Sid King
I visited Sid King’s once around 1982 for a bachelor party. The best man was committed to showing the groom and groomsmen an exciting time. This included a death-defying, high speed drive over streets and curbs to Sid’s. According to the article, Sid was a “benevolent showman.” My recollection is a bit raunchier, with Sid directing the dancers on stage and describing their personal attributes to the audience. It wasn’t until I saw his obituary that I learned that Sid had transitioned from showman to shoeman. I immediately clipped this article out, partly for personal nostalgia and partly to remember this historic Denver locale and Sid.
- Matt Holman
Sid King Obituary, 8/27/2000
Sid Kings, Marion and Colfax, Denver. Photo by Donna Altieri.
April 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 pm
My best experience at Sid Kings was taking my fiancee’s friend from England to Sid’s place – “I’ve come all this way, to Denver, Colorado, and I’ve heard about Sid King and want to see what the ladies do there,” the cockney said to me.
So I obliged – had been to Sids – illegally – when I was underage (another story) – and the Brit got his full worth, especially watching
the one lovely lady who could do things with candles that I will not detail in this article. And yes, Sids running commentary was legendary.
The Brit’s only complaint: “yank, the beer is overpriced and cold!”
Indeed it was! But the experience was well worth it.
March 6th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
In the mid 70′s (e.g. 1974-75) I would occasionally drop into Sid King’s Crazy Horse bar for a beer and some laughs.
It was more like, as noted previously, a burlesque / comedy place than a ‘strip joint.’
Almost a *satire* of a strip joint, if you will.
Sid would sit in the back of the inner showroom with a microphone and keep a running gag commentary going –
“Here she is folks, Laborus Clitoris, the galloping greek from cherry creek …. wet your lips, honey … show ‘em the titskas, etc etc”
Occasionally a comedian would get up on stage to give the girls a break. While he was trying to tell lousy dirty jokes, it was open season on him, and everyone in the crowd would boo, shout, tell him to get off & go to hell, etc. – while he would throw insults back, cornball stuff like “why don’t you two put your heads together and make a perfect ass?”
A lot of the ‘girls’ were in my memory older, some not even all that attractive,
but they and all the waitresses were nice to us, even when we were to broke to buy more than one beer (there was to my knowledge, no cover, at least on week nights.
Sid’s was a really friendly informal place, a Denver milestone and a tradition. We all miss Sid and the Crazy Horse.
October 25th, 2010 at 11:15 am
I was stationed at Fitzsimmons Army Hospital the summer of 1970. Some buddies and I used to go into town to the Crazy Horse bar every now and then. We had lots of fun and good entertainment there. I remember Sid’s headliner at the time was a girl with a 72″ chest! There was one time that we got “escorted” out the door. One of the girls came out in a Bat Girl costume and got down to pasties and g-string that wasn’t much more than the Bat symbol. Having as much to drink as I’d had, I jumped up, pointed to the girl and shouted out, “To the Bat Cave, Robin.” The whole house busted up and we were shown the door. What memories.
November 1st, 2010 at 1:08 pm
My wife performed there on New Year’s Eve 1969. She was 19 years old and we had only been married three months. We were with two other couples and we husbands talked our wives into seeing the New Years Eve show. All of us were over 21 except my wife and she was told under Denver law she wasn’t old enough to watch however she was old enough to perform. They would let her sit with us if she agreed to take part in the amateur contest. After a lot of coaxing from her girl friends she reluctantly agreed. She was told she only had to strip to her underwear however when she went backstage she was given a g-string and a bra that was made up of two tiny red hearts. To say the least our friends and I were quite surprised when her blouse and skirt came off. She didn’t want to take the bra off but Sid King asked for my opinion and after much encouragement from the crowd and our friends I gave the thumbs up sign. The bra came off.
Sid Kings Crazy Horse Bar was the coming out party for many many of Denver’s finest young women. I’m still thrilled my wife was one of them.
March 2nd, 2011 at 10:43 am
A charitable side? Amazing. I used to enjoy going there (ca. 1974), and I remember how the young ladies working there thought of him as a “dirty old man”. Legend had it that he weighed the liquor bottles at closing time every night and compared the difference to the amount of money in the cash register. He was considered so cheap that the bartender often slipped us some drink refills without our asking, and didn’t charge for them. The understanding, of course, was that these drinks merited a large tip, and I gladly obliged. I also remember his friend, Max, who had a dry cleaning store nearby, and who frequently acted as second MC.
In any case, I can think of no better way to honor him than to quote him:
…This girl will electrify you with her talents. Remember there’s three types of current which will kill a man – AC, DC and pussC.
…Her legs are her best friends, but soon even the best of friends must part.
…She’s got the kind of legs you like — one on each side.
…Remember, no smilee, no payee. Reply: No payee, no layee.
The last quote was spoken to a stripper who danced under the name Ming Toy Epstein, and who was, believe me, neither Chinese nor Jewish.
LOL
Bob
March 2nd, 2011 at 2:06 pm
… Sir, take your hands out of your pockets. It don’t look good!
… HEY! WATCH MY MONEY!
Bob
December 28th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
I remember being there on New Year’s Eve in 1969 when a young secretary from Sterns-Roger performed during the amateur contest. Down to her g-string and tiny bra she realized there was a table full of men she worked with and didn’t want to continue. Good old Sid King and the people she was with convinced her to continue. We knew she had great legs from the miniskirts she wore but after that performance… Wow! What a body!! She was married and soon after her performance she left the company. Sid Kings was a great place.