WEBVTT - Not the Only Pervert in Town 0:00:08.245 --> 0:00:13.765 School of Humans. Sanctum Unmasked is about a sex club 0:00:13.845 --> 0:00:17.325 and describes various sex acts. Please use discretion where and 0:00:17.365 --> 0:00:22.405 when you listen. So when we left you last episode, 0:00:22.605 --> 0:00:26.045 two women from Craigslist were fucking in a birdcage and 0:00:26.085 --> 0:00:29.925 the first Sanctum party was a huge success, and the 0:00:29.965 --> 0:00:33.765 club's founder, Damon Lonner, realized that his purpose in life 0:00:33.925 --> 0:00:38.005 was to curate sexually transcendent experiences for the one percent? 0:00:38.805 --> 0:00:42.205 But how could you forget? As word got around that 0:00:42.245 --> 0:00:44.685 Sanctum was a hit, the press ate it up. The 0:00:44.885 --> 0:00:47.845 La Times wrote a steamy article about the club, along 0:00:47.885 --> 0:00:49.805 with the popular website Urban Daddy. 0:00:50.685 --> 0:00:56.485 Behold the quivering majesty of Sanctum and invite only Beverly 0:00:56.565 --> 0:00:59.605 Hills night spot to begin. We can't tell you where 0:00:59.645 --> 0:01:02.565 it is, sorry, that would blow the whole secrecy thing. 0:01:03.565 --> 0:01:05.445 What we can tell you is how to get a 0:01:05.485 --> 0:01:07.565 admitted and what you'll see. 0:01:07.645 --> 0:01:10.685 That's from the Urban Daddy piece from February twenty thirteen, 0:01:10.885 --> 0:01:13.605 right after the launch. But wait, it keeps going. 0:01:14.565 --> 0:01:17.685 Go to their Facebook page. Send Sanctom a note if 0:01:17.725 --> 0:01:20.045 they like what they see in terms of your attractiveness, 0:01:20.205 --> 0:01:24.885 number of mutual friends, and artfully chosen cover photo. Congratulations, 0:01:25.125 --> 0:01:29.085 you're invited. We really can't say much else, but maybe 0:01:29.085 --> 0:01:31.765 you'll see a girl wearing latex and a bathtub pouring 0:01:31.805 --> 0:01:35.165 milk all over herself. Or maybe you'll see naked girls 0:01:35.245 --> 0:01:39.005 rubbing themselves with oil, and hey, maybe some guys doing 0:01:39.085 --> 0:01:42.765 the same. It's a real something for everyone, kind of place. 0:01:43.925 --> 0:01:46.325 The press loved this story. They loved it. 0:01:46.365 --> 0:01:49.085 They loved that Hollywood was involved, They loved that it 0:01:49.125 --> 0:01:52.525 was moneied and you know, powerful people. They loved that 0:01:52.685 --> 0:01:56.125 it was kind of this erotic vibe. And this played 0:01:56.165 --> 0:02:01.365 on myth It played on mythology, It played on spirituality 0:02:01.365 --> 0:02:03.645 and religion, It played on colt, It played on all 0:02:03.685 --> 0:02:07.925 of these things that people are intrigued by and interested in. 0:02:08.485 --> 0:02:11.965 It just felt like, especially in twenty thirteen, no one 0:02:12.125 --> 0:02:18.205 was pushing this envelope. 0:02:21.365 --> 0:02:25.765 Welcome to Sanctum Unmasked. I'm your host, Carly Schortin. Out 0:02:29.245 --> 0:02:32.325 Off the back of the flurry of publicity, Damon starts 0:02:32.325 --> 0:02:36.645 hosting parties monthly at various nightclubs around LA. Every event 0:02:36.685 --> 0:02:39.485 sells out, and while Sanctum began as more of a 0:02:39.525 --> 0:02:43.725 sexy party with live erotic performances, it very quickly evolves 0:02:43.765 --> 0:02:47.125 into just a full blown sex party, which actually came 0:02:47.165 --> 0:02:48.325 as a surprise to Damon. 0:02:49.445 --> 0:02:50.445 It got very sexual. 0:02:50.925 --> 0:02:53.925 I mean there was sex at the tables in bathrooms, 0:02:54.045 --> 0:02:55.765 and I was like, whoa, what the you know, what's 0:02:55.765 --> 0:02:58.645 going on? Like, I didn't plan on doing that, necessarily 0:02:58.725 --> 0:02:59.685 throwing a sex party. 0:03:00.845 --> 0:03:04.485 The problem, as you might imagine, is that nightclub owners 0:03:04.525 --> 0:03:06.925 don't love a bunch of people railing all over the 0:03:06.965 --> 0:03:10.965 place because it's illegal and grounds to lose their liquor license. 