BIG AL’S THE NAME,
HANGING OUT WITH STRIPPERS IS THE GAME
Long time viewers of Manhattan Neighborhood Network must surely remember Big Al’s long running public access show, “Spic ’n Spanish,” (1995 – 2007) which featured Big Al journeying forth to parties, bars, clubs, and strip clubs, showcasing the charms of the lasses within, with Al often sampling the goods. As they say, “Nice work if you can get it.” I sat down with Big Al to get the story of how he came to be.
“I was in an audio-visual class in High School, and I would ask the teacher if I could borrow the camera, ’cause I liked to go around the school interviewing the hot chicks. And it was a good way to cut class, because if anyone saw me with the camera, they’d think, ‘Oh, he must be doing a school project.’ That’s how I spent my high school years. After I graduated high school, a friend of mine, who is now in jail, suggested that I put my stuff up on public access. ‘You have this great footage, you should let people see it,’ he told me, ‘Get a show, get a slot, and do it.’ And that’s what I did, except that after a while, I stopped showing my high school stuff, and started showing new stuff.”
Al did this for almost 13 years, but started getting tired of it.
“It’s a lot or work, there’s no financial renumeration, and it was too much of a grind, you got to videotape footage, go home and edit it, and it’s the same thing, week after week, month after month, and suddenly, a decade has gone by, and what the fuck, nobody’s paying me. Plus, I had a new job, with a 9 to 5 schedule, and before I had usually worked nights, which is what someone like me should be doing. Plus, MNN changed the rules around the time I decided to quit, I would’ve had to buy new video equipment, and I figured, ‘What’s the point? Am I going to buy new machines, so another decade can go by? That’s it, I quit.’
But fear not, Al is in the planning stages of bringing on a new show, to be done at the studios provided by MNN.
“It’s a live call-in show, I won’t have to buy any new equipment, I just have to show up, take calls from morons for a half hour, maybe I’ll have on some hot chicks, they’ll show their tits, it’ll be over, and that I can do easily. It should be on a Thursday or Friday night. I’ll try to have topics, but most people who call public access shows want to do their own thing, and I’ll indulge them. If they bore me, I’ll just hang up on them, it’s my show, right?”
Of course, if any theme runs throught Al’s work, it’s his enduring fascination with strippers.
“I love women, and I’m a really horny guy. I hate people who are boring, and that includes women, and strippers are interesting and crazy and fun, maybe they’re not so bright, but fuck it, I’m the intelligent one, they’re the hot ones, and I like that chemistry, that relationship. I can’t function with normal girls, the ones you take home to Mom, that doesn’t work for me. Girls I like are strippers, porn stars, prostitutes, that’s just the way I am, that’s me. Something happened when I was growing up, I guess normal chicks weren’t attracted to me, and the weird ones were. At the end of the day, it’s because strippers like me too. You should ask strippers why they like me, it’s easy to see why I like them, but why do they like me? I’ve been told it’s because I make them feel comfortable, I’m not threatening. But strippers are a lot of fun, why wouldn’t you like them?”
Al isn’t planning to settle down anytime soon.
“Marriage, family, that’s not for me, I’m like a fucking alien. And let’s face it, no normal girl is going to be with me, so I’ll stick with strippers. Man, this is getting weird, can you imagine some psychologist listening to this? Wow!”
Check out Al's new show, Spic 'N Spanish Reloaded, on Ch. 57, Friday at 11:30, or view it live streaming at www.mnn.org