The Orion Online

Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Online Exclusives

Oct. 1, 2008

Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of the radio show "Loveline" and television program "Celebrity Rehab," walked on stage Sept. 24, greeted by an enthusiastic crowd.

"You rock, Dr. Drew. You rock," an audience member shouted loud enough for all 1,000 people sitting in the sold-out Bell Memorial Union Auditorium to hear.

Lecture-based and comedy shows average around 200-250 attendees per show, according to A.S. Presents, so attendance to Pinsky's show well exceeded the norm.



Today's college-aged students have many different concerns than those who were first listened to his radio show in 1982, Pinsky said.

In the '80s condoms could only be purchased over the counter, he said. This was greeted by giggles from the crowd, who had been offered free condoms on the way into the show by the Women's Center table.

It was good to hear from Pinsky about how the Women's Center is a helpful place for students to utilize, said freshmen Natalie Herz, interns at the Women's Center, who enjoyed his humor.

"He was very bright and had great advice," Herz said. "He was very blunt. I liked that."

The night was filled with memorable audience moments.

A 42-year-old woman responded somewhat off topic to a prompted question by Pinsky: Why do people find it necessary to be drunk to hook-up?

The woman shared with the crowd and Pinsky her semi-monogamous relationship at times involved the inclusion of a third party-a 26-year-old man.

Pinsky steered the questioning back on topic.

Microphones were passed around the audience for people to ask Drew questions, similar to his show "Loveline."

One woman asked how she could get her "nice guy" friend laid.

Pinsky, who spoke earlier in the lecture about men needing to be attentive and meaningful during conversations with women they're interested in, said nice guys rely solely on being the nice guy.

"You have to change the nice guy (image)," Drew said. "Be present, not just nice."

Sleeping with neighbors sparked another line of questioning, in which Pinsky said, "You know there's an old saying…"

"Don't shit where you sleep," the woman who asked the question said before Pinsky could get it out.

Considering the popularity and love Pinsky receives from the public and his position as a sex educator, teaching his kids about sex does not come easy, he said.

As a father of 15-year-old triplets-two boys, one girl-he has only given his daughter the "sex talk," he said. And he encourages his boys to talk and listen to girls.

"Daddy, do you and mommy sex,?" Pinsky said, recalling a time when his then 5-year-old daughter asked about sex for the first time.

Sex talks may be a common topic of conversation for Pinsky, but none have been so difficult as the one with his own daughter, he said.

At the age of 10 or 11 Pinsky's daughter brought sex up again, he said.

She said, "I gotta understand this penis and vagina thing."

Chris Thompson can be reached at
cthompson@theorion.com

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