The Vancouver Sun
 By Karen Gram
Monday, January 19, 2004

Taking it all off for fun, profit, better sex

Mary Taylor knows how to show a guy a good time. She struts into the room in her three-inch heels, jacket and not much else. Her hands clutch the jacket lapels revealing ... oooh, wouldn't you like to know.

And see it you can, though not in the peeler bar you might expect. Taylor is the headliner at this year's Everything To Do With Sex Show, the trade show that gives "hot commodities" new meaning. It comes to Vancouver Jan. 22 to 25 and Taylor will be there showing other women how to strut, wriggle and peel for their partners.

The former exotic dancer made big bucks as a feature dancer for 21 years, but gave it all up in the mid-1990s when bar managers wanted lap dancing instead of the showmanship she specialized in.

"The industry changed from entertainment to foreplay," she says. So Taylor gave up the highrolling lifestyle, moved into her parents' basement and started a business teaching brides and other women how to shake their booties and light up their sex lives.

The business is booming. She now lives in a luxury home in Toronto and has franchise operations opening up in Whistler and other locales, and she's looking for more women who would like to join the operation.

"I think deep down every woman has wondered what it would be like to strip," she says. "It's a fantasy everyone has."

In her book, Bedroom Games, and in her workshops, Taylor describes a host of moves that exotic dancers employ and that work in the confines of the home garage, bathroom or living room. She gives tips on choices of music, how to choose a role (submissive or dominant), building your own costumes and designing a routine.

Be careful to time your moves to the music, she advises. "You don't want to be left with your behind in his face and no music to shake it to."

Taylor's workshops epitomize the tone of the sex show. Adults can cruise through more than 150 booths focusing on adult products, sexy fashions and fragrances, romance and fantasy. It's informative, fun and slightly naughty, but still safe and non-threatening.

Taylor will be offering workshops in a seminar room Thursday and Friday and several times on Saturday and Sunday. But on the mainstage, you and your partner (because you'll have to drag him or her along) will see Lava Bellydance, whose middle eastern dancing can bring life back into that rock beside you. You'll also see Hypno Diva Johanna Lane, who will bring volunteers up on stage for a little hypnotic fun, and you'll see Burlesque by Crystal Precious.

But the real G-spot of this show is the opportunity to wander through all the sex shops you ever dreamed of, see and buy toys, clothes and heaven knows what else that we've never even imagined, without feeling ashamed.

Now that's seductive.

The Everything to Do With Sex Show opens at 5 p.m. Thursday and runs through Sunday at the Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. For more information or to order tickets, go to www.canwestshows.com or call 1-888-999-5513.