9 comments

Noticeable Change in Indiana Clubs...or is it just me?

Oct 10, 2021, 7:15 AM

I just don't get it. In my opinion, the strip club scene has drastically changed, for the worse, here in Indiana over the past couple of years (yes...even before Covid) Or maybe it's just me.

I've been going to strip clubs now for about 7 years. In the first 5 years I would usually visit Dancers, Harem House, and Babes.
I would never have problems getting dances from the dancers. I was not a "whale" by any means. I think the most I ever spent at one club was $200. Never spent more than $100 on any one dancer.

I go to strip clubs to have a few beers and see naked chicks (well, not totally naked...Indiana is topless only.) Anyway, in the past, I've exchanged numbers with a few dancers. They'd shoot me a text and let me know they were working and to stop in and visit if I got a chance. I'd say on average, I'd visit a club once every 1-2 months.
When I would visit Harem House, I felt kind of like Norm from Cheers. I'd walk in and the dancers (Stevie, Haley, Callie, Page, Riley) would all greet me by my first name. The bartender, Brenda, knew my usual beer and would get that for me without asking me what I wanted to drink. At Dancers, I became a semi-regular customer of a few dancers (Rain, Rose, Violet, Natasha, Berlin, Aria.) If they were working when I was there, they would always stop by and chat then we'd end up doing a few dances.

I work in retail management and spend a good portion of my day talking and chatting with customers. So, when I go to clubs, I am usually chatty and can keep a conversation going. The clothes I wear are decent looking. I usually go with khakis and either a polo or a button down casual shirt (Van Heusen) I'm clean shaven and wear cologne (and usually get compliments on my cologne on just about every visit.) I never get drunk. The closest club is about a 90 minute round trip drive. I'll usually have 2 beers then switch to water or Coke.
Anyway, the past couple of years...it seems getting a dance has become quite challenging. It seems dancers are content to hide in the dressing room until they are called up to stage. They also tend to just sit with other dancers.

I visited Dancers tonight...I just started my vacation and I wanted to have some fun. I went there with $300. I came home with $215. I had every intention of spending all the money I had with me. Dancers was DEAD tonight. I got there around 7pm. One stage was in use.
I'd say maybe a dozen customers at the most. The majority of the customers were with a bachelor party. Not a single dancer was sitting with the bachelor party. Kendall was on stage. I went up and tipped her a few bucks and tried to make small talk. I asked how her night was going. She responded, "Horrible. Look around. I'm not making any money. We're dead." I was literally the only one who tipped her on stage. Did she ask me if I wanted company....or a dance? Nope. After she finished on stage, she went straight back to the dressing room and stayed there until her name was called to dance on stage the next time.

As the night went on, things finally did pick up. They opened the 2nd stage around 9pm. 3rd stage was opened around 10pm. I left shortly after 11pm. I had exactly 1 dancer approach me and ask to sit down. And that was awkward. She asked if I wanted company. I said sure.
She sat down and immediately pulled out her phone and had her head buried in that. After about 5 minutes she looked up and said "Oh. Sorry." Then we chatted for a bit then went back and did 2 dances.

I tipped several dancers at the stage and asked if they were available for dances. I heard "Yeah...but there are a couple of people in front of you" a couple different times. But after they finished their stage dance...they would either head back to the dressing room or head to the little area under the DJ and sit with other dancers.

As the night went on, I just started to watch the different dancers. One, Brandy, would come out of the dressing room every 15-20 minutes.
Make a very fast lap around the floor including the private dance area, and head back to the dressing room. It honestly looked like she had no intention of stopping and interacting with any customers. Another dancer, Alexis, was hanging out with another dancer at a table by themselves. Every 10-15 minutes they would get up and make a quick lap and return to the same table. Once again, it looked like they had no intention of talking to any customers. Another one, Macie, would make a bee line to the dressing room after she finished on stage...and she wouldn't return to the floor until her name was called to come dance on stage again.

