Naked came the diner: Clothing optional eateries and bare stand-up comedy shows are booming

Nude dining takes place under the auspice of Ordover’s monthly meals, where, according to the New York Post  article, around 50 diners – whose motto is “no hot soup” – show up at specific ‘venues’ including the Mercantile Grill on Pearl Street and Pete’s Downtown in Brooklyn.

Non-sexual nudity in public dining and entertainment places is booming. According to the July 21, 2008 article titled, Clothing Optional Restaurants, Yoga Studios Where? NYC, “nude dining and yoga exercise are becoming the new rags within the clothing optional community.” There are plenty of photos of nude diners at that site. Also see the New York Post article of July 21, 2008 titled, The Naked City, by Adam Nichols.

Not only are there nude city restaurants, nude eateries inside yoga clubs, but there’s also a “midtown stand-up comedy joint,” according to the NY Post article titled, “The Naked City.” The article reports, “They’re served by regular restaurant staff – forced by city laws to keep their clothes on.”

According to another article, Nude dining in NYC – natural and healthy or kinky exhibitionism? published July 26, 2008, “There are 50 members of the Optional Diners club.”  This article also notes, “Their motto is ‘No Hot Soup.’” None of the restaurants they’ve approached to rent have turned them down, nor has wait staff batted an eye – which may be a telling commentary of their usual customers.

Then there’s the Naked Comedy Showcase, whose team of nude stand-up comics, male and female, perform a naked stand-up comedy show once a month at the People’s Improv Theater in Chelsea. For nude dining and comedy researchers, the NY Post article names the midtown Manhattan Yoga club where people show up to eat in the nude as well as work out the yoga exercises naked.

According to the Naked Comedy Showcase, site, it’s the creation of Andy Ofiesh, a stand-up comedian from Boston, Massachusetts. “For years Andy has organized hosted naked comedy shows featuring Boston area comics doing stand-up in the nude.”

Andy’s first naked comedy show in a public venue was at Improv Boston. He also played in the nude at the Edinburgh Fringe. “Encouraged by the success of the shows at Improv Boston and at The Fringe in Edinburgh, Andy organized an ongoing monthly naked comedy show at Improv Boston.”

Some people feel more natural without clothing. Psychologically, performing on stage in the nude in a comedy club or eating in the buff in front of clothed food servers are two ways of becoming more vulnerable to the lonely crowd when in public. Imagine how difficult it is to recruit stand-up comics to perform naked at a comedy club.

There’s a long history of people performing in the nude. But the new attraction is the audience arriving in the nude in a public setting to eat and to be entertained.

If your idea of fun is relaxing poolside at a Fort Lauderdale clothing optional gay resort, then look no further than The Cabanas Guesthouse. The Cabanas is the ultimate gay resort, located just steps away from the heart of Wilton Manors.  Book your reservations today at The Cabanas!

The Cabanas Spa Review: from 411 Magazine

by DAN RENZI

With the end of 2008, I felt a life tune-up was in order. So to celebrate the New Year, I made an appointment at one of South Florida’s newest spas, the Spa at the Cabanas Guesthouse. A collection of little cabanas, as the name implies, The Cabanas Guesthouse is hidden behind a high fence along NE 26th St., but inside the property opens to a lovely view of the Intracoastal Waterway.

The Spa is located in one of the cabanas, tucked into a little corner near the water; owners Norman Lachance and Flash Thunder-Fire (such a combustible name for an expert at achieving peace and serenity!) have remodeled the place from top to bottom, turning it into a refreshing oasis with a breezy allwhite interior. I was expecting it to be nice, but not as nice as this. My treatment had three parts: first I began with a full-body scrub, using Babor’s Aromatic Body & Bath Oils and pure Sea Salt ($85). Norman’s hands are big, and strong; the scrub itself felt like a massage, without ever being too harsh from the salt.

Then he wrapped me in a foil sheet to let the oils soak in, which had me worried when I made the appointment, as I though I would be too twitchy to hold still while I was wrapped up like that. But lying there, listening to the music, the experience was very relaxing. After Norman removed the scrub with a warm towel, he popped on his glasses and swung around a light, to take a look at my face. “Hmmm,” he said, as he looked at my pores.

Yes, there was a lot of work to be done. So he treated me to the Anti-Aging Facial ($129), including a collagen mask and exfoliating treatment. It was, without question, the best facial I have ever had—I wouldn’t let anyone come near my face for the rest of the day, in fear they would touch it and spoil the shimmery softness achieved by Lachance’s magic touch.

Lachance then returned to my back, and applied a Hot Stone Massage ($145), a luxurious massage aided by the placement of warmed, smooth rocks along my back. Again, those hands—those amazing hands!—found each knot, yet he never used too much force. He combined this with a Chakra Balancing Massage, to balance my “energy centers and relax the central nervous system.” Shirley Maclaine would approve.

It was definitely a day of indulgence; but any one of these treatments on their own would have been fantastic. I feel so spoiled now! I can’t wait to go back.

In Gay Games Bid, Miami Beach Hoists Pride Flag

by Kilian Melloy
EDGE Contributor

Less than two weeks after submitting a letter of intent to bid on selection as host city for Gay Games IX, Miami Beach, Fla. reversed a city law banning the flying of the rainbow flag–and raised a multicolored banner high over City Hall.

The flag raising drew reportage from local CBS affiliate Channel 4, which posted a story online Nov. 11.

The so-called gay pride flag was created by Gilbert Baker, a San Francisco artist, whose early version of the flag included two additional stripes, in comparison to the most common such flag of today.

Baker’s flag included the six stripes seen on most contemporary flags, along with a hot pink stripe and an indigo stripe, according to a Wikipedia article.

Baker’s flag was hoisted in the June 25, 1978 Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco, the Wikipedia article said, going on to note that demand for the flag skyrocketed in the aftermath of the murder of openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, whose career–and whose struggle against a Proposition 8-like anti-gay ballot initiative–is the focus of a new biopic starring Sean Penn.

The CBS-4 story quoted Miami Beach mayor Matti Herrera Bower, who said of the newly-hoisted pride flag, “I think that this is just another step to making a whole city, a city that really welcomes gays and lesbians.”

The city commission struck down a long-standing ordinance forbidding the flying of the rainbow flag in Miami Beach–a curious anachronism for a city known as a favorite gay tourism spot.

The CBS-4 story quoted Miami Beach resident Luis Randazzo, who said, “It’s a historic day for us.

“The gay flag is a representation of diversity,” continued Randazzo. “It represents equality. It represents the cultural identity of the community.”

As another resident put it: “Miami Beach has a little bit of everything.

“I think that’s what makes Miami Beach what it is–so I’m okay with it.”

The presence of the flag might also help make Miami Beach the next host city for the Gay Games. Miami was one of four American cities to submit letters to the Federation of Gay Games expressing the intention of bidding to become the site for the next Gay Games in 2014.

Boston, Cleveland, and Washington, D.C. also submitted letters notifying the FGG that those cities, too, intend to throw their hats into the ring for the honor–and the profit–of hosting the games, according to a release from the FGG.

Site inspectors from the FGG will travel to each of the four cities next summer to determine which one will be chosen to host the 2014 Games.

Every four years, more than eleven thousand athletes and other participants join together for the world’s largest GLBT sporting and cultural event, according to the FGG news release.

The 2010 Games are already scheduled to take place in Cologne, Germany.

Past host cities have included San Francisco (twice: 1982 and again in 1986), Vancouver (1990), New York (1994), Amsterdam (1998), Sydney (2002), and Chicago (2006).

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