Porn 'n Chicken
Encyclopedia
Porn 'n Chicken was a club based at Yale University
. The secret society blazed briefly in the headlines in 2001 when members announced plans to make their own pornographic film
on campus starring other Yale students, although the film was never released or even completed. Nevertheless, a fictionalized version of the club's experiences was produced as a TV movie titled Porn 'n Chicken and broadcast on Comedy Central
.
, and as a venue to watch pornographic movies. According to a PnC leader quoted in 2000, "for the past five years they've been engaging in technological, intellectual, financial, and reputational terrorism against Yale with the main goal of damaging the careers of the Yale Corporation — those individuals who hold the purse-strings of Yale's bank account and represent the worst effects of a capitalist society."
An alternate history contends that the organization was founded in slovenly frustration by a bunch of Yale undergrads who had not been asked to join any other secret societies. "We were sitting at dinner coming up with various combinations of words, and came up with Porn 'n Chicken," one told the Yale Herald.
A third theory, and the one best supported by recent evidence, is that PnC did not exist at all, and that the entire organization had been fabricated by a group of pranksters on campus, possibly the secretive Pundits. These folks allegedly even staged meetings for reporters when necessary.
According to reports in the campus press, 30-35 students would show up for each screening. The crowd was overwhelmingly male, but never 100% so. Films were chosen with an eye toward "providing a meaningful experience for the audience," as one of the club leaders ironically described his responsibility. A club leader would provide commentary and fast-forward through 'the boring bits'.
Members claimed to have access to a secret bank account, presumably funded by club alumni, to cover their small expenses.
In November 2000 they posted around campus for actors and actresses, and even filmed their first scenes in late January (one of their actresses was taking a semester in Nepal
during the bulk of the filming, so her scenes were completed early). Blurry snapshots of the action appeared in the Yale Daily News
. A week later the New York Times had the story, and a national media frenzy ensued.
The New Yorker
, Fox News Boston, Hustler
, The New York Post
, Brill's Content, The Village Voice
, Premiere Magazine, The London Evening Standard, and others all inquired for information. Club organizers claimed that they were getting irritated by all the interview requests, and shut out MTV
, the New York Post, and the New Haven Register.
According to the stories that followed, many students wanted to be involved, but few were willing to let their names or faces appear in the film. The movie's plot accommodated this by following the induction of members into one of Yale's secret societies, allowing the actors to wear masks.
Club members insisted The StaXXX existed, and even asserted that a sequel was in the works. This film, to be called Dubya, would depict the sexual exploits of U.S. President George W. Bush
during his years at Yale. The budding filmmakers offered that they were being represented by the Creative Artists Agency. When contacted, CAA acknowledged that it was representing a Yale student named James Ponsoldt
in connection with PnC, but Ponsoldt vehemently denied having anything to do with the club.
PnC (or people pretending to be PnC) continued to host events on campus, including a movie screening and lecture by Village Voice sex columnist Tristan Taormino
.
A trailer for The StaXXX was ultimately released and was shown before a screening at the Yale Film Society, but no other footage ever emerged.
, which then made its first-ever original movie about the club. Ponsoldt later told The New Yorker
that he had been the mastermind behind PnC, received cash for his story, helped to write the screenplay, worked as an associate producer on the film, and appeared in a cameo.
Porn stars Jenna Jameson
and Ron Jeremy
appear in the film as guest speakers at a club meeting.
Comedy Central's film premiered on October 13, 2002.
Porn 'N Chicken has not been publicly active since the end of the 2000-2001 school year.
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
. The secret society blazed briefly in the headlines in 2001 when members announced plans to make their own pornographic film
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
on campus starring other Yale students, although the film was never released or even completed. Nevertheless, a fictionalized version of the club's experiences was produced as a TV movie titled Porn 'n Chicken and broadcast on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
.
Possible beginnings
Contradictory histories have appeared in the Yale and national press. Supposed leaders of the PnC club in the 2000-2001 school year were quoted saying that the club had been founded in 1996 during one of Yale's periodic grad student strikes. Grad students had founded PnC, this story says, both as an organizing society for a variety of monkey-wrenching activities intended to hurt the Yale CorporationYale Corporation
The Yale Corporation, sometimes, and more formally, known as The President and Fellows of Yale College, is the governing body of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.The Corporation comprises 19 members:...
, and as a venue to watch pornographic movies. According to a PnC leader quoted in 2000, "for the past five years they've been engaging in technological, intellectual, financial, and reputational terrorism against Yale with the main goal of damaging the careers of the Yale Corporation — those individuals who hold the purse-strings of Yale's bank account and represent the worst effects of a capitalist society."
An alternate history contends that the organization was founded in slovenly frustration by a bunch of Yale undergrads who had not been asked to join any other secret societies. "We were sitting at dinner coming up with various combinations of words, and came up with Porn 'n Chicken," one told the Yale Herald.
