Chi Chi LaRue

Career

Larry Paciotti began as a Minneapolis drag performer before relocating to California, where Catalina Video hired him as an administrative assistant for his knowledge of the industry. As Chi Chi LaRue he directed hundreds of productions for Falcon Studios from 1988 to 2005, then for Vivid Video from 2003 to 2006, while founding his own label, Rascal Video, in 2003 and later acquiring Catalina Video outright. In 2020, after its purchase by Channel 1 Releasing, he reopened the West Hollywood bookstore Circus of Books, a real-world retail institution of the pre-internet adult trade, briefly under the name "Chi Chi LaRue’s Circus" before it reverted to Circus of Books in January 2022 once his business partnership dissolved. GayVN named him a Trailblazer in 2009.

Signature: Moved from directing for other people’s studios to owning three separate pieces of adult-industry infrastructure — a production label, a distributor, and a physical retail landmark.

Index score — The Pornstar Ranked Performer Index v3.0

Full award record1 entries

• 2009GayVN — Trailblazer

Studios

Beyond performing

• Founder, Rascal Video (2003)
• Owner, Catalina Video
• Reopened Circus of Books, West Hollywood (2020)

Mainstream credits

• Out magazine’s Top 50 most influential LGBT community members (2007)

Official links

Official siteInstagram

Ranked alongside

• Joanna Angel
• Buck Angel
• Alana Evans
• Aurora Snow
• Kylie Ireland
• Lorelei Lee

Sources and verification2 sources

Last audited 25 August 2026 · Wikipedia — Chi Chi LaRue · WEHOonline — "Chi Chi LaRue’s is now Circus of Books" (independent local press confirming the 2020 reopening and 2022 name reversion)

Not yet confirmed:

• Whether he performed on camera as well as directing
• Total documented directing-credit count