Bar Exxxotica - Taxis don't understand love
November 14, 2010 
There's a strip club called Bar Exxxotica on Park Avenue around the corner from me in Montreal. I've walked by hundreds of times over the past 20 years but I've only stepped in once. That was during a short period when the owners tried to capture a share of the gay market. They hired a young man to strip down to his briefs and dance for male customers. A friend had heard about the new venture and he and I stepped inside one evening with another friend.
The dancer was delighted to see us - we were his only customers. He seemed new to this line of work but he wasn't uncomfortable wearing only his briefs in front of three gay men. I wondered if he might be the nephew of the owner. After he greeted us at the door he gave us a tour of the empty establishment and then asked if we'd like to order drinks. We consulted each other and explained we had to get to another engagement. As we descended the stairs to the street the dancer encouraged us to come back any time. We never did.
I took this photograph of Bar Exxxotica last night to illustrate a line from the play D'Alaska by the Québécois playwright Sébastien Harrisson. The line is "Les taxis ne comprennent rien de l'amour." The English translation is "Taxis don't understand anything about love."
The photograph will be in the next group show at Ça décoiffe, a barber shop run by Daniel Haché on Papineau Avenue.
The show opens on November 21, 2010 at 9:00 PM, the night of the full moon. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Ça décoiffe is located at 4526 Papineau Avenue, just above Mont Royal Avenue.
The show will be on view during regular business hours at Ça decoiffe from November 22 to December 20, 2010: Monday (9:00-6:00), Thursday (9:00-6:00), Friday (12:00-8:00), Saturday (9:00-4:00) and Sunday (10:00-5:00).
Reader Comments (2)
This is a wonderful photo, Bill. I am glad the initial idea turned into such a fruitful result.
Thanks for the inspiration you and Chris gave me!