EYE WEEKLY VALENTINE FEATURE
Shlomo Benzion & Aurora Benzion
BY Kirk Heron February 10, 2010 21:02
Who: Shlomo Benzion, Aurora Benzion, co-owners.
What: Wicked Club on Queen West.
1. “We cater to a lot of new people,” says Shlomo Benzion, co-owner with his wife Aurora of Club Wicked, a self-described “sophisticated hedonistic club.” “But there are also regulars that are couples. There are lots of regulars that have been married for years, and it works in different ways for everyone. Maybe a typical couple that will come will have the woman dressed in a corset or lingerie, and the husband will watch her dance alone or with another girl.”
2. “The main floor is a meet-and-greet with a DJ, bar and dancing. It’s a member’s club, and we have rules: for instance, on Saturday, men have to be accompanied by a woman. We don’t call it a swingers’ club.... Lots of people come in as voyeurs or looking for a threesome. It’s a hedonistic lifestyle club, but it also works for people who want to freshen up their relationship.”
3. Says Benzion of the custom-made cage: “There’s a pole in the middle, and it really gets the party going. A lot of exhibition goes on through dancing. As for couples, many come in to explore fantasies like that, and I think it brings honesty to a relationship because here you can enjoy your fantasies together. At a place like this, as long as you set your rules before you enter the club, you’ll be fine when you’re there.”
4. Yes, all of those rumours you’ve heard about Wicked Club are true: “Once someone feels comfortable downstairs, maybe after a drink, they can go upstairs to hook up or watch others hook up in Shlomo’s Penthouse” (which is the name of the room upstairs, not the owner speaking in the third person). “We have all kinds of fantasy rooms: a voyeur room, a mirror room and a group room. There, you can be a voyeur or an exhibitionist, play with your significant other or just watch.”
5. The lighting in the main-floor room is dim, but it serves a purpose. A sexy purpose. “I chose the chandeliers because I lived in Europe, and I find that people love the European-cabaret style. Something about the lighting makes people feel sexy and erotic.”
6. At Wicked Club, it’s not simply about going up to Shlomo’s Penthouse. On the main floor, there are often shows that appeal to people from across the spectrum. “We have burlesque and erotic shows on the stage, and there are two VIP booths up there as well. Oh, and there’s a bed. People make out on the bed.”
7. It’s difficult to tell from the photo, but Benzion says “most of the club is red, because we think it is a very sexy colour. The black that you see is there to offset the red, because you can have too much red. The colour scheme that we chose makes our club much more intimate.”
8. “You can’t go wrong with a white couch,” laughs Benzion, who also maintains that the club has more than 50,000 members — many of whom are couples. “Valentine’s is the biggest night. We’ll have over 500 people, but on an average night we usually get about 300 people. We’re open Friday and Saturday usually.”
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