Back Together Again: AVN Show Returns to Vegas

LAS VEGAS—After a two-year hiatus, the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is back, starting Wednesday and running through Saturday, January 7th in a new venue, Resorts World Las Vegas on the Las Vegas Strip. An hour before the 12 noon opening, the line of fans already stretches 200 people long, as workers make last-minute adjustments inside. My Free Cams dominates the entry hallway, with halo lights and Internet cords on waist-high tables awaiting cam performers. MFC-branded computer stands and giveaway swag fill the tables: mini-vibrators, lip balm, sunglasses, pens, bottle openers, cell phone pop handles, and strips of rhinestones that spell out MFC. Inside the Lily showroom, the booths for Jules Jordan Video, AVN, Evil Angel, Brazzers, Chaturbate, Hussie Models, and Pornhub stand near an aisle with more MFC performance ststions on both sides. The rope-driven camera shooting down into the aisle of years past is joined by two smaller cameras, on mounts that look like drones but are also rope-driven. Two employees size up the layout and aisles for safety. "I paid for part of that one, I paid for part of that one..." one says, pointing at booths, as they both laugh. A wide hallway from the Lily showroom — where a DJ is setting up — leads around a corner to another wide hallway with another DJ and around the next corner is another wide hallway with a DJ and the entrance to the Blossom showroom. There are a lot of talent representation agencies here: 101 Modeling, ATMLA, Coxxx Models, Foxxx Modeling, Ideal Image, Matrix Models, Motley Models, Nexxxt Level, OCModeling, Spiegler Girls. Also Euro-producer SINematica, where Czech performer Stacy Cruz will be signing. "It's great to be in America," SINematica's Jason Maskell tells AVN. "We've been busy shooting. The big thing about SINematica is sunlight. Everything's been shot on beautiful beaches, in forests, in amazing locations in Paris, in France and Greece, in Budapest and Prague. We've gone all over Europe shooting the best European talent and it's really, really hard. Our content is quite unique. It's a little bit different. It's a little bit quirky, it's edited a little bit different, it's a little bit sexy. Sexy and hardcore." "It's my first time in Vegas," Cruz tells AVN when she arrives at the SINematica booth. "Before my first expo in Europe I was scared, but now I'm taking it easy. I'm looking forward to meeting American talent and American people I know from Instagram and the Internet. I'm really happy to be here. This show is bigger than the ones in Europe, and the promotion... they mean it. In Europe it's more casual. It's another level here." Mark Schechter at ATMLA reads off a list of 40 performers scheduled to appear at their booth, neatly alphabetized from Abby Somers to Tommy King, "and also Vanna Bardot, but she's signing with Vixen." Schechter is very enthusiastic about Tommy King: "It doesn’t take me long to recognize a superstar. Her body of work for a one-year girl was insane. She hit the ground running." King tells me this is her first interview. "I've been a sex worker for nine years, and I started doing commercial porn in 2021. I'm really excited to be here, it's also cool to see people I want to meet so I'm very happy to be here. I'm looking forward to seeing my friends in sexy outfits and cheer everything on." King had a number of jobs including magician's assistant before turning 18, whereupon "I started selling my underwear on Craigslist. Once I knew what I was doing, I started a website and I was selling a pair of underwear every single day. From there, I stripped, I webcammed, I Dommed, kind of everything you would think of. I had a lot of fun. I'm an exhibitionist. I have fun with what I do." "I'm happy to be here," says veteran performer Sunny Lane at the AVN booth. "It's new, and fresh in a lot of different ways. Last year, I was in a motorcycle accident, and it's been a long recovery — I've gained weight in all the right places — the body just healed. I had ice bags all over my body." Lauren Philllips walks up, and Lane wishes her a happy birthday: "What are you, 20?" she asks. "Nope," Phillips responds, "I'm glad to be 35!" but she refuses to elaborate, saying "I'm not here. It's only Wednesday. The show doesn’t start till Thursday!" before heading off. "I'm making more great things happen," Lane continues. "I'm getting back in gear. I have that stamina again. " Kayley Gunner, at the Pornhub booth, tells AVN, "I joined during the pandemic, so this is my first AVN Show. It's a lot of fun. I like to see the girls all dressed up, and all the fans. I'm really looking forward to the Awards show. I love to dress up, so I can't wait to wear a beautiful gown and all that. It'll be fun." Scarlit Scandal says she's glad to be back. "It's amazing. It's fucking fantastic, the energy. Everything I expected and more. I'm glad we're here again after all the covid shit, to meet my new fans and my recurring fans. The energy here is fantastic. It's only been an hour so it can only get better. Very excited about that." Web performers AnnaPlusOne and her husband were looking apprehensive at the Fansly booth. Although they put out content practically daily, they usually work in isolation at home. "We were interested to see what's here, meet some people, check it out, but we're used to doing this with a level of anonymity. It's a unique experience." They started camming in early 2021, in mid-pandemic: "We were locked down, and we weren't huge fans of our other jobs, and we were looking an alternative." So it's working for you? "Oh yeah," AnnaPlusOne says with a big grin. "We're doing much, much better." Ohio-based web performer Ray Ray has a high-profile booth, with beanbag tosses and other games, for her first AVN Show. "I love it. I've been to a lot of