No gloss, no filter, just stories, spoken without fear. Varsan, who is not generous, cannot be an artist. The world will be at peace only when it is ruled by poets and philosophers. Listen to my weekly podcast, the puja bhajjo on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. You've been to Berlin? Yes, my father was army and I grew up there as a kid back in the 80s before the wall came down. Ooh, that's gotta be weird. That's gotta be very weird. Yeah, I have stories. I bet. Hey, so, but let me ask you this. So you were a kid when your dad was in the army and in the station there. Have you been back as an adult though? No, and I wanted to. My sister and I had a girl trip planned. I think it was going to be, you know, so many years after we left, we were going to go back and visit and COVID happened. So it was already planned, booked and everything and then COVID happened and it got canceled. Oh, damn, that sucks. That sucks. And I can't remember who it was. Like, I don't know why. Hey, thank you, ma'am. Thank you. I just feel like Berlin is a big city. And there's a million things to do. Remember though, I was trying to get nervous to do these. Never, it doesn't matter. The. A jeweler. The timing people. Yeah. Oh, very good. Yeah. The but to do like we did when we went on safari, but to go to Berlin. Who was the band that also I wanted to go see in Germany? Like with them. They were playing Germany. Ooh. And I was like, we should go with them. I don't recall. You've brought up Berlin a lot. Yeah, because I do think I would love it. Lala Palooza. Oh, that's right. That's right. I wanted to do Lala Palooza Berlin. But then remember, we thought about and I think it was Labor Day weekend, but we thought about going to bash in Berlin, the WWE event. Okay, that may have been an inside your head conversation. But the. No, but you're right. Lala Palooza in Berlin. I definitely wanted to remember that was the summer. There were so many reasons that we were going to Germany. They all fell through and that's how we ended up going to Zincinati. That's right. That's right. That's how we ended up in Sinsi. You're 100% right. Where am I going? Kristen line two. Hi, Elliott in the morning. Hey, good morning. This is Paul from Woodbridge. Hey, Paul, how are you doing? Well, you have you been to Berlin? Yep. I was there actually just last spring for work for one week. And we're like, did you get any free time? Yeah, mostly mostly in the evenings and then in the weekend and had my wife with me. So yeah, we played tourists around Berlin. Hey, did you go to any of the clubs? No, I didn't go to any of my clubs. Some of my coworkers at a late night, John to some of the clubs and I heard some stories. Like, give me like when you say you heard some stories like what? Just out of control, right? Well, yeah, yeah, that they ended up at some clubs and then I think they made it about wanted to be one of the arrow senders. Wait, one more time. I missed that last part. An arrow center. So if you didn't know in Germany and a lot of places in Western Europe, sex work is not a taboo thing and they'll actually have well, in essence, brothels. Right. Oh, that's OK. That's all right. No, they listen. There's people who work for I hard who have been with prostitutes. But there's also there's also and maybe maybe this is what your coworkers did. There are some clubs like nightclubs like nightclubs like but they're dance clubs where you can have sex in there. You don't even have to wear clothes. What? Yeah, you don't have to wear clothes. You could just show up like this. So there's there's there's one place that's supposed to be very famous. I don't know how to pronounce it. B E R G H A I N. Butterkind. Yeah. Butterkind. That is that's the Rosalia just did a song entitled that and it was. Butterkind based on the themes of like self consuming joy and and passion and love. Anything goes kinky atmosphere with a notoriously strict door policy. What does that mean? You could wait up to 10 hours to get in. I won't. And that's and that's if they'll let you in. But like you once you get in there, they said that there are there are as many people that love to tell the story of not getting in. It's almost like a badge of honor to be turned away at the door. So it's like their studio 54. Yeah, I guess so. But I don't know. Yeah, if it's 54 was ever this crazy. No, like the. So I was reading about one person that got in. They got in. There's people. There's some people in bathing suits. There's some people in like like like dressed up. There's one person that was wearing tennis shoes. And that's all tennis shoes. No shirt. No pants. Don's out. But the line is long because everybody wants to go. It's one of the things where you used to hear you come in, you come in. It's not one of the bouncers. Oh, yeah. No, the bouncers are deciding who's going to. So which you're describing so many different looks, which look is easy access. You figure it out. Actually, don't out. Sounds like. No, no, but they were saying that's what you don't know. Like somebody could get in wearing a suit like a like a like a