JOHNNY'S and COZMOS on Saturday

[Karl-G]

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JOHNNY'S in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday night was doing booming business. Everything is the way it was before. There was a very large crowd and very many dancers. There was a "porn star" in attendance and so they charged $5 cover. He was Landon Myckles, a good looking, very muscular young man, who has made some videos and done some photo layouts. He seemed pleasant, although shorter than I expected. He was walking around in his briefs between sets, and you could chat him up and play with him if interested.

 

In addition, there were about 30 dancers, all in costumes, since Saturday night is "Costume Night." There was a Soccer Player, a Life Guard, a Cowboy, a French Maid, Superman, Spiderman, and lots more. The dancers seemed to enjoy wearing the (brief) costumes. As they walked around the two rooms, they wore basically briefs. All were very friendly and sociable.

 

I found the crowd and sound level in the performing room a bit strong, and so I headed to the "dance room" on the east. The sound level was much better, there were plenty of bar stools to sit on, there was more open space and more light, and all the dancers seemed to walk through the room regularly. So my arms and lap were filled continuously with charming and delightful boys. Most are twinks; Johnny's is a twink bar. But a few of the dancers were a bit more mature with muscular development. Johnny's has a strong Latino flavor, and there were many very nice Hispanic dancers around. But there were also a lot of others.

 

Lap dances were as enjoyable and reasonable as ever. Dancers I chatted with and sometimes played with included: Landon Myckles, Christian, Thomas, James, Rafael, Gilberto, Alex, David, Adrian, Mickey, Vladimir, and Antoine. I could describe each one, but they will be different each night, and you ought to go and experience them yourself. But in total there were at least 30 dancers. Very nice and lots of fun.

 

COZMOS has great possibilities, and I hope it is able to fulfill them. A friend of mine arrived early and said the piano bar (from 6-10 on Saturdays) was very pleasant. The poster says one pianist comes Mon, Tues, and Thurs and another Wed, Fri and Sat. It certainly is a very pleasant atmosphere. Dancers come on at 9:00 p.m.

 

Last night there was a $5 cover, which is very reasonable. The space and furnishings are excellent - they have been described before. Last night there were about 15 dancers, all of them very cute twinks. But this is definitely a cute twink bar, with the emphasis on slight builds. Two dancers, in their twenties, were buff, but all the others were slender twinks. If you are looking for NY type body builders, this is not the place to come. But they were the cutest group of twinks I have ever seen. All were in Ginch Gonch briefs, which added to the youthful feeling. Three or four performed at a time on platforms scattered around the large room. You can sit on a leather couch and watch and chat, or you can sit on a raised bar stool by a small table. Management is still experimenting with placement. Poles will be installed shortly. There were not a lot of customers.

 

The dancers were all friendly and sociable, and we had dancers at our small table or in our laps the entire time we were there. That is nice. But there are two major problems to be addressed before they will be successful, I think. The lighting in the center of the room is fine, but the lighting on the other three dancer platforms is very poor, and they are in deep shadows. You can't see the dancers. This is not good, but can be remedied easily. And they said they were bringing in new ceiling lights this week and were making adjustments. Good. Among the dancers we enjoyed last night were Chris, Rico, Matty, Brad, Craig, Dominic, Alex, and Christian.

 

But the sound level is painfully high and totally unnecessary. I spoke with dancers, bartenders, and even a manager, and they all agreed, but said the dj is all-powerful and wants it that loud. I hope that is wrong, and they change. The customers are not 16 year olds who like that ambience, but considerably older gentlemen who would like to be able to talk with one another and with the dancers. That is almost impossible now. I spoke to the manager and the owner, who was walking around and said he was looking for feedback.

 

The third area of concern I guess is a matter of choice. I liked the twinks who were there last night, and I would go again if the lighting gets better and the sound gets turned down. But I don't know how often I would go for a pure-twink diet. I think in general business terms, it would be better to have some variety in dancer types. It is not necessary to have the big bodybuilder types, but some buff guys in their twenties or even swimmer types in their 20s would add a great deal to the attraction. But maybe they want to be an exclusive twink bar; I'm not sure about that.

 

But in general, I think Cozmos is a very nice bar, and I hope they make a few changes to improve it. Lowering the sound level is a sine qua non, however.

 

Barhopping last night was a lot of fun, and the male stripper bars of Fort Lauderdale offered many delightful treats, which we enjoyed. Highly recommended.

 

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