Features Jun 10, 2010 at 4:00 am

Inside the Lusty Lady, Seattle's Most Famous Peep Show, During Its Last Month on Earth

Comments

1
As someone who's lived and worked very near to the LL for 10 years (and has always been intimitated by it) it's interesting to hear about what goes on inside.
2
Great article. That last line is just too poignant.
3
Thank you! Somehow that place seems gothic in the old-school sense of the word.
4
Sounds like the whole place was a living Tom Waits song. Wish I could have seen it.
5
I've probably gone in the Lusty 12 times in the last 2 years. I'm not like most guys in there in that I had no interest in masturbating, just a kind of curiosity about the whole scene. 1 or 2 bucks was plenty for me. I always went into the 2 way booths - I felt like if I was going to be a voyeur, the dancer should have the opportunity to voy back.

Two experiences there rank as top notch:
1. Wednesday night after a few beers downtown. The place is pretty dead, and I go to the booth. The woman on the other side is interesting - not particularly pretty, but very confident and cute in the way she carries herself. She lays down in the booth and has a huge silly grin on her face while she does some scissor kicks. It suddenly strikes me how absurd life can be and I burst out laughing. "I'm sorry" I apologize "Life is really absurd sometimes" - she laughs and replies "yes it is". She blew me a kiss when the window closed a few seconds later and I waved goodbye.

2. Saturday morning. I go in before getting food at the market. A punky/goth girl is dancing with another tattoed woman and the song "Hamburger Lady" by Throbbing Gristle starts playing. This is an odd song for a strip joint, considering it's somewhat atonal and about a horribly charred corpse. I write them a note that says "this song is about a charred corpse". Gothy says "yeah, they play some weird shit here sometimes..." and both girls begin doing a naked zombie dance. Life again was absurd.

Good Night Lusty, I barely knew ye.

p.s. once I was in the lobby and a girl was filling out an application to work there. Apparently there is a partn where you have to list your piercings. She asked me how to spell "lip". Eek.
6
Never worked at the Seattle Lusty, but this story reminded me of some of the regulars at the SF Lusty when I worked there . . .

Piercing Guy, who had dozens of dick piercings, and would pierce himself in the booth instead of jerking off.

The very sweet little guy who would go into the corner booth, where you can sit down, flip upside down, and suck himself off. All the other guys lost out when he came in, because we'd all be circled around the window, enthralled.

I agree that the Private Pleasures booth was kind of creepy, and I only did it a couple of times. Once, however, in the PP booth, I saw a guy fuck himself in the ass. I mean, he wasn't fully hard, and he only got a tiny bit in, but still. Pretty darn impressive.

And the sweet bankers with lingerie under their suits, of course.
7
Excellent title.
8
I've been to the Lusty Lady several times, and never saw anyone like the people described here, with the exception of some hispanic workers ogling the girls.

Seems like the author is exaggerating the oddities quite a bit.

In any case, I'm sad to see it close. I'll miss the ladies!
9
If you have fond memories of the LL, or just want to show your support, join the Facebook fan site at http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Will-Mi…
10
sorry, but I just can't get myself to care.

@8: You're one of those freaks.
12
@7: The title's clever, but more than a little gross.
13
Really? A Latin whack off pun? Really?

14
I went for the first time last night as I knew they were closing soon. During my time there, I thought how internet porn has changed everything. We'll never have anything like the Lusty Lady again. Sad.
15
Seattle loses more of it's old soul. Next up, kill the Turf.

Maybe we'll get another Cheesecake Factory.
16
I will not miss the Lusty Lady. That place is gross.
17
Kelly - I hate to be the one to say it but I would LOVE IT if they closed the Turf. It, too, is gross.
18
@15

I agree. Except for a few, the porn shops disappeared. The porn theaters disappeared. The Live Girls sign disappeared. This town is going downhill.
19
Can I just say good GOD, the shorthaired blonde is hot stuff.

Ahem. Carry on.
20
Never mind about the title. I've read the article now and understand it was a marquee pun. Forgivable from the Lusty Lady, unforgivable from the geeky features writer.

What can I say? It's a sliding scale.
21
i will miss you like crazy lusty lady. i am in nyc now but have taken all the lessons about feminism sisterhood and humor that you have given me and tried to apply them to my life in misogynistic heterosexist new york. sigh. i will miss our dirty little bubble but know i will see you all again someday.
22
i will miss you like crazy lusty lady. i am in nyc now but have taken all the lessons about feminism sisterhood and humor that you have given me and tried to apply them to my life in misogynistic heterosexist new york. sigh. i will miss our dirty little bubble but know i will see you all again someday.
23
Where can I buy those "Kennewick Man" stockings that the woman is wearing in slide 7?
24
my partner and many friends have worked at the lusty. they experienced what a feminist, sex-positive community should be like and i will be forever grateful that they were able to participate in such a place. long live the lusty! f u seattle for not keeping it alive.
25
@16 and @17. You're gross.
26
God bless women who take their clothes off (especially those with nice bodies) but why do so many strippers wear such butt-ugly shoes? I realize it wouldn't be easy to dance in stilettos but a simple pair of white Keds would be sexier than those hideous chunky-clunky shoes.

