Torture Garden was started in 1990 by Allen and Dave. Allen was running alternative night-clubs and Dave was fresh out of art college. They decided to start the kind of club that they would both really like to go to.

The club started out in a small venue in Shepherds Bush but it was so popular that within a few months they had exceeded the venue’s capacity of 500 and had to move on. The rest is, as they say, history.

In recent times Torture Garden has found a home at Mass, in Brixton. This converted church has several floors, providing plenty of space! Other venues include Scala and SEOne

From time to time Torture Garden goes on safari to run a club night outside London. Recent ventures have included the US, Japan, Brighton and Sheffield.

The reason that Torture Garden is so popular is because the club has such broad appeal. It was one of the first clubs to really embrace body-art as a method of self -expression and include it in many of its performances. In fact the performances at Torture Garden have been one of its most consistent elements. Over the years they have had such luminary performers as Archaos, Ron Athey, Franko B, The Divine David and Lucifire (TG's famous angle grinder).

Torture Garden parties usually have several areas including Club Zone/dance floor, performance stage, Dungeon/fantasy playroom.

So you can dance, watch a performance and get whipped (literally) all in one evening.

The crowd at Torture Garden is extremely varied, you are just as likely to run into a sophisticated SM regular as an alternative arty wierdo. However they will have one thing in common - extremeness of one form or another. That's what makes it so much fun.

One of the most important things to remember if you want to go to the Torture Garden is that, like all other fetish clubs, they have a strict dress code. If you go along in casual street clothes you will not get in! The Torture Garden dress code is a bit more diverse than most though - the Torture Garden manifesto describes it perfectly

TG DRESS CODE

“The TG dress code strives to avoid narrow limitations and encourage individual imagination and diversity. A modern fetish club is like an adult fancy dress party and is more about fantasy and transformation than just rubber and leather. Also many of the best outfits seen at TG are made by those wearing them or assembled from various second hand articles (i.e.: theatrical costume or uniforms). So if you can’t afford expensive rubber or leather costumes then explore personal fantasies and use your imagination, or even try body paint! “

On the other hand, it would be wrong to assume that all attendees at Torture Garden are really weird or incredibly young and beautiful. The club is a place for self-expression and all sorts of people enjoy themselves side by side.

Torture Garden happens once a month attracting crowds of between 1000 and 2000.

The club is not members-only but members do get a newsletter and a £3 discount on tickets to all events.

If you want to know when the next Torture Garden is then you should look at our Event Calendar.

A map of the venue is here.

If you want to contact the Torture Garden then their contact details are in our Rubber Pages.

Click here for a recent review of Torture Garden and here for photos. Here we have an article with advice for first-timers.

Other reviews are here

If you want to go to the Torture Garden web-site then click on the image below.