Strip club

A strip club is an adult entertainment venue in which striptease or other erotic or exotic dance is regularly performed. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or bar style, but can also adopt a theatre or cabaret-style.

American-style strip clubs began to appear outside of North America after World War II, arriving in Asia in the late 1940s and Europe in 1950, In some media, these clubs are portrayed primarily as gathering places of vice and ill repute. Clubs themselves and various aspects of the business are highlighted in these references. "Top Strip Club" lists in some media have demonstrated that U.S.-style striptease is a global phenomenon and a culturally accepted form of entertainment, despite its scrutiny in legal circles and popular media. Popular internet sites for strip club enthusiasts also have lists calculated from the inputs of site visitors. The legal status of strip clubs has evolved over the course of time, with national and local laws becoming progressively more liberal on the issue around the world, although some countries (such as Iceland) have implemented strict limits and bans. Its combination with music seems to be as old. A conclusive description and visualization can be found in the 1720 German translation of the French La Guerre D'Espagne (Cologne: Pierre Marteau, 1707), where a galant party of high aristocrats and opera singers has resorted to a small château where they entertain themselves with hunting, play and music in a three day turn:

Other possible influences on modern stripping were the dances of the Ghawazee "discovered" and seized upon by French colonists in nineteenth century North Africa and Egypt. The erotic dance of the bee, performed by a woman known as Kuchuk Hanem, was witnessed and described by the French novelist Gustave Flaubert. In this dance the performer disrobes as she searches for an imaginary bee trapped within her garments. It is likely that the women performing these dances did not do so in an indigenous context, but rather, responded to the commercial climate for this type of entertainment. Middle Eastern belly dance, also known as oriental dancing, was popularized in the United States after its introduction on the Midway at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago by a dancer known as Little Egypt.

European tradition

In France during the late 19th century, Parisian shows such as the Moulin Rouge and Folies Bergère were featuring attractive, scantily-clad, dancing women and tableaux vivants. In this environment, an act featuring a woman slowly removing her clothes in a vain search for a flea crawling on her body was seen in 1895 and possibly filmed in 1897 by the first female director, Alice Guy. This routine, Le coucher d'Yvette, inspired "French acts" in theaters and brothels in other parts of the world, seen in the U.S. city of New York as early as 1878. In 1905, Dutch dancer Mata Hari, later shot as a spy by the French authorities during World War I, was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musée Guimet. The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments over her arms and head. Another landmark performance was the appearance at the Moulin Rouge in 1907 of an actress called Germaine Aymos who entered dressed only in three very small shells. In the 1930s, the famous Josephine Baker danced semi-nude in the danse sauvage at the Folies and other such performances were provided at the Tabarin. These shows were notable for their sophisticated choreography and for often dressing the girls in glitzy sequins and feathers. By the 1960s "fully nude" shows were provided at such places as Le Crazy Horse Saloon.

In Britain in the 1930s, Laura Henderson began presenting nude shows at the Windmill Theatre in London. At that time, British law prohibited naked girls from moving. To avoid the prohibition, the models appeared in stationary tableaux vivants. The Windmill girls also toured other London and provincial theatres, sometimes using ingenious devices such as rotating ropes to move their bodies round, though strictly speaking, staying within the letter of the law by not moving of their own volition. Another example of ways that the shows stayed within the law was the fan dance, in which a naked dancer's body was concealed by her fans and those of her attendants, until the end of her act in when she posed naked for a brief interval whilst standing still. By the 1950s touring striptease acts were used to attract audiences to the dying music halls. Paul Raymond started his touring shows in 1951 and later leased the Doric Ballroom in Soho; opening his private members club, the Raymond Revuebar in 1958. This was the first of the private striptease members' clubs in Britain. Changes in the law in the 1960s brought about a boom of strip clubs in Soho with 'fully nude' dancing and audience participation. Pubs were also used as venues, most particularly in the East End, with a concentration of such venues in the district of Shoreditch. This pub striptease seems mainly to have evolved from topless go-go dancing. Though often a target of local authority harassment, some of these pubs survive to the present day. An interesting custom in these pubs is that the strippers walk 'round and collect money from customers in a beer jug before each individual performance. This custom appears to have originated in the late 1970s when topless go-go dancers first started collecting money from the audience as the fee for going "fully nude".

American tradition

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In America, striptease started in traveling carnivals and burlesque theatres, and featured famous strippers such as Gypsy Rose Lee and Sally Rand. The vaudeville trapeze artist, Charmion, performed a "disrobing" act onstage as early as 1896, which was captured in the 1901 Edison film, Trapeze Disrobing Act. Another milestone for modern American striptease was the possibly legendary show at Minsky's Burlesque in April 1925: The Night They Raided Minsky's. The Minsky brothers brought burlesque to New York's 42nd Street. However, the burlesque theatres there were prohibited from having striptease performances in a legal ruling of 1937, leading to the later decline of these "grindhouses" (named after the bump 'n grind entertainment on offer) into venues for exploitation cinema. Widespread bans on striptease had a direct influence on the creation of the strip clip joint and the exotic dancer as known today. The club opened in 1964 and Doda's première topless dance occurred on the evening of June 19 of that year. The large lit sign in front of the club featured a picture of her with red lights on her breasts. The club went "bottomless" on September 3, 1969; launching the trend of explicit "full nudity" in American striptease dancing. It was Doda's brand of dancing which is credited with the move from striptease to stripping. San Francisco is also the location of the notorious Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre. Originally an X-rated movie theater, this striptease club pioneered lap dancing in 1980, and was a major force in popularizing it in strip clubs on a nationwide and eventually worldwide basis.

