Washington City Paper: Contents for Feb. 24

Trombones and Douche-o-Phones
Berk Motley and the Final, Fading Notes of the Bawdy Bladensburg Strip

Cover Story

For more than 50 years, Berk Motley has served his own brand of Incredibly Strange Entertainment live and in person at the Sirloin Room. Reservations are recommended. Otherwise, he might not show up.

The gaunt, pale old man stands at the microphone and surveys the crowd, a few dozen people eating and gabbing over their dinners. It is Saturday night at Berk Motley's Sirloin Room in Colmar Manor, a bleak hideaway located just across the District line in Prince George's County.

No mere observer of the feast of life, the man seems to be counting heads. He stands on a small stage behind a rack of clarinets, saxophones, and other horns. His black tuxedo hangs loose on his frail body, the mismatch of a man who has lost weight to illness. His drawn, unsmiling face reveals his exhaustion. But his restless gaze betrays the gnawing hunger of the entertainer who can't resist an audience.

“You want to see the show?” he demands hoarsely, sounding more like a jaded peep-show barker than the owner and featured performer of the restaurant that bears his name. The audience shouts its approval, and he allows a hint of satisfaction to ripple over his Mount Rushmore expression. But Motley can't be that easily persuaded. He dismisses one overzealous hand-clapper: “That's my brother.”

If anything, Motley seems ready to walk off the stage. For the past few weeks, he has been too ill or tired to complete a full night's performance. And earlier in the evening, the 81-year-old entertainer—backed by an accordion player and a guitarist—had already put on quite a show of blue humor and Incredibly Strange Music.... Continued

Issue of Feb. 24 - Mar. 2, 1995

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Trombones and Douche-o-Phones
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