What A Nailbiter: Colby Keller Chews the Fat About His Worst Vice

Turmoil resulted the last time we spoke with Colby Keller. He’d just finished his first scene with Treasure Island Media and everyone wanted to know why. He spoke with Nightcharm first, and the next thing you know a small group of barebackers over on the Treasure Island blog had gone into an indignant sulk, as is their way. The interview was picked up far and wide.

I was reflecting on the controversy the other day while I was getting my nails done. I’d decided to get a full set of acrylic tips put over my real nails as a last-ditch strategy to prevent me from biting them. Colby Keller bites his nails, too, I thought. I’ve noticed it in photos and even in the occasional gay porn scene in which he appears. Sometimes, it looks like he bites his worse than I bite mine. Other times, his nails don’t look quite so attacked.

So this morning Colby and I chatted anew, this time about being nail biters. Being the trooper he is, he even snapped a bunch of webcam shots of him biting his nails as we spoke.

MARK ADNUM: Colby I’ve chewed through the acrylics, and now i’m back onto biting the nails underneath. It’s just awful. What stop-techniques have you used?

COLBY KELLER: The only technique that has ever worked for me is willpower. But as you can see, that didn’t last long. Old habits are hard to break.

MA: I was watching cartoons one morning when I saw my father walk in the back door, chewing on his nails. I started biting mine immediately and have never stopped. You?

CK: I can’t even remember when my nail biting habit started. The womb maybe? I had a serious suckie habit as a baby. Take one oral fixation, pile on a serious degree of social anxiety and a family life that could drive even the strongest personalities to stress-induced body modification: nail nubs are probably the safest outcome imaginable.

MA: Well that’s true. I guess it beats smoking. But did you know it’s really bad for your teeth? Your nails are softer than your teeth, but the endless friction wears away at the enamel. The one time in my life that I went to the dentist he gasped out loud at what he described as “thousands of miniscule cracks”. How are your teeth?

CK: Eish. You hit my sore spot. I obsess about my teeth! I also grind them at night. And chew on other things I probably shouldn’t, like plastic cutlery and straws. My insurance won’t cover a mouth guard. The older I get, the closer my teeth resemble my fingertips. Pretty soon I’m gunna need dentures, which might not necessarily be a bad thing for my porn career. We’ve all heard the rumors.

MA: What other vices do you have?

CK: Do you have enough space to list them all? Perhaps I should keep some of my struggles private.

MA: Do you enjoy biting your nails?

CK: I hardly ever pay attention to the fact I’m doing it, which is the biggest hurdle in changing any semi-conscious, obnoxious behavior. My fingers are always in my mouth, whether I know it or not. Obviously there must be something remotely pleasurable in it. I certainly don’t like it when I realize I may have given myself a bad cold biting my nails in less than sanitary conditions, on a plane or the subway for instance. That’s the worst!

MA: Oh see I think the best thing I ever did was eat all that nail bacteria as a child. I hardly ever get sick. However, I often find I hide my fingertips by clenching my fists, or keeping my hands under the table. So people don’t see my bitten nails. Do you conceal? Are you ashamed?

CK: Sometimes I’m ashamed when I realize I’ve been going at it a little too ardently in public, but I rarely hide my hands, if ever. It’s difficult to conceal much of anything in porn. I’m surprised more fans haven’t said anything. The only person who ever really paid attention was a former boss, but he had his own mammoth-size sack of vice to deal with and very little tact.  Most people are probably too polite to say anything. I could never take his criticism seriously.  But now that you’re interviewing me about it on Nightcharm, I’ll think twice.  :-)

Colby Keller’s blog

Colby @ Nightcharm

Hunt for Colby scenes in the Inner Circle