For the last six years, Kirk Handy has exposed Calgary to KINKY?, his monthly fetish night.

Originally set up to be a social outlet for Calgary’s small fetish/Leather/BDSM community, the nights proved so popular Handy expanded them to include demonstrations of various fetish and BDSM techniques, body modification, and fetish-oriented fantasy stage productions much like those seen at various Leather contests. Over the years, the nights averaged approximately 450 people attending.

The last KINKY? Night at the former Detours (now Pulse) was in October 2005.

Handy originally began the evenings as a way to bring the various factions within the Leather/fetish/BDSM/kink communities together so people could meet each other and be exposed to different aspects of the larger community. In a smaller urban centre such as Calgary, there tends not to be the same interactions as one might find in larger centres with a more expansive fetish community. In smaller centres, people tend to stick with what, and who, they know.

Handy spoke with the then-owners of Detour/Arena, Rudy Labuhn and Lorne Ducette, about holding a monthly fetish-themed night. The atmosphere and layout of the club at that time was conducive to that, and Labuhn and Ducette agreed to try it. Initially, the work was all volunteer but as the event evolved and became busier and more complex, Handy set it up as a business venture. It was a symbiotic relationship between him and the club, with the club benefiting from increased sales through the bar and Handy taking the door entrance to pay for the people doing demos, the DJ for that night, and the performers.

Over the years, Handy has had individuals demonstrate proper flogging techniques, mummification/body wrapping, suspension and piercing.

“The Calgary Health Authority was fine with piercing being done in a bar or club setting,” Handy said, “as long as the piercers were from a licensed studio, supplied their own models, and employed sterile technique, like gloves and stuff.”

KINKY? Night has recently re-located to Metro (213 – 10 Ave SW). When Detour/Arena was sold, the new owners naturally changed the look of the club. They appeared to want to attract a more mainstream, albeit still largely gay and lesbian, crowd than the more alternative edgy crowd that frequented Detour. The new look, physical configuration, and direction simply was not conducive to what Handy wanted for the event.

“Those involved with fetish and kink really prefer a darker, edgier environment,” Handy said, “With the new changes at Pulse, the night just wasn’t going to work too well there. Metro still has that darker edge to it, the dark walls and dimmer lighting. We had been in some negotiations to hold a second, mid-month fetish event at Metro anyway, so when the opportunity arose to move KINKY? over to Metro, it seemed a good fit.”

Handy and his crew have created a collapsible stage that extends out of the small raised area in front of Metro’s DJ booth, and he believes this will be quite adequate for featuring the various demos and fantasy acts KINKY? has long featured.

Another group, P3Gatherings, is currently negotiating with the owners of Pulse and Arena to hold monthly events, but Handy doesn’t feel those events will negatively affect his at all.

“Actually, those will probably help generate more growth within the community, giving those in the community more options,” Handy said. “The P3Gathering event is quite a different event from KINKY? Night. Theirs is more a private play party type thing, whereas KINKY? is open to anybody, even those who are just curious or want to see and experience something a little different than their usual night out. We have the demonstrations and such. The P3Gatherings event is a closed event, as I understand it. It’s specifically tailored to those already in the scene. Very different from what we’re doing, but complimentary,” he added.

While KINKY? has moved to a new home, the night, the look and feel of it will remain much the same.
“We’re targeting the same crowd we did at Detour; that hasn’t changed. The format will be the same. Detour worked its magic for us, no doubt, but it’s time to move on and see what magic Metro can weave for us…new magic.”

For those who have never attended KINKY?, Handy assures them it’s just plain clean fun, with an edge.

“The format at Detour changed monthly. Some events were more Leather, with the gay Leather/Levi crowd showing up. Other events brought in more of a het BDSM crowd. It was hard to predict. Interestingly, the summer seems to bring out the folks into latex,” laughs Handy. “Oh good…they can stand and sweat in their latex, mmm-mmmm….”

An ongoing challenge is to come up with new and interesting themes each month.

“We do the usual ones, of course…at Halloween we have the performers and demonstrators do a Goth or Vampyre set. During Summer Solstice, we might do a fairie/pixie/Druid thing. February is always about kink romance.”

“What a lot of people don’t realize is we do between ten and twelve stage productions a month…at least sixty a year,” Handy pointed out.

“How do you keep it interesting and fresh? How often can the audience watch a flogging, for instance, before it bores them? Or a foot fetish fantasy? It’s a challenge to keep a good mix of the social time, dance breaks, the demos and stage fantasies and not be repetitive.”

When asked how KINKY? compared to similar events in other cities, Handy pointed out that one of the reasons his event got busy was because he chose not to take sides or a political position in the community.

“When we had the Mr. and Ms. Calgary Leather contests that 3SM used to put on, we’d comp the new title holder to an event, absolutely. They were key people within the community; of course we wanted them to attend our event. But this event is not just for the gay Leather crowd, or the BDSM crowd, or the spankers, or this or that – I wanted it to be for everyone to meet everyone and learn something about each others’ kinks and fetishes.”

Though, handy also noted that Calgary is still a relatively young city, and a small one. He believes the various communities, be they ethnic, the GLBT community, or the fetish/kink community, have yet to really coalesce and find their own identity.

“Unlike Toronto, for instance, or Montreal, Calgary has not had time to form specific neighbourhoods with their own atmosphere,” he said. “In Toronto, you have a distinct Little Italy neighbourhood. A few blocks over is the Ukrainian neighbourhood, the gay village, all that. We don’t have that in Calgary with the exception of Chinatown.”

“Being a smaller centre, remember we’re still less than a million people, there maybe isn’t that sense of – I dunno – urgency that often leads to the formation of a gay ghetto, for instance, an urban village. Will we have that in ten years time? Maybe.”

Handy also hopes to eventually expand KINKY? into Edmonton.

“We consistently have people from Edmonton come down to KINKY? Night. There’s obviously an interest. We’re looking for a venue in Edmonton. If we find one, we’d be open to going up there and doing it, or help set up an Edmonton version. There’s a lot happening in the Edmonton Leather/Fetish community, but nothing like this.”

KINKY? is open to everyone and, while it is a fetish event, one does not have to be in fetish gear to get in. Handy thinks people would be more comfortable if they were in gear, but nobody will be turned away for wearing their street clothes.

KINKY? Night happens on the last Friday of each month, and starts at 9pm. For more information, join the Yahoo! Newsgroup at http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/kinkynightscalgary.htm. Since the newsgroup contains adult content, those wishing to access it will need to have a Yahoo! account.

In the next month or so, Handy hopes to have a website, www.kinkynights.com, up and running with a link to the newsgroup, photos of events, and other items.

KINKY? Night
At Metro the Club (213 – 10 Ave SW)
Last Friday of each month, starting at 9pm.
http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/kinkynightscalgary.htm
www.kinkynights.com