Kinky Circus, a monthly BDSM/cirque/art market, commemorates its fourth anniversary at Numbers this Saturday with a “Follow the White Rabbit” theme that is full-on Lewis Carroll.

It’s the latest in a string of flavors for Kinky Tuesdays, which began “Kinky Circus” as a broad night before organizers Headmistress and Jesse Salazar (and Kinky Collective partners) began incorporating themes such as “freakshow” or “steampunk.”

For the duration of the night, Numbers transforms into an experience of kink (including crowd participation) cirque performance (aerial, trapeze, pole, striptease, etc.) and artists selling everything from paintings to leather.

Despite everything which has evolved four years on, Headmistress and Salazar said they have kept the core focus of Kinky Circus the same: education, sanity and consent.

“The whole reason we started KT was to make a place for people to explore and learn, that wasn’t exclusive,” Headmistress said.

Houston’s kink community hasn’t been spared from the cliquish behavior found elsewhere. Normally if you wanted in, you needed an IN, either through invitation or some other pre-existing connection. It’s an unfortunate catch-22 for people who want to learn about BDSM but don’t know where to start.

“And some groups won’t let other people in,” Headmistress said. “We wanted an all-inclusive, welcoming arena.”

In addition to the focus on inclusive, safe, sane and consensual activity, KT has recently added on the importance of remaining sober. If people want to go onstage or participate in any way they need to have not been drinking. It’s a fine line for an event where some are so nervous for the first time they’ll go straight to the bar, Headmistress said.

“Then they’ll ask to participate and I say, ‘Well baby you’ve been drinking, which is fine,'” she added. “‘This is normal. But next time, before you drink, come find me if you want to play.’”

Aside from the obvious safety points, Salazar noted that when it comes to things like rope play, there’s an entirely different focus aimed at circulation and other physical concerns.

Impact play also has its own category, including the risks of triggers both physical and emotional. Headmistress and Salazar stressed that people give a heads up beforehand during the questionnaire/waiver/consent conversation.

Safety doesn’t restrict activity however, kinky or otherwise.

“We try to stay open and welcome anyone who wants to come and express themselves,” Salazar said. “Art is our main focus for anything we do.”

“It’s such an open group you can walk up to anyone and ask what are you into and they’re tell you,” Headmistress added. “More than you ever thought you wanted to know.”

A large portion of the newcomers from years past were attracted to the scene thanks in part to the “Fifty Shades of Grey” books/films, Salazar said. Though the BDSM community at large critiqued “Fifty Shades” as badly-written fan fiction, in his words it “brought kink to the coffee table.”

Newcomers have even arrived as a result of Tinder dates, or from other online outlets.

“This gentleman who went there came in on a date, and the date didn’t work out,” Salazar said. “He’s a regular now.”

Case-in-point: it’s not bad that kink has entered the mainstream.

“New people are getting the benefits,” he said. “We’re getting the benefits of training, educating new people.”

And Houston’s kink scene has benefited with that increase in popularity over the past four years — if Kinky Tuesdays is anything to go by.

“Now people will come up to us and say, ‘Oh have you heard of Kinky Tuesdays?’” Salazar said, laughing. “People are inviting us to our own event!”

Kinky Circus is at Numbers nightclub in Montrose on Saturday, March 2.