{"id":360071,"date":"2025-11-06T15:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/360071\/"},"modified":"2025-11-06T15:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T15:38:17","slug":"phoenixs-notorious-tagger-penis-man-talks-origins-fame-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/360071\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix\u2019s notorious tagger Penis Man talks origins, fame and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a hot, sticky summer night in August and Penis Man<\/a> has come to midtown Phoenix with a purpose. The infamous local graffiti tagger <\/a>moves like a shadow along Seventh Street, dressed in black to disappear into the darkness.<\/p>\n

Penis Man says little but moves quickly, the kind of pace that indicates he\u2019s got work to do before any cops pass by. A plastic grocery bag dangles from his hand, spray paint cans clinking inside like dirty secrets. He stops short just before a large rectangular sign outside a vacant building, spotting trouble. Plans are changed on the fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a camera right there,\u201d he says, gesturing to a mobile surveillance trailer a few hundred feet down the street. \u201cGonna have to settle for this. I was going to do the side of the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

He quickly crouches low, grabs a can and lets loose, spraying his moniker across the sign. Less than 30 seconds later, the deed is done. Penis Man returns the can to the bag and turns away from his latest tag, beating feet back to his car.<\/p>\n

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\"AA construction dumpster in downtown Tempe tagged by Penis Man in September.<\/p>\n

Similar late-night taggings have appeared across Phoenix, Tempe and other Valley cities since Penis Man began scrawling his virile nickname in 2019. He\u2019s tagged trash cans, vacant buildings, street signs, utility poles and alley walls. In the years since, he\u2019s become a local countercultural icon, quasi-folk hero and viral sensation. You can buy Penis Man T-shirts<\/a> at a Valley boutique and listen to a folksy ballad performed by local singer-songwriter Jesse Yonkaz on Spotify<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Photos of his tags have flooded social media. Many Valley residents consider it hilarious. Cops consider it vandalism.<\/p>\n

In 2020, Tempe SWAT officers busted Dustin Shomer<\/a> as the mastermind behind the graffiti after a tagging spree on city property. The Phoenix resident later confessed he was a copycat<\/a> and not the real Penis Man.<\/p>\n

In late August, Phoenix New Times was granted a lengthy telephone interview with the real Penis Man and the opportunity to shadow him on a tagging excursion. True to his clandestine nature, our discussion, during which Penis Man shared his motivations and memories, but not his real name or deep background, was conducted on a burner phone.<\/p>\n

\"APenis Man graffiti that popped up on a vacant Mill Avenue building in Tempe in April. The property is now home to Night Owl Pizza.<\/p>\n

A month later, such precautions became moot. Tempe Police arrested <\/a>Tanner Ballengee on two misdemeanor counts of criminal damage in connection with two Penis Man taggings. (He pled guilty to both charges, according to Tempe Municipal Court records.) Research by New Times into the 36-year-old\u2019s background jibed with details he divulged during our interview with Penis Man. His mugshot was also of the person we shadowed in August. <\/p>\n

After five years, it appears as though Penis Man has finally been collared.<\/p>\n

What follows are excerpts from our interview with Penis Man. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n

Phoenix New Times: So you\u2019re the original Penis Man?
Penis Man:<\/strong> Yes. As far as I know, the first in this area. I don\u2019t think I can confidently say the first in the world, but I\u2019m definitely the first in the area to start writing that on surfaces in public.<\/p>\n

Are you Dustin Shomer? I have to ask.
<\/strong>No.<\/p>\n

Was Dustin Shomer a copycat?
<\/strong>Yeah. I believe he admitted to that, too, right?<\/p>\n

\"\"Penis Man graffiti in Tempe from 2020. <\/p>\n

Yeah. What was your reaction to his arrest in 2020?
<\/strong>I was pretty shocked. Moreso that he just kind of got lost in the sauce with that shit, I believe. I never met him. I was (familiar with him) through the media. And it seemed like he thought he was Penis Man, but really went balls to the wall with it, all in one weekend, and just made every worst mistake you could make. He made the effort to wear gloves and wrote \u201cP\u201d on one and \u201cM\u201d on the other. He drove his dad\u2019s car to every spot that had security cameras.<\/p>\n