nice suit. And then the next person up has got like on like bikini bottoms and no top on. They're in. One person got in wearing like a bathrobe. And so this one person that I was reading about, they got denied at the door. They went to another club, came back eight hours later. And they were like, no way. That person's still there as they approached the door. The bouncer said to the person, I said no before I'm saying no again. But they said there's videos of people just standing in line and getting rejected. I've told you before my father who traveled a lot for work. He brought my mom once to, and this is again going to be in New York City, this is 54, he brought my mom and they got rejected. And he said to her, I've never not gotten in before. Oh wow. So it was her fault. No gloss, no filter, just stories, spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people and the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the sub-city, Hachakar. Reached the pinnacle, stung by the sneaker, I've fallen down again. I am not writing actively anymore and when I see my old work it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt show on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. Berlin has no nightlife curfew. Some people bring toothbrushes to Bergen knowing they could be inside for days. A weekend party at a club in Berlin means getting there on Friday and leaving in time to go home on Sunday night and get ready for work. So are these like lost weekends? It's awesome. They mentioned Kit Kat. At the Kit Kat Club, isn't that in what's the Broadway show that I saw with, what's his name? Cats. Cabaret. Yeah, Cabaret is at the Kit Kat Club. Alan Cummings. Alan Cummings, thank you. The Kit Kat Club remains a place where public sex is sanctioned so is semi-public sex taking place with more privacy and dedicated rooms. When I got to the door the bouncer said I could come in if I took my pants off. So isn't Cabaret set in Berlin? Yeah. So that is the actual club. The actual Kit Kat Club. Yeah. Yeah. Could you imagine? I get there, I'm all excited. I've got on jeans and my uggs and I show up and they're like, nah, take off in the pants. All right, here they go. Is there anything like this stateside? No. Anymore? I know there are sex clubs. No, but these are, yes, you can have sex there, but these are like clubs. I'm saying are people bringing their toothbrush to anything in the US? There's no place, I promise you there's no place in the US. I shouldn't say that, maybe there is, maybe there's, but, and I'm not talking about some underground rave joint where it's all weekend. These are regular night clubs. Yeah. Where you show up on Friday and don't leave until Sunday? No. Zero chance. It's almost like you're going out of town. Can I, can I apologize to somebody real quick? Just real quick, because it made me think of that. Somebody that was at the, somebody that was at the VIP happy hour last night. At one point, they said this was years ago, had asked me for recommendations in Montreal to send somebody. And I gave them like three or four places to go. And one of the places I gave them was Wanda's and it's the only place their friend went, not knowing it was a strip club. So my apologies. My apologies. Where am I going? Line one. Oh, but back to that. There's no place that you show up on Friday and you're not out of there until Sunday evening. But God, do I want to go? Hi, Elliot in the morning. Hi, is this me? Yeah. Hi. Who's this? Hey, Elliot. This is Tally from Fairfax. Yes, ma'am. Hey, so I went to Berlin in like 2019. One of my girlfriends was running the marathon and we were seriously considering going into like Kit Kat and trying for a guy. But we were literally just a bunch of white girls wearing UGGs and like athletic gear. And we were like, there's absolutely no way we are going to be able to pass these door guys. Taken some pants off. Literally. And it's like, there's, if you Google it, Tyler, if you look it up, there is this iconic doorman at Burguine. Who has been there for probably like 30 or 40 years. And he is literally like the keeper of the line and literally will look you up and down and be like, yeah, no, you can't come in and like they quiz you on who the DJs are going to be. You have to be in all black. You have to be edgy. So yeah, it's really tough to get into those places. Hey, did you see, but when you were there, like, did you go to, did you go by there just to see what it looks like? No, we didn't go by there, but it literally just looks like a giant warehouse. Yeah. And it's got like graffiti all over the front. Yeah. Giant warehouse. Sometimes like on TikTok and things like that, like people have like maps of the inside, but it's just like dark and smoky and you know, you can't really see anything. And you really know what's the. You know how you know it's good. People wait in line for 10 hours to get in. 10 hours. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just like, it's like hardcore, hard style techno music like the whole time. Perfect. No, you're a boy with eggs. Are you talking about Sven? Is Sven the bouncer? Yes, then the bouncer. Yep. The big, big guy kind of bald, right? A lot of tattoos. A lot of facial tattoos. If he told me to take my pants off, I'd do it in a second. Take it and pants off. He's probably got, he's got to be one of the most famous people. I'd like, I've never learned of him until today, but if he's got to be one of the most famous people in Berlin. Oh yeah, he's also, I think he was at like Milan or Paris Fashion Week this past year. Seriously. For a couple of things. I don't know, but he was definitely at a fashion show this past spring. Interesting. Interesting. All right. Very good. Very good. Thank you, ma'am. I found you a day to go. Okay. On May 5th and that could be, or you could go see Breaking Benjamin on June 22nd. I would do that. Are they doing Lollapalooza there this year? I haven't seen that. Oh, the fray. Trying to find you a shine down. Well, I shine down. Yes, they have. When is it? It is, where are the dates here? You know, they're going to. Oh, pit bull. Backwards. It's the 18th and 19th of July. Boy. Nellie Allen's performing all of West End Girl. Dude, that's awesome. All American rejects. There's a bunch of shows. You, you can, you guys can make it happen. Pit bull. You just got dressed in all black. Well, that's to go to Birkenheim. The, yeah, that's okay. I'll go with pit bull, take my pants off. I'm getting a face tattoo. You could date Casey. Hi, Elliott. The morning. Hi, can you hear me? Yeah. Hi. Who's this? Hi. I prefer not to say based on my extracurricular activities in Berlin. Wait. So you obviously you've been to Berlin. Have you been to Birkenheim? Yes. Dude, how was, how long was your wait in line? Um, not to gloat. I had it in. So I just walked up and walked right in. Did you go with pit bull? No, no, I walked in. Um, it is, it is the equivalent of our modern shooting for 54. Anything, anything goes great. Techno music, great local artists that bring in. Um, and yes, you can be locked in there all weekend and not realize it. They walk out then three days later. That how long do you remember how long you stayed for? Oh, I wasn't really, I've been in Berlin by eight, nine times. Um, it was in that, that weekend just for five days. But I'm at that night in back home. I was in there just for 24, 36 hours. That's longer than I've been to most clubs. Wow. Most clubs. Hey, would I be honest? Would I like it? If you like techno music, yes. Um, it is a sight to be seen. Um, anything, anything goes the same thing with the KK club. Um, and yeah, it's, it's, it's a sight to behold. Um, and it's good fun. Hey, so, but like, listen, do I like when I'm at home, I don't listen to a lot of techno music. However, is it one of those things where even if you don't like, or it's not your thing, once you're there, it's, this is a horrible example, but it would be like, like being someplace and they start playing like, like symphony music. And you'd be like, okay, like this makes sense. Like I'm in like a classy joint or something like that. Like I feel like, like techno music would fit in there. Yeah. Maybe you don't like techno, techno music. It's a great venue. Um, it is, it is unique. Um, you still have a good time whether you like the music or not. Um, it's, it's, it's just a good time. If it goes away, it's going to be a bad day. You could drink there, right? Yes. You thought that was off limits? The, no, no, I just, no, I didn't know like if they're, because again, it's open 24 hours a day. I don't know if it's seven days a week. So I could, I could go up to the bar at any point and get a jack and coke. And then go dance here, dance your special way for the night. Amen. Do you see, do you see a lot of Tushy while you were there? A lot of pantsless people? Yeah. There's places you can seek off and have a little, little, little time in the corner. No joke. Can I ask you this at any point, at any point while you were there, did you whip your penis out? Can you either confirm or deny? Yeah, buddy. Which one's better, Bergen or, um, um, Kit Kat? Uh, Bergen is more industrial. Kit Kat is more of a, more of a traditional club. Um, but yeah, anything goes there too as well. And as you said, the Kit Kat club is based off, um, the Broadway play and the original Kit Kat club is actually in our grocery store. So this is a new iteration of it. It's been there for a while. Oh wow. Um, but yeah, it's so carries the legacy of the Kit Kat club. We got to do a show trip to like, but we got to bring people with us. Like, oh, so we have a huge group that needs to get in like Vegas. Do they have a bed MGM in Berlin? Um, not a gambling guy. So I couldn't tell you. Apologies. No, I'm sorry. I am all 36 hour club work. I do not gamble. Dude, that's awesome. All right. Very good. Thank you, my friend. So our friend, maybe you can call her that. We've talked around the phone before Natalie B Compton talks about her Bergheim experience. Who is Natalie B Compton? Didn't we first chat with her after she went to pizza? Yeah, she's been. Bouncer asked how old are you? I couldn't remember. My heart was pounding. Um, 34, 34. The bouncer walked over to