0:03:11.805 --> 0:03:14.925 So Damon spent the first months of Sanctum's existence just 0:03:14.965 --> 0:03:18.885 getting kicked out of clubs, and it became a bit frustrating. 0:03:19.805 --> 0:03:21.605 He knew he needed to find a way to throw 0:03:21.645 --> 0:03:24.805 a party where his desperately horny guests could just fuck 0:03:24.885 --> 0:03:28.085 in public in peace. Goddamn it. He needed to find 0:03:28.125 --> 0:03:30.525 a private home where he could set up a bar, 0:03:31.045 --> 0:03:33.805 hire his own staff, and just let everybody purve out 0:03:33.805 --> 0:03:37.925 to their heart's desires. But finding homeowners to rent him 0:03:37.965 --> 0:03:41.045 their la mansions for raucous sex parties proved to be 0:03:41.085 --> 0:03:45.325 annoyingly difficult, and the people who were down tended to 0:03:45.365 --> 0:03:48.605 be a really specific type creepy rich guys in their 0:03:48.645 --> 0:03:51.125 fifties who liked the idea of a bunch of hot 0:03:51.165 --> 0:03:53.565 young women fucking in their infinity pool. 0:03:54.885 --> 0:03:58.005 Dealing with the owners of these houses was always very stressful. 0:03:58.525 --> 0:04:04.685 The biggest thing was the homeowners feeling entitled to grope girls, 0:04:05.085 --> 0:04:08.845 to get drunk and be assholes, and it was their home. 0:04:09.325 --> 0:04:11.605 Plus I've got a staff of like twenty five people, 0:04:12.325 --> 0:04:15.965 maybe thirty people. These were like weddings, you know, flowers 0:04:16.005 --> 0:04:19.125 and chocolates and all the liquor and the champagne, all 0:04:19.125 --> 0:04:21.365 the glass were all that. I mean, these were major 0:04:22.005 --> 0:04:23.845 productions every single month. 0:04:24.525 --> 0:04:27.605 Damon was not living it up at those early parties. 0:04:28.085 --> 0:04:31.485 Sometimes the homeowners would get cold feet and cancel last minute, 0:04:31.565 --> 0:04:33.885 leaving him struggling to find an orgy mansion at the 0:04:33.925 --> 0:04:38.645 eleventh hour. Not easy. Plus, at this point, Damon and Melissa, 0:04:38.925 --> 0:04:41.125 his wife and the mother of his two kids, were 0:04:41.165 --> 0:04:44.445 making just enough money to cover their overhead. The whole 0:04:44.445 --> 0:04:44.925 thing was. 0:04:44.965 --> 0:04:49.805 Chaotic those parties. I was like running around for hours NonStop. 0:04:50.045 --> 0:04:52.285 I was making sure everyone was happy. I was making 0:04:52.285 --> 0:04:54.885 sure that there wasn't a drunk girl in some back room, 0:04:54.965 --> 0:04:58.205 you know, getting assaulted. I mean, this was a fucking 0:04:58.285 --> 0:05:02.445 sex party where people were wild and intoxicated, and if 0:05:02.525 --> 0:05:06.085 anything happened, I would lose everything. It was the wild 0:05:06.085 --> 0:05:08.165 West for me. I didn't have like insurance, I didn't 0:05:08.165 --> 0:05:10.605 have NBA agreements. In the beginning, it was just like, 0:05:11.165 --> 0:05:12.605 I mean, I was very exposed. 0:05:13.085 --> 0:05:13.245 You know. 0:05:13.285 --> 0:05:14.725 The parties were started at ten o'clock. 0:05:15.085 --> 0:05:18.565 At like nine to fifty five, I'd be getting out 0:05:18.605 --> 0:05:21.445 of whatever I was working in and putting on my 0:05:21.525 --> 0:05:25.205 tuxedo and sort of like putting on my masks, so 0:05:25.285 --> 0:05:27.405 to speak. But like, you know, my mask that I 0:05:27.445 --> 0:05:29.445 put on was Okay, I've got to be this guy. 0:05:29.845 --> 0:05:31.885 I've got to be the guy that like leads these 0:05:31.925 --> 0:05:37.285 people into like sexual rebellion and freedom. 