#82-1:1 with the Taboo Show (aka Everything To Do with Sex Show) Organizer!

Transcript

Speaker1: Hey everybody, it is Tron Unicorn, and I am here with a very special Proudly Unblurred, in case you're watching my video podcast or YouTube channel. Daryl is the leader of the Taboo Show, and if you've ever been to the Everything to Do About Sex show, it's been called a few things over the years. You might, you know, have seen it posted, have gone with your friends, you know, saw some vibrators for sale and some special entertainment, but we actually get to talk to the big man behind this show, and in detail. and find out what is actually at The Taboo Show. I have been multiple times. I put that content on YouTube and my Spotify video podcast and I will link to that in the description of this video. I have gone before in my own volition, you know, just got a ticket, went, walked the kiosks and recorded it as if I was a lawyer. So I would now like to have you introduce what the show is to you and why it's exciting for people who are, you know, shy about sex, nervous about sex. with sex from all the way down to hardcore swingers, BDSM experts, everything. Why is there space for everybody at the Everything To Do About Sex? Sure. Well, that's a big question, Sarah. But yeah, for sure. Let's start somewhere. So yeah, my name is Daryl. I've been a part of the sex show. So what happened was we were taboo. We're based out of Calgary. So the taboo, naughty but nice show. And then we took over the Everything To Do With Sex show, I think about eight years ago. And then we just merged the two. Like, so it's taboo with everything to do with sex show. But yeah, I've been involved for about 20 years. So I've seen a lot of different stuff in the industries and how it's grown. And I think the biggest thing that I always like I'm quite proud of is I think we bring this openness to the topic of sexuality. That's, you know, I mean, especially 20 years ago or 15 years ago, it was so hush-hush about, you know, everything. So, I mean, we have this platform where all these vendors could be with products and education and seminars and, you know, entertainment. And I mean, it still is the basis of that. It's not quite as shocking as it once was. kind of people says what's what's taboo well there's not a lot that is taboo anymore but you know what more than anything i mean the event is easily one of the funnest shows that comes to town you know i mean it's such a such an open-minded and and um fun loving crowd like the the vibe of there is everybody's happy all these couples come and they're giggling and they're drinking a glass of wine and they're walking around buying toys and lingerie and it's so it's beautiful it's a beautiful concept so i'm very very proud to be a part of it and um yeah it's coming back to toronto i mean I mean, I think we're going into our, God, it's got to be late 20s, maybe 25, 26 years old that it's been running there. But, you know, we always try to keep it fresh. I think more than anything, you might not see as many retailers like, you know, like, you know, there maybe would be 10 retailers and then I'll have 10 booths. But, you know, so much stuff's going online. We try to keep it more about entertainment. You know, there's still lots and lots of products there, but we want to make sure as you walk in the door, it looks like a Las Vegas review with, you know, half naked bodies swinging from the rafters. That's what we try to create. So yeah, so it starts in Toronto. We run Toronto, comes up October 17 to 19 this year. We actually moved it back to the International Centre. I know it had been downtown in the past. We were kind of open to recreate that. And it's just, we just find that there's, I don't know. I mean, it's funny, we're based out of Calgary, so I don't really get some of the mentality of Toronto. But you know, the downtown, they don't want to go out to the suburbs. Suburbs, they don't want to come downtown. So, but I think that the International Centre centers a lot a lot more central and it had been there for about five or six years very successfully so anyhow we're excited to be back there and then um and then the show moves out back west and then we've got calvary edmonton vancouver uh red deer and regina we're always and we're always you know looking to bring cities back and um you know so yeah we've actually in the works to maybe partner with a group in niagara falls maybe partner with a group in halifax in montreal ottawa winnipeg so yeah we're all over it's a great great show That would be cool. So just to put this in perspective, when I walked into the Taboo show on 2023, there was a giant penis made of balloons. And I got to take a photo op of me hugging it with the words Taboo on it. So this was like the introduction to the Taboo show. This was sex was out in the open. Sex was allowed to be discussed. Sex was even allowed to be seen. I know that Oasis Aqua Lounge had an on-site sex club where it was, you could go in the back room that was kind of walled off and see people have sex or have sex yourself. I saw other sex club booths that basically had DJs hitting their hottest hits, creating a dance and clubby vibe so that you could get a sense of like each of the different clubs. I know M4 had their own lounge. So they all had their own flavor on their booth, which I liked too. It wasn't just a bunch of generic booths. It was people bringing a vibe. You know, and actually what, and Toronto, I have to admit, more than any other city, like even more so than Vancouver, that's a great, great show and great city. But the attitude of the lifestyle groups in Toronto is unbelievable. You know, we've got three or four big groups there. Because I always tell people, like, some of these other markets we're in with the different swinger groups that are, you know, lifestyle groups that sort of, you know, don't want to get their faces out there too much. I'm thinking, well, you as the owner, I