Asian tradition

The Japanese term for strip club, nūdo gekijo, literally means "nude theater". When entrepreneur Shigeo Ozaki saw Gypsy Rose Lee perform, he started his own striptease revue in Tokyo's Shinjuku neighborhood. Teitoza was the first club to open in Shinjuku, on 15 January 1947. The first act was titled "The Birth of Venus". During the 1950s, Japanese "strip shows" became more sexually explicit and less dance-oriented, until they were eventually simply live sex shows. In 1956, Osaka became the first city in Japan to have pubic hair on display during a strip show. The strip clubs of today are the latest incarnation of its temptations. The sex industry became so pervasive in Asia that by the 1990s that Kabukichō was described as a of peep shows, strip clubs, and massage parlors and Bangkok, Thailand had attained the reputation as the sex capital of the world.

Entertainment formats

American-style strip clubs are often structured as nightclubs or bars. High-end establishments are commonly referred to as "gentlemen's clubs", Where offered:

: Full nude – The performer is fully nude by the end of the performance. : Topless – The performer's upper body is exposed but the genital area remains covered during a performance. : Bikini – The performer's breasts and genital area remains covered. Go go bars are bikini establishments.

For any of the three types of clubs there are exceptions based on the individual dancer and management. The use of pasties can alter the legal interpretation as to whether a performance is topless or not and whether a business is sexually oriented.

Types of entertainment

Unlike in burlesque theater, the modern popular form of strip theater can minimize the interaction of customer and dancer, reducing the importance of tease in the performance in favor of speed to undress. Most clubs have a dancer rotation where each dancer in turn will perform for one or more songs in a fixed sequence which repeats during a shift. Featured entertainers are not usually part of the rotation and they generally have set times when they will perform that are advertised throughout the shift. If a DJ is present, he or she will emcee the rotation and typically announce the current dancer(s) on stage and possibly who to expect in future sets. In peep shows, done with a customer seated in a private booth separated from a dancer by glass or plastic, there may be no music playing during a performance. In clubs which offer lingerie modeling shows, which are peep shows where a dancer privately dances and strips for a customer, typically without a barrier, performances can also be done with or without a formal stage or music.

A club might also hire or broadcast forms of entertainment other than striptease (such as pay-per-view events), for which it earns revenue via premium fees. Some clubs have also moved into providing chat and broadcast services via the internet, including live video feeds. Beyond this more passive entertainment, some clubs' dancers offer additional services, such as lap dances or trips to the champagne room, for a set fee rather than for tips. This fee will typically include a set fee for the room, for a fixed amount of time. In some parts of the USA, there are laws forbidding the exposure of female nipples, and thus dancers must cover their nipples with pasties to comply with those laws. Zürich, Switzerland has legalized prostitution and its strip clubs throughout the city offer sex among their services. Differing from Zurich brothels, sex services via the strip clubs are typically performed off site. Eastern European strip clubs have a similar model. A .34 square kilometer "sex zone" in Tokyo, Japan had approximately 3,500 sex facilities as of 1999. These included strip theaters, peep shows, "soaplands", "lover's banks", porno shops, telephone clubs, karaoke bars, clubs and more all offering adult entertainment services. In Dubai, a nation governed by very strict cultural norms and laws, there are several Indian strip clubs offering at least partial nudity.

Dancers may tie their state of undress to the number of songs played. This could correspond to a bikini performance for song one and topless for the second. In a fully nude club, the sequence could be topless-to-nude over two songs, or any one of a number of other variations. In the United States clubs are classified based on typical performances, zoning regulations, and advertised services. The validity of secondary effects has been disputed, with the counterargument that clubs have been forced through zoning into "seedy neighborhoods". Elsewhere in North America, the Zona Norte red light district in Tijuana, Mexico has a number of legal brothels which are modeled on strip clubs and feature U.S.-style striptease performed by its prostitutes.

Facilities, features and services

Most strip clubs are located in buildings that are converted bars, restaurants, warehouses, or had industrial uses. The original layout of the building will effect the physical layout of a club. The more money that has been invested in a facility, the more it resembles a dedicated club. Regardless of the floorplan, as interactive theater, there are features every strip club will have. They include: performers (strippers), a floor area where the customers will congregate, and some form of staging for the striptease performance.

Higher-end gentlemen's clubs have features that cost millions of dollars to install and maintain.

General admission areas

The floor area is open for general admission. A customer is free to wonder around the club, except for employee areas and premium lounges.