I love "Veni Vidi Veni." I'm sure it wasn't original but it was the best LL marquee saying ever.

Reading about the various male customers further confirms my opinion that men are, in general, much more sexually bizarre than women. I don't know why we are, but we are.
27
This is a great article and a fitting tribute.
28
The actual closing date is June 27th and there will be a Playday on THAT day to benefit the dancers! This weekend is NOT the big final party! But both Playdays are sure to be fun and wil help the wonderful ladies of the Lusty. Just clarifying the facts.
29
" without all the drugs, prostitution and crime the city wouldn't be any fun at all "
30
Good insite to the Lusty Lady's life. Although few are the times I went in there to observe and sip whiskey. I will miss the total package.
31
I LOVED THE LUSTY LADY. MY ONLY RELIEF, WHILE I WAS MARRIED TO THE ...ICE QUEEN. It probably saved me from a killing spree.
God bless the ladies. They always smiled at me.
32
A wonderful insight into the lurid tales and inner workings of the Lusty Lady. I only wish you could have gotten more old school stories, but I guess that can't be helped... (you did remind these people that you work for the Stranger and not the Times, right?)

My only regret in reading it is that I feel so much more guilty now never venturing inside, only ever cracking a smile at the humorous billboards.
33
@27 actually this weekend IS your last chance for the lusty lady. There will be a closing ceremony on the 27th but no playday. You have until 8am sunday morning to experience the lust.

BTW, thank you Brenden for writing such a great article. You really managed to capture some of what made the Lady such a amazing place to work
34
That gal in the slide show has more armpit hair than I do.
35
big surprise damaged chicks perverts and jizz moppers. how do you describe jizz mopper and your resume, fluid removal technician?
36
@35. No, Manchowder manager.
37
@15-17: I would rather have seen the Turf go. That place is already a gentrified version of its former self.

I used to work at the SBC accross the street from there. I would see an ambulance pull 3 or 4 people out of there a week. The one time I was in there, back when it was a real dump, I saw people passed out at the bar. Calling that place a dive would make it sound nice than it was.

Plus, the Turf never enlightened the world with cheesey double entandres and other witty wordplay.
38
Its real estate I'm sure! the skyscrapers are moving in and the economy has them playing hard ball as well as everyone else?

Dime to a doughnut it will be torn down before winter.
39
@37 but you can pay your light bill, phone bill, parking tickets, buy a pull tab and get drunk at 6am at The Turf.
40
I will miss The Lusty Lady-but fortunately I was able to attend a few hours of the final Playday last night ( June 12th).It is sad to see the last vestige of Seattle's tough seaport town past (the one you can see in such films as "Cinderella Liberty" or American Heart") go out of business. But the staff and the dancers made it a really enjoyable evening and I wish them all the best in the future.

A lot of people complain about how soulless downtown is becoming, with the chic restaurants,million dollar condos and chain places like Hard Rock Cafe-and they're right.

But even more disturbing is the fact that The LL was losing money because of the competition from Internet porn. How can looking at computer images replace seeing a beautiful sexy woman in all her glory dancing right in front of you,shaking what her momma gave her?
42
@ 41
I worked at the Lusty for years, and I loved it when you guys came in to do the permit inspections! I remember saying suggestive things to all of you while I was waiting in the Private Pleasures booth, watching the customers walk through the hall ways. You guys were always good-natured about the teasing.
43
@40, looking at computer images replaced experiences like the lusty by sheer convenience. There is plenty that can be seen for free-multiple times. There is no worrying about who is going to see you going in and out, and its free. But the lusty was still better, and it will be missed for its marquee alone.
44
Excellent, well-rounded article, Brendan. Without resorting to cheap sentimentality or reductive reasoning, you have created a really poignant piece of writing. Thanks.
45
This is a wonderful article that actually brought tears to my eyes. I never realized the service that they provided on a therapuetic level for people. I just thought of it as a Jizz joint that was the last defiant act of the waterfront. I always respected it for having the where-with-all to last but being gay never chose to go in.
46
Genius title! Genius!
47
Great article. Waves of sadness and nostalgia. It was an honor to dance there. Midnight Mike was the best - 'walking Tom Waits song' nails it.
48
Nice latin pun.
49
Great article- but it's state Environmental Policy Act.

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