why in seven minutes in heaven you see SO MANY CONDOMS. sex toys need protection, too.
Epiphora: yes they do! i love it
Courtney: seven minutes in heaven is REALITY, i don’t cast ANY scenes in advance, everybody is cast individually, they decide who they fuck, what they do, and in that sense safer sex barriers of every kind are super important
Epiphora: yeah, i was excited to see dental dams
Epiphora: i didn’t notice the lack of oral sex on vulvas in the first one until i saw dental dams in the second one
Courtney: as far as my films are concerned, it’s all a matter of choice. LA pays people based on what they do — i pay people a base rate and tell them to do whatever feels best for them, whatever they want.
Epiphora: it’s funny, oral is something i like seeing in porn. but i don’t care for it much in my personal life
Courtney: i like oral sex in porn too. but in my position, i can’t be picky. i can’t shoot what i want to see and uphold my pornographic political beliefs at the same time.

Keep reading in part 2!