Joseph Kramer/Reid Mihalko Interview Excerpt pt. 1

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• published: 11 Jun 2010
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Whether you're a sex history geek with a desire to trace movements back to their source or you're simply looking to expand your own erotic sense of self, stop wondering and join sex and relationship expert Reid Mihako as he sits down for a candid and indepth interview with legendary Joseph Kramer, PhD, founder of the Body Electric School, The New School of Erotic Touch, and "father of Taoist erotic massage!" Reid: Hi everyone! Like some new age kind of Captain Kangaroo show. Welcome! Joseph: Thank you. Reid: Thanks for being here. Joseph: Thank you for inviting me. Reid: You’re very, very welcome. I have my little note cards and I things planned out and now that you’re here I’m like, ‘Fuck it, let’s just talk.’ Joseph: No, I have my notes. Reid: Okay. Let’s… I’ll let you talk a little bit. So, I’d first want to give a little bit of history about how this interview came to be because I’ve heard a lot about you. I moved here officially months ago and I have an apartment in New York so I jump back and forth and I do a lot of work in LA as well trying to get a bunch of relationship and sex education television shows made now. So, I’m spending a fair amount of time in LA which is a whole other thing time to do the Hollywood shuffle on that. But when I first heard about you I think from Roy Turpin and then Celeste Hirschman. It was always like Joseph Kramer… Joseph Kramer… Like whispers, dark hallways and people talking a lot about you and then I was doing a discussion panel series here on history of play parties and group sex in San Francisco and I got your number from Roy and called you up and left you a voicemail and I was like, “I left a voicemail for Joseph Kramer”. And then two days later, I got a message on my answering machine from you respectfully declining, that you are a no, thank me for the invitation and then like 2 or 3 minutes of you like basically telling me why discussion panels were like Satan’s evilest thing ever. In which case, I was like, “I totally have to interview this guy sometime because this is the most interesting thing I have ever heard.” And then, you’ve been on my radar and eventually some of your internet projects came my way and I thought the best way for me to do what I do and promote or help build awareness around your projects was to actually sit you down for a minute which I never thought you’re going to say yes to. So I was actually really excited that you said yes. So, thank you. Do you want to share a little about what’s up for you right now or I can talk because I did my research. I have notes on you. How do you want to do this, Joseph? Joseph: You know, seconds right behind panels, I think 2 people talking in front of a group is like second worst thing that I could imagine. It is. And so, I told Reid, “Okay, we will do video” because then people don’t have ever come out of their house, cross a bridge, sit on chairs. They can watch it in YouTube and it was okay and then a little later, you know, we made a live audience. Okay, I thought it’s a living room, two people sitting there so I said okay. All of a sudden, we’ve come around. You’re out here, sitting here and this is the exact idea that we’re videotaping this so you don’t have to. That’s exactly the premise. That’s why I don’t want to be here. Reid: Yes. The paradox, I got an email from Joseph that basically says he goes, “The paradox is not lost in me that we are inviting people to show up for a conversation that they don’t have to show up for because we’re taping and we’re going to put that in YouTube.” And he goes, “That’s funny.” Joseph: I didn’t say funny, I don’t think. Tragic. Go ahead. Reid: And you just say, “The further paradox was taping makes showing up unnecessary.” Joseph: Yes. Reid: My joke is of course that, you know the song the Video Killed the Radio Star and you being kind of the father of somatic sexological body work. Now with the whole school online, where people can opt in or opt out accordingly and fast forward around erotic education, how do you justify if the fact that you’re whole career has been built in getting people together to learn how we learn about sex and to deepen their and expand their understanding of erotic learning that we’re now putting it online because by that very essence, I can watch it and never have to show up for a group ever which seems a huge departure from what you’ve built your career on or your life’s work so it seems. Where did the digital thing come in?