So he wasn\u2019t careful, in other words?
<\/strong>No, not very.<\/p>\n

Did he give Penis Man a bad name with that spree?
<\/strong>I mean, at first, yeah. At the time, I was kind of letting it get to my head, no pun intended. I was taking it a little too seriously. And so, I seemed to think that I had morals or at least guidelines or a personal set of rules that I\u2019d follow on what I\u2019d desecrate and violate. And he obviously didn\u2019t know what those personal little rules that I followed (were). So he broke \u2019em all pretty quickly.<\/p>\n

What were the rules?
<\/strong>Well, I\u2019d try to stick to like buildings that are abandoned, or vacant or already have graffiti on them. Just property, I guess, that\u2019s not historic. But I also (tag) garbage dumpsters or discarded stuff and mattresses. Things of the sort.<\/p>\n

\"\"Penis Mag has tagged many things in Tempe, including this abandoned mattress in 2020.<\/p>\n

So you\u2019ve never tagged houses or people\u2019s cars or personal property?
<\/strong>No, never. Because it\u2019s fucked up. Even if it\u2019s a rich person with a fucking Cybertruck, that\u2019s still fucking with somebody\u2019s life. And even the fucking city workers that have to paint over a wall and a vacant lot, sometimes I feel bad for them. But it gives them something to do. Or a vacant building, even ones that are under construction, I don\u2019t really feel bad about that because it\u2019s like, \u201cDude, you got the buckets of paint right there. It\u2019s going to take you two seconds. It\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you not operate by those rules any more?
<\/strong>Yeah, I suppose so. Also, the police didn\u2019t really start caring until Dustin went on his rampage and then all of a sudden (they did). It seemed to change after Dustin.<\/p>\n

Have you ever interacted with him at all or met him?
<\/strong>I\u2019ve thought about it. I thought about interviewing him once and then (taking) my rubber mask off at the end of it to reveal a giant penis head.<\/p>\n

Did he make it harder for you to tag after Penis Man went viral?
<\/strong>He gave me a \u201cget out of jail free\u201d card. I can always say I\u2019m a copycat now.<\/p>\n

Hence that text<\/a> on your Instagram: \u201cDustin Shomer died for my sins\u201d?
<\/strong>He sure did.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Penis Man tag on an old Filibertos on Broadway Road in Tempe.<\/p>\n

So why did you start tagging \u201cPenis Man\u201d in Tempe?
<\/strong>Well, I\u2019m afraid of death.<\/p>\n

Meaning what exactly?
<\/strong>I thought this was a way to achieve my immortality. You know how they say there are two deaths: first, when your body dies or whatever, and the second death is when the very last person says your name for the last time? I felt like this was a way to prolong the second death.<\/p>\n

To leave your mark, as it were?
<\/strong>Yeah, even if it\u2019s just for my friends who will be driving by something and they\u2019ll see (\u201cPenis Man\u201d) written on the telephone pole, they\u2019ll remember me for a second.<\/p>\n

Why were you thinking about death? Were you having health issues or anything?
<\/strong>No, I used to. I\u2019ve had a couple of near-death experiences as a child and as an adult that were traumatic. So in a way I kind of know what it\u2019s like to be near the edge and knowing it could just happen at any time. And because of that, I wanted to keep going, like see how far I could get to the edge. So I became a thrill-seeker.<\/p>\n

\"\"Penis Man hit this vacant convenience store near Cactus and Cave Creek roads in September.<\/p>\n

Was it a midlife crisis where you wanted to make your mark while you were still here?
<\/strong>No, it wasn\u2019t that. It was something I wanted to do, like an experiment. I\u2019ve always been interested in graffiti. I have a lot of interest in a lot of things, (but) I know it\u2019ll take so long to master. I\u2019d say that I\u2019m a jack of all trades and master of none. So I have ADHD pretty bad and (get) hyper-fixated on something for a while and get pretty good at it and I\u2019ll just drop it. And so (I\u2019d do) graffiti every once in a while, but I never got much into it. I didn\u2019t have friends that did graffiti. I didn\u2019t live in a very big city like I do now. So when that spark came up again, I went for it. I had the name ready to go. I knew it was what my name was going to be and I could write it everywhere I went. People would be able to read it and they\u2019d think it was funny and remember it.<\/p>\n

