J'ai besoin d'une boisson !

Risque @ Paris Las Vegas

Saturday night: Once again I’m tired from a long visit with friends, so when I heard that Risque at Paris was having a Latin night I felt refreshed, I needed to see this for myself.
Risque is an interesting place aside from the corporate links that bind many mega-clubs in Vegas, Risque was surprisingly low key. I arrived at 1200am to a packed casino but no line to the club. I knew then that this was to be tourist night. Most tourists are in the clubs by midnight, no sense staying up too late the kids would be waiting, and if mommy shows up at 700 am with someone other than daddy or “Uncle John” the situation then becomes complicated.
I met Emily Curtin the Sales Coordinator for Risque and away we went on a high speed tour of the club. According to Emily the club boasts six dance floors one of which was having Latin night. We spoke at length outside the club on a patio over looking the strip across from the Bellagio.
Risque has been in action for 5 years; despite competing with mega-clubs like Pure at Caesars the club is doing well. Emily handles all the special events and VIP promotions, for over a year she has been getting people inside the club. Judging by the mostly tourist crowd that was crowding the main floor….her job was secure.
Latin Backbeats, Yale and Rum
Louis the 14th would be appalled at coming home after a night on the town with whores and baguettes to find a hundred or so Hispanics dancing in one of his parlor rooms! The theme of the Paris Hotel if you haven’t guessed is Paris in all it’s decadent splendor. The main club area is trendy and neat however the smaller rooms with the music variety look exactly like a 17th century Parisian room, complete cavernous halls and vaulted ceilings.
I spent my time in the Latin dance room where the Rum was flowing and a pleasant and very married Yale graduate was testing my knowledge of history.
Highlights
The atmosphere at Risque is laid back with minimal meat market mentality; this I suppose is due to the high tourist count. The music on the main floor was top 40; the key is the side rooms that play a variety of music which is always nice.
Low Lights
Just when i was about to dive into a nice discussion with my Yale friend concerning the limits of monagamy and marriage the lights came on! It was only 300 am i had assumed these places were open all night. Bad memories and flashbacks of New Jersey quickly filled my mind with dread!

Forty Deuced

Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce @ Mandalay Bay

Late night tonight vague recollections of the evening, it’s Monday morning I know because when I left the house six hours ago I was barely sober and now I have to keep one foot on the bed and one on the ground to make the room stop spinning. After successfully making it home from the Vegas strip I can now lay back and smile about the gorgeous Australian woman, the midget and of course the beautiful burlesque performers. As my vision spirals away toward an unknown complicated vortex I shall recant my adventure.
Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce is what many consider a club however unlike the unimaginative Tangerine at T.I. Forty Deuce showcases some of the world’s best burlesque dancers. When I say burlesque I mean the whole package including a live jazz band that play’s the alcohol drenched, money grabbing sounds of raw jazz that a woman can strip to! Yes despite Forty Deuce being fully entrenched in tourist nirvana the vibe screamed professional’s only! This was a Sunday night in Las Vegas, while most are on a red eye back home wondering how to pay the mortgage and making sure the bruises are not noticeable, the real pro’s come out to play.

I met Michael Brown the Manager at Forty Deuce (not the Michael Brown of Katrina fame) we went through the club and he introduced me to some of the staff, which of course were friendly and courteous. The club itself is not a huge Vegas mega-club rather a small semi circular establishment, with a modest dance floor and a cozy VIP section.
The VIP section was perfectly positioned to view the stage, and view I did!

Dirty Jazz
At around 200am the dance music came slowly to silence and the raw sounds of trumpets and trombones were heralding the onset of something truly spectacular. Two beautiful women came strutting onstage and began a perfectly rehearsed routine that left most in the club searching the floor for their respective tongues.
Writing about Forty Deuce can really do no justice to the theme and attempts by the club owners to really showcase something new yet old, to this gin soaked, burnt out Vegas mob.
Highlights
The music before the Jazz band came on was decent a light house mix that kept the crowd moving and interested. Obviously the actual band was excellent good musicians with their hands on the pulse of what was once true and filthy Jazz…the type that made white people wince! The dancers unlike the endless stripper clones in Vegas were beautiful and enticed the entire crowd with less show and more show.
I recommend Forty Deuce to anyone visiting Vegas and anyone living here writing stories about Vegas.