0:05:37.165 --> 0:05:40.445 The pied Piper of debauchery, one might call him if 0:05:40.645 --> 0:05:44.485 bad jokes are your thing. In that first year of 0:05:44.525 --> 0:05:48.125 the club, Demon and Melissa were building Sanctums brand and 0:05:48.205 --> 0:05:51.245 really just figuring out what the party was in real time. 0:05:51.805 --> 0:05:54.965 They started putting on bigger and more intricate live shows, 0:05:55.045 --> 0:05:59.965 which meant hiring erotic performers, makeup artists, costumers, et cetera. 0:06:00.805 --> 0:06:04.725 Demon also brought on a creative director, Alina Ratuska, to 0:06:04.765 --> 0:06:07.485 help with the choreography of it all. We reached out 0:06:07.525 --> 0:06:10.085 to Aleena multiple times, by the way, but she didn't 0:06:10.085 --> 0:06:13.125 want to talk to us. There was also an increasing 0:06:13.245 --> 0:06:18.445 fetish presence at Sanctum. Remember this was twenty thirteen, aka 0:06:18.565 --> 0:06:21.285 a year after every basic Bitch on the planet went 0:06:21.445 --> 0:06:24.525 s and m hysterical over fifty Shades of Gray. So 0:06:25.205 --> 0:06:28.125 Damon hired a dom to work the party to educate 0:06:28.165 --> 0:06:31.845 the guests about BDSM. Here's Melissa remembering it. 0:06:32.405 --> 0:06:35.445 We had like a professional dom, like he was this, 0:06:35.845 --> 0:06:37.685 like that's what he did for a living, and you 0:06:37.765 --> 0:06:39.645 as a couple, you guys could go over to him 0:06:39.685 --> 0:06:42.525 and he could talk to you about like different tools 0:06:42.565 --> 0:06:46.685 that are like tintalizing on the skin or something that's 0:06:46.725 --> 0:06:48.805 going to be a little more firm or a little 0:06:48.965 --> 0:06:50.605 you know, like what do you like, And then he 0:06:50.645 --> 0:06:53.765 would walk you through what that was and you guys 0:06:53.765 --> 0:06:55.765 could experiment that together. 0:06:56.605 --> 0:06:59.525 The overall goal was to create an environment that felt 0:06:59.565 --> 0:07:02.965 sophisticated while also being a place you'd feel inclined to 0:07:03.005 --> 0:07:06.045 bend a stranger over an end table. It's a delicate 0:07:06.085 --> 0:07:11.125 balance because Damon's very attentive to detail. He also created 0:07:11.205 --> 0:07:15.045 more unexpected roles for his performers to add to the 0:07:15.085 --> 0:07:16.765 ambiance and fantasy of it all. 0:07:17.365 --> 0:07:21.045 It didn't feel like a sex party. It felt like 0:07:21.565 --> 0:07:24.765 an event that people had sex at. 0:07:25.725 --> 0:07:30.365 That's Claudia, one of Sanctum's early hires. She's a big presence, 0:07:30.485 --> 0:07:33.285 a platinum blonde with a bright smile, and she's not 0:07:33.485 --> 0:07:36.125 afraid to be blunt, which is a quality that I 0:07:36.165 --> 0:07:39.285 personally love. She ended up working at the club for 0:07:39.365 --> 0:07:42.085 three years, and the story of how she got her 0:07:42.125 --> 0:07:44.165 start is pretty interesting. 0:07:44.965 --> 0:07:48.885 When I started Sanctum, I was I was young. I 0:07:48.965 --> 0:07:53.045 was twenty twenty two, twenty three, so I feel like 0:07:53.085 --> 0:07:58.125 I got into that right where your brain really starts developing, 0:07:58.245 --> 0:08:01.805 like into thinking about sex and like thinking about what 0:08:01.805 --> 0:08:03.005 do I like, what do I not like? 0:08:03.045 --> 0:08:04.165 What's my sexuality? 0:08:04.285 --> 0:08:07.165 You know, my straight and my vice actual Like I 0:08:07.285 --> 0:08:10.245 was very naive living in La So that. 0:08:10.325 --> 0:08:20.085 Was like a very shaping period. I think when Claudia 0:08:20.125 --> 0:08:22.925 heard about Sanctum, she was working at the Playboy Mansion, 0:08:23.285 --> 0:08:27.005 getting paid to swim in the infamous grotto and look hop. Basically, 0:08:27.725 --> 0:08:30.525 she got word that a new exclusive club was looking 0:08:30.525 --> 0:08:33.245 for girls who were fun and open minded, but it 0:08:33.285 --> 0:08:37.765 was all very hush hush, gets crazy. She was intrigued 0:08:37.845 --> 0:08:40.085 and was given an address to meet for an interview, 0:08:41.285 --> 0:08:43.165 but when she showed up, she didn't even know what 0:08:43.205 --> 0:08:44.165 she was applying for. 0:08:45.765 --> 0:08:48.085 So I went and I met Damon at this like 0:08:48.645 --> 0:08:53.405 small little club on I think it was like on Melrose. 