his associate whispering something in his ear. He came back and let me down easy something along the lines of, I'm sorry, I can't let you in tonight. Wow. Um, now from Instagram, I almost said the name. I know we don't do names on Instagram. We've met her before, but I still, I shouldn't say her name. She sent over an online simulator, Bergheim trainer, where the website analyzes your body language to determine if you would get into the club. Oh no. I was reading it said that you can't appear nervous, that you have to show all sorts of club fans. Natalie could remember age. They want access to your camera and your microphone. Do it. I can't turn on the computer because there's a camera. Oh, god damn it. You want that sort of news today? Yeah, I want to know if I can get in. I have an answer for you. Yeah, man. You think so? You think that this Bergheim trainer.com would say yes to you? I do. The virtual Sven. I'm sorry, I cannot let you in today. Can I go to line six? We got to find a reason to go. Like now, now it has to be done. Sarah just gave you a ton of shows. Okay. Well, I can't just call all American rejects and go, Hey, can we bring 30 people over for a trip? I forgot you want to bring a big group. I got to bring a big group. Hi, Elliot in the morning. Hey, is this me? Yeah. Hi. Who's this? Hey, my name's Christian. Yeah. Have you been? Yeah, I've been to Bergheim twice. Twice? Twice. Is it, is it as cool as it sounds or out of control as it sounds? It's pretty wild. Me and my friends were living in England for a couple of years and we heard about this place and we were like, let's just go see if we can get in. And so we hopped on a flight on Thursday and then showed up on Friday morning and then stood in line for 10 hours. And I was the only one of my friends that got in the first time. And then I just was like, see you guys on Monday. And that was the end of that for them. Wait a minute. So why, why, why did you get in and your friend, did you have your balls out? I did not have my balls out. No. So how did you get in and not, that's kind of, by the way, Sven, that's kind of a dick move. Like he knew that you were there. You gotta just go. That's gotta be like the unwritten rule. No, but you're there with your boys. We flew in from England for this. I can't believe you stood in line for 10 hours. Like that's crazy. Did you have on a big University of Tennessee sweatshirt? Because that's what Elliot has on for this. You don't think they let me in? For this virtual trainer. No, I don't want to like a black sweater that had some like pairs in it and some jeans that were also black. Hey, pull up the website. I need Armani exchange or something like that. I need like some Euro clothing for when I go. Hey, so you got in on Friday at some point and you didn't leave until Sunday? I left Monday. I'm sorry, Monday. Was it the greatest four days of just partying? Yeah, it was pretty good. Lots of things to do. Lots of sites to see. If you can think of it, it's happened in there. Wow. Did you leave in the same clothes you showed up in? I did not actually. I traded. There was a girl there that said that she liked my shirt. And so I traded my shirt with her and then some dude had on a leather kilt and I and he was like, do you want it? And I was like, yeah, sure. And so I left wearing a leather kilt and a mesh black shirt. So she groggy. Yes. Yes. We got to go. We have to go. Have you ever found any place else in the world? I don't know why you were living in England, whatever you were doing there, but have you ever found any place else that's like that? Not really. There's some like crazy clubs and like Benadorm that do like weird like sex shows, but it's not it doesn't really compare. I got you. I got you. All right, dude. It's more of a vibe like there. It's like, you know what you're getting yourself into. That's me, man. All right. Very good. Very good. Thank you. There's no there's. Okay. We just talked to the guy from Burden, Burgane, however you say it. Burkine. Yeah. Who swit wore left in a leather kilt and some sweater he got from a girl. Elliott, there's a place in Hagerstown, Maryland that does this every weekend. Zero chance. That's true. I don't know what the reference in Hagerstown. There's a where you just you got to wait 10 hours to get in. And it's like a club. Bring your toothbrush. There's no way if that exists in Hagerstown, wouldn't we know? But is your problem it may be so underground? But is it this club in Berlin is world famous? Yeah, no, but it's so is the if this was going on in Hagerstown, it would be world famous. Is there no, no, but is this like somebody rents out like every so often they rent out a farm and we have like a farm party. I can't show up at a farm party. I'm wearing a goddamn leather kilt. The woman's sweater. I don't know. There's been not a single follow up to very exclusive message, which came that message came through like 15 minutes ago. And nobody else has said, hey, what about the Kit Kat of Hagerstown? Maybe it's just a place where pants are optional. That's the only thing it has in common. Hey, photo fire.
