This year’s PurePride in Edmonton was, by all accounts, an absolute blast. Kurtis Wolfe, one of the stars of that particular show, took some time out of his busy travel schedule to talk to GayCalgary from his hotel room – along with a few cameos from his travelling (and performing) companion, Adam Killian. In a long conversation, the two hardworking performers talk chemistry, on-screen and off, fitness, serostatus, and even... waterslides?

Beginning the interview, both Adam and Kurtis are on camera, waxing ecstatic about their time in Canada.

"So far, this entire week has been absolutely amazing here," says Kurtis. "I’m surprised I don’t come to Canada more often... I’ve loved it here so far." When we asked how often they do live performances like the ones they had just given at PurePride, the banter got almost too cute.

"For you, Adam -"

"My entire life," says Killian, from behind an impish grin.
"His entire life. It has been picking up more this year for me,"

"On the Killian-Wolfe tour?"

"On the Killian-Wolfe tour; that’s exactly right." Affectionate exasperation might best describe his expression.

For anyone whose career is played out in one public venue after another – from film, to stage, to modeling – dividing time is a constant struggle. "It’s a little overwhelming," says Kurtis. "I keep a calendar, and try to plan out my entire time. Try to make sure I get some personal time in there. Escorting is primarily a side business for me." He becomes more animated as he says, "my favourite thing is actually doing the filming. You have a little bit of freedom with it... I’m kind of also experimenting with filming my own stuff... which is where my webcam business comes into play."

It should be noted that Wolfe is the recipient of 2015’s Hooky award for "Best Body". Eager viewers take note: he gives quite the peek at 7:10 into the interview. As for winning the award itself, Wolfe is a bit stunned. "I was up against Derek Atlas, Sean Zevran, and a few others that, I was like I’m not going to make it against [these guys]. Especially Sean Zevran – [he is] really built. It was a huge shock to find out that I won that award... [Rentboy.com said] ‘you had a lot of fans voting for you’. I applaud the fans for voting."

Wolfe notes a fair uptick in his escorting business after his Hooky win, but Killian’s business – having won several himself including best duo and best threesome – remains consistent. Though appreciative of the awards, Killian attributes his success to having a hand in the process. "I was behind the camera for seven years before I really jumped in front of the camera... I had a big advantage of being able to choose who I did the scenes with, and how they happened... It makes it a lot easier. When you have chemistry and a connection with your scene partner, it’s everything. It’s the one thing you really can’t fake. You can put on a good show, but if the chemistry’s not there naturally, it’s not gonna read."

Wolfe gives his enthusiastic endorsement of Killian’s view, which prompts the obvious question – do the two of them have that kind of chemistry? Killian explains; "Oh yeah, there’s amazing natural chemistry there... Me, [Kurtis], and a couple of the other performers went out on stage and started having sex... and the crowd just swarmed around. It wasn’t a pre-planned show, it was just us up there having fun, and you could tell that the people saw that and they really loved it." The impromptu performance has led to their collaboration on this Canadian tour, and several other performances including San Francisco and San Diego Pride.

Then the subject of physique is quick to come up. Offering exercise tips isn’t really part of GayCalgary’s purview, but could we really turn down advice from professionals? "The trick is, if you want to slim down, lose a little belly fat, you get up and you go do cardio before you eat," Killian says. "I used to film a lot of the bodybuilders when they were competing... and their trick was coffee and aspirin [after waking up], and then you do cardio right before you eat. And that tricks your body into burning fat before you do anything else." True to form, Wolfe’s workout is a bit improvisational. "I try to always do different exercises within one muscle group – change it up, and keep it fresh. Otherwise you stick with the same routine, and it gets boring, and you’re just going through the motions."

"And if you wanna get big," adds Killian, "go heavy."

This high-fitness lifestyle was by no means a habit for Wolfe growing up. "My family lived on fast food... I would drink like 12 cans of Coke a day as a kid. It was something that wasn’t looked down upon in my family... I was really skinny, because my metabolism was off the charts, but I just was not healthy. Even now, when I go down to visit my family, it’s very difficult to eat healthy around them, because they still have those same habits."

There is a lot of effort involved in keeping one’s body in such perfect working order, so naturally the conversation turns toward the potential hazards of sex work, particularly with respect to one’s HIV status. "I’m very up-front about my status," says Wolfe. "I’m negative... I get myself tested regularly. I do ask guys who get ahold of me always know your status... With my clients, and even random hookups, I strongly believe in using condoms. If you can get on PrEP, go for it. For a long while, I was very wary of PrEP... but now that I’ve seen a lot more of the studies, I’m more convinced."

PrEP or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, is a type of drug that dramatically reduces the likelihood of contracting HIV from a positive partner, and is slowly making its way into communities where it has a chance of doing good. Needless to say, however, the American insurance debacle makes something of a Gordian Knot of the entire affair.

"Fortunately, next year when I can fully switch my insurance, I found a plan that will actually fully cover [PrEP], 100 per cent, no questions asked. In Texas, which is kind of shocking, especially with the latest news that Texas is cutting HIV prevention funding, in favour of" – here, Wolfe gives us, perhaps, the most exasperated, long-suffering look of the interview – "abstinence education." It goes without saying just how well that is going to turn out for everyone involved.

Towards the end of the interview the conversation veers toward lighter topics, such as one of Wolfe’s most beloved recreational activities. "I really like rollercoasters a lot. Any time I actually do have a chance to go to an amusement park, I will do nothing but ride rollercoasters." There was none to be had on this trip, though he and Killian did find time to enjoy West Ed’s massive water park, hitting every slide they had time for. Once they had managed to deal with their, erm, wardrobe issues, that is. "We did bring swim trunks, but we were looking at them, and they were too provocative for a family-oriented water park. If you know anything about Andrew Christian, they’re not family-appropriate in any way."

Those are just a few highlights of our 45-minute long interview with Kurtis Wolfe, guest starring Adam Killian. Watching them mug, side by side, for the camera, was completely charming, so definitely check out this enormous interview in full on our website.