other shows, but this one is just bigger. I'm looking forward to meeting people and networking. To get myself out there more. I would love to do regular production. I travel wherever I need to go for shoots." Connie Perignon is one of the performers signing at the Jules Jordan booth: "It's a little overwhelming. This is my first one, I'm brand spanking new, and it's a lot of fun getting to interface with fans. I'm just happy to be here. I'm honestly surprised that people know who I am: Other talent when I was picking up my badge, asking for pictures and knowing who I am. People I haven’t worked with." "I didn’t think I was going to miss [coming here], but I do," performer turned director turned talent rep Jonathan Morgan says at his Nexxxt Level booth. "It's a great place for people to meet the fans, to have that connection, and I know the fans absolutely love it. Whoever designed the booths, they're really spaced out now. It's a wide walkway. I love the spacing. People can get through quickly if they need to. So far I have nothing but good things to say... but we're only two hours in," he adds with a laugh. "Check me on Friday." "It feels like I never left. It's all the same, in all the best ways," says Natasha Nice. "I missed conventions. I missed the fans, they really bring out a different side of me. Face-to-face, I get so much fun out of it. I'm really excited about the Awards, to see who wins, to put on my gown and walk the red carpet. I really want to ride the roller coasters or go see Cirque du Soleil, so either way I'm going to find something exciting to do." "It's amazing. It's incredible. I'm so happy to be here," Anna Claire Clouds tells AVN. "The fans coming up and the excitement from everybody is incredible. I love being back here. I missed it quite a bit, and I can tell everybody else missed it too. It's nice to see people that I saw maybe three years ago supporting my career back then, and they still are. The energy is incredible. It's a new venue, so I'm very excited to enjoy it as a consumer as well. "I've got nine nominations, including Female Performer of the Year, and I'm very excited to see what comes of that. Very grateful to be recognized at all. Very excited." As afternoon heads into evening, some big stars emerge: Angela White in a low-cut black dress at Brazzers, Joanna Angel at Pornhub. A hand-written sign by an ultra-busty Chaturbate performer reads "TIPS GO IN CLEAVAGE." At the Galaxy Publicity booth, when I ask Christy Canyon how it feels to be back, she responds "I didn’t know I went away! It feels wonderful. I love meeting my fans. If it weren't for my fans I wouldn't be here. I'm a happy girl. I have so much fun at these shows." Ginger Lynn, next to Canyon at the same table, says "I never left, to be back." "With all the expos, there's always something going on," Canyon continues. "We're always busy doing something. I come from the era where it's always tangible with our fans. Read between the lines, take what you will from that... but I don’t do virtual very well." "The fans have been wonderful, very polite, and they're spending money in the middle of a recession," Galaxy Publicity honcho James Bartholet says. "We've got Tommy Gunn, Jack Lawrence, Dick Chibbles, Lucky Starr, Isiah Maxwell, Ginger, Christy. Priya Rai, Foxxy. I can count on my legends to be here, and the crowds know who they are." On cue, Tommy Gunn walks in to the tumult in the booth as Dick Chibbles kibitzes with Ginger Lynn. In the booth, I ask Yaya if she's a performer and she says "Perform? Mostly I just enjoy myself, but I try." Lucky Starr demonstrates how to say "I want to cum on your face" in sign language. I ask Jay Crew, "How are you doing?" and he responds with a good-humored laconic "I'm still standing." "I'm looking forward to the White Party," Nickey Huntsman says. "I found this great dress from Fred Segal downstairs. I had a dress ready, but this one is better. I took pictures in the dressing room — have a look — and I bought it and took it with me. It fits me like a glove. I can't wait to show it off." "It's crazy, it's refreshing, it's very nice to be back," Ana Foxxx says. "I didn't realize how much I missed my fans. I'm looking forward to the Awards. I really love seeing how everybody gets glammed up. We're used to seeing each other with slobber and spit on our faces. It's elegant to look like goddesses and queens. I'm excited for the transformation." "So far so good. It's Day Number One," Aubrey Kate points out at the Evil Angel booth. "I honestly missed it a lot, but I feel everybody needed [the break]. They were used to coming, but they didn’t really enjoy it as much. The first year being back, everybody is so excited. I had a line wrapped around the Evil Angel booth for the first hour and a half signing, which is insane. I loved that. It's nice to finally be back, be with my friends and co-workers, and meeting all my fans again. I have fans who have come and seen me for six years in a row." As part of the show, but in the shopping center outside the AAEE venue, Vixen and its affiliated video lines have opened a pop-up store selling Vixen line merchandise, with signing stations along the back wall and a red carpet with security guards controlling the fan line. "I didn’t know I had fans," says first-timer Nicole Doshi, in blue bra and G-string (and pasties) at the Jules Jordan booth. "I was surprised that a lot of fans come up and ask for autographs. I never thought that I would make it, but I did. I've been in the industry for one year. I'm looking forward to meeting new people, shooting more content... explore more cock," she adds with a laugh. The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo continues through Saturday at Resorts World Las Vegas. It is open to the public. Admission is required for the Expo and for the AVN Awards Saturday evening.