Deanna Ortiz is obsessed with porn

0:00If you'd like to join the obsessed community, head over to joincampsite.com. We'll give you updates on episodes, some behind the scenes access and a whole lot more. That's joincampsite.com. Hope to see you there.

0:21Okay, so this woman might have had the best job in the entire world. The number one thing that I always tell people when they ask, what was it like working in porn? was, I tell them, your nipples are more normal than you think. Yeah, so that's Deanna Ortiz. She is a comedian from Chicago. She is obsessed with pornography, but maybe not in the way you think. We're going to find out all about it in this conversation now with Deanna Ortiz.

0:54How are you? Thanks for doing this. I'm good. How are you doing? I'm good. Are you in Chicago? Yeah. Are you in Chicago? I am not in Chicago. I'm in Los Angeles, but I just came from Brooklyn and survived a blizzard in Brooklyn. Wow. Oh, man. You got out. I got out. Yeah. I was at a podcast festival in Brooklyn, which is, I'm assuming you in your line of work could do an entire standup routine on a podcast festival in Williamsburg. It's literally everything, material you need. it's almost like brooklyn can sometimes be a parody of itself you know like i was in new york doing a show and there was a comic making fun of a guy in the front row and he had like a quirky mustache and like suspenders on and he was like you hipster and i was like this is where he's supposed to be he's supposed to be in a coffee shop in brooklyn you can't fault him if he was in omaha that'd be a different story like where else is where he belongs this is exactly where He has to be.

1:51He's in the right place and the right time. Yeah. Well, we're here to talk most about porn, which I'm very excited about. Cool. When I heard that you have a porn obsession, I was immediately intrigued. I'm sure you've heard that before. It was funny, the word obsession. Like, Deanna Ortiz is obsessed with porn. I'm like, easy, easy. Slow down. Yes. Yeah. I'm like, who have you been talking to? Yeah. There's another podcast that I was on that it was like, Deanna Ortiz loves watching naked men on the internet. And I was like, oh, like the SEO is working hard. But yeah, it's a very, it's a, it's a crazy story, a crazy little snippet of my life for the past five years that it's, and people just, I feel like, cause it's so taboo, people can't help but be so fascinated and ask so many questions about what, what my life was.

2:48yeah I have so many questions but it's funny I just like moments before we came on my wife was leaving and I said I'm talking to this awesome comic from Chicago about her porn obsession she was like whoa honey whoa what are what is like are you sharing videos like during this interview like what is happening I was like no no it's sort of it's not what you think but it's did you give her any personal information yeah yeah I'm gonna need your social security number okay so your obsession based on what you said is not that you are obsessed with looking at naked photos of men on the internet. Is that safe to say?

3:19Yeah, that's safe to say. So for like 2019 to 2024, I did social media for porn stars. And I think the obsession kind of came from seeing how this content that I was watching every day reflected into my everyday dating life, because I was for the past five years and am still now single. And so it was, I really found a lot of, strength is a weird word to say, but like feminine power, positivity from watching this content and then seeing how it transferred into my everyday dating life. Wow. Okay. I want to get back to the background and how you got into this, but I can't let go of where we are right now in this conversation.

4:03How did watching lots of porn get involved in your own dating life? What's an example of this? Yeah. So I have a solo show called Funny Slut where I basically just talk about what was happening at my job in porn and how it was affecting my dating life. So like the number one thing that I always tell people when they ask, what was it like working in porn was I tell them your nipples are more normal than you think. Like it really taught me to like cherish my body and like appreciate it and stop comparing it because seeing naked bodies all day, every day, I was like, oh, we really are just like a hunk of meat and meat and bones.

4:42Look at that. We could all we could all be porn stars. I mean, don't worry, we could all be there if we wanted to be is what you're saying. Yeah, it's taught me a lot about how I see myself, having more compassion for others. Even just as something silly is like sharing what your different kinks are and exploring that part of your life. Whereas my growing up and my teenage life was very, not sheltered, but just kind of chill. We didn't talk about anything like that. I didn't have a boyfriend until I was 20 years old. I didn't have my first kiss until I was 18 years old. So like very much secluded from like sexuality.

5:20So I think this job helped me rediscover that and have more confidence in the dating world because dating famously sucks. So I think coming at it with a little bit more confidence about who I am and what I want. Definitely. I definitely learned a lot from a lot of that from even just like it's not just the content, but just like the interviews with the different, I, you can call them porn stars. I refer to them as models, stars, whatever, um, with the different models or meeting different people, um, hearing their background really helped me be like, Oh, you're actually a lot more like me than I thought, even though I've seen you, you know, suspended from a ceiling.