0:08:54.285 --> 0:08:56.165 And I go in there and it was just him. 0:08:56.285 --> 0:08:59.765 The whole place is pitch black, literally pitch black. I'm like, okay, 0:08:59.765 --> 0:09:02.725 I'm definitely in the wrong place. And I go in 0:09:02.765 --> 0:09:05.245 there and he's sitting there just like literally just him, 0:09:06.085 --> 0:09:08.925 no papers, no no mad nothing like. 0:09:09.045 --> 0:09:10.485 I'm like, okay, like what is this? 0:09:11.045 --> 0:09:14.205 And I go in and he introduced himself and he's 0:09:14.325 --> 0:09:17.925 like are you comfortable being naked? Like one of his 0:09:17.965 --> 0:09:20.165 first couple questions, and I was like, yeah, for sure. 0:09:20.245 --> 0:09:24.205 And he's like, okay, get naked, like literally like that. 0:09:24.285 --> 0:09:27.285 And I was like there's literally nobody here, like this 0:09:27.325 --> 0:09:30.805 is okay whatever. So I literally I stripped down like 0:09:30.845 --> 0:09:34.125 to my underwear and he's like, okay, you're hired, and 0:09:34.165 --> 0:09:36.085 I'm like hired for what? 0:09:37.005 --> 0:09:39.045 I don't even know, Like what am I hired for 0:09:40.325 --> 0:09:43.725 the job. It turns out was to be an atmosphere girl. 0:09:44.325 --> 0:09:45.525 I'll just let her explain it. 0:09:46.085 --> 0:09:49.165 And my job literally ninety nine percent of the time 0:09:49.245 --> 0:09:52.885 was just walking around and just existing as like the 0:09:52.925 --> 0:09:56.925 party started progressing for me, Like he would then like say, okay, 0:09:56.965 --> 0:09:59.925 get dressed up. We're gonna drape you in like diamonds 0:09:59.965 --> 0:10:02.805 and rhinestones, and your job's just gonna be You're gonna 0:10:02.805 --> 0:10:05.125 walk around with like a feather and like just dust. 0:10:05.165 --> 0:10:08.405 People don't talk to anyone. You're just there to like 0:10:08.485 --> 0:10:11.605 look beautiful. Or if Damon was like, I want you 0:10:11.685 --> 0:10:14.325 naked today, then you know I would just PLoP down 0:10:14.365 --> 0:10:18.045 on a chaise lounge somewhere naked and say hello to 0:10:18.085 --> 0:10:18.485 the world. 0:10:19.685 --> 0:10:22.885 Claudia speaks of her time at Sanctum so fondly that 0:10:23.005 --> 0:10:26.645 the experience was extremely fun and eye opening, and she 0:10:26.805 --> 0:10:30.245 clearly has the perfect temperament for the job. I mean, 0:10:30.445 --> 0:10:33.285 she's the sort of person who genuinely finds it amusing 0:10:33.405 --> 0:10:35.445 to show up for an interview and be asked to 0:10:35.485 --> 0:10:38.285 strip naked by a strange man sitting in a dark 0:10:38.325 --> 0:10:43.845 basement like a vampire. However, not everyone found Damon's hiring 0:10:43.885 --> 0:10:48.845 practices so charming. For instance, another early hire was Ambrose. 0:10:49.525 --> 0:10:52.085 Damon was looking for someone to play the quote bunny 0:10:52.165 --> 0:10:54.925 role at the club, which basically meant dressing up in 0:10:54.965 --> 0:10:58.685 skimpy lingerie, donning a bunny mask with cute little bunny ears, 0:10:58.965 --> 0:11:02.125 and following Damon around the party as his little pet. 0:11:02.645 --> 0:11:05.925 Ambrose is shy with a sweet, nervous laugh. He's a 0:11:05.965 --> 0:11:08.805 trans man, but during his years at Sanctum was still 0:11:08.845 --> 0:11:12.565 presenting as femme. Ambrose, which by the way, is a 0:11:12.605 --> 0:11:15.885 stage name, not his real name, heard about Sanctum from 0:11:15.885 --> 0:11:18.645 a friend who was already performing at the party and 0:11:18.725 --> 0:11:21.405 thought he'd be a great fit. Here's Ambrose. 