Penis Man: A probing chat with Phoenix’s notorious tagger

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

Penis Man says little but moves quickly, the kind of pace that indicates he’s 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.

“That’s a camera right there,” he says, gesturing to a mobile surveillance trailer a few hundred feet down the street. “Gonna have to settle for this. I was going to do the side of the building.”

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.

Similar late-night taggings have appeared across Phoenix, Tempe and other Valley cities since Penis Man began scrawling his virile nickname in 2019. He’s tagged trash cans, vacant buildings, street signs, utility poles and alley walls. In the years since, he’s become a local countercultural icon, quasi-folk hero and viral sensation. You can buy Penis Man T-shirts at a Valley boutique and listen to a folksy ballad performed by local singer-songwriter Jesse Yonkaz on Spotify.

Photos of his tags have flooded social media. Many Valley residents consider it hilarious. Cops consider it vandalism.

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

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.

A month later, such precautions became moot. Tempe Police arrested 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’s background jibed with details he divulged during our interview with Penis Man. His mugshot was also of the person we shadowed in August.

After five years, it appears as though Penis Man has finally been collared.

What follows are excerpts from our interview with Penis Man. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Phoenix New Times: So you’re the original Penis Man?
Penis Man: Yes. As far as I know, the first in this area. I don’t think I can confidently say the first in the world, but I’m definitely the first in the area to start writing that on surfaces in public.

Are you Dustin Shomer? I have to ask.
No.

Was Dustin Shomer a copycat?
Yeah. I believe he admitted to that, too, right?

Yeah. What was your reaction to his arrest in 2020?
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 “P” on one and “M” on the other. He drove his dad’s car to every spot that had security cameras.

So he wasn’t careful, in other words?
No, not very.

Did he give Penis Man a bad name with that spree?
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’d follow on what I’d desecrate and violate. And he obviously didn’t know what those personal little rules that I followed (were). So he broke ’em all pretty quickly.

What were the rules?
Well, I’d try to stick to like buildings that are abandoned, or vacant or already have graffiti on them. Just property, I guess, that’s not historic. But I also (tag) garbage dumpsters or discarded stuff and mattresses. Things of the sort.

So you’ve never tagged houses or people’s cars or personal property?
No, never. Because it’s fucked up. Even if it’s a rich person with a fucking Cybertruck, that’s still fucking with somebody’s 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’t really feel bad about that because it’s like, “Dude, you got the buckets of paint right there. It’s going to take you two seconds. It’s fine.”

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

Have you ever interacted with him at all or met him?
I’ve 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.

Did he make it harder for you to tag after Penis Man went viral?
He gave me a “get out of jail free” card. I can always say I’m a copycat now.

Hence that text on your Instagram: “Dustin Shomer died for my sins”?
He sure did.

So why did you start tagging “Penis Man” in Tempe?
Well, I’m afraid of death.

Meaning what exactly?
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.

To leave your mark, as it were?
Yeah, even if it’s just for my friends who will be driving by something and they’ll see (“Penis Man”) written on the telephone pole, they’ll remember me for a second.

Why were you thinking about death? Were you having health issues or anything?
No, I used to. I’ve 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’s 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.

Was it a midlife crisis where you wanted to make your mark while you were still here?
No, it wasn’t that. It was something I wanted to do, like an experiment. I’ve always been interested in graffiti. I have a lot of interest in a lot of things, (but) I know it’ll take so long to master. I’d say that I’m 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’ll just drop it. And so (I’d do) graffiti every once in a while, but I never got much into it. I didn’t have friends that did graffiti. I didn’t 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’d think it was funny and remember it.

So you picked Penis Man because it would be memorable?
Yeah, there was really nothing else I could write. That’s what it was going to be. What was always going to be.

How’d you come up with the name Penis Man?
It was actually given to me at birth. It’s on my birth certificate.

Pardon me if I actually doubt that.
Obviously, it wasn’t on my birth certificate. I was just trying to be funny. But it’s the dumbest thing. It was just me and a friend, both alcoholics. I had a thing where I’d call people, especially this particular friend, I’d just pick a random word and then end it with “boy.” I’d be like, “What’s up, Worm Boy?” Or, “What’s up, Dumpster Boy?” One morning he woke up, obviously still drunk from the night before, and looked like shit. I was like, “Damn, what’s up, Penis Boy?” And he looked me right in the eyes and just said, “Penis Man.” It was the funniest thing I’d ever heard at that point. And that’s all I said for weeks afterwards.

Did Penis Man, um, grow from there?
So me and my friend, we have drinking problems, and we’d walk to bars at night because neither of us had cars. We’d 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’d 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, “Oh, that’s funny. You should actually write that as your graffiti tag.”

Did you have any background in street art or graffiti prior to that?
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.

What other artwork have you done?
I’ve 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’t have the talent and I don’t have the patience to hone the talent, at least not long enough to master it. There’s 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’t master but I’m 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’ve 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 the public can buy them on Amazon.

