In the emerging genre of radio-play style audio fiction, Killjam XXX is a difficult podcast to recommend. This is not because it’s bad, (I’m actually enjoying it quite a bit,) but because it operates at such a gleeful extreme of sex and violence that it feels strange to recommend in the “polite company” the internet has slowly become. As much as I want to spread the word about it simply to promote such a gonzo indie passion project, I find it hard to just…leave it at a retweet. It just feels a bit too raw to throw a mass-audience into with no preparation. Maybe that’s more of a “me” problem, but given the reception to the show thus far, I don’t think I’m alone.
The show centers around Killjam, a near-future gladiatorial bloodsport where sexy bio-enhanced babes with marketable personas tear each other apart in Battlebots-style trap arenas. And, right there, you get a sense of what you’re in for. Killjam XXX is a horny, purile splatterfest, with these traits lovingly baked into every detail of its premise, worldbuilding and cast of characters. You’ve got beheadings, electro-shock BDSM, body horror, and two sex scenes in as many episodes, all following protagonist Faustina, who’s basically Deadpool by way of Elvira with every connotation you’re imagining from that comparison. From just the first two episodes, it was hard for me not to be charmed by the sheer minimum of fucks given by the creators in putting this joyful, zero-brands-safe spectacle of indulgence on the internet airwaves.
It’s just not something you see (or hear, I guess) as much nowadays, especially compared to the early days of the internet, and it really feels like an echo of that early-web anarchy, where people really could create and share anything they wanted. It’s the kind of show I personally wish I had the courage to make, but even with my art-first indie spirit, I always hold a bit back from my own projects with the thought “But would it be popular?” And herein lies the issue.
Killjam XXX isn’t popular.
I’ve been following this show on Bluesky since its first episode, and it’s…been a little tragic to watch. At time of writing, two episodes in, the show is sitting on two (2) reviews on Itunes. Posts from its main Bsky account get a minimum of shares and likes, and given how actively the show’s voicecast has been promoting it, I have the unfortunate feeling the majority of those shares and likes are coming from inside the house. On some level, this makes sense. It’s niche art you’re either going to lock-in on or bounce off of within the first five minutes of its first episode, but I think there’s something a little deeper going on here, and it comes down to the statement I used to lead off this piece. Killjam XXX is a difficult show to recommend.
There’s something kind of vulnerable to recommending a show as indulgent as Killjam XXX. It’s like recommending the greasiest burger on the menu, because doing so comes with the tacit admission that you’re stuffing your face with it on the regular. No matter how little you care about curating your tastes for coolness points, a show like Killjam XXX presents so many of its emptiest calories with beaming pride that it feels a bit like trying to convince people Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 is totally worth an import. There’s a reason I only feel comfortable recommending this show in the context of this massive essay, and it’s not because I’m some sort of prude. It’s just a recommendation that begs to be qualified, and in the age of 300 characters, that simply doesn’t play like it used to.
Like I said before, Killjam XXX is exactly the kind of project I wish I had the courage to make myself. You can hear in every vocal performance just how much of a blast this cast is having bringing this crazy, sexy, blood-soaked world to life, and it’s that infectious creative joy that’s literally why I make art in the first place. Is it perfect? Oh, far from it. The worldbuilding has some weird holes, the fight scenes aren’t as elaborate or evocative as they’re clearly trying to be, and the sex scenes, while a bold inclusion, tend to have a very silly…
…quality to them. But I’m not here for perfection, I’m here for expression, and that’s where this show delivers. Indulgent media is, inherently, some of the most expressive and personal there is. That’s why I want to spread the word about this show, but also, the reason I wanted to do so in an article rather than a tweet.
I really hope Killjam XXX finds its audience, even if that audience isn’t you, the person reading this. It’s a kind of art we need more of, but it simply isn’t designed to thrive in the way the internet currently works, and it’s definitely paid the price for it.