0:11:22.085 --> 0:11:24.085 Well, so initially she was like, you need to meet 0:11:24.125 --> 0:11:27.365 up with this guy Damon and just like set up 0:11:27.365 --> 0:11:30.045 an interview and he'll ask you some questions and whatnot. 0:11:30.405 --> 0:11:35.045 And she did mention that they were looking for model 0:11:35.285 --> 0:11:39.365 esque type fem people or women or whatever. And since 0:11:39.405 --> 0:11:41.885 I was like pre transitioning at that point, you know, 0:11:42.005 --> 0:11:44.045 I kind of fit that mold. And at the time 0:11:44.085 --> 0:11:47.725 I had really long brown hair into my ass. 0:11:48.285 --> 0:11:51.605 Ambrose was twenty at the time. For his interview, Damon 0:11:51.645 --> 0:11:54.885 set up a meeting at a hotel restaurant in Beverly Hills. 0:11:55.325 --> 0:11:57.885 And then he asked me this very interesting question, which 0:11:57.925 --> 0:12:00.365 at the time, you know, if I was very young, innocent, 0:12:00.525 --> 0:12:05.685 naive like. He asked me if he could see my 0:12:05.765 --> 0:12:08.645 body without clothes on to see if I was fit 0:12:08.805 --> 0:12:11.365 for the role that he was wanting. 0:12:12.245 --> 0:12:13.925 And I was like, well, how would that happen. 0:12:14.125 --> 0:12:18.085 He's like, there's bathrooms upstairs above where we are, and 0:12:18.125 --> 0:12:18.725 no one ever. 0:12:18.605 --> 0:12:19.405 Really goes in them. 0:12:20.405 --> 0:12:22.485 So we went upstairs with this bathroom. 0:12:22.085 --> 0:12:25.085 Area, and sure enough no one was in there, and 0:12:25.125 --> 0:12:28.285 we went to like the handicap stall. He stood on 0:12:28.285 --> 0:12:30.245 one side and I tried to stand as. 0:12:30.085 --> 0:12:32.205 Far away from as claus as we could. 0:12:33.525 --> 0:12:36.445 I got down to like being naked. He asked me 0:12:36.445 --> 0:12:38.925 to do a little spin around and he was like, 0:12:38.965 --> 0:12:42.525 all right, brilliant, perfect, We'd love to have you. And 0:12:42.565 --> 0:12:47.685 I was like, all right, cool, this sounds good. 0:12:48.925 --> 0:12:52.085 At the time, Amberse found this kind of uncomfortable, but 0:12:52.325 --> 0:12:54.565 he was young and just starting out in the industry 0:12:54.685 --> 0:12:57.485 and thought, well, I guess this is just how this 0:12:57.525 --> 0:13:01.085 stuff works, and to be real, in some corners of 0:13:01.125 --> 0:13:05.485 the sex industry, this can unfortunately be how this stuff worked. 0:13:06.245 --> 0:13:09.285 But Ambrose was curious about the job and decided to 0:13:09.325 --> 0:13:12.645 take it. Despite this, he started out working the floor 0:13:12.925 --> 0:13:15.685 in various atmosphere roles. 0:13:15.605 --> 0:13:19.365 They asked you to work the crowd essentially, but it 0:13:19.405 --> 0:13:22.285 was always like implied, do it in a very flirtatious, 0:13:22.485 --> 0:13:26.085 like sexual kind of way, and like I was really 0:13:26.125 --> 0:13:28.005 good at it, Like there was a lot of people 0:13:28.045 --> 0:13:30.885 that I knew and recognized and recognized me, and like 0:13:32.125 --> 0:13:34.365 I feel like would look forward to seeing me and 0:13:34.445 --> 0:13:36.165 vice versa at the parties. 0:13:37.525 --> 0:13:39.885 To give you a picture of how this all operated, 0:13:40.285 --> 0:13:42.805 each Sanctum event had a cast of about ten to 0:13:42.845 --> 0:13:48.125 twelve performers. Most of them were atmosphere models, basically people 0:13:48.125 --> 0:13:50.885 who were paid to roam around in costumes acting as 0:13:50.925 --> 0:13:54.405 different characters, like maybe you were the bunny that night, 0:13:54.805 --> 0:13:57.485 or sometimes they'd have a girl dressed up as a lamp. 0:13:58.165 --> 0:14:04.725 Loull Damon calls this interactive performance art. These performers would 0:14:04.725 --> 0:14:07.245 be paid between three hundred and fifty and five hundred 0:14:07.245 --> 0:14:09.925 and fifty dollars a night. But then there'd be a 0:14:09.965 --> 0:14:12.205 few cast members who would have sex in front of 0:14:12.245 --> 0:14:15.245 the guests as part of the live sex show, and 0:14:15.365 --> 0:14:19.125 these were the highest paid performers at Sanctum. You can 0:14:19.165 --> 0:14:24.045 think of the sex shows almost like porno ballet, dramatic strings, 0:14:24.285 --> 0:14:30.205 impressively flexible women smoke machines, and lots of lube obviously. 