The effects of the current economy...

The effects of the current economy on the IS are most obvious in the number of dancers who -- well, shouldn't be. While the quality of girls has never been as good as, say, the upscale Detroit clubs, there have always been a few girls in the 8-10 range; this time, there was only one: Harley. (She's a sweetheart, in addition to being gorgeous: be nice to her:).) Of the 20 or so dancers on shift, at least half a dozen rated the term "skank" even in the dim club lighting; most wouldn't turn your head at the mall. The economy may also be the reason that the stage lights are never turned on, leaving the stage the darkest part of a mostly-dark room. Maybe that's why no one applauds the dancers after a song: they're next to invisible on stage.

The club itself is trying to do what it can to help its dancers and patrons, despite the bad economy. Drink pressure is very low, and it's non-alcoholic anyway, so after you pay the cover, all your money is spent on the girls. They've also instituted an unadvertised special: if you have two consecutive 3-song private dance sets with the same dancer, you get a 7th song free. The lappers themselves remain top-notch, full 2-way contact except the kitty is the norm, and they're a great value at 3 for $55. They take place in private booths with real walls and an offset doorway, so passersby can't see in: easily the nicest lap dance setup I've seen. They're marred only by the seemingly-required nipple band-aids. (I wouldn't mind them, except it makes it harder to tell if you've made her nipples erect, which is fun to do.) And the IS remains the only place in Chicagoland offering real lap dances.

Still, a great lap dance from an average or worse looking girl doesn't do much for me. So if it hadn't been for Dakota and Harley, my evening would have been pretty much wasted. But they were there, and I went home happy, and I'll definitely return next time I'm in the area.