Take one part gratuitous exhibition of sexuality, another part Hollywood chic and sprinkle in Las Vegas' insatiable appetite for post-sunset debauchery, and the Strip suddenly becomes the biggest back alley of them all. Ivan Kane's Forty Deuce transplants backstreet burlesque to mainstream Vegas.
The confines of Kane's newest night genius at Mandalay Bay make for a bootlegger's heaven, exuding the most legal fun to be had since the end of prohibition. The contemporary counterpart of the speakeasy reels in crowds night after night, using the moves of sultry, stomping vixens as fresh bait. These women are hot. Each dancer comes complete with her own routine and trading card (no, really), and original stripteases that ignite the night. The remarkable skin-showing choreography happens several times an evening and is a magnet for the eyes of both sexes.
The music bounces off the walls via a nightly DJ, and a live trio takes to the bandstand with a stand-up bass, drums and a sax every time the gals come out to razz up the joint.
To say the room is cozy wouldn't be right; to say it is intimate wouldn't work either. Both words connote a calm feel, and there is nothing calm about the Deuce. The appropriately snug fit allows only about 300, so getting a table takes some planning, but it is well worth the effort.
Unlike its underground forefathers, this trendsetting blind pig requires no password to get in the door, but reservations help. To expedite the night, you can pick up a package deal. The Naughty Package runs about $400 and gets four guests past the line and to a guaranteed VIP table with a bottle of signature vodka, three carafes of mixers and a Naughty gift of a 10 percent discount at infamous Champagne Suzy (an original sultry boutique on site). For those who insist on size, the Scandalous Package goes for $800 and gives all the naughty equivalents but leaves room for eight party-goers and two bottles of premium hooch (the inclusive fun bags do not include the well-deserved 18 percent gratuity, although, after seeing the servers, you will likely want to give more).
Kane can be seen floating around the club on the weekends, when he takes a hiatus from his other lucrative nightspots in Los Angeles. Dubbed "the nightlife guru of Hollywood," Kane had success as both an actor and a writer before making the transition to rekindling the retro sexiness of Tinseltown's after-hours.
Unlike any other cocktail saloon in town, dropping by the Deuce is a must to complete any Sin City weekend.