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

People didn’t see it for weeks or months afterwards, right?
I don’t 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’d look over and see those words.

What was your reaction to the first coverage your tags got?
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’d just spend so long just searching hashtags on Twitter, Facebook, looking to see who posted photos. I don’t even take photos of the ones I do anymore. I just do it and wait for someone to send me a photo or someone’s post. For example, someone sent me a Reddit post of a tag I did in Burbank, California. That was unexpected. I’d just stopped there to take a piss and just wrote it on a trash can.

Did the initial response to Penis Man make you want to do it more?
I have to admit (the attention) did get addicting. But it was weird because I was getting attention, but it wasn’t me. Like I knew it was me doing it, but I couldn’t chime in on a Facebook post. … It’s 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’s just out there, but it just doesn’t really exist.

What was your reaction after copycat Penis Man graffiti started in the Valley?
At first I didn’t 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.

There was a kid in Portland, he might still write, and he DMed me on my Menispan (Instagram) account he was writing “Penis Girl” all over Portland. And I told him, “Yeah, go ahead, I guess.” Dunno if he still writes it, but the last I heard he’s all over Portland. I didn’t mind that. But there’s other people who you can tell they’re just getting into graffiti and they’re combining two words, like “Something Man” or whatever.

That stuff used to annoy me. But I always have to take a step back and realize it’s not that serious. I’m not one of these ride-or-die graffiti heads. I’ve learned to respect it and I respect real graffiti writers, but I’m not going to sit here and act like an OG. I’m not going to act like I’m anyone important and I have a big (message) or anything.

Again, I wasn’t really in the graffiti scene. I was just kind of a poser, really. I was kinda infiltrating a scene in a culture I didn’t really belong in, kind of like when Hunter S. Thompson rode with the Hell’s Angels so he could write a book. I guess that’s sort of what I was doing because I’m clearly not very good at it (graffiti), but I mean, that wasn’t 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.

How can you tell a real from a fake Penis Man tag?
Man, good question. I write my S’s upside down. I start from the bottom and go up. Sometimes that’s a giveaway. Sometimes I add exclamation points. Very rarely do I do, so if you see one with exclamation points, that’s a special treat just for you. Obviously if I see a tag, I’ll know if it’s me or not, because I did it and I was there. But from what I’ve heard from other people, it’s the “S” 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.

Someone sent me the link to a Reddit (thread about) a tag I’d 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’s 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, “No, look at that letter. Look at this letter. It’s not the same.” Or like, “Oh no, this is this kind of marker, but he always uses this marker.” And none of that’s true. I’ll use whatever I have. I was using a crayon for a while.

Why do you just write the name Penis Man and nothing else?
I don’t write (with) any graffiti style. I just write in plain letters. And that’s partially because I’m a fucking poser and not a real graffiti artist. It’s a conscious distinction because normies, they can’t read graffiti writing. They don’t 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’s funny or fucking stupid. But either way, they remember it and it gets their attention.

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.

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

Why have you been doing a lot of roof tags lately?
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’re also wearing ski masks, so it got pretty hot. They were fun to do. And one of my favorite things to do is doing ’em 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.

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

So you’re not limited to just Tempe?
No. But I spend most of my time (there).

How do you decide where to tag?
I’ve 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.

Another thing I do is I’ll take old shoes and write “Penis Man” on the soles and I’ll throw them up on telephone wires. There’s a pair in Tempe that’s been up probably about two years now next to the train tracks. And they always have signs by the tracks that say “look” really big. And right next to look or under it or something I wrote the word up. So when you’re standing there, you look up where the shoes are. And then someone I know fucking stole the sign and they’re like, “Oh, I got this as a memento for you.” And I’m like, “Dude, you just ruined part of the fucking art piece.”

Where else have you done Penis Man tags besides Tempe and Phoenix?
Pretty much wherever I go. Like I said, I’ve been to California. I’m from the Midwest. I’ve done around Kansas City, Minneapolis. Also, a lot of the things that I choose to tag, and the places that I tag, they don’t last very long because a lot of the times they’re vacant buildings or an old mattress, shit like that, or walls that get painted over repeatedly.

And it’s always funny, because I’ll 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’ll be like, “Okay, well, apparently the city doesn’t give a shit about this, so I’ll add to it.” And it always seems to be, as soon as there’s a Penis Man on it, they immediately paint over the whole fucking thing. “Oh, now they care.”

You keep saying you’re not a real graffiti artist. Do you have imposter syndrome?
I guess whenever I start something I’m interested in and wanna get good at, as soon as I get positive feedback, my first thought is I’ve successfully tricked this person into thinking that I’m good at this or I’m smart or talented. I don’t know why, but that’s 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’d think, “I’m a faker. I’m just this drunk skateboarder guy that likes a good time. And I’ve tricked (people) into thinking I’m talented, smart or a good writer.”

