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• 1 2017-03-22T15:51:28-07:00 A Bird Without it's Feathers: Topless Dancers, Naked Chefs and More 6 plain 2017-04-01T13:13:51-07:00 Shortly after the opening of his venue, Kerr introduced go-go dancers; who both danced on stage in the Jungle Room to the bands that were playing as well as in the top floor windows so that were visible from the street. According to the Globe and Mail, the girls looked like "something out of Tarzan". The newspaper's "THINGS TO DO AND SEE" column mentioned a go-go dancer named "Batwoman" as a popular fixture of the club.
  
  
  Kerr introduced topless dancing to his coffee house and the City of Toronto in August of 1966. He planned an elaborate launch event. The 21-year-old Swedish dancer was topless and wore a mask. She was behind an iron grillwork as a smoke machine created a foggy atmosphere. Kerr even invited the Toronto Police. They declined to attend. He served patrons exotic snacks of chocolate covered ants and bees. The event was a disaster. The smoke machine overwhelmed the room. The dancer, who was unable to be seen by the audience because of the smoke, began to choke as people cleared the room.
  
  Topless dancing became routine at The Mynah Bird and Kerr set his sights on more nude entertainment. He hired topless folk singers and held a Miss Nude Canada competition. The winner received $1500; and patrons could pay to paint on a nude woman. In 1968, he constructed a theater on the second floor and began to show erotic movies imported from Europe. He eventually made nude films of his own in the coffee house off hours starring his staff. He hired several men who prepared sandwiches and poured coffee dressed only in a chef's hat. Also, he hired male dancers in bikini briefs who were paid more than their female counterparts. This resulted in a topless protest conducted outside the venue for equal or higher wages for women.
  
• 1 2017-03-21T06:10:08-07:00 The Mynah Bird 4 plain 2017-03-23T08:18:44-07:00 Piranhas. Chocolate covered bugs. A naked chef. Pie throwing contests. And reportedly the first ever venue in Toronto to feature topless dancing, competitions and even topless folk singers - The Mynah Bird was the brainchild of entrepreneur Colin Kerr. Opened in 1965 adjacent to The Penny Farthing, The Mynah Bird was one of the only coffee houses not known for it folk singers but rather the risqué entertainment it provided and the publicity stunts and antics of Colin Kerr.
  
  Named after Kerr's other business venture - his myna bird store on Bloor street - the venue was an L shaped former Victorian home divided into two floors and multiple rooms. Go-go dancers who danced in front of the windows on the top floor beckoned the crowd from the street into the venue. One would enter through a hallway passing several myna birds (one which was Kerr's personal pet named Raja) and an aquarium full of piranhas who were regularly seen consuming goldfish. Patrons would enter either the Stage Room which held folk music performances or the red flecked walls and fake grass floor of the Jungle Room which was the later home of the topless dancers. The rooms of The Mynah Bird were stuffy and dark, being lit only by candles on the tables.
  
  The infamous Kerr, who bassist Bruce Palmer called "the Larry Flynt of Yorkville" made newspaper headlines with his coffee house which like the Riverboat, survived well into the 70s. This was largely because, in contrast to folk music's decline in popularity, flesh proved as popular as ever. However, when the concentration of strip joints was established on Yonge Street (an area that would be effectively referred to as "the Strip"), Kerr decided to sell The Mynah Bird to developers and set his sights on opening a larger nudist club on King Street.