David Joyner, the man inside the purple dinosaur suit on Barney & Friends from 1991 to 2001, now works as a tantric massage specialist, giving new meaning to the phrase “childhood ruined.”
Joyner spent ten years dancing and jumping around in that 70 pound t-rex suit, and now he says that all that energy came from his tantra practice. The 54-year-old actor was recently interviewed for a profile for Vice, where reporters examined his unorthodox methods for relieving stress and “unblocking energy.”
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“Before I got into the [Barney] costume, I would pray and ask God to allow his loving divine spirit to flow through me through the costume and let that draw the kids,” Joyner said. “That energy would always draw them in. Children are more connected spiritually than [adults]. A lot of times when I see infants and I’m out and about at the grocery store or whatever, they start staring at me. I make the joke, ‘You know who I am.’”
Even now, some might be unnerved to hear Joyner drawing such a direct connection between his current career and his past work with kids. Even in the world of tantra, Joyner is considered a little too hands-on. He only accepts female clients, and a “full session” with him usually involves unprotected sex. He claims that it’s the only way to tap into a “certain energy,” but other tantra practitioners say it gives the whole philosophy a bad name.
Joyner is unapologetic in his conviction. He swears by his methods, and explains himself with graphic quotes, like the one below.
“When you go down on a woman (orally), it should be just like you’re saying grace, like blessing the food you’re about to receive. No food in the world can compare to goddess nectar because spirit is involved. Before you taste the goddess nectar, give thanks. Say grace. I would love women to understand how powerful that energy is.”
According to Joyner, he found tantra at a young age, while studying at ITT Technical Institute and working as a Swedish Masseuse on the side. He practiced tantra openly until signing his contract as Barney, when the show’s lawyers made him swear not to teach, practice, or talk about it in any way.
Still, he says, he found discrete ways. He says that everyone he worked with on the show knew he had some sort of practice, even if they didn’t know the details. “They knew I was spiritual, and that I meditated. I often shared with the crew that the energy I brought up in the costume is based on the foundation of tantra — love,” he said.
“I always said it was never an accident, and that I was meant to do this character,” he continued, “Because a lot of the elements of Barney were a lot of the things I was training with in tantra.”
Joyner’s massage practice is based in Los Angeles these days, and there’s a good chance that his activities are illegal. California state law prohibits “massage with the intent of causing arousal,” which is considered solicitation. Joyner isn’t worried about being arrested for prostitution.
He told reporters that a police officer he’s friends with helped him write a contract, which all of his potential clients sign during the consultation process. It states they’re not law enforcement or part of a sting operation. In addition, the first session is free. Since money doesn’t change hands, it’s a private matter among consenting adults. Joyner called this his “legal loophole.”
Several legal specialists that Vice consulted disagreed.
“Not all of my sessions have sex or ‘spiritual intimacy,’” Joyner said. “It’s only in the full-sessions, when someone is ready to take the sexual energy to a higher level.”
