Surveying the massive archive of tapes tightly nestled in her Manhattan apartment, Robin Byrd — the New York cable-access icon whose hour-long, X-rated variety program, “The Robin Byrd Show,” lit up metro-area television sets every week — pulls a few softcore gems. “Here’s one with Heather Hunter,” Byrd says, as the frame cuts to a split-screen between the 70-year-old Byrd and archival footage of a naked young woman, gyrating in front of the camera while miming her makeup routine. “Julie Bond was my first transsexual,” Byrd continues, smiling with pride, before a cut to Bond shimmying to the lens. Just then, Byrd’s longtime co-producer and husband of many years, Shelly, enters the room. “I always thought it would be a good idea to get up close and personal with Jeff Stryker,” Byrd muses. “So we did an interview in bed in my hotel in Vegas. Then we had sex, and Shelly filmed it!”
This is only the first scene in Jyllian Gunther and Stephanie Schwam’s beguiling new documentary, “Bang My Box: The Robin Byrd Story.” But in typical Robin Byrd fashion, there’s just enough pretextual lubricant to ease the viewer into this story of sex, censorship and soulmates. A soundbite from comedian Sandra Bernhard describes Byrd as a “cultural avatar,” while the late Joan Rivers introduces Byrd on her early ’90s talk show as “one of New York’s best-kept secrets.” This is an initiation for the uninitiated, a delectable Robin Byrd amuse-bouche to hook prospective viewers, just as Byrd did for so many years when thousands of New Yorkers let her into their living rooms (and bedrooms). And who wouldn’t be captivated by the frizzy-haired blonde with a sweet smile, whose tan complemented her signature black crocheted bikini?