0:14:31.125 --> 0:14:36.005 For example, they sometimes did ritualistic type performances where the 0:14:36.085 --> 0:14:39.965 atmosphere girls would hold candles and lead out the virgin 0:14:40.285 --> 0:14:43.725 or the princess or whatever character it was on the night, 0:14:44.045 --> 0:14:46.165 who would then be fucked to death by a guy 0:14:46.205 --> 0:14:51.005 with an eight pack. You got the idea. After working 0:14:51.045 --> 0:14:54.005 for a while as an atmosphere model, Ambrose wanted a 0:14:54.045 --> 0:14:57.205 pay jump and started working as a live sex performer. 0:14:57.845 --> 0:15:00.845 I love how he recalls how the cast members would 0:15:00.885 --> 0:15:02.685 prepare for going on stage. 0:15:03.165 --> 0:15:05.845 So we're getting ready for the performance and we go 0:15:05.965 --> 0:15:09.885 back in the green room. If someone is getting something 0:15:09.925 --> 0:15:13.365 inserted into them, like penetration wise they like kind of 0:15:13.405 --> 0:15:17.325 like a fluff themselves or someone helped them out back there. 0:15:18.205 --> 0:15:20.045 I'd always have my little Hatachi, like. 0:15:23.165 --> 0:15:27.325 Okay, I'm good Hatachi meaning his faithful vibrator of course, 0:15:27.645 --> 0:15:31.085 a tried and true classic. Mike Saeger, who we met 0:15:31.165 --> 0:15:34.765 last episode, is the journalist from Esquire who followed Damon 0:15:34.845 --> 0:15:37.605 around for a few months back in twenty sixteen. He 0:15:37.725 --> 0:15:39.885 gave us his take on the live sex show. 0:15:40.445 --> 0:15:42.685 At a certain time of the evening they would have 0:15:42.725 --> 0:15:47.365 the show and it was basically choreographed fucking, but yet 0:15:47.525 --> 0:15:52.125 also artsy and lit and costumed. It's almost like you 0:15:52.205 --> 0:15:56.445 get the impression you're watching like the Follies or or something. 0:15:56.525 --> 0:15:58.645 But it was a sex act and it was very 0:15:58.765 --> 0:16:02.325 much a vibe like cabaret, you know that kind of 0:16:02.365 --> 0:16:05.445 like welcome ladies and gentlemen to the sex show. 0:16:06.045 --> 0:16:10.285 So like Sondheim meets eyes wide Shot. Honestly, I'm down. 0:16:11.405 --> 0:16:15.045 I remember one had a piggy mask being led by 0:16:15.085 --> 0:16:18.405 a chain on, another who was wearing like an eye cage, 0:16:18.645 --> 0:16:22.365 and another one with like a leather police hat with 0:16:22.445 --> 0:16:25.805 a flog. And they would go among the visitors. Instead 0:16:25.845 --> 0:16:29.685 of handing out cannapas, they would like say, you know 0:16:29.965 --> 0:16:32.525 it said stroke me or hit me or whatever, so 0:16:32.565 --> 0:16:36.245 they could stroke her, you know, fondle her, or they 0:16:36.285 --> 0:16:40.205 could like hit her with a whip, whatever their predilection was. 0:16:40.805 --> 0:16:44.045 As time went on, characters began to emerge within the 0:16:44.045 --> 0:16:47.765 world of the club. One of Damon's favorite regulars was 0:16:47.885 --> 0:16:51.325 this male porn star who, according to Damon, had one 0:16:51.365 --> 0:16:55.685 of the biggest dicks in the industry. Glamorous and this 0:16:55.765 --> 0:16:57.965 guy had a very special party trick. 0:16:58.805 --> 0:17:01.645 He would just like, lay on one of the master 0:17:01.765 --> 0:17:04.005 beds in the bedroom and there would be a line, 0:17:04.085 --> 0:17:06.805 I'm not fucking with you, a line of women and 0:17:06.885 --> 0:17:10.085 he would just put on a condom and he stayed 0:17:10.085 --> 0:17:12.165 hard because he's a fucking porn star. Whatever they inject 0:17:12.165 --> 0:17:13.765 into their dicks or whatever they're on, I don't know, 0:17:14.205 --> 0:17:17.285 but you know, four hours five hours of a heart on, 0:17:17.845 --> 0:17:18.525 which seems like. 0:17:18.525 --> 0:17:19.245 It would be painful. 