So you picked Penis Man because it would be memorable?
<\/strong>Yeah, there was really nothing else I could write. That\u2019s what it was going to be. What was always going to be.<\/p>\n

How\u2019d you come up with the name Penis Man?
<\/strong>It was actually given to me at birth. It\u2019s on my birth certificate.<\/p>\n

Pardon me if I actually doubt that.
<\/strong>Obviously, it wasn\u2019t on my birth certificate. I was just trying to be funny. But it\u2019s the dumbest thing. It was just me and a friend, both alcoholics. I had a thing where I\u2019d call people, especially this particular friend, I\u2019d just pick a random word and then end it with \u201cboy.\u201d I\u2019d be like, \u201cWhat\u2019s up, Worm Boy?\u201d Or, \u201cWhat\u2019s up, Dumpster Boy?\u201d One morning he woke up, obviously still drunk from the night before, and looked like shit. I was like, \u201cDamn, what\u2019s up, Penis Boy?\u201d And he looked me right in the eyes and just said, \u201cPenis Man.\u201d It was the funniest thing I\u2019d ever heard at that point. And that\u2019s all I said for weeks afterwards.<\/p>\n

Did Penis Man, um, grow from there?
<\/strong>So me and my friend, we have drinking problems, and we\u2019d walk to bars at night because neither of us had cars. We\u2019d walk mostly through alleys. Like I said earlier, I was always interested in graffiti, I just never had a good name to write, but I\u2019d always have paint markers on me at all times or at least try to. So me and this friend walked miles to bars and tag stuff throughout the way. After that one morning, I wrote Penis Man a couple of times. And that friend and another person who (wrote) graffiti both told me, \u201cOh, that\u2019s funny. You should actually write that as your graffiti tag.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did you have any background in street art or graffiti prior to that?
<\/strong>No, not really. I mean, it just depends. I was a punk fan years ago. I do other kinds of art, too. I used to be a writer or a poet.<\/p>\n

What other artwork have you done?
<\/strong>I\u2019ve tried my hand at fucking everything. Like I said, jack of all trades, master of none. I wanted to be an artist so bad just being influenced by artists that I like: Ed Templeton, Dash Snow and Jerry Hsu. And then my friends who are artists. But I definitely don\u2019t have the talent and I don\u2019t have the patience to hone the talent, at least not long enough to master it. There\u2019s so many things I get interested in, then I get good at it and then stop and start something else. As far as art goes, I was doing paintings and watercolors and stuff. I did collage work. Never got really good at (it). But one thing that I didn\u2019t master but I\u2019m good at, or at least have done to (what) they call a the mastery level, was writing. I told you I was into poetry, but I\u2019ve actually written and published a couple books. I wish I could say what they were without giving away my identity. But there are two books<\/a> the public can buy them on Amazon.<\/p>\n

When was your first-ever Penis Man tag?
<\/strong>I believe it was in July 2019. It was in an alley behind the Circle K on Broadway and Hardy.<\/p>\n

People didn\u2019t see it for weeks or months afterwards, right?
<\/strong>I don\u2019t know if anyone ever saw it. A lot in the beginning were just hidden, secret, personal ones. Just like maybe a bathroom stall, a pole, a fence post and an empty parking lot. These things were places where you would find yourself maybe if you were down and out, and then you\u2019d look over and see those words.<\/p>\n

What was your reaction to the first coverage your tags got?
<\/strong>Well, it started popping up on Facebook. It started taking off. I was a silent lurker just kinda watching. It was pretty lame, honestly. I got so wrapped up into it. I\u2019d just spend so long just searching hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, looking to see who posted photos. I don\u2019t even take photos of the ones I do anymore. I just do it and wait for someone to send me a photo or someone\u2019s post. For example, someone sent me a Reddit post<\/a> of a tag I did in Burbank, California. That was unexpected. I\u2019d just stopped there to take a piss and just wrote it on a trash can.<\/p>\n

Did the initial response to Penis Man make you want to do it more?
<\/strong>I have to admit (the attention) did get addicting. But it was weird because I was getting attention, but it wasn\u2019t me. Like I knew it was me doing it, but I couldn\u2019t chime in on a Facebook post. \u2026 It\u2019s like if you started a GoFundMe for yourself and a bunch of people donate, but you can just never withdraw money and spend it. So it\u2019s just out there, but it just doesn\u2019t really exist.<\/p>\n

