Who has actually worked with clubs or strippers?
Lurker_X
North Carolina
Way back about 20 years ago I used to do odd jobs as a courier. Somehow I got it into my mind that although I did not have enough income to go clubbing or visit brothels, I could give strippers transportation. I could make money and get to hang around strippers! Yee-haw!
So I actually interviewed with an intermediary in a small office complex (that used to be a motel, it still had a functioning pool) which placed me with two local "entertainment agencies".
My job was to make sure strippers got to their appointments on time, and yeah I was that dreaded driver accompanying a stripper to the door of your motel room - who would hang around outside to call for help or get her out of there if things went badly.
Generally the girls thought the guys were cheap losers who did not top them enough... And they would laugh in the car as I brought them back to the agency if all they did was "pull up my skirt and show him my g-string".
After reading Tuscl and learning more about stripper behavior, I presume the ones who simply left the room, tipped me for the trip, and said nothing, were doing extras. I was still too naive at the time to figure this out. I got to attend a few free bachelor parties though and watch.
Anyway, I did this for 3 or 4 months before quitting. Too much middle-of-night travel, trips to sketchy parts if town, rumors of other drivers getting beat up.
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Some of the girls were really quite nice, maybe that experience makes me a smidgen less cynical than some here about them. There was one that I took a long distance to some guy's house, but he had also called another agency as backup (since we encountered that driver waiting around outside). She banged on the door anyway and demanded a twenty for our trouble, and she gave me ten bucks for gas. By then it was daybreak, and a scenic ride back to the city - she told me not to rush back and we just philosophized, enjoying the trip almost like a minor date.
Several buddies of mine were bouncers at a strip club when we were in college but they never had any good stripper stories, their stories were more about unruly drunks inside the club.
It was a great time after hours. I was amazed at the way the strippers would relax and really enjoy hanging with us. There were some great parties - and hook ups. There was a major fail when we tried to sneak two strippers back to our dorm in a laundry cart!
I realized that the dancers looked up to the dj - and some credited his song selection with helping them earn bank. I kind of doubted how playing strip club anthems would make a dancer stand out - but I wasn’t going to tell my buddy!
There is a book about the Mitchell Bro's and their theater. The dancers called the male staff, "Eunuchs". I would not like to be in that kind of a role.
Seems like the only way for that to change would be if you had real power and made more money than the girls. That would mean that you would have to be the only one who cannot be fired, the owner.
SJG
So I wanted to buy a club. I figured I would inherit some money one day, and what better place to invest it, right? But first, I rationalized that I should work in the industry for a while and learn the ropes. Since I don't know jack-shit about being a DJ, I decided to try to get a job as a bouncer and then work my way up to management. I'm a very tall man and I figured that clubs would hire me on that basis alone. After all, being a bouncer seemed to be all about nothing more than being tall and looking mean.
Well I was wrong. After applying at probably 10 local clubs, I had been turned down at 9 of them. Most took my name and number and then never called. Finally this one real dump offered me a job. It looked more like a country roadhouse than a strip club, but I accepted it because I wanted the experience. After my meeting with the manager, the head bouncer had a talk with me and told me about all the fights he's broken up and all the drunken patrons he's had to disarm. This was a vastly different impression than the owner had conveyed. Maybe the bouncer lied to me about how rough the place really was; he seemed like a nice guy but perhaps he just felt threatened by another big dude being hired. Or maybe he wanted to hire all the bouncers himself so that he could choose his staff. Regardless, either the bouncer was lying or the owner was.
I went home and thought it over. The place was a real filthy dump, over an hour away from my house, the pay was shit, and now, on top of everything else, this bouncer was telling me that there are fights with broken beer bottles all the time. Even if the bouncer was lying to me, I figured that meant he didn't want me there, and that's not a good thing. I concluded that my dream of working in a titty bar probably wasn't worth a fractured skull, so I decided not to take the job. But I'll always wonder about the road not taken.
I don’t want to say too much - I’ll be brief. I worked for a guy - in college - who was a neighbor. He had a marble and stone business. I had no skills - but I was a tall strong kid - who was reliable and a hard worker. At the end of the summer - he let me work shorter hours. In the winter - I worked at his Christmas tree lot. Lots of cash tip in that job! I met my dorm buddy (who was a strip club dj) through him. So I unexpectedly got a view of club work.
The bouncers could be very rough. One bouncer - who became a good friend - would work weekends at the Meadowlands - doing security at football games. He was more dangerous than many of the fans he was supposed to keep safe.
Yeah, I'm sure insurance is a huge nut every month, and many insurers probably wouldn't touch a strip club with a 10-foot pole. I was just assuming that if you add door fees, house fees, the cut from the lap dances and VIPs, and then you subtract insurance, rent, digital advertising, utilities, taxes, bribes, salaries, and other overhead, they would just break even. But then they do have this magical ability to turn a $5 case of bottled water into $400. That's probably the gravy.
That, and, somewhere subconsciously I was also probably assuming that I would be able to fuck some of the dancers for free LOL.
But seriously, yes, the bouncers and managers I spoke to at various clubs could see right through me. I may be tall but I'm basically still a pussy and they knew it. Some of them were indeed rough looking guys. One bouncer actually told me he was a mixed martial arts fighter. So basically, if you're not a big psychopath who isn't afraid of getting a beer bottle to the face (think Mickey Rourke in the movie Sin City. Or Mickey Rourke in any other movie), and you're not connected to organized crime, and you don't know anyone in the business, it seems that there's no way to really break into it.
And on paper, George's was not even really a strip club. The dancers were off of the records.
I suspect that if a club goes to the membership model, recording people's id's, that maybe the insurance can lighten up some, as there is probably a higher safety level.
We se Shadow's posts about 2amer's, and we read of stuff likely escalated by meat head bouncers. The club and its booze are often the last resort of the desperate.
Well the membership club model may improve this. It is after all the model pioneered by Swinger's Clubs. Ever heard of violence in a Swinger's Club?
Swinger's Clubs have Care Bears on duty to ensure that the sex is consensual and that there is safety. They don't have Thug Bouncers.
SJG
A strip club is one of those businesses ripe to front for illegal activity due to the cash basis - which is perfect for money laundering.
Bouncing can be a rough job. Clubs in sketchy areas may have lots of folks to keep in line. The clubs that are considered classy - still need bouncers who have a physical presence that discourages folks from acting up. You’ve got hot girls, booze and horny dudes - which is a perfect atmosphere for guys to act stupid.