5:59Um, but yeah, that's kind of, that's kind of my background. This is, this is really, this is kind of lovely. I mean, the idea that you gain more confidence in it. And I think it might be a lesson for a lot of us, like porn is such a, you know, sort of taboo, scary place. I feel like a lot of people, it's not the first place they would turn if they're kind of insecure in their own dating life. So say more about that. Like what's a kind of date that you would go on and you would really feel like, wow, like I'm feeling better about myself, my body image, because I have spent some time in this world.

6:38Well, it's interesting, like just as what you're saying before, a lot of people get watch porn and take bad things from it into their real dating life. Perfect example. And kind of what, you know, into that question was, um, like fetishes of like slapping or something like that. Me, no, like having seen all this content, you know, I know that these guys are watching this type of porn and be like, that's what I should do. But I also know that I have the agency to say like, oh, hey, I don't like that. Because in porns, it's all scripted, you know, like we they have meetings before where they explicitly agree what we are and are not going to do.

7:12So like they say, like, we're going to do this for this amount of time. These are your like your boundaries. Here's like what we agree to. So that's all discussed in like a, you know, a contract before. So I feel like that has kind of helped me get a little bit more confident in dating, right? So if I'm like out with a guy, and it's going well, or it's not going well, I feel just a little bit more freedom to say like, I don't like that. I do like this. Don't slap me. You know, doing other stuff. And there are people that, you know, want to be slapped. There's people that is such another thing.

7:43Like it's funny that I can just like go on and on, but it definitely taught me to embrace people's freaks, but like people are freaky and it's okay to be a freak, but you got to find the right freak for you. Because a lot of the content that I watched, I was like, oh, God, what are we doing? And then, you know, I go back to a guy's apartment and he has two different sword and anime collections. And he says, you will call me master. And I'm just like, OK, sure. Yes. And then, you know, something happens. I go, you know what? I'm actually all good. And then to leave, I think that that is definitely something that really opened my mind a little bit more in dating of being able to use my voice for what I do and do not want.

8:27yeah it's like giving you the license to explore things that you might want that you might not have felt comfortable about or might not have thought about um but also the confidence as you're exploring that kind of stuff to know that you know you it's okay to say no i don't want that because you've seen you've seen the script you've seen people stay to the script and you know that you can have your own script and and not deviate from it yes yeah that like i have the copy of like what we're gonna do and if that doesn't align with this person then like and that's not even just like in a sexual way that's even just like in a dating way where i can go out on a date with the guy oh this story is so bad it's like we went out to eat and he had the worst table manners and he just had grimy fingers everywhere and just like nasty was like playing with this food oh god i can't that's yeah that's like a deal breaker that's it blew my mind it really did i literally was like i'm being punked huh okay this is an impractical joker scene and and here here they come to tell me that i've you know or a john canyuan is what would you do like um it felt so bad.

9:25And then afterwards, we were gonna go see a movie. And we I did end up going to see the movie with him. But in that moment, I, I now know I could have been like, Hey, you know what, I'm not feeling this, I'm gonna go, you know, having that agency over myself, my night, my plans, especially because not just I feel like maybe women in general, but maybe just people feel indebted when it comes to dating of like, I, I owe this person this night that we planned and to say no thanks. And, um, you know, you're, this isn't a match can be perceived as rude, especially if it's happening in real life. Um, so I think not even just like the sexual part of porn, but even just like the, the day to day aspect of dating, even just talking or going out for, you know, a horrible dinner, um, has given me a little bit more confidence, I'd say.

10:18Okay, so let's back up a little bit. How did you get into porn? Yeah, yeah. I got into porn the same way that like most porn stars get into porn. I had a friend who worked for the company. So a lot of porn stars will say things like, they're like interviews of like, how did you get into porn and whatever. So a lot of them are like, my friend was camming. And then I started camming. And then the next thing you know, I'm in a gangbang. And so I had a friend. Is it usually that simple? or is that just the... And honestly, it is.

10:51I had a friend who wrote the articles. So the same way that when people back in the day were caught with a Playboy and they go, no, no, no, I'm just reading the articles. Those were the articles that my friend was writing. For Playboy or for something else? Oh, no, no, no. It was a different company now. She was writing articles that were like, top 10 hottest actors you didn't know were Canadian or something like that. Very random clickbaity stuff. And they had an opening for a social media manager. I was waiting tables before. I did social media for myself as a comic and for some restaurants that I worked at.

