Lewd tales of live sex shows in ’80s Times Square

For decades, Times Square has fought to escape its scandalous past, rebranding itself as a capitalist playground for the entire family. But the public’s hunger for the story of the city’s gritty underbelly only grows, fed by films like Taxi Driver and Midnight Cowboy, and more recently TV series like The Deuce.

Still, nothing satisfies quite like the truth. ​“I guess that’s why I’m still around, which is miraculous,” says artist and writer DEUCE 42, whose new memoir Peep Man (Lulu Books) is a torrid trip back to his days working at Show World, the fabled 24-hour sex emporium in the heart of Times Square. 

Penned with the perfect blend of passion, pathos, and debauchery, Peep Man chronicles the author’s rise from porter to performer headlining live sex shows up and down the Deuce, celebrating the extraordinary cast of characters he met along the way during his 12-year stint that first began in 1983. 

“When I close my eyes, I can still see the neon signs that said, ​‘LIVE GIRLS,’” says DEUCE 42, who also runs the official Show World Legacy.

“The whole idea was that you could meet a girl, talk to her, and she would take her clothes off for 25 cents,” he continues. ​“There was no better deal in town. It was this niche that was irresistible and you had to answer the call. Everybody’s into something and there was no discrimination whatever the proclivity may have been.”

For some it was a curiosity, for others a habit, but for DEUCE 42, it became something more: a family of outcasts and outlaws living on the fringe. ​“We were all in the same boat struggling to survive,” he says.

DEUCE 42 worked his way through the ranks, earning the trust and respect of all. ​“The girls took me into their confidence because I would mop their booths, and I was taken aback when one of them approached me to do a live sex show,” he says. ​“For the most part, it was a dare. But this uncontrollable lust had built up inside of me and nothing else would suffice.”

As a member of the ​“love team”, DEUCE 42 and his partner put on 20-minute shows once an hour, working 6 – 8 hour shifts, for $8.25/hour ($26.15 today). ​“It was like something that Rod Serling had written himself,” DEUCE 42 says of the Twilight Zone-like atmosphere.

“You’re on this podium surrounded by 18 windows, which are going up and down simultaneously as customers insert 25 cents,” he continues. ​“Then you have the music coming in, and there’s nothing more surreal than hearing the Madonna song, ​‘Physical Attraction’ and actually having sex on a stage.”

After performing 48 shows in the first week, DEUCE 42 understood it was just a job, not unlike a circus performer trained to entertain crowds. This is where Peep Man truly comes alive: in the portraits of the extraordinary people no longer here to tell the stories themselves.

Peep Man by DEUCE 42 is published by Lulu Books.

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