mean, you've got this clientele that's mostly 30 to 50-year-olds. It's probably predominantly, you know, the biggest demographic of our events. You've got these curious couples that are dying to learn about stuff like this. this. I'm like, that's what I don't get in all these other cities. There should be three or four lifestyle clubs in every city we're in, but I'm glad there is in Toronto for sure. So. I'm with you. I mean, I'm at that place where when I was doing my Swinger lifestyle journey, it was like, oh, which club do we feel like this week? Not everyone has that luxury. They have to travel two hours just to go to whatever club is like within a vicinity of that strivable. So I know it's, we're really lucky and spoiled, especially in Ontario. And so I've been, I've been spoiled that way. I've been like, oh, well, let's go to the Oasis. has a hot tub and a pool. Well, M4 or the X Club or whatever will have a big dance party we might hit. So I've been spoiled that way. And I love that when not only when you go there, you can see the sex toys, you can see the things you might never see in normal vanilla mainstream shops. But there's also speakers. I know I've walked past a few speaking events where people I know from the lifestyle and the club owners were giving speeches on things that I think were really, Like targeted to a specific, you know, if you're interested in learning about this. So I like that if you plan your trip to Taboo, you can actually plan it around the education side as well. It's not just a shopping thing. It's not just a, oh, let's see the provocative stuff. It's like, hey, at two o'clock, let's sit down for this, you know, instruction, you know, about BDSM or rope play or Bukkaki night, right? In case people are curious of what happens at a Bukkaki night. So I like that about it too. It's a ticket that's well spent. You can go, you can immerse yourself in a sex positive culture, talk to other sex positive people, make friends, find your friends. I know that for me, it's like running into a lot of people from the sex clubs that I see in the aisles of the taboo show. It's just one of those crazy cool meetups that I hope to never miss. I do have some footage again to show on my YouTube that it's a I mean there was even these beautiful tiara crowns that I know like I'm into like princess by day slept by night play like I kind of like love to lean into the you know naughty little whore at night but like sweet princess in the day and I want a crown like I want a princess crown sometimes to actually engage in that play a bit more and there were stunning ones right there was beautiful ones out at the taboo show and I and I I regret to this day not picking one up but all sorts of like like glued to it. And it was a paddle to inflict, you know, impact play. And it was because Lego is like one of the most painful things to ever step on. And they put it into a paddle to whip people with. And I was like, wow, this is such a cool place. There's so many actually creative, inventive ideas that go into these worlds that some of us might never have noticed. Well, that's what I love. I mean, for sure, because I mean, a good chunk of our crowd is our sort of vanilla couples that come. that are, you know, just half the stuff in there just sort of blows their mind. And they, it's, you know, I love walking around and I've been doing this a long, long time at all the different cities. And I love just watching these couples just giggle and, you know, Shiley and see all these things. They never see whether it's a toy or, you know, or maybe a demonstration or even somebody talking in a booth about something they've never thought of or heard of. And I mean, it's just, yeah, it's a really fun event. I mean, you also, we also got to try to, you know, keep it edgy too. So, I mean, it is, you know, try to find a balance. I mean, you know, I, sometimes I tell people that may, you know, maybe some of the boosts might not fit but you know like for instance we'll try to have anything that's sort of sexier and a sexy vibe like like teeth whitening you know somebody like what does that have to do with that I was and it's a big big haul so you want to have lots of things you want to have anything that's going to make you feel prettier or sexier you know so not only that but there's for sure like I say there's there's flowers there and there's sports cars and you know sexy clothing and jewelry but of course right beside that is toys and lubes and, you know, and sexy holidays. So I always tell people, I try to make it like a really X-rated woman show. You know, everyone's kind of knows what a woman's show is. So just a lot of sort of nastier things that you probably, you know, wouldn't see at a woman's show. And entertainment. I mean, entertainment is a massive part of what we do too. And I think we're trying to keep it more, have a lot more roving entertainment and stuff. So the whole evening is fun is what we're trying to create. Yes. And there's cam girls. I was so fascinated seeing some of these girls all set up live streaming from the Taboo Show and had like, you know, Chatterbait, the banner underneath and stuff. And I was just like, you know, it's so cool to be able to see these people work in real life, you know, in the flesh. It's just I know there was also, what was it, Naked News was there interviewing people. I remember I have a little interview when I was being interviewed by Naked News. If I find the clip, I will put it into this podcast so people can see it. And it's just, you give such a beautiful, I don't know if the spectacle is the right word, but you give access to like a beautiful cross-section of ways to experience and discuss and enjoy sex. You know, I really want it because, you know, hopefully like some people might see this, but I mean, there's so many cam girls from OnlyFans to Chatterbait to whatever. I mean, that's such a massive type of the market. I even feel like porn is, is