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

What’s your reaction to Penis Man as a movement? Or the “We are Penis Man” thing?
It’s kind of funny how it happened, because it wasn’t 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’s how the movement “We are all Penis Man” (started). It’s like the “(I am) Spartacus” thing people compare it to, where it’s not one person, it’s everyone. If you arrest one, you have to arrest us all. So it was an accident, but a happy accident, I guess.

Is Penis Man a statement of defiance? Is it anything more than shits and giggles or leaving your mark?
I mean, it sounds so lame to say it out loud, I guess. I don’t want to ruin it by giving it a goal. It’s so lame and it’s 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’s just some dork, which is me, that’s doing it for lame reasons, it’s going to ruin the fun, I think.

What’s the lame reason?
I haven’t said it yet. The funnest part for me was to hear people’s fan theories or whatever the things they’d come up with because sometimes they’re 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.

And then I don’t know what Dustin Shomer’s philosophy on it was. I can’t 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 “broken windows theory” – I think I’m using that right – where the shittier (a neighborhood looks), the cheaper the rent gets, I might be using that wrong. That’s such a cool thing, too. I kinda like to leave it open to interpretation.

Have people embraced you because you’re a Tempe oddity?
Yeah. And I think a part of that is because it’s something that Tempe can call its own, like, “This is our city’s graffiti.” It’s something they can claim. When Buzzfeed posts something about Penis Man, people from Tempe (are) like, “That’s my hometown, that’s our hero,” or whatever. It’s something that they can get behind. Whether they think it’s funny or they think it’s fucking stupid, they’re like, “That’s where I’m from.” I wasn’t born here. I am a Midwest transplant. I’ve been here for about 10 years now. But Tempe is my home for sure. It’s my happy place, as I like to call it.

What about Penis Man being embraced as a folk hero kind of thing?
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’s fucking stupid and then people think it’s 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’s why I try to travel as much as I can and do it in other states and countries.

And that’s (the reason for) the gentrification stuff. It’s doing good in that way. I don’t know how well I’m fighting gentrification, but I mean, just putting that out there is something maybe. And yeah, it makes me feel good. But there’s obviously people that hate it. There’s some people that are just trying to get rid of their old fucking couch. They don’t want (Penis Man) on blast right in front of their house. I’ve seen notes on (a card) left on furniture that’s like, “Free to a good home. Penis Man, I love your work. Please don’t write on this.”

There was one person on the internet who told me that, “I actually love seeing the tags and me and my kids will drive around and take turns pointing ’em out. It’s 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.” I was like, “Holy shit.” It’s insane how something seemingly so childish and immature and vulgar can do things like that. Like what the fuck?

So someone wrote a book called “Penis Man: Erotic Adventures with the Legendary Tempe, AZ Graffiti Artist”? Was that you?
No, no. Someone did that and I’ve read it. And, um, it’s insane that someone did that. I don’t know who the fuck did it. Whoever did, I’m pretty sure they don’t know me in real life. I mean, I wasn’t aroused when I read it. (More) like, “I cannot believe someone fucking wrote this.” It’s not the most well-written thing I’ve (seen), but it’s a short read. The fact someone wrote it just makes it good.

How do you feel about the Penis Man T-shirts created by Arizona artist Cube U Designs?
I mean, I’m not a big fan of the design. I don’t 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’t care if people want to make money on it, I can give a shit about that. I don’t really care about making money.

Right when this started going viral in 2020, I’d 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’t tell any of the people there that I was who they were screen-printing.

So you didn’t out yourself?
No. I try not to out myself ever. I’ve had girlfriends who didn’t know throughout our however-many-months relationship that’s who I was. They probably just thought I was cheating on them every time I was leaving in the middle of the night.

Why did you agree to be interviewed?
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’t want people to think I’m a kook, but as long as I’m being honest and not trying to act like I’m cooler than I really am, then I won’t be a kook. And that’s what I have always known. But sometimes I just get paranoid because I’ve been to fucking jail and it fucking sucks, and I don’t want to fucking spend any more time there.

And now that I’m being a little more honest, I actually did get fucking arrested a couple months ago for doing graffiti. And the cop asked me, he’s like, “So you’re the real Penis Man, huh?” And I just immediately said, “No, I’m a copycat.” And the other (cop) goes, “Oh, yeah, they arrested the real one, huh?” I was like, “Yeah, they arrested the real one, Dustin Shomer. Yeah, that was the real guy.” 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.

Any other fibs you want to de-fib?
Being afraid of death. It was part of that, but a very minor part. And that’s the reason why I write books too, at least I’ve written two books and I’ve 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’d still live on through that. I’m not saying I’m ready to die or anything, but I’m not afraid of living. I don’t feel like my life would’ve been meaningless if I were to die tomorrow and look back on it in afterlife or whatever you want to call it.