0:17:19.525 --> 0:17:21.645 But he would lay on the bed like a fucking 0:17:21.685 --> 0:17:25.245 amusement park ride and women would walk in and there 0:17:25.245 --> 0:17:27.325 would be a line and they would get on him, 0:17:27.365 --> 0:17:29.405 they would ride him. They would come and they would 0:17:29.445 --> 0:17:31.445 get off, and the next woman would step on. 0:17:31.965 --> 0:17:33.005 And it was like this. 0:17:33.005 --> 0:17:35.725 Guy treated me like I was his hero, and I 0:17:35.805 --> 0:17:41.245 was like, bro, what the fuck? Like, you're like this god, 0:17:41.365 --> 0:17:43.365 you know, like you're welcome any time. 0:17:43.485 --> 0:17:45.765 And he would come to almost every party. 0:17:47.645 --> 0:17:50.205 So this is the kind of stuff you'd see at Sanctum, 0:17:50.565 --> 0:17:52.565 And for a lot of the guests, this was all 0:17:52.605 --> 0:17:57.125 pretty shocking. The club attracted a specific crowd, often the 0:17:57.165 --> 0:17:59.645 sort of people who never imagined they'd end up at 0:17:59.685 --> 0:18:03.125 a sex party, but because it had this upscale reputation 0:18:03.725 --> 0:18:06.965 and was being covered in mainstream public locations, they thought, 0:18:07.405 --> 0:18:10.365 fuck it, maybe I am one of those depraved sex 0:18:10.405 --> 0:18:15.445 party people. Just like the rich version, Sanctum felt approachable, 0:18:15.885 --> 0:18:20.045 almost safe. Basically, there were a lot of Orgie virgins. 0:18:20.565 --> 0:18:25.365 One notable Orgi virgin was David Winkler, a Hollywood movie producer. 0:18:26.005 --> 0:18:29.085 He's in his fifties and has this really warm, non 0:18:29.205 --> 0:18:32.965 judgmental energy. When he heard about Sanctum, he was recently 0:18:33.005 --> 0:18:36.885 divorced and looking to explore his sexuality. He'd never been 0:18:36.885 --> 0:18:40.085 to anything resembling a sex party and described his sex 0:18:40.125 --> 0:18:43.685 life then as pretty vanilla. After he went through Sanctum's 0:18:43.685 --> 0:18:47.605 application process, he spent months feeling way too nervous to 0:18:47.645 --> 0:18:51.165 actually go, But eventually he started dating a woman who 0:18:51.205 --> 0:18:53.805 was intrigued and encouraged him to make the leap. 0:18:54.245 --> 0:18:57.925 Here's David, the girl I was dating, and I decided, okay, 0:18:57.925 --> 0:19:00.165 well, well I needed a new tuxedo if I'm going to 0:19:00.205 --> 0:19:03.005 go to my first sex party. So we went and 0:19:03.125 --> 0:19:06.565 spent a whole weekend beforehand shopping. I bought like this 0:19:06.725 --> 0:19:10.565 platinum four hundred dollars masks, and we ended up at 0:19:10.605 --> 0:19:15.045 a famous lingerie store Welcome, and we found this beautiful 0:19:15.085 --> 0:19:19.125 outfit for her, and the saleswoman says, let me ask 0:19:19.165 --> 0:19:22.485 you something. Is this for a specific event? We kind 0:19:22.485 --> 0:19:23.885 of looked at each other and we didn't know what 0:19:23.925 --> 0:19:26.205 to admit. We said, yeah, we're going to a party tonight. 0:19:26.365 --> 0:19:30.925 Oh she said, oh, you're going to Sanctum. Yeah, she said, yeah, 0:19:30.965 --> 0:19:33.885 I do really well on the fourth Saturday of every month. 0:19:34.525 --> 0:19:38.045 I sell whiffs, I sell chains, I sell blindfold so 0:19:38.245 --> 0:19:42.805 much laingerie like she made her entire commission on the 0:19:42.845 --> 0:19:44.405 fourth Saturday of every month. 0:19:45.285 --> 0:19:50.125 Love that for her. For David, who considered himself pretty conservative, 0:19:50.605 --> 0:19:54.165 even just having this conversation with the stranger was crazy. 