What I've learned about strip clubs

My first time in a strip club was in the mid 1970's near Detroit. Since that time they've evolved and changed as the owners, dancers, and patrons all searched for a business model that works for everyone. This will vary from city to city depending on how corrupt the local politicians are. For example when I was working in Boise Idaho a strip club I visited had dancers in bikinis who didn't take anything off, wearing modest bikinis like your niece might wear at a family pool party. Boise is a very wholesome city with 142 churches serving 225,000 residents. On the other hand Washington Park Illinois has 4,000 residents, 1 church, and a dozen or so bars, half of which offer extra services for gentlemen. Strip clubs can be glitzy palaces or they can be dives. Extras can be available or not. Men go to strip clubs for different reasons. A married guy might just want to look at some young hotties so he can go home and bang his wife while mentally picturing the hot dancers. Hobbyists (like me) see no point in looking if we can't sample. Starting with glitzy no-extra clubs, Showgirls 1 in Fort Wayne Indiana comes to mind. The club is ritzy and the girls are hot. But there are no vip rooms. The girls come around and offer "dollar dances", which means they spend 5 seconds "titty slapping" (the girls' term for it) the custie in the face. That's kind of nice, and a hot girl can make $10 in a couple of minutes. But if you want a whole song you go sit in a chair against the wall still in the main room and a bouncer reminds you to sit on your hands. So you go home with blue balls. That's what was happening in Fort Wayne, there were several bars in the fort and they worked similarly. I worked hard at getting outcall with little success. You knew because of the lack of vip rooms and the fact that you could watch guys getting dances sitting on their hands that there were no extras. The Fort Wayne bars all had cover charge, but no valet/parking lot or other miscellaneous fees. Bars that don't provide extras don't have the leverage to tack on lots of fees. The only reason I went was because I was trolling for takeout. Ritzy bars with extras tend to attract hotter girls. Because of this they can get away with sticking it to the customers. Cover charge, mandatory coat check, booth fee, exorbitant vip taxes. The one I refuse to submit to is the mandatory valet. I have no problem paying a parking lot attendant to watch my car, but bars like Flight Club near Detroit have MANDATORY valet. In other words you MUST surrender your car keys to them. I've tried to go there several times, I offered to pay the fee if I could park myself where they told me too. I asked if I could park down the street and walk and they said no. It's not the money, they want control over you. If you and a dancer disagree on what you owe her they don't have to give you your keys. Any time you've had a drink you've surrendered all your rights. Any issue you have will be explained as "he was drunk and...". For this reason (and others) I don't drink in strip clubs. I like so-called mid-tier clubs like Henry 8th near Detroit. Cover charge, one time charge for vip trips, no other fees. I drink $10 water and tip the waitress $5 or $10. She can be helpful, you can ask her to tell a particular dancer that you were interested in some vip dances. If it's crowded and there's a dancer I want what I've done is tip her while she's dancing and negotiate right there. I'll say "hey when you get done I'd love to get some dances, with extras I hope". I've had them say "I don't do extras" (rarely) so look at all the time I saved. I've had them say "sure, I'll come right over", and I've had them say "what kind of extras do you want?" and I tell her in graphic detail and she says "$100?" and I say sure. This is all while she's on stage. It can save a lot of time, and sometimes it's your only shot at making your pitch to her. Mentioning that you want extras can help because extras girls don't sometimes like doing regular dances since they don't make as much. Everyone has heard to never pay in advance. Girls that insist on advance payment will say they've had guys not pay, or pay short. I take them at their word, but why would a guy not want to pay? Perhaps because he received poor or no service. If I go back to vip and she asks for pre-payment I say I never prepay. If she says Ok, and gets to it, we're good. If she says anything else I get up and say I'm not in the mood and walk out. She'll chase me and appeal to the wristband guy who could be a bouncer. I tell him "I changed my mind because she insisted on prepayment (without any mention of extras)". I haven't been drinking, I have my car keys, I can say "I'm leaving", and leave (which I've done). But usually the bouncer is cool with it. It's all about being in control. Because once she has the money she doesn't need to perform. She can say she needs to get something, she'll be right back and go sit at the bar (I've heard of it happening). Or just be lazy and unenthused. If she agrees to specified, not vague extras, and does the dances but not all the extras, I pay what I think is fair. So that's mostly what I know about strip clubs and negotiating them. Don't fall in love with a stripper unless you want to be a junkie. Not all strippers shoot needles, some smoke and/or take pharmaceuticals. They're used to getting high with the man in their life which intensities their feelings. Nothing you can do for her can compete with the drugs.