11:27And I applied and got the job and kind of off to the races with that. It was wild. And you knew when you applied that you were applying to be like a social media manager for porn stars. I mean, there was no secret about what the job was going to be. No, definitely not. So the company that I worked for was like a distribution company. So we would get the content and then I would edit it and then send it out for like a couple different online platforms. So I also freelanced for some OnlyFans models and did like direct one-on-one social media with some porn stars. But most of the money and most of the insurance benefits came from the big distribution company that my friend wrote the articles for.

12:07But yeah, in the interview, honestly, when people ask what was it like, it's very businessy. It's just like an office job. I went to an office. We sat in a conference room and talked about 401ks and we talked about insurance benefits and we talked about, you know, all this stuff. But it was really, it's crazy. And they do make it very clear. They say, they asked me, do you have experience watching this content? And I said, yep, for sure. All the time. I definitely, you know. Did you have experience or you were just doing that job interview thing where you're like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah, totally.

12:39Yeah, yeah, exactly. I know Photoshop. it was definitely the latter I think the height of my porn consumption at that time the the most porn that I watched was like the same four amateur free videos on Pornhub and then I would delete my entire browser history like that was right that was the that was the peak of it um which is funny now to get to the you know before they let me go um I was like I can name these models just by you know oh that girl oh this person oh i love that you know like just sometimes people would sound like hey do you know whose boobs these are and i'm like yep yep they're this person's boobs you could really tell i mean like instantly yeah like yeah yeah yeah i'm looking at them all day every day okay so you're you get this job um and what exactly like what's what's a day in your life are you actually going to the set where they're filming pornography no unfortunately i never got to do that i would have loved to the issue with that is that our company was based in chicago and a lot well not a lot but most of the porn is um shot in california and las vegas i would love to do like a work trip to vegas send diana out there come on give me a work credit card but it was just never in the cards so um a normal day would be me opening up the um the website and the google drive to see what was uploaded normally i would scream or something like that and go, ha, oh God.

14:03When you would see it, because you'd open up a video and there it is. Yeah, yeah. You're just opening a Google Drive, clicking on something and it's like, boop, there's boobs. There's a scene. Here's boobs and butts. Yeah, it is funny because I have this joke in my solo show of normally at work when there's a penis on your screen, your instinct is to take it down. But my instinct at work, if I did not have a penis on my screen, was to bring one on and be like, look, I'm working. I love looking at this stuff come on I'm like I'm not on CNN I'm on I'm looking at porn just like you want me to boss so most of the day was just um like watching the clips and finding out for deciding not finding out but me deciding what clips would be best to put on Instagram and Twitter because that's mostly where I did most of the social media stuff so um Instagram there's no nudity allowed I had to be very strategic about what what we could post what we could clip for a video because even if Instagram gets a little even a whiff of x-rated content they're flagging me oh wow so you're seeing you're creatively deciding like how you can post porn without being truly porn oh yeah oh yeah on Instagram for sure Twitter post whatever Twitter send everything over there they want to see it but Instagram um what I found interesting was that a lot of the people that followed us really like to see the porn stars just being themselves and like the interview before because the company that I worked for did like interviews of like hey how's it going I'm so and so and this is what we're going to do today and you know they liked seeing the the realness before we got into the hardcore the hardcoreness um so I did a lot of that I did a lot there's a lot of like strategic covering that you can do I can't post explicit stuff you But the models, when they're there, before they shoot the porn, they'll take pictures and underwear, stuff like that.

15:59We can post that. Go crazy with that. And the company that I worked for gave me a lot of creative freedom. I think it was a smart move hiring me. Yes, of course, always. Obviously. But a smart move hiring a comedian to be like, this is funny. It's silly. It's sexy and it's porn. But also, we can be kind of funny with this, too. I think that kind of adds a little bit more levity to the content. I mean, can you give me an example? You have your coffee, you're starting work that day, you open up the email, you get the Google Drive, you click, there's a penis. You're like, this is just a normal Wednesday.

16:34What does creative freedom look like in your world when that video has popped up? yeah so the first thing i'm kind of thinking uh let me think like i'm watching a a new scene that's like a bdsm this woman's getting hung from the ceiling okay so i'm watching it i'm looking for the really hardcore stuff that i know people want to see as like graphic as it can be i'm clipping that i'm sending it to twitter um as far as other creative stuff i'm like if she's getting like suspended from the ceiling and she's totally clothed i'm gonna take a screenshot i'm gonna like clip that put it on instagram and say something like my friday night plans what about you you know like oh don't you just hate when right like just something silly to them be like oh click the link in our bio you can see the full xxx you know scene of so and so getting done whatever too um other times there's not so much i wouldn't do this so much but there are porn accounts that will cover things like have a fully nude model and then cover their bits with like the logo and stuff.

