To Get Into LA's Hottest Parties This Man Used A Robot

"The robot was my alter ego," says David Leventhal, a real estate attorney who in the 1980s was also the human behind Casanova, a robot who often wore a bow tie and showed up at L.A.'s famous parties. Together, they took starry nights by storm—Casanova passing out colorful drinks, yukking it up with Stallone, regaling a young Cindy Crawford with corny jokes, while Leventhal stayed in the corner, doing the voice, taking in the bright lights.

It was a business: after a People's Court cameo, L.A.'s elite would rent Casanova for their parties. But for Leventhal, who was then a law student with a hobbyist obsession, it was also a form of escapism, abetted by the pseudonymity provided by the machine he affectionately refers to as his "wingman."

"He was the evil David Leventhal," he tells Max Landis and Motherboard veteran Matt Yoka in ​a new episode of Vice's series "California Soul." "He could be the biggest flirt and the most sarcastic asshole that the real David Leventhal wanted to be but couldn't get out the other way. Things you wouldn't dream of saying to someone's face were absolutely hysterical when coming from the robot."

Casanova stopped going to parties in the early 1990s, as Leventhal began his legal career. Now he rents out his his desert ranch in Agua Dolce for parties; his old metallic friend sits outside.

"People's expectations and perceptions and use of technology had accelerated beyond the robot," says Leventhal. "And I think that after hundreds and hundreds of parties, it was time for something new."

But if you're going for that gauzy-LA-retro-future centerpiece for your party, at least there's always ​that white Bronco.