A third theory, and the one best supported by recent evidence, is that PnC did not exist at all, and that the entire organization had been fabricated by a group of pranksters on campus, possibly the secretive Pundits. These folks allegedly even staged meetings for reporters when necessary.
According to reports in the campus press, 30-35 students would show up for each screening. The crowd was overwhelmingly male, but never 100% so. Films were chosen with an eye toward "providing a meaningful experience for the audience," as one of the club leaders ironically described his responsibility. A club leader would provide commentary and fast-forward through 'the boring bits'.
Members claimed to have access to a secret bank account, presumably funded by club alumni, to cover their small expenses.
In the news
In the October 2000 Yale Herald article by Joseph Ax that is the first known public discussion of the club, it was mentioned that the club planned to shoot its own porno film that spring. The film's name, later infamous, had already been selected -- The StaXXX. "Everyone is invited to audition: undergrads, TAs, professors, local high school students," one of the club members explained. "We're pretty serious about this film. We'd like to have a screening at UPIX."In November 2000 they posted around campus for actors and actresses, and even filmed their first scenes in late January (one of their actresses was taking a semester in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
during the bulk of the filming, so her scenes were completed early). Blurry snapshots of the action appeared in the Yale Daily News
Yale Daily News
The Yale Daily News is an independent student newspaper published by Yale University students in New Haven, Connecticut since January 28, 1878...
. A week later the New York Times had the story, and a national media frenzy ensued.
The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Fox News Boston, Hustler
Hustler
Hustler is a monthly pornographic magazine aimed at men and published in the United States. It was first published in 1974 by Larry Flynt. It was a step forward from the Hustler Newsletter which was cheap advertising for his strip club businesses at the time. The magazine grew from a shaky start to...
, The New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, Brill's Content, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Premiere Magazine, The London Evening Standard, and others all inquired for information. Club organizers claimed that they were getting irritated by all the interview requests, and shut out MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, the New York Post, and the New Haven Register.
According to the stories that followed, many students wanted to be involved, but few were willing to let their names or faces appear in the film. The movie's plot accommodated this by following the induction of members into one of Yale's secret societies, allowing the actors to wear masks.
The StaXXX
Towards the end of the school year, nobody saw any filming going on. Word leaked that the scenes that had been filmed first had since been destroyed at the request of one of the actresses. Sentiment shifted to the hypothesis that the film, if not the entire club, was merely a prank. Students who had been contacted earlier in the year heard nothing more. Posters were hung in April advertising a preliminary screening of the film, but the public was not invited and many doubted that any footage existed.Club members insisted The StaXXX existed, and even asserted that a sequel was in the works. This film, to be called Dubya, would depict the sexual exploits of U.S. President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
during his years at Yale. The budding filmmakers offered that they were being represented by the Creative Artists Agency. When contacted, CAA acknowledged that it was representing a Yale student named James Ponsoldt
James Ponsoldt
James Adam Ponsoldt is an American film director, actor and screenwriter from Athens, Georgia, now based in New York City.-History:Ponsoldt grew up in Athens and attended Cedar Shoals High School...
in connection with PnC, but Ponsoldt vehemently denied having anything to do with the club.
PnC (or people pretending to be PnC) continued to host events on campus, including a movie screening and lecture by Village Voice sex columnist Tristan Taormino
Tristan Taormino
Tristan Taormino is a feminist author, columnist, sex educator, activist, editor, speaker, and pornographic film director . She graduated Phi Beta Kappa with her Bachelor's degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University in 1993...
.
A trailer for The StaXXX was ultimately released and was shown before a screening at the Yale Film Society, but no other footage ever emerged.
The film
Soon it became known that Ponsoldt, along with fellow Yale alumni William Marino, Colin Spoelman and Joshua Newman, had sold their PnC stories to Comedy CentralComedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, which then made its first-ever original movie about the club. Ponsoldt later told The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
that he had been the mastermind behind PnC, received cash for his story, helped to write the screenplay, worked as an associate producer on the film, and appeared in a cameo.
Porn stars Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson
Jenna Jameson is an American entrepreneur and former pornographic actress, who has been called the world's most famous adult-entertainment performer and "The Queen of Porn."...
and Ron Jeremy
Ron Jeremy
Ronald Jeremy Hyatt , usually called Ron Jeremy, is an American pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", he was ranked by AVN at number one in their "The 50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list...
appear in the film as guest speakers at a club meeting.
Comedy Central's film premiered on October 13, 2002.
Porn 'N Chicken has not been publicly active since the end of the 2000-2001 school year.
Sources
- The New Yorker, "Talk of the Town," October 14, 2002
- New York Times, January 26, 2001
- The New York Observer February 15, 2001
- The Daily Pennsylvanian, September 19, 2002
- Ball State Daily News, October 14, 2002