17:40I never really did that. Sometimes I did if I felt like I could get away with it. But Instagram loves to flag porn companies and they love to shadow ban. So I'm like, I'm not even gonna play around with stuff like that. But I'm watching the content thinking what is hot to me, right? So if there's like, if I'm like, Oh, that was such a great scene. Not to, you know, like get into Twitter, Twitter madness so much, but there's a lot of porn on Twitter. And it's a lot of the same type of porn like this shot this perspective you can see whatever and I'm like well what if predictable porn same old same old kind of yeah yeah or like what's something that I would say like if I saw this quick 30 second clip that I would click on it and be like wait what happens next you know so maybe like uh like a kind of teasing little thing of this woman is hung from the ceiling and you see the guy enter or you just see him setting up his like flogging tools or whatever, that might be enough to get somebody to click.

18:37I also know that a lot of the people that are watching my content or the content that I'm posting are men. So I also want to do the opposite, which is just like, look at these huge honkers, dude, we're gonna go crazy with them. So it's kind of that line of kind of leading be like, Oh, don't you like this, click on this and buy the buy the content and watch it. And then just be like, here, here's what you want to see. So it's a kind of a little bit of a game to go back and forth with our followers. Can I ask a semi-awkward question? I mean, we're all adults here. You're a comedian. I mean, did you get turned on?

19:12Like when you were looking at some of this stuff or was it just literally a job and you were like desensitized to anything? I think after – it's quickly – it was wild how quickly I got desensitized to nudity. um a lot of times watching this content i mean we were in an office for a while then they sent us home and we worked from home um i would say it was impossible to get turned on at work watching this content because it's like the middle of the day my boss is across from me my co-worker's over here chipotle's being delivered for lunch like all this stuff and as now i mean when we were working from home, I think at that point I was already like in my mentality when I'm watching, when I was watching this content, wasn't like the mentality that a lot of people have when they watch porn.

20:04Right. So a lot of people, when they watch porn, they're like ready to be sexy. And I'm just looking at it like I need to clip this six times. And where are the six clips? It's a little bit more like that's hot. Okay, let's go. Okay, this is hot. Let's go. It's never like a this is so hot I need to take a break but I also think like not that it's ruined the way that I like consume porn or sexy content now but it's definitely different because I can't watch people who I did I never had like a real relationship with any of the porn stars but like if we would meet and like do interviews and stuff it would I would find it really hard to be able to watch their videos now knowing them you know and like a behind the scenes kind of way oh you've gotten to know some people who you've seen naked very tangentially yes yeah okay i was at a comedy show and in the front row there were two porn stars and i didn't clock that they were porn stars because they had their clothes on to be frank like they were clothes but i had that recognition of like how the hell do i know you guys and in my head i was like are they an influencer did we go to high school together like what is going on recognize your face somehow are you famous like It was crazy.

21:18And then I left. I got in the car to leave and I was like, God, I know that guy, but the only image I have of is him with his shirt off because I had just edited some of his videos. And I was like, oh my God, if it's someone with their shirt off, obviously they're a porn star. So I run back and I look at them and I'm like, are you so-and-so and so-and-so? And they're like, yeah. And I was like, oh my God, I work for this company. And I just watched your videos. And his girlfriend had another video coming out the next week. And I was like, this is what are you guys doing in Chicago? Like, what are you doing here?

21:49And they were just in town and came to a comedy show. It was crazy. And I think they get that a lot. I think they get a lot of people who look at them and think, how do I know you? But I don't think a lot of people will come up to them and be like, is this you? Which I did unabashedly. That's hysterical. The idea of like, if people who do watch a lot of porn, like suddenly running into someone and having that very human moment, Like, I think I know you from school. Nope. I actually watch you naked like three hours a day in my living room. Yes. Yeah. That was wild. And it was so fun. It was fun.

22:26And then I messaged them from the account a couple days later to be like, hey, hope you guys had fun in Chicago. Like, I wasn't lying. I actually do run this account all the best, which was just so wild. But you're not doing this anymore. Your job, you got laid off or you left the job? What happened? Yeah, they laid me off in 2024 just because the company wasn't making enough money anymore. So they had to... The porn industry is not thriving at the moment? I know. Yeah, right? Yeah. Yeah. So the company I was working for was like, you know, not right now, maybe in the future. And I applied to some other like porn companies.

