Ever see a line outside 23rd Street Body Piercing? Find out how shop came to be so popular

Once, when many Oklahomans were much less acquainted with the body piercing and tattoo scene, Jason and Tisha King could recognize anyone in the city with stretched earlobes or a tattoo sleeve. 

Now, not so much. The Kings, co-owners of Atomic Lotus Tattoo and 23rd Street Body Piercing, have seen firsthand how piercings and tattoos have grown in popularity in OKC.

“In Oklahoma City, every punk rock kid knew every other punk rock kid. It was a thing,” joked Jason King, who founded the piercing studio in 1995. “There were only 15 of us.” 

More: Oklahomans, Texans now comprise majority of patients at Kansas abortion clinic, doc says

Now, “we’re piercing children of our original clients, or even grandchildren of our original clients,” said Tisha King.

23rd Street Body Piercing has been a staple of the Uptown 23rd District for decades now, having celebrated its 27th anniversary this month.

The Kings' tattoo studio next door, Atomic Lotus, opened in 2006. That was the year Oklahoma joined the rest of the country in legalizing tattoo parlors — the last state in the nation to do so. 

Jason King’s first foray into the world of piercing happened when he was a student at Oklahoma State University. He was attending school on the GI Bill as part of the Oklahoma National Guard. Strapped for cash, he started donating plasma.

“He donated so much plasma, by the end of college, they were like, you should work here,” Tisha King explained. 

So, he became a phlebotomist. Between that job and his work as a medic in the Oklahoma National Guard, he gained plenty of experience starting IVs and using needles. So when a girl he dated at the time asked him to give her a piercing, he obliged. 

More: Over 5,800 deaths could've been avoided if all Oklahoma adults got a COVID-19 vaccine

Then, friends and friends of friends started asking for piercings, too. After he graduated from OSU, he moved to Oklahoma City to open a piercing shop. Shortly after he started his business in 1995, he moved it to the building on NW 23 where it stands now. 

In the back of his mind, he planned to use the other half of the space — which once housed Ed Reynolds Flowers' greenhouse — as a tattoo shop if the state ever legalized the profession.

Jason King also works as a piercing educator, teaching classes through the Association of Professional Piercers. Years ago, he said, the Health Department sent their chief over the consumer protection division to sit in on the meetings. 

Afterward, the department approached him to help write the rules that would eventually regulate the state’s piercing and tattooing industries. 

“It was very flattering to be recognized as a subject-matter expert in a very nascent field,” he said. 

Today, Jason King’s main role with the tattoo and piercing shops is daily bookkeeping, though he’ll still pierce on occasion. Tisha King works a few counter shifts at the tattoo shop a week, handles much of the shops’ ordering and can fix just about anything that breaks in the course of business.

More: Hearing loss reversal treatment from Oklahoma takes major step toward development

In the last few years, you might’ve seen a line stretching out the door of the piercing studio — in the heat or the cold or rain or even snow. Or, you might’ve seen jokes on social media about what seemed to be an ever-present line. 

To solve the mystery for anyone wondering why the line persisted: it was a product of the pandemic, the Kings said.

People do come from all over to get pierced at 23rd Street, they said. And the shops have stayed busy over the last few years, but the line was to keep people from congregating by the dozens in the lobby. 

“We’re not going to have 40 people standing in the lobby — which we used to,” Jason King said. “People just didn’t know how busy we were because they weren’t outside.” 

Keeping their staff and themselves safe during the pandemic meant requiring masks and limiting groups of onlookers who might normally tag along with a friend to watch them get a piercing. 

“Part of that line was friends,” Tisha King said. “They weren’t coming in anyways, but they’re making the line look real long, right?” 

Still, customers do seek 23rd Street out for a reason, they said. 

“It’s the quality of the jewelry, the quality of aftercare, the ability of the piercer,” Jason King said. “We don’t cut any corners. We use the best of the best, we hire the best piercers, and we use the best everything.” 

Running for 27 years, their studio is one of the oldest in the country, the Kings said. When the time comes, they hope their daughters, now 19 and 20, will take over the family business. 

“We want to thank Oklahoma City for just embracing us and letting us do what we do and be awesome,” Jason King said.