Shot in fourteen days.
Zipper's Clown Palace was inspired by a real-life strip club called Jumbo's Clown Room.
Nikki Fritz told Femmes Fatales magazine she met director Dan Golden at a Fangoria convention a few years before when he was sitting at Scream Queen Linnea Quigley's table. She started chatting with them. After awhile, Quigley asked if she wanted to pose with her for a photo book she was doing called "Skin." Golden was the photographer. Fritz agreed and that night she ended up in Quigley's hotel room, both of them nude and kissing in the bed while Golden took photos. Fritz was nervous at first, but soon got into it and had fun. She said, "I mean, we were completely naked and I didn't know this guy from Adam. I said, 'Okay I can do this. I trust him. After all, he's with Linnea Quigley.'" Fritz, Golden, and Quigley became close friends. Golden helped launch her acting career by introducing her to director Fed Olen Ray and other directors he knew. They gave her bit parts and cameos in their films, and then Golden cast her in a major role in this movie.
When Nikki Fritz auditioned for the role of Sandra, the butch lesbian stripper, director Dan Golden said he liked her acting, but he felt she looked too pretty and feminine. So he told her he'd give her the part if she'd get a buzz cut. She didn't want to because she was afraid it may prevent her from being cast in other roles. Golden told her to go try other ways to butch herself up and come back. When she returned, she had pulled her hair back with a tight braid in back to make her hair look much shorter. She also wore a nose ring with a long chain attached that connected to her right ear ring. Golden was impressed and cast her.