I was in college in Boston in the early 1970s, and my roommate, who was a theater tech major, worked at the Pilgrim Theatre. He handled all of their tech work -- lighting, sound, and whatever else needed to be done. What he didn't tell me for quite some time is that the theater featured strippers.
The Pilgrim Theatre was one of the most infamous places in an area of downtown that was called the Combat Zone, Boston's way of containing the seedier elements of society (like yours truly, I guess). The typical thing at the Pilgrim Theatre was for them to show what were then called XXX movies for an hour, put live strippers on stage for 30 minutes, then repeat that rotation. At age 20, I had never seen a stripper, and I asked my roommate about it -- and wondered whether it would be OK to bring my girlfriend, who was as curious as I was. He said sure, and told me that they didn't do anything the law didn't allow. Sounded safe enough for me.
We came into what looked like a normal movie theater with a stage. Yes, the porno movie was going full tilt, as graphic as anything you'd see online today, and the most startling thing was that instead of the movie soundtrack, all you could hear was loud rock music blaring from the speakers. Much to my delight, it was the Allman Brothers. Sweet!!
The strip show was quite an eye-opener for my 18-year-old girlfriend and me -- apparently the law allowed the girls to dance in nothing but high heels, and the expression "spread eagle" took on a whole new meaning for me.
I transferred to a university in the Midwest, and I definitely hit a few strip clubs there with my buddies, but at that time, I don't think there were anything resembling lap dances, let alone extras.
Fast forward 25 years and 20 years of marriage. I started traveling more (on my own) for work and got the itch to see some new sights. In 2000 I started visiting clubs pretty regularly whenever I could. I think I've been going to Follies in Atlanta that long, and I can remember going to Tootsie's in Miami when it was in the old location. I discovered TUCSL only a year ago, and if you read my reviews, you'll see I've made good use of the knowledge I've gained here. Thanks to all my TUSCL brethren (and sistren) for all of the tips!