Oscar’s Delivers the Go-Go Goods

Oscar’s Palm Springs

By Kevin Perry

Does anybody remember dancing? It’s that curious shimmy that evolves into a liberating whirlwind, and the only obstacles in your way are the walls of the club and the occasional partner moving in unison with your hypnotic maneuvers.

Well, mirthful movement is alive and well at Oscar’s Palm Springs, the epicenter of effortless fun.

“T-Dance is a Sunday event here that has basically cemented Oscar’s worldwide as a place to dance,” declares owner Dan Gore. “If it wasn’t for the local people that come here every Sunday, Oscar’s probably wouldn’t be here.”

The past few months threw a tragic damper over the fierce festivities, but now an intoxicating cabaret is roaring back to life and spilling into the sunny courtyard.

Oscar’s Palm Springs Bitchiest Brunch

“Once the entertainment restriction was lifted, within 24 hours is when Oscar’s Palm Springs began our Bitchiest Brunch, which is now probably what we’re best known for. I think because of the pandemic, people are really anxious to get out and escape. And that’s what entertainment is really about. My theory is that entertainment is a part of escaping your normal day life and to be taken to a place that’s enjoyable and that takes you away from your everyday worries or life, to escape into something unreal. And just to enjoy a moment of fantasy, if you will, or just a moment of a joyfulness.”

Dan’s tone grows effervescent as he continues, “Entertainment is part of the human life ingredient that you need to survive.”

Oscar’s Palm Springs Mimosa Men

While we’re concocting a recipe for happiness, may we suggest the perfect drink pairing: champagne. Bubbly is the lifeblood of Oscar’s Palm Springs latest attraction, Mimosa Men. Every Saturday at 11:30am, Palm Springs transforms into Gyration Nation as a cadre of muscle-bound specimens serve up some scandal.

“I just couldn’t have imagined men stripping in daylight. And of course someone said, ‘You got to do it,’ and as soon as we opened up, they were just selling out and now it’s definitely our second most successful show here outside.”

But the Mimosa Men are #1 in our hearts. During a typical show, the performers climb the walls, rip off (almost) every morsel of clothing that cling to their sculpted forms, and spin the voracious audience into a mid-morning feeding frenzy.

“It’s not just go-go dancers,” Dan teases. “They can go-go dance as well, but they’re actually professionally trained dancers and we have an aerial lift as well. And they’re choreographed by a popular choreographer from Los Angeles and we bring them in from LA and they dance and they take their clothes off. They pour everyone’s champagne first and then they take their clothes off.”

Essential Public Service

Whew, glad we’ve got our priorities straight. Speaking of straight, Oscar’s Palm Springs is providing an essential public service through the art of erotic wait staffing.

“We’re all familiar with all the bachelorettes bombarding the gay bar,” admits Dan. “Locally, amongst the local community, the bachelorettes were definitely causing a ruckus in a lot of our men’s gay bars. So I wanted to accomplish something by bringing them outside of the gay bar, bringing them to Oscar’s. So they wouldn’t bother the gay culture.”

Indeed, the lure of wake-up booze and greased-up gentlemen has attracted a bevy of caterwauling attendees, but the ladies who brunch are generally on their best (worst) behavior. It’s just the latest gem in Dan’s crown of inclusion.

“This is what diversification is all about,” he opines. “A lot of the entertainment venues that focused on inside entertainment cannot open. So I’ve incorporated hiring dancers from other venues so they can work and so we can have a diverse artistic cycle here.”

Case in point: rock ‘n’ roll meets drag royalty.

Live Music

“We have a 60s band from the Roadhouse, which is a colleague, a neighbor business here on Palm Canyon, so they have a lot of bands over there. And so I hired one of their house bands, they played here last night and we had a lot of the Roadhouse regulars here. And then it transitioned from the Roadhouse into a Latin culture drag show… We had about a dozen people that watched the Roadhouse band actually watch the drag queens. So that doesn’t happen everyday where you’re going to have diverse entertainment where you have a crossover of very hetero, if there is such a thing, hetero clientele that enjoys rock music to stay over and watch drag queens.”

Dan is proud to announce that Las Chicas Calientes has garnered enough acclaim to catapult it into a double feature event bookending the perfect weekend in Palm Springs. “It’s so popular that we just started up two nights. So it’s now Mondays and Fridays and both nights were just packed. So there’s a popular, homegrown Latina culture here that they’re very tight and very loving and they love their Spanish drag queens and we’re very happy to have them here.”

Love is more than just a buzzword for Dan Gore; it’s a societal bond. “I’m continuing to give back to the community, to The Center. I’m a donor to the Gay and Lesbian Center here in Palm Springs, the Palm Springs Police Association to the Boys & Girls Club. And I’m constantly giving back as much as I can ‘cause that’s how businesses survive, is through the locals. And if I can help the locals with their local charities, then I’m all for it. Just the big circle of life, a big circle of finances. So I’m glad to support local charities.”

Generosity of spirit yields at atmosphere of creativity, acceptance and, yes, scantily clad Romeos. Mimosa Men is just the latest menu item in Oscar’s roster of raucousness, and it all adds up to a must-experience attraction.

“What we aspire to be is the entertainment destination for Palm Springs,” announces Dan. “So when people think of coming to Palm Springs, they think about going to Oscar’s because of the wide variety and diversity of the entertainment that we have here.”

We would make a well-rounded double entendre here, but we’re classier than cheeky butt jokes. The end.