23:04It's hard to... I mean, it truly was the best job I ever had. I will... It was the most amazing job I've ever had. It was such a cool company to work for. they really took care of us was it the porn too that made us a great job or was it just that it was a it was a good company that that the company yeah the company was great yeah that and they were so chill and so cool and it is like at a job like that you got to be chill and cool like you got to be imagine you know right hr has got to be great um but um yeah they it's hard to get another job in social media because every place that i apply to they go well let me see your references let me see what campaigns you worked on and I can't send them my campaigns which are full of porn like I hadn't even thought about that you're kind of like pigeonholed now yeah yeah so I I run so I do other social media stuff for like theaters that I work with I run my own social media on for being a comedian and I like can freelance and reach out to OnlyFans models if people always need social media help but it was just funny when I was like applying for like pretty prestigious jobs and like high-end things and they were like well send us your doc and i was just like hey yeah i'd actually love to but just a warning um and i don't think they understood like there were some places that were like send it anyway and i was like i i'll get flagged like i can't i can't send you this it's it's crazy you don't normally get a content warning for a resume like literally for clips yeah yeah i'll send you my portfolio um privately in an incognito browser i mean it's i know we talked a little bit about how um being in this job uh impacted your kind of dating life and in positive ways i mean what what what else does this interest obsession the fact that you enjoy doing this what what what does it say about you man i hope it says that i'm like a pretty not open open-minded i guess in all sets of the word of like you know um i think it gave me a little bit more willingness to maybe not a little bit more like comfortability to talk to anybody to connect with people because I think that's like a lot of what people like even if they don't realize what they like in porn is seeing a connection and seeing you know super hot bodies but I think that that really has helped me a little bit more you know like I I talk in my solo show about meeting a like a older guy at a bar.

25:35And he was I was on my phone and he just said something like, wow, you sure are quiet, which is an awful pickup line. But in that moment, I was like, I'll talk to this guy. Like, what's the worst thing that could happen? You know, whereas other times I definitely in the past, I wouldn't have been at the bar alone. You know, I think it's given me a little bit more confidence to meet people in general, if it's a sexual thing or not, or not be afraid to put myself out there if that is something that I want, you know, like, I would have never done this in a million years before I got this job, but like messaging people on Instagram to be like, I think you're really cute.

26:06Let me know if you want to get a drink sometime. What? Deanna Ortiz does not do that. That would never have a panic. Oh yeah. Yeah. And sometimes it's a yes. And sometimes they say yes and ghost me. And sometimes they read it and never respond. And then I quickly delete the message from my phone and I move on. And, you know, that is the other like in porn, like the the idea that there's always going to be another video coming down the line. Like if I post this today, there's going to be another video tomorrow. I think has somehow warped its way into my brain of like, I'm going to shoot my shot with this guy.

26:41And if it doesn't happen, that's OK. There's going to be a new guy tomorrow. Hopefully, hopefully he's tall and he likes brunettes like that kind of mentality, which feels crazy to say. but it definitely that type of confidence in the dating world has really helped because it is just like a slog. And also there's nothing cooler than being on a first date and mentioning your job in porn. Like if you ladies, if you want a man to listen to you, I've never seen a man listen more intently on a day. His ears are wide open when I say I heard they go, wow, you're so smart and interesting and tell me all about that yeah that definitely that definitely helped for sure yeah I mean on dates like you want people to ask questions and it's such a red flag if like they don't ask you questions I bet this is an instant way to make sure that someone you're on a date with is going to ask questions and oh if they don't then like what like done done if this doesn't intrigue them done I've had some people push back on me and be like you know it's actually a pretty toxic and wrong environment.

27:47And I was like, yeah, yeah, for sure. Yes, absolutely. There are parts of sex work that is very toxic and bad. And I hope that you would give this stranger enough benefit of the doubt that I'm not working for those companies. I was going to say, like, mansplaining you on that, on this business that you have been involved in yourself. Yeah, it depends on the tone. If they want to ask the question, like, so I've heard the porn industry can be toxic, but if they're telling you, like, you should not have done this. Yeah. Fuck them. And then I'm like, so then are you going to pay my insurance? Like, what's the deal?