What was your reaction after copycat Penis Man graffiti started in the Valley?
<\/strong>At first I didn\u2019t mind. I thought it was funny when other people were tagging it. One thing I thought was annoying was people that would change it to try to be funny. Like, Penis Woman or Vagina Woman or Boner Guy, who turned out to be my roommate and he just kept it a secret from me for years.<\/p>\n

There was a kid in Portland, he might still write, and he DMed me on my Menispan <\/a>(Instagram) account he was writing \u201cPenis Girl\u201d all over Portland<\/a>. And I told him, \u201cYeah, go ahead, I guess.\u201d Dunno if he still writes it, but the last I heard he\u2019s all over Portland. I didn\u2019t mind that. But there\u2019s other people who you can tell they\u2019re just getting into graffiti and they\u2019re combining two words, like \u201cSomething Man\u201d or whatever.<\/p>\n

That stuff used to annoy me. But I always have to take a step back and realize it\u2019s not that serious. I\u2019m not one of these ride-or-die graffiti heads. I\u2019ve learned to respect it and I respect real graffiti writers, but I\u2019m not going to sit here and act like an OG. I\u2019m not going to act like I\u2019m anyone important and I have a big (message) or anything.<\/p>\n

Again, I wasn\u2019t really in the graffiti scene. I was just kind of a poser, really. I was kinda infiltrating a scene in a culture I didn\u2019t really belong in, kind of like when Hunter S. Thompson rode with the Hell\u2019s Angels so he could write a book. I guess that\u2019s sort of what I was doing because I\u2019m clearly not very good at it (graffiti), but I mean, that wasn\u2019t my point or my goal or my purpose. So I encouraged the copycat thing at first, out of like entertainment and (to) see if it would work. And it did.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Penis Man tag along the train tracks near Buffalo Exchange in Tempe.<\/p>\n

How can you tell a real from a fake Penis Man tag?
<\/strong>Man, good question. I write my S\u2019s upside down. I start from the bottom and go up. Sometimes that\u2019s a giveaway. Sometimes I add exclamation points. Very rarely do I do, so if you see one with exclamation points, that\u2019s a special treat just for you. Obviously if I see a tag, I\u2019ll know if it\u2019s me or not, because I did it and I was there. But from what I\u2019ve heard from other people, it\u2019s the \u201cS\u201d that they can tell (if its real or not). The people that can tell apart real ones from copycats are usually my friends and people into the graffiti scene.<\/p>\n

Someone sent me the link to a Reddit (thread about) a tag<\/a> I\u2019d done. It was a really small marker tag on a little sign next to the train tracks by Buffalo (Exchange in Tempe). And I actually did that one. It\u2019s actually pretty old. And seeing people argue about whether it was real or not was so entertaining for me, because it was real. But they were arguing over like, \u201cNo, look at that letter. Look at this letter. It\u2019s not the same.\u201d Or like, \u201cOh no, this is this kind of marker, but he always uses this marker.\u201d And none of that\u2019s true. I\u2019ll use whatever I have. I was using a crayon for a while.<\/p>\n

Why do you just write the name Penis Man and nothing else?
<\/strong>I don\u2019t write (with) any graffiti style. I just write in plain letters. And that\u2019s partially because I\u2019m a fucking poser and not a real graffiti artist. It\u2019s a conscious distinction because normies, they can\u2019t read graffiti writing. They don\u2019t know what it fucking says half the time. But if they just see plain letters, straight letters that just says Penis Man, they can read that and either think it\u2019s funny or fucking stupid. But either way, they remember it and it gets their attention.<\/p>\n

Why did you take a break from being Penis Man for a few years?
I actually took a pretty long break from graffiti for a while, aside from just little marker tags here and there, when I started dating the woman who I eventually married and just recently divorced. I also took a break because I focused on making a movie. I got into videography for about five years and was still doing it here and there, more so to stay relevant. But yeah, I focused on just filming and working on these two movies that I made.<\/p>\n

I finished my second one last January. And ever since then, especially after me and my ex-wife split, that\u2019s when I\u2019ve been going out at least a couple nights a week and doing big (Penis Man tags) and on rooftops and shit. That\u2019s been my thing, climbing up on the rooftops. I\u2019ve been trying to come back with a vengeance, as dorky as that sounds.<\/p>\n

