No. 10

We may be polite, but we’re not prudes

In the past few years, we’ve taken on Mont­real for the title of Canada’s horniest city. Rub ’n’ tugs and swingers’ clubs now ooze across our suburbs, and the dancing, lingerie-clad women in the display windows of MissBehav’N have become minor downtown celebrities (streetcar riders jostle for a view). A notorious addition to the scene is the pink-painted Queen West storefront unapologetically named Wicked. Shlomo Benzion, an Israeli-Argentine-Peruvian impresario, co-owns (with his wife, Aurora) the three-storey “hedonists’ club” that has made swinging less of a bashful secret, though no less kinky.

Shlomo Benzion and members of his staff at Wicked
Image credit: Lee Towndrow

Is the recession affecting business?
We’re recession-proof. Instead of spending money on vacations, our clients come to the club more often. We get people from all over—Mississauga, Barrie, Pickering, Oshawa, Ottawa. Last New Year’s was on a weekend, so lots of people came from the U.S. and partied at our club over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We’re at 30,000 members, and it’s always growing.

So the club is a tourist draw?
About 20 per cent of our clientele comes from the U.S. They come here, then they stay overnight at The Drake and The Gladstone. I give recommendations on where to go shopping, where to eat. I’m helping the economy. We’re about to get a bus tour from Michigan.

Do you turn people away?
You have to apply to be a member by sending in a photo. There’s a procedure. It’s not about age or about being Ken and Barbie, but about sophistication. Most of our members are 25 to 45, but we also get people in their early 20s and early 50s. You’ll see the same people who go to Lobby or the Brant House. An annual membership is $799, which is less than you’d pay for the gym.

Do you think the city is becoming sexier?
Our younger members care less about discretion. They’ve grown up thinking that a club like this is just another form of entertainment. They might just come to dance. It’s nobody’s business what they might do. Everybody screws.

How many celebs do you get?
We get a lot, usually as a guest of a member. Sometimes they’ll ask to come in the back door. We’ve hosted a number of TIFF parties in the past couple of years. If there’s a movie with sex as a subject, they come to us to do the party. Last year, we did the Control Alt Delete party, in 2007 the Young People Fucking party. Normally our patrons change into a towel, a bathrobe or lingerie, but on those nights everyone was allowed to stay in their street clothes. We got a lot of actors, producers and journalists. At the end of the night, a reporter from The Globe and Mail was in the Jacuzzi.

How do I convince my girlfriend to go?
I always say that it’s usually the men who convince the women to go. But once they’re here, the women are the ones who want to stay.—Jason McBride