28:17Yeah. Yeah. Is it a stretch to say that people who are insecure and want to find sort of their more liberated self and be more confident dating should consider watching more porn? And if so, what are the guardrails that they should put up? That's tricky. I think that if people want to explore their sexuality, you know, like I let's if there was someone that was like, I really want to explore different kinks, but I really don't know where to start. I think having that like those boundaries up would be a good place to start because there's so many different types of porn to watch, even just like focusing on like kink specific stuff of like, what are you into?

29:04There's some stuff that are really intense and there's other things that are pretty beginner safe. And it's so vulnerable to one, tell another person like your specific kinks. And it's also vulnerable to explore them and be like, you know what? I'm actually all good, like all set. But so I think watching different types, watching a variety of types of porn, I think is helpful for people who are, you know, questioning like, is this my what's what is my sexuality? What are my sexual preferences? Coming at it with that type of mentality. You know, there are times when you're just like, I just want to I just want to watch this and and get off, which is totally fine.

29:43And the use for porn. but if people are going to use it as like a tool to help them explore having that mentality going in and asking those follow-up questions when you're done to be like was that hot was it not hot like I was doing some like types of that type of exploration because it's hard to get into you can't like you know do BDSM with a guy that you meet on a first date that's crazy you'll die right Um, I think, but, um, I was, I was in Dublin and I went out on a date with a guy, um, who was really into biting, like he would bite my neck. And in the moment I was like, let's look at this from like a, you know, discovery mentality.

30:25I'm here on this vacation alone. Like, let's just accept all the things that are coming. Let me just like live in this moment and see if this is actually my thing. It's not. And I know that now. But in that moment to be like, let's just try and not imagine how mad my mom will be when she finds my body here in this hotel room in Dublin. But I was like, let's just be in the moment and kind of this. I think that's kind of the mentality to take at it to be like, is this my thing? Let's see. If not, okay, no, we tried it and that's it. And also coming full circle, like having the confidence to know that you can let whatever's happening happening and see if you like it but also be able to say like you know what like you know my script does not include this and so this is going to stop right now yeah to be like you know what ouch actually i had a huge bite on my neck for i was in dublin for the next two days and it's fucked up because it looked like a hickey but it was very much a bite mark and i had to go to like museums and stuff for the next couple of days with this huge bite mark on my neck and they're all like you dumb american you're only here for one thing i was like no i love the culture you've been doing some teaching uh it's a program called femcom is that right to tell me more about that yeah femcom is a uh a stand-up class at the lincoln lodge where i mostly perform and it's a theater in chicago and it's a stand-up 101 class where people female non-binary performers come in and i just teach them how to do stand-up it's just an awesome class it's talking about like building confidence or seeing people build their confidence.

31:56I see that every time I teach a class where like students come in and people want to take a standup class for multiple reasons. They want to take a standup class because they want to be famous and on Netflix, or they take a standup class because, you know, it's something their therapist told them that they should do, or they do it because they just want to get better at public speaking. And then in six weeks, by the end of it, these women and performers are on stage doing standup. And for a lot of them, it's their first time ever being on a stage. So that's FemCom. I've been teaching it for maybe 10-ish years, I would say.

32:31And it's an amazing class. Why the focus on female and non-binary students? I mean, has it been a struggle to give them a place in the kind of stand-up world? Yeah. So the FemCom started before my time with Cameron Esposito, who used to be a cast member at the Lincoln Lodge. They now live in LA, very talented, successful comedian. And she noticed that there were not a lot of female comedians in the scene. And so she started this class with the Lincoln Lodge owner, Mark Geary, to have a space for women to just come and bring their material and try to get on stage because open mics are notoriously bad.

33:11You know, it's open mic where you try out new material. It can be welcoming in some environments. It can also be extremely isolating for people. It sounds like the most terrifying thing that I can possibly imagine like i've been on the radio for a long time and have done but like the idea of walking into a room and making yourself vulnerable on stage and having no idea if jokes are going to land that is literally sounds like the scariest thing i've ever contemplated right and then in that audience it's all filled with people who are like i'm funnier than you when is it going to be my time i want to talk about this yeah and then you know these guys get on stage and they talk about you know heinous things whatever so that's where we saw a need for the class and the class started.

33:48And like I said, we get people who really want to do this. And this class kind of, I say it's like a little like warm hug before you go out into the real world of open mics, because the reality is you got to go to open mics, even if they're bad. Like some open mics are really good. And so you got to find the open mics and you're going to bomb in an open mic sometimes. That's just happens. But I think having this even just a little bit of structure and a little bit of groundwork of laying the thing out to be like, I can help you get five minutes and then take that five minutes and blow them away at an open mic.