For the 4 hours I was there, the private dance area was rarely used. When I was back there getting my 2 dances, I was literally the only customer back there. Has anyone else had similar experiences? Is it just me? What am I doing wrong? Sometimes I go by myself, other times I go with a friend. It seems nowadays, they (dancers) really don't want to make money. They hide in the dressing room until they are called to stage...then bitch about not making any money. Like I said earlier, 3 or 4 years ago, I had no problems getting dances.
Not much has really changed...I wasn't married then and I'm not married now. The only thing that has changed is now I have a bigger amount of disposable income. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

comments (9)

Electronman4 years ago

Are you drawing sweeping conclusions from a singe visit to a club?

motorhead4 years ago

Is it a change? I’ve stopped at Brad’s BF a few times when I was traveling to Indianapolis over the past 15 years or so and it’s always been that way. I’ve posted before that’s Brad’s has to be the most overrated club in the country

docsavage4 years ago

You may just be having a run of bad luck but it is more likely there really is a decline in the quality of the clubs and the professionalism of the dancers. I've been going to Indianapolis clubs for 12 years and have watched the slow steady decline in clubs, especially over the last three years. I think about three years ago my favorite club was Harem House which at that time had Stevie, Alize, Sparkle, Chloe, Karma and Fiona. Fiona was my favorite of all. All those girls are gone now and the line up there is much worse now.

I attribute it to societal changes. There is less tolerance of strip clubs now and here in Indianapolis the city government has used zoning laws and licensing laws to block any new clubs from opening for the last 25 years. Indianapolis itself has undergone a slow decline with many middle class people moving further out. No new clubs are opening further out and the existing clubs, which can't move due to the increased legal restrictions, are stuck in slowly declining areas of town. The local club scene is being subjected to a slow strangulation. The middle aged white guy customer with lots of money to spend has mostly vanished. They have either moved away, been scared off by fear of Covid or, if they stayed in town, are put off by the changed atmosphere of local clubs now filled by younger and more nonwhite customers who tend to be more rowdy and troublesome.

As the number of big spenders have decreased, stripper income has declined and there is a high dancer turn over as many quit due to lack of income and are replaced. This has resulted in fewer experienced girls and more new, inexperienced and less attractive girls. New inexperienced girls are more likely to do things like complain about not making money while at the same time socializing, staring at their phones and not focusing on their job and that is what you, and me too, are running into.

blahblahblah234 years ago

Girls might be hiding or on their phones because they already tried hustling and it was a complete waste of their breath?

Not every girl is hiding or on her phone because she is stupid and lazy like you all imply.

I too notice that I hustle much less than I used to because there has been a change in the customers (as well as the girls).

blahblahblah234 years ago

Sorry not Indiana specific but I think this is a nationwide trend so thought I'd comment

gSteph4 years ago

Ask them.

In my limited experience, the dancers usually ask.

But the other way works too.

ilbbaicnl4 years ago

A big appeal of stripping is you only have to commit to work as most a week in advance generally. It's emotionally draining work, many dancers take lots of time off. So that means you can't count on lots of dancers working that you click with being there any particular night.

It's confusing to me on here, lots of talk about dancers being ho airheads, but also complaints about them not being engaged with customers, staring at their phones, smoking their vapes. If you expect someone to be engaged with somebody who sees them a ho airhead, aren't you expecting them to be self-hating? In any case, what are really the odds that two random people can have a good, engaging conversation. I'm glad I'm not so complicated, if she's looks good to me, we do some dances, then she moves on to get someone else's $. A big factor in whether your touch feels like groping or massaging is whether you show it that you think of her as person. A person with bills, who doesn't pay those bills by sitting and talking with you for free. It's not her job to make me not be Eleanor Rigby.

whodey4 years ago

I only get to Indy a few times a year so I haven't noticed the change as much as you have. The biggest change I have noticed over the past 2-3 years is that extras are MUCH harder to come across compared to what they were 5-10 years ago.

Another change I've noticed is a higher turnover among dancers. I was never anywhere near a regular but each visit I would usually recognize at least a couple of dancers from prior visits. The last couple of visits I haven't recognized any of the girls.

I've always thought of Indiana as a fairly low hustle area where the dancers weren't very aggressive about approaching customers to sell dances. I have always felt like I needed to approach the dancers I was interested in more in Indy instead of waiting for them to approach me. The only ones that usually approach me are ones I am not interested in.

I have never seen the situations you described with being basically blown off (not in the good way) after asking if they were free for dances. There have been times when they say there are others ahead of me and I have to wait and sometimes they look track after going for dances with several other customers but I've never had a girl I asked about dances just go to the dressing room or sit with other dancers instead of making money.

Best advice is just go up to the girl you want and ask her for a dance. Don't just wait until she is on stage to ask her. When they are making a quick lap around the room is a great time to ask, so is when they are walking between the stage and dressing room. You can approach them when they are sitting with other dancers or by the DJ booth too. Really the only time you shouldn't approach a dancer you want dances from is when she is with another customer.

san_jose_guy4 years ago

Is Deja Vu a factor in this?

SJG

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