0:19:54.765 --> 0:19:57.925 Well, what was incredible is is just that what sanctums 0:19:57.925 --> 0:20:00.605 showed me is that there's this whole world of people 0:20:00.765 --> 0:20:04.085 who know about things and just don't talk about them. 0:20:04.165 --> 0:20:07.765 Everybody's afraid to talk about everybody's afraid to talk about 0:20:07.845 --> 0:20:11.085 the kinky things they do. But the minute you open 0:20:11.165 --> 0:20:13.565 up and you start talking about it, people feel comfortable 0:20:13.565 --> 0:20:14.485 and they start sharing. 0:20:15.325 --> 0:20:18.245 When David finally did make it to Sanctum, let's just 0:20:18.325 --> 0:20:20.525 say first impressions were good. 0:20:21.045 --> 0:20:23.405 You know, the first time you go to a sanctum, 0:20:23.685 --> 0:20:29.085 it's like walking into a private, victorious, secret catalog runway party. 0:20:29.685 --> 0:20:31.285 You know, you're met at the door by the most 0:20:31.285 --> 0:20:34.645 beautiful women in these huge feathered headdresses and you know, 0:20:35.405 --> 0:20:40.045 gold capes and nothing else and high heels and walking 0:20:40.085 --> 0:20:42.685 around was just unbelievable. 0:20:42.885 --> 0:20:46.565 But the appeal extended beyond just the opportunity to leer 0:20:46.605 --> 0:20:51.205 at models dressed as horny exotic birds. Personally, I think 0:20:51.285 --> 0:20:54.205 the goal of any sexual space is to create an 0:20:54.285 --> 0:20:58.245 environment where people can explore their sexuality without judgment or shame. 0:20:58.925 --> 0:21:02.165 And unfortunately there aren't enough places like that in the world. 0:21:02.765 --> 0:21:06.725 But as many guests and performers recall it, David included, 0:21:07.125 --> 0:21:10.125 Sanctum was starting to build a community that resembled something 0:21:10.165 --> 0:21:10.845 of this sort. 0:21:11.405 --> 0:21:13.325 That's the one thing that I got from it was 0:21:13.445 --> 0:21:15.605 just like you walk into a club where people are 0:21:15.605 --> 0:21:18.845 having sex and there's no shame. But I think for 0:21:18.885 --> 0:21:22.525 the most people, even open minded people, you know, going 0:21:22.565 --> 0:21:25.445 to a party where there's you know, dozens of people 0:21:25.725 --> 0:21:28.045 naked and having sex in front of you and everybody 0:21:28.125 --> 0:21:33.125 thinking oh that's cool and talking about it make me 0:21:33.205 --> 0:21:35.245 feel like I was not the only perverent town. 0:21:36.165 --> 0:21:40.405 Honestly, kind of wholesome when we come back after a break, 0:21:40.765 --> 0:22:05.485 Damon tries to bring his work into bed with him. 0:22:06.965 --> 0:22:09.725 So by this point, Damon and Melissa have been running 0:22:09.765 --> 0:22:13.085 Sanctum for over two years, and the bigger the club gets, 0:22:13.165 --> 0:22:16.005 the more it starts to spill over into their personal lives. 0:22:16.565 --> 0:22:20.285 Sanctum is becoming something that they, or at least Melissa, 0:22:20.605 --> 0:22:23.365 often feels like she needs to hide. 0:22:23.525 --> 0:22:26.485 Like we're living in Beverly Hills. We're friends with all 0:22:26.525 --> 0:22:29.325 of those parents and families, and you know, going to 0:22:29.365 --> 0:22:33.805 birthday parties and like living that kind of domesticated lifestyle 0:22:34.525 --> 0:22:38.165 all the while, on the down low, my husband runs 0:22:38.245 --> 0:22:42.045 this naughty ass sex club in the hills, like double life. 0:22:42.845 --> 0:22:45.365 No one knew, so as soon as this shit started 0:22:45.365 --> 0:22:48.645 to get successful, I was like fuck. 0:22:49.405 --> 0:22:52.285 Basically, they were the orgy masters and a sea of 0:22:52.325 --> 0:22:56.605 cardiologists and entertainment lawyers, and it was getting kind of awkward. 0:22:57.565 --> 0:23:00.605 At this point, Melissa was still heavily involved in managing 0:23:00.685 --> 0:23:04.405 the club with Damon, and her tasks were shall we 0:23:04.485 --> 0:23:06.605 say why I ranging. 0:23:06.565 --> 0:23:09.085