A Bird Without it's Feathers: Topless Dancers, Naked Chefs and More
Known to push the envelope, Kerr introduced topless dancing to his coffee house and the City of Toronto in August of 1966. He planned to have his 21-year-old Swedish dancer be topless from behind an iron grillwork with a mask on her face as a smoke machine created a foggy atmosphere. In this highly publicized event, Kerr even invited the Toronto Police - to which they declined. He served patrons exotic snacks of chocolate covered ants and bees. The event was a disaster due to the smoke machine overflowing the room with so much smoke that the dancer, who was unable to be seen by the audience, began to choke on it as people cleared the room.
Following this event, topless dancing became routine at The Mynah Bird and Kerr set his sights on more nude entertainment. He hired topless folk singers, held a Miss Nude Canada naked woman competition where the winner would receive $1500, and charged patrons to paint a picture on a naked female. He began to show nude erotic movies imported from Europe in 1968 in a theater he constructed on the second floor. These reportedly featured "innumerable scenes of breasts and bottoms". He eventually made nude films of his own in the coffee house off hours starring his staff. Finally, perhaps to provide nude entertainment for the ladies, he hired several men who prepared sandwiches and poured coffee wearing only a chef's hat.
