If you work, have worked or have just spent any type of substantial time in a gentlemen’s club, I am sure you’re familiar with the basic rules and etiquette of the environment. But did you know the dancers have an unwritten and for the most part unspoken set of rules that they follow? And if you plan on working in this industry its important to know these rules as they carry much more weight than the regular “make your stage on time and tip out” regulations.
Don’t sit your stuff just anywhere!
The locker room is an interesting place, and it’s where a lot of the drama inside the club scene actually takes place. It’s not just a dressing room (in my experience that appears to be the least significant of its functions despite the name) it’s a place where the ladies can escape the hustle and bustle of the main floor and decompress, it’s where ladies go to gossip, eat, do homework, take a nap, hash out arguments and disagreements and yes even the setting of the occasional fight. The locker room matters! So when you’re entering the club scene as a fresh face its extremely important to be aware of where you set your belongings. While it may not be evident immediately, there’s a hierarchy in every club and the top of that chain gets privileges that others do not, often starting in the locker rooms. Some clubs will make it easy for you and separate the locker rooms (one for the VIP girls and another for regular workers) in that instance you can usually just set your things in any old locker that’s available and go ahead and settle in. But if there is only one dressing room, pay attention to what’s going on around you. If there seems to be a section of the counter only one or two ladies are at, while everyone else is crowding around the rest of the available spaces, chances are those are the veterans and that is not an open counter. Same goes for lockers. If there is a section of the room designated for the Vets (ladies who have worked in that club longer than a few years) its designated for the vets. Leave it. Even if there are no available lockers anywhere else in the room, leave it. Go put your things in the office or the Dj booth if they’ll let you. While it may not be written anywhere and management isn’t necessarily promoting it, staying in your lane is very much a thing here, and you need to earn your rights like everyone else.
That’s MY song!!!
This is an important one. And a simple one. Music choice basically boils down to dibs. If she had it first, it’s her song. Bad idea to walk in a club, hear a song playing and decide to try and add it to your playlist. It really doesn’t matter if you bang the song a thousand times daily and it’s actually your sh*t, the fact is ‘she’ had it first. Music is INSANELY important, especially considering what type of strip club you are in (yes there are different types, will address this at a different time) but oftentimes the SONG ITSELF not the lady on stage will get you paid. We all have our money songs, and its a huge issue for someone else ESPECIALLY someone new to come and take that from you. That will almost always guarantee an issue, and in some cases may even end up in a physical altercation. The safest thing to do is to just start out giving the DJ a genre you like and a few favorite artists and after being there for a little while THEN build your list.
Lotion is a no go
Many people do not know this but lotion is an absolute h*ll no in the strip club. It causes you to be slick and oily and it gets all over the stage. So imagine walking around on an oil slicked elevated stage in 9 inch stilettos? Kind of a no go. Not to mention slicking up the pole, and there’s only so much rubbing alcohol and pole grip can do. It’s best to put on lotion immediately when you get out of the shower and leave it at that. Getting caught applying it inside the locker room will almost always guarantee a comment or a sideways look from your peers. The great news is there are all types of lotions that are dancer friendly (water based instead of oil based) here’s a list of 16 good brands to look into https://www.allure.com/gallery/best-water-based-gel-moisturizers
This is work NOT a party
It’s easy to forget your real purpose in being in the club with all the excitement, loud music and drinking going on around you. While it is a club atmosphere and you do have a high amount of freedom don’t forget that you are here to make money. Don’t be the girl who comes to the club just to drink and party. Remember you are the entertainment, the club and the patrons are not there to entertain you. One of the most foolish things you can do is spend your own money at the bar. You are not working to drink are you? One, your customers should be willing to buy you a drink, if not they probably don’t plan on spending much money. Two, becoming belligerent is a fast way to lose your money and sometimes even lose your job. While they can’t necessarily fire you as you are an independent contractor. (Unless you decided to become an employee of the club, whole different discussion) They can however rip up your contract and refuse to let you work. Don’t become a problem.
Respect her stage
A big thing for the ladies in a strip club is stage time, especially in a stage money club (some clubs focus more on dances while others are more about stage presence i.e a stage club) very few things are more aggravating than the girl who is on stage in front of you taking up half of your song either still dancing for some customers who walked up to the stage, or just taking her sweet time collecting her things. In fact disrespecting someones stage time is an unspoken insult. By disregarding the next girl on stage, you are challenging her. Make sure as the DJ starts to announce the end of your set, that you are gathering your things and preparing to exit the stage. Sometimes a customer will come to tip at the end of your stage set, if you gauge you have enough time, quickly gather your tip from them and you can direct them to where you are going next, or head over to sit with them. If it’s too late, just inform them your stage is over and decide how you would like to move forward with them OFF of the stage, whether you’re heading to your next stage and want to direct them there or deciding to sit with them, this needs to happen in a place that’s not in the way of the lady who’s up next.
Avoid Gossip
One of the most foolish things you can do join in on the club gossip. Actually just getting too close to people in that environment period. The strip club is not a place for making friends (though occasionally you get lucky and find some gems). Not everyone in that place has the same mindset, and you have to remember in reality every single one of these ladies is in competition with you. Everyone is going after the same money, and some people will go lengths to make sure they get all of it instead of you. One of the quickest ways to be targeted is just to be known. Engaging in locker room talk and spending unnecessary time with some of these ladies can lead to them actively trying to sabotage your money. I’ve seen it a thousand times. While not all relationships stemming from the environment are bad and not everyone has malicious intents on speaking with you, the safest route is to just let relationships build organically. Besides, the more time you spend gossiping with a group of ladies, the less time you are out there making money, and time is money is a true true fact in the club.
How much money you make is entirely up to you!
And lastly (for now) it’s important to know that no matter how fine you are, no matter how insanely gorgeous your body is no matter how much you kill your stage sets, YOU need to be the initiator in most situations. Believe it or not, the MORE beautiful you are the LESS likely the customers are going to approach you. They get intimidated just like we do and a fear of rejection is just as real inside the club as it is out. It’s possible that a patron is sitting at their table wishing that you would come talk to them but they themselves haven’t mustered up the courage yet to come speak to you themselves. They may have in fact already decided what time of person you are and have deemed you unapproachable also why the R.B.F (resting b***** face) has no place in the club. The more you smile and seem to enjoy your job, the higher the chances are that someone will walk up to you and ask for dances. The best thing is when someone has already decided that you were probably too pretty to be nice and you sit down and surprise them with your winning personality! Will almost always sweep them off their feet and out their wallets!
These are just a small introduction to the many hidden rules inside the stripper environment, some may seem insignificant but I assure you, stripper etiquette will take you much further than the regular house rules. Respect your environment and you will get the most out of it.