\"AA Penis Man tag on a now-closed Circle K at Ash Avenue and University Drive in Tempe.<\/p>\n

Why have you been doing a lot of roof tags lately?
<\/strong>For the visibility factor, for one, and also I like the challenge. Figuring a way up onto the rooftop is pretty fun. The one me and my buddy did recently, it was a fucking workout. We had to climb fences, climb these pipes, climb stairs just to get to the top of this roof. By the end of it, we were fucking drenched (in sweat). I mean, we\u2019re also wearing ski masks, so it got pretty hot. They were fun to do. And one of my favorite things to do is doing \u2019em at night, usually 3 or 4 a.m. if I can. And then the next day, either drive by or ride my bike by and, from the street, see how other people see it. That usually gives me a pretty big dopamine hit.<\/p>\n

Do you always wear a ski mask now when tagging?
<\/strong>It depends. If I\u2019m getting on a rooftop, usually, just because there\u2019s more chance of security cameras being around. But not all the time, especially if I\u2019m doing say a wall of a vacant building that\u2019s on a main street. If I\u2019m walking down the sidewalk wearing a ski mask, I\u2019m gonna look suspicious. And that\u2019s risking someone calling the cops. Again, it depends on where it\u2019s at. Because I usually scope things out first.<\/p>\n

So you\u2019re not limited to just Tempe?
<\/strong>No. But I spend most of my time (there).<\/p>\n

\"AnA pair of shoes tagged by Penis Man dangles from a utility wire in Tempe.<\/p>\n

How do you decide where to tag?
<\/strong>I\u2019ve been trying to pick places that are high-traffic, high-volume, so people will definitely see it, which requires obviously more risk and more planning.<\/p>\n

Another thing I do is I\u2019ll take old shoes and write \u201cPenis Man\u201d on the soles and I\u2019ll throw them up on telephone wires. There\u2019s a pair in Tempe that\u2019s been up probably about two years now next to the train tracks. And they always have signs by the tracks that say \u201clook\u201d really big. And right next to look or under it or something I wrote the word up. So when you\u2019re standing there, you look up where the shoes are. And then someone I know fucking stole the sign and they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, I got this as a memento for you.\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cDude, you just ruined part of the fucking art piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where else have you done Penis Man tags besides Tempe and Phoenix?
<\/strong>Pretty much wherever I go. Like I said, I\u2019ve been to California. I\u2019m from the Midwest. I\u2019ve done around Kansas City, Minneapolis. Also, a lot of the things that I choose to tag, and the places that I tag, they don\u2019t last very long because a lot of the times they\u2019re vacant buildings or an old mattress, shit like that, or walls that get painted over repeatedly.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s always funny, because I\u2019ll tag a building if it already has a bunch of graffiti on it or an electrical box or a dumpster or something. If it already has a bunch of graffiti on it, I\u2019ll be like, \u201cOkay, well, apparently the city doesn\u2019t give a shit about this, so I\u2019ll add to it.\u201d And it always seems to be, as soon as there\u2019s a Penis Man on it, they immediately paint over the whole fucking thing. \u201cOh, now they care.\u201d<\/p>\n

You keep saying you\u2019re not a real graffiti artist. Do you have imposter syndrome?
<\/strong>I guess whenever I start something I\u2019m interested in and wanna get good at, as soon as I get positive feedback, my first thought is I\u2019ve successfully tricked this person into thinking that I\u2019m good at this or I\u2019m smart or talented. I don\u2019t know why, but that\u2019s always just been a thing (especially) with writing. When my two books came out, the first one sold way more copies and was more popular than my second one. But when I was getting all this attention and people sending me messages saying how good it was, I\u2019d think, \u201cI\u2019m a faker. I\u2019m just this drunk skateboarder guy that likes a good time. And I\u2019ve tricked (people) into thinking I\u2019m talented, smart or a good writer.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same goes with the graffiti thing, because it\u2019s so simple and takes zero effort. Especially when I\u2019m out with other graffiti writers. When I was in L.A., we met up with like a couple real graffiti writers, and I\u2019d do mine and be done in five seconds and they\u2019d spend 20-30 minutes to do all their different colors, paint and stuff. Like, it\u2019s not impressive or whatever, but they always were kind (and showed) respect for some reason. And they\u2019d be like, \u201cYou can hit this spot right below ours. That\u2019s perfect for you.\u201d Like accommodating for me. I fucking appreciate it (and) I\u2019m humbled, but I still don\u2019t understand it.<\/p>\n