34:21Like that's, that's going to be the kickstart that you need. But yeah, there was not a lot of female comedians in the Chicago comedy scene. And I would say in comedy, probably when we first founded this class and now the scene I would say is more, definitely more diverse. Now that standup has like really had a huge pop in these past, like I would say decade or so. The biggest thing that I really like from Femcom, from teaching Femcom is having that retention of students who like this and want to come back. And I see them at open mics and I see them at shows and to be like, okay, we helped them get their foot in the door and now they're doing the work.

34:58Yeah. That must be really inspiring for you. It's great. Yeah.

35:07All right. I want to turn to a little lightning round that we do on our show each week. I call it instead of David Green is obsessed, it's Deanna Ortiz is obsessed. We've been talking a lot about porn. I wonder what is another obsession in your life, but it's something that you have never really told anyone about except your closest friends and family? Oh my gosh, an obsession. Wow, this is vulnerable. We're ready. That's what we're here for. I have an obsession with watching bodybuilders and competitive eaters like the bodybuilders that like eat like 100 pancakes in one day yeah and like i i want to see like a everything i eat in a day as a competitive eater i love watching those clips on youtube i will watch to the end of time these guys and these these you know athletes they are athletes of you know eating 700 ice cream cones challenge whatever it is i love it and nobody I feel like only a couple people really know that's amazing what what do you what do you like about it I don't know I love um I really just like watching like the them prepare so much food I remember when Michael Phelps was in the Olympics and yeah um they were like what is this guy eating a day I just got like obsessed with it it probably also has something to do with like this is gonna sound so crazy but like diet culture and like stuff that like in my mind I'm like I'm not supposed to eat that I'm not and I'm like yeah but look at this guy eat it it's kind of porny like it really does sound like porn that I'm like I'm not gonna do it but I'll watch these guys do it yeah I'm gonna watch this I'm gonna watch I'm gonna consume it I'm gonna love it I would never do that but I'm glad this guy can I love the um the strategy behind it when I'm watching uh there's like one competitive eater called like katrina eats kilos or something like that and then her fiance is randy something or other it's a whole world and the prep that they have behind it and the like if they're eating like a big pizza they want to make sure that none of the the items are like don't get mushrooms because they're too slimy when they're cold it's going to be really hard to eat or like oh when you um when you get like a burger and fries you tackle the burger first because fries are easy and like a drink you want to finish the drink the mentality and like the strategy behind it, I love it.

37:27I don't know why it just really, it's just a part of my brain where I'm like, yes, this does make sense. Absolutely. Do they need social media managers? I'm just not to give you career advice, but I feel like, I mean, a competitive eater, this might be your next calling. They're doing pretty good on their own, but I would say, hey, if you guys want, hey, I'm a step away and great and I'm happy to help. But their stuff gets pushed to me all the time and I'm like, they're incredible. I love them. There's a guy in London who's like a professional bodybuilder who also does like a, what I eat in a day.

37:56And he's like, first thing I have 12 dozen eggs. Awesome. Same. Crazy. Like hard boiled. Are we doing scrambled or like, how do you eat like a shitload of eggs in the morning? Yes. And that's the beauty of it is that you can do whatever you want. He, um, I've seen him, I've seen videos where they just like fry 12 eggs in a pan and then just go at, and then just go in hard. Cause a lot of these performers, they don't, the bodybuilders, they don't look at it as breakfast. They look at it as like fuel. I need this. I need to have the protein for 12 eggs to go work out for three hours. And then I'm going to come back.

38:32And a lot of them, they'll be like exhausted of eating. Like, oh, I don't even want this, you know, chicken, whatever I'm eating now. But yeah, that is interesting to the way that they eat different things to just have the speed of it and less of like the enjoyment of food. Like how quickly can I down 12 eggs are you a fan of the pit the show love the pit love the pit okay I don't want to give too much away but there was the the well I'm going to give it away there was the guy who came into the emergency room having eaten way too many hot dogs and things did not go well that that took me out of the any sort of enjoyment and watching people eat lots of food for a little while that was like but what I loved at the end he was like they were like hey no more hot dogs He's like, yeah, not until next year.

39:18And I was like, my guy. Yeah, exactly. Next 4th of July, I'm back. Yep, no problem. Just like literally bazooka barfed all over the emergency room, but I'll be back. But I'll see you next week. I love that. Yeah, exactly. What's an obsession in your life that scares you a little bit? Hmm. The competitive eating? No, I'm kidding. Yeah, it can be the answer for everything. Yeah, right? That scares me. That's interesting.

