It’s 4.45PM on a Sunday afternoon and I’m a short walk from Angel tube station in North London, looking at an unmarked red door on City Road. Behind it, ratty red carpeting takes you to a reception desk and, beyond that, an old staircase leading down into a damp basement. Through the semi-darkness, I can see, hear – and, unfortunately, smell – various people watching porn on a cinema screen, some drinking cans of lager, others sniffing from bottles of Liquid Gold poppers.
Sitting on one of the faded velvet seats, it’s hard not to listen to all the grunting – both onscreen and off – and notice the occasional shifting in seats while punters assist each other with their enjoyment of all the big projected body parts. Five minutes ago I was walking along Upper Street, the kind of place where you can buy truffled polenta chips and artisan babywear within the space of three shops. The vibe in this basement is different.
Mr B’s – a private porn cinema club – has existed on these premises in various incarnations for over 40 years (most recently as Fantasy Video). It's one of only three such venues left in the capital, the others being the Abcat Cine Club and Oscars, both on the Caledonian Road. All three clubs are under threat of imminent closure, victims of the same thing that's slowly destroying the rest of the porn industry: nobody wants to pay for porn now that they have all the pictures and videos of naked people they could ever handle included in their standard broadband subscription. Full story...
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Sitting on one of the faded velvet seats, it’s hard not to listen to all the grunting – both onscreen and off – and notice the occasional shifting in seats while punters assist each other with their enjoyment of all the big projected body parts. Five minutes ago I was walking along Upper Street, the kind of place where you can buy truffled polenta chips and artisan babywear within the space of three shops. The vibe in this basement is different.
Mr B’s – a private porn cinema club – has existed on these premises in various incarnations for over 40 years (most recently as Fantasy Video). It's one of only three such venues left in the capital, the others being the Abcat Cine Club and Oscars, both on the Caledonian Road. All three clubs are under threat of imminent closure, victims of the same thing that's slowly destroying the rest of the porn industry: nobody wants to pay for porn now that they have all the pictures and videos of naked people they could ever handle included in their standard broadband subscription. Full story...
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