\"\"enis Man tagged a vacant gas station and convenience store in Phoenix\u2019s Melrose District in August. <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your reaction to Penis Man as a movement? Or the \u201cWe are Penis Man\u201d thing?
<\/strong>It\u2019s kind of funny how it happened, because it wasn\u2019t my intention when I encouraged other people to write it. By saying that, and also by Dustin Shomer saying there are many Penis Men out there, that\u2019s how the movement \u201cWe are all Penis Man\u201d (started). It\u2019s like the \u201c(I am) Spartacus\u201d thing people compare it to, where it\u2019s not one person, it\u2019s everyone. If you arrest one, you have to arrest us all. So it was an accident, but a happy accident, I guess.<\/p>\n

Is Penis Man a statement of defiance? Is it anything more than shits and giggles or leaving your mark?
<\/strong>I mean, it sounds so lame to say it out loud, I guess. I don\u2019t want to ruin it by giving it a goal. It\u2019s so lame and it\u2019s going to ruin the fun for people on the Internet. People on Reddit and Facebook have fun with it. I saw that Penis Man was posted under a superheroes subreddit, and I thought that was pretty hilarious. And they all have funny things to say about it or whatever. But if they find out it\u2019s just some dork, which is me, that\u2019s doing it for lame reasons, it\u2019s going to ruin the fun, I think.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the lame reason?
<\/strong>I haven\u2019t said it yet. The funnest part for me was to hear people\u2019s fan theories or whatever the things they\u2019d come up with because sometimes they\u2019re so out there. For example, one of the ones I really liked was someone said in the beginning that writing Penis Man was a statement for trans rights whereas you separate the genitalia from the gender. And I thought that was a cool take on it because I support trans rights.<\/p>\n

And then I don\u2019t know what Dustin Shomer\u2019s philosophy on it was. I can\u2019t remember what he was saying, but he definitely politicized it a little too much. I think he was definitely against gentrification. A lot of people, they have thought that was one of the reasons or that was one of the fan theories was it was a statement against gentrification, especially in Tempe. Whereas kind of the \u201cbroken windows theory\u201d \u2013 I think I\u2019m using that right \u2013 where the shittier (a neighborhood looks), the cheaper the rent gets, I might be using that wrong. That\u2019s such a cool thing, too. I kinda like to leave it open to interpretation.<\/p>\n

Have people embraced you because you\u2019re a Tempe oddity?
<\/strong>Yeah. And I think a part of that is because it\u2019s something that Tempe can call its own, like, \u201cThis is our city\u2019s graffiti.\u201d It\u2019s something they can claim. When Buzzfeed posts something about Penis Man, people from Tempe (are) like, \u201cThat\u2019s my hometown, that\u2019s our hero,\u201d or whatever. It\u2019s something that they can get behind. Whether they think it\u2019s funny or they think it\u2019s fucking stupid, they\u2019re like, \u201cThat\u2019s where I\u2019m from.\u201d I wasn\u2019t born here. I am a Midwest transplant. I\u2019ve been here for about 10 years now. But Tempe is my home for sure. It\u2019s my happy place, as I like to call it.<\/p>\n

\"AnA couch left on the curb in Tempe that was tagged by Penis Man in July 2020.<\/p>\n

What about Penis Man being embraced as a folk hero kind of thing?
<\/strong>So when I started doing it, I knew it was either going to make people laugh or piss people off. And I was right about both of those. At least in Tempe, it seems to be mostly favorable, but when it gets posted somewhere outside of this area, it seems to be kind of like 50\/50. People think it\u2019s fucking stupid and then people think it\u2019s awesome. And with it going viral on Twitter and Reddit and stuff, that definitely helps with people outside of this area when they see it. That\u2019s why I try to travel as much as I can and do it in other states and countries.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s (the reason for) the gentrification stuff. It\u2019s doing good in that way. I don\u2019t know how well I\u2019m fighting gentrification, but I mean, just putting that out there is something maybe. And yeah, it makes me feel good. But there\u2019s obviously people that hate it. There\u2019s some people that are just trying to get rid of their old fucking couch. They don\u2019t want (Penis Man) on blast right in front of their house. I\u2019ve seen notes on (a card) left on furniture that\u2019s like, \u201cFree to a good home. Penis Man, I love your work. Please don\u2019t write on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was one person on the internet who told me that, \u201cI actually love seeing the tags and me and my kids will drive around and take turns pointing \u2019em out. It\u2019s like a game for us now. My kids laugh and giggle every time I see a new one. It brings us together as a family.\u201d I was like, \u201cHoly shit.\u201d It\u2019s insane how something seemingly so childish and immature and vulgar can do things like that. Like what the fuck?<\/p>\n