39:49I you know I think sometimes my I also have like a really big pop culture obsession and like celebrity crush obsession sometimes not really anymore I can be scared at how much I have a celebrity crush you know like how much I put on to the celebrity crush you know who is the last one that I really really loved I feel like Andrew Garfield was a really big celebrity crush for me And I will like, I'm good at crushing. I'm great at pining. I can pine so well for this stranger who I put a lot of stuff on. So in the way that like, you know, you go through a breakup and you feel kind of sad. And like, you know, those emotions with a breakup.

40:32I have felt that at very weird times force my celebrity crushes that I'm like, this is not safe. And now I can recognize it and be like, oh, I'm about to let this person who I don't even know ruin my day. I'm just going to put this to the side. You know, like John Mayer has no hold over me. Not anymore. I'm going to let it go. Fuck the algorithm that keeps sending me videos of this person. But like. Exactly. Exactly. They make it so easy for me to have this parasocial relationship where I'm just like, Harry Styles is my boyfriend and I love him. And I and I'll give him iTunes gift cards if he asks me to.

41:08But that definitely is an obsession that I, you know in certain times of my life I was really taken over by it and I I really I feel so proud of myself that I'm able to not because going back to what we talked a little bit about before like I was so not a sexual or relationshipy person in my teens and 20s but I had huge celebrity crushes that I was like well Michael Cera is my boyfriend I don't need to impress this guy but yeah those Sometimes too much of a parasocial relationship can be a little bit of a scary obsession. When does it get scary? Asking for a friend. I mean, I've never had. I have had.

41:49I have celebrity crushes. And I mean, it's when my Instagram feed is suddenly sending me videos of them, like to a point where if my wife picks up my phone and looks and is like, why are you deep diving on so-and-so? It's the algorithm. It was like two videos. But when does it go from safe celebrity crush to I need to talk to my therapist? I would say probably when it gets to the algorithm. When you open your algorithm and it's all, you know. One person. My friend had a celebrity, not crush, but just obsession, I would say, with Taylor Swift during the Ares tour, as many people did. Yeah. And I opened her.

42:24She showed me her explore page, and it was literally all Taylor Swift at all times. And I'm like, we need to break some things up. Like, follow NPR. like click on like some NPR videos get some other stuff in here yeah hey that'll do it I do also want to be clear like I mean like obsession in a normal way like I'm not like stalking celebrities I'm not like trying to find their address you know like I realized as I said I did not think you were oh Jesus Lord now I'm gonna get a cease and desist from John Mayer um but at least he's thinking of me exactly so I would say yeah it's when something a celebrity does ruins my day that's that's kind of when you know a non-consequential thing when that that's when i'm just like huh okay we're done here um i don't want to get too and like involved with this story right like oh who was it i mean andrew garfield i was watching an interview and um maybe it wasn't one of my many celebrity crushes um he was in an interview and he had like a weird scarf on and i was just like why are you wearing that scarf like in a way like it's my boyfriend to be like honey take it off it doesn't look good yes and in that moment i was like okay we're done here put the phone away go out for a walk like i cannot this is it feels so stupid it feels so trivial um but yeah that's kind of when it gets to be a huge red flag in my in my book where i can see myself falling like that deanna what's your next cool thing what should we check out to follow you oh um i am doing my solo show where i just basically talk about you know what it was like working in porn, I'm taking that on tour.

43:57So the next one is I'm going to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Omaha, LA, New York. Nice. Yeah, so I'm really just focusing on getting the show out there because it's half PowerPoint, half stand-up. So it's going to be pretty fun. Oh, fun. Wait, this is Funny Slut or this is something different? Funny Slut. Yeah, Funny Slut. Okay. Deanna Ortiz, you are so much fun to talk to. I really appreciate it. This has been a blast. Yeah. Thank you for having me. This was so much fun.

44:26David Green is obsessed as a production of Campside Media. It is hosted by me, David Green. Our senior producer is Lane Rose. We are mixed by Ewan Leitrimuen. The executive producers of Campside Media are Vanessa Gregoriadis, Matt Scherr, and Josh Dean. Special thanks to our operations team, Ashley Warren and Sabina Mara. If you have an obsession you would like to share, hope you do, you can send us an email. The address is obsessed at campsidemedia.com. That's obsessed at campsidemedia.com. And hey, if you enjoyed the show, please rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Really appreciate you listening.