drifting towards that. I mean, that's such a, people are consuming that and, or, you know, are turned on by engaging with a, with a cam performer. So I know there's a lot of local performers in the GTA that I would appeal, like talk to us, like reach out to us, by the way, taboo show, taboo show.com or Daryl at taboo show.com. But I mean, we're always, looking for more independent, amateur cam models or cosplay girls that are looking for exposure because it's a really fun atmosphere. And, you know, you'll get great exposure there and ultimately hopefully lead to some networking opportunities for success. Yeah, because I remember you and I briefly discussed, like, if I could go there and have some kind of thing set up. And I was like, what am I going to do? Put my OnlyFans link? And I kind of laughed. And you're like, well, why not? And I was like, I never really thought about that. Why the fuck not? You know? Well, you want to brand sex and swinging. Like it's a massive opportunity to brand sex and swinging. I know. It's so true. And yet I just it's funny. I think I had to open my mind a little bit to realize that there's a lot of room in the sexual marketplace. Right. And so my podcasts are, you know, education. Right. For swingers who want to hear real life accounting of people's experiences going through the sex club and springer lifestyle. And so I actually could introduce that to a bunch of vanilla people who might be like, oh, my God, swinging. Like, let's talk about that later, honey. And suddenly I get, you know, a bunch of my videos watched and maybe a couple new paid fans. So yeah, I could see the overall benefit there. So you do have a website, it'll be listed in the description here. So if you're listening, if you're a cam girl, if you're an OnlyFans girl, if you're someone who thinks that it would be an interesting vibe to partner with, they can get in touch and become, I guess, one of the vendors, right? Yeah. So that's pretty cool. I know that there was onsite like massages and stuff. So like you could pay. I remember I lost are in the crowd once because we were recording a vlog like the camera she's my camera girl and then she like suddenly was like down and out with a massage and i was like come on man like we gotta keep going so there is a lot to experience well it's kind of funny even on like erotic massage for sure there's companies that are promoting that but even legitimate um health health and wellness companies that do reiki or actual massage or um you know or um aromatherapy or reflexology all these things that make you feel better you know If you have a sore back, you're probably not enjoying sex too much. You know, if someone can say, hey, I could probably help you or yoga. Companies that promote yoga to make yourself feel better so that you can therefore enjoy sex better. I mean, this all fits in there. It really does. You know, when I'm trying to find new companies to go in there, you know, that's kind of always the angle. How can this, how can your business make a person have better sex or make them feel better about themselves? You know, if they feel better about themselves, then they feel sexier. It's true, and I'll tell you guys a secret, which is not such a secret, but the reason I started working out a few months ago when I've just been, you know, I never really found the gym thing was for me, but I started going recently, and it's because I wanted to not creak and crack during sex. Like, I want to be able to move my body fluidly, give a hand job with some sustainability. You know, I don't want to have my arm give out because I haven't been working out in pumping iron. So I am literally working out so that my body is good in sex, right? So it's very true how it's all connected. And I love that this show brings, you know, it's a multi-day thing. So we can't go on the Friday. You can pick the Saturday or the Sunday. I love that you can go with your friends. Like you said, you can giggle looking around and pick up a vibrator, sometimes at a discount, things like that. You know, I want to add, like, because over the years, like the whole, I mean, it is predominantly, it's probably, I don't know what it might be, 60, 70% couples that come for the most part. and there are a lot of singles you know I would say probably more groups of girls a girls night out you know six or seven girls go out and get all dressed up and it's they have a great time but there's also guys there's also groups of guys that go and sometimes they're a little bit shyer to go but the party atmosphere that's there especially up by the stage I mean there's a Saturday night there's a thousand people up there all drinking and partying and having fun and everyone girls are dressed sexy and the you know there's a lot of communication going on there we say it's a perfect pickup spot these shows are for sure If you bring a group of guys, a group of girls, chances are you're probably going to meet the opposite sex or same sex or whatever. That's an interesting point. Yeah, no, you would meet other sex positive people there. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, even if it's not picking up sexually or romantically, even just making friends with people. Well, like I've, sorry, like I've met so many people over the years, over the cities that were on their first date. Wow. And I had reached out to like some of the bigger dating sites to say, you know, this is, you guys should consider consider being you know having a booth at taboo like oh no we don't we're not we don't promote sleaze or whatever well why do people date to have sex you know so exactly so yeah anyhow that's funny i i see like yeah that's why getting advertisers is hard for my podcast as well because it's sex it's all sex yeah sex you know and they don't always see it i mean that yeah for sure i mean outside of the the you know the basic things that you're going to find there you still want to have a well-rounded show where the show