So someone wrote a book called \u201cPenis Man: Erotic Adventures with the Legendary Tempe, AZ Graffiti Artist<\/a>\u201d? Was that you?
<\/strong>No, no. Someone did that and I\u2019ve read it. And, um, it\u2019s insane that someone did that. I don\u2019t know who the fuck did it. Whoever did, I\u2019m pretty sure they don\u2019t know me in real life. I mean, I wasn\u2019t aroused when I read it. (More) like, \u201cI cannot believe someone fucking wrote this.\u201d It\u2019s not the most well-written thing I\u2019ve (seen), but it\u2019s a short read. The fact someone wrote it just makes it good.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Penis Man shirt created by artist Cube U available at Phoenix Fan Fusion 2025.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about the Penis Man T-shirts created by Arizona artist Cube U Designs?
<\/strong>I mean, I\u2019m not a big fan of the design. I don\u2019t know why they had to do it in a mock black metal font. If they wanted to do it, they should have just used a photo of one of the ones I had done. I don\u2019t care if people want to make money on it, I can give a shit about that. I don\u2019t really care about making money.<\/p>\n

Right when this started going viral in 2020, I\u2019d walked into the Palo Verde Lounge in Tempe, and they were screen-pressing Penis Man shirts. Someone took a photo of one I did on the dumpster over by Tops Liquor and Photoshopped it was using that. It was like bring-your-own-shirt screen-press party. So that was a trip. And obviously I didn\u2019t tell any of the people there that I was who they were screen-printing.<\/p>\n

So you didn\u2019t out yourself?
<\/strong>No. I try not to out myself ever. I\u2019ve had girlfriends who didn\u2019t know throughout our however-many-months relationship that\u2019s who I was. They probably just thought I was cheating on them every time I was leaving in the middle of the night.<\/p>\n

Why did you agree to be interviewed?
<\/strong>I was not sure what to expect going into this interview. For some reason I thought I was about to make a bunch of stuff up to be funny, but I either choked or felt bad about doing that. I don\u2019t want people to think I\u2019m a kook, but as long as I\u2019m being honest and not trying to act like I\u2019m cooler than I really am, then I won\u2019t be a kook. And that\u2019s what I have always known. But sometimes I just get paranoid because I\u2019ve been to fucking jail and it fucking sucks, and I don\u2019t want to fucking spend any more time there.<\/p>\n

And now that I\u2019m being a little more honest, I actually did get fucking arrested a couple months ago for doing graffiti. And the cop asked me, he\u2019s like, \u201cSo you\u2019re the real Penis Man, huh?\u201d And I just immediately said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m a copycat.\u201d And the other (cop) goes, \u201cOh, yeah, they arrested the real one, huh?\u201d I was like, \u201cYeah, they arrested the real one, Dustin Shomer. Yeah, that was the real guy.\u201d So I actually got to use that defense in real life. It helped me because I only got charged for the one (tag) they caught me doing and I got a fucking diversion, so I barely got a fucking slap on the wrist.<\/p>\n

Any other fibs you want to de-fib?
<\/strong>Being afraid of death. It was part of that, but a very minor part. And that\u2019s the reason why I write books too, at least I\u2019ve written two books and I\u2019ve published and self-published writing is because if I were to get hit by a fucking bus tomorrow, my writing, my words, my voice, I\u2019d still live on through that. I\u2019m not saying I\u2019m ready to die or anything, but I\u2019m not afraid of living. I don\u2019t feel like my life would\u2019ve been meaningless if I were to die tomorrow and look back on it in afterlife or whatever you want to call it.<\/p>\n

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