is not going to be as big Like, you know, so you want to try to bring more things. You don't want to have too much fluff there, but, you know. It's true. But I also think if you want to support the sex-positive industry, like, you could show up to the Taboo Show. These are a lot of small business owners. I know one of the people I know sells sexual magnets for your fridge that are, like, beautiful vaginas or, like, penises. And I still regret not picking one up when I pass by that booth the first time. But it's just something that's hard. Hopefully they'll be back this year. I think they probably will be. And it's just, you can get sex art, right? Like it's not just sex dildos. It's, it's, you know what that I'd like to appeal to any of your listeners, viewers that we're always looking for more sexy art. Cause you know, that's, that's, that fits into that place. There's not too many places where you can showcase that, that type of art to a mainstream crowd. So we love having sexy arts in there. Anything, whether it's paintings, drawings, sculptures, whatever. I still remember I got my very first sponsor, I think for my YouTube channel was No More Wet Spot. I don't mind throwing them another shout out because they've done good for me. And I still have an affiliate link on my website if anyone's interested. It is the best waterproof blanket I've used in swinger parties, house parties, whatever. My friends have bought them. It just doesn't leak. It doesn't let you down. And I still remember walking in my very first taboo show and then I saw this fountain of water just, you know, flowing. And it was, the base of it was the wet blanket. It was, it was proving that it was not going to to let water through and i just remember thinking this is genius marketing so i love that the the companies that come to taboo they come they bring their a-game uh with their booth right and uh they're they're captivating so well i will happily give lano a big thumbs up too because lano has been a huge supporter of ours um almost from day one you know he does all the shows across the country and yeah it does very well he's got a great product yeah he's got other products too but and shop canada man i mean i'm canadian he's canadian i i appreciate So, yeah, so it is just everything. You can get gifts there for people, right? I just, I saw there were sexual, beautiful figures of naked body and candles and things like that. And I'm like, if you know anyone who thinks that there's, you know, that likes that kind of stuff or thinks it's beautiful, this is the time to stock up. And it is right before Christmas. I want to go over the dates. In 2025 in Toronto, it's going to be October 17th to 19th. Calgary, November 7th to 9th. And then Edmonton, November 14th. So you do have some 20-26 days in Vancouver, Regina, and Red Deer, and you can get all that information on the Taboo's website. Can you list your website one more time for us? TabooShow.com. All right, if you can't remember that, I mean. T-A-B-O-O Show.com. Awesome. Well, actually, what I always try to sell, too, is like our social pages, like our social, especially Instagram. We have some, like, I'd encourage everybody to follow us. It's just at the Taboo Show, the Taboo Show, but there's some Great videos from over the years. There's a ton of amazing footage on that Instagram site. So check that as well. You can get a peek of what they might experience checking out on Instagram. Also, too, sorry, if you click on Toronto when you go to the Taboo page, if you click on Toronto, the show guide is still on there from last year. So that will tell you all the boosts that were there, all the entertainment, sponsors, websites, stuff like that. And there's a good chunk. There's always a turnover for sure every year. you want to have new stuff and et cetera. But it'll give you a good idea for those that aren't familiar with the show, the type of companies that are there, the type of shows that are there, seminars, et cetera. That's awesome. So I hope everyone who's listening checks out my old footage from the show. You can see in my face at the time how fun and exciting the day was. And I hope to cover it again this year, 2025. I hope to be there as well. And I'll be bringing my Toronto Unicorn condoms to hand out. I noticed that I did meet some fans the last couple times I went. because it's a sex-positive space. And so that's when my sex-positive listeners can find me. And so this time, I'm going to have my condoms ready to hand out to people who say, hey, I've watched your stuff or, you know, whatever. So if you do see me at the Taboo Show, please come say hello. I'll be expecting you. It has been fun talking to a very sex-positive business owner. And I love what you do for promoting sex-positive spaces and businesses and ideas. I love the education that people can get. you can see so many hands-on, you know, real-life sex-positive people at the Taboo show at different booths. Like I said, even the cam girls I found were very friendly. You were able to go and like gawk at them in a good way because you're like, oh my god, I get to watch. This is so cool. So it's even like you feel a little taboo like watching some of the things, but it's a good way. It's a good feeling and it's like being steeped in a sex-positive tea, if that makes sense. So thank you for sharing your insights. I hope to see everybody at the Taboo show, especially the Toronto one, which is where I'd be going. Um, but every other city, uh, that I've listed before is going to have their own show and it's going to be just as great. So, uh, to check out the taboo show.com. Is it the taboo show.com or is it taboo show.com? And I hope to see you all there too, in Toronto, October 17 to 19. And yeah, it's, it's a really good time. I guarantee you're going to be turned on. And then post pictures if you do and tag the taboo show so we can see everybody's collections of content. Excellent. All right. Thanks everybody.