All clubs are configured differently. A small club can have a single room, with an improvised stage for the striptease show. Many clubs have more than the basic amenities. Larger clubs have clearer designations of areas. The different areas within a club could be separated by a physical step, railing, platforms and levels, doorways, distinct rooms, and entirely separate floors, and they can also be formed by different carpeting, placement of seating, or physical such as a rope or other physical marker.

Floor and seating

Most entertainment takes place in the main floor area, and this is where performers and staff can interact with patrons. Customers get comfortable in this area and from their observations, they decide which club services they will use. The main stage is visible from the main floor, and the main bar is accessible, if one is present. Patrons can usually select from open seating and some clubs will have staff to assist with seating. If premium seating is provided, club staff will usually manage access to those areas. Depending on the day, time and staffing levels, accessibility of the general admission areas may vary. Larger clubs will rope off or otherwise close sections of the club to customers unless the size of the crowd warrants use of the space. Larger clubs could have multiple floor, bar, seating, and staging areas which are managed in a similar manner.

Strip clubs are profit-oriented businesses like restaurants and other retail establishments and dancers are their primary vehicle to entice customers to spend time and money in the establishment. The dancers continually interact with the customers in the club by walking around and attempting to solicit drinks and lap dances, usually scanning the floor of a club to find the most lucrative customer to greet. referred to in slang as "ringside", "gynecology row", "pervert row" and other names. The area of the tip rail is equivalent to the apron in traditional theatre.

Many stages will have actual railing built on or around the stage to function as the tip railing, in addition to indicating where a customer should position themselves relative to the performance zone. Customers will take turns tipping the dancer, Each club and dancer may have individual tolerance levels for customer interaction, including tipping. Some clubs have multiple stages on the premises. Tipping etiquette varies between countries and cultures. In Eastern European and Asian clubs it is customary to agree on payment upfront for a certain amount of time or dances, for stage performances and any private sessions. Larger clubs can have elaborate staging layouts with multiple stage areas distributed around a club and multiple dancers rotating between them per song. Some strip clubs consider ad-hoc performances on satellite stages, paid for by a customer on a per song basis, a form of private dance. Rules at the satellite stages on the main floor tend to be the same as the main stage. In some cases, the layout is significantly different allowing more or less access to the customer. If a satellite stage is located in a premium access zone, access to the dancer could be considerably greater since the higher level of service can include a less restrictive policy than enforced on the main floor. Lap dance, peep show, and lingerie modeling clubs might only have satellite stages with pay to play entertainment options on their premises.

Novelty acts (such as shower shows, fire shows, and oil wrestling) can be presented on dedicated stages, temporary staging on the floor, or on the main stage itself depending on the club. The main stage if used would need to be prepared and possibly covered to prevent damage, as accidents and injuries have been reported during these types of advanced striptease performances. When dangerous materials such as fire are used as props a permit may be required to be compliant with local ordinances. Some clubs that are not licensed to serve alcohol will work around the restriction by implementing a bring your own beverage (BYOB) policy and a juice bar. Juice bars have the appointments of full bars but only serve non-alcoholic beverages such as water, fruit juice, and flavored carbonated beverages. Such a bar could double as a service counter for the storage of BYOB material and offer ice and mixing services to create mixed drinks using the customer-purchased ingredients. Where waitstaff are present, they may serve as an extension of the bar service; providing and refreshing drinks while maintaining the cleanliness of the seating areas.

Other floor areas

Many clubs have a lobby area where the cover charge, if any, is collected by a doorman or doorwoman and security personnel can do a quick check of prospective customers as they enter the facility. Games are also a common feature of strip clubs. Arcade and gambling machines are popular features, as are pool tables. Some clubs also have dedicated areas of the main floor dedicated to performing private dance services.

Private dances in the main club zones most often take the form of table dances, lap and couch dances, and bed dances among others. An air dance is a particular form of private dance where little-to-no contact between the dancer and customer occurs. This class of dance spans the different categories above and some dancers may perform air dances when more contact-heavy forms of dance were expected and paid for. Club management may set standard prices for the various dance services, but individual strippers, where permitted, will negotiate their own prices, which may be higher or lower than the advertised rate. Table dances are distinguished from other forms of dances in that they can be performed where the customer is seated, on the main floor. ranging from plain stools and kitchen-grade chairs to plush leather armchairs. They can also be performed with the customer standing in these designated areas. A service provided by many clubs is for a customer to be placed on stage with one or more dancers for a public lap dance. Occasions for this type of performance are bachelor parties and birthdays, among others. Bed dance areas require more space because they are designed for the customer to be prone with the entertainer(s) positioned on top of them. Bed dances are the least common of the three, and in many clubs are a more expensive option than a lap dance because of the novelty and increased level of contact between customer and service provider.

Premium access zones

Access to certain parts of a strip club can require payment of an additional fee,

VIP seating adjacent to the main floor is often more comfortable. For example, arm chairs or couches may be provided, and may include booths with service tables. The area typically has a clear line of sight to the main stage. Reserve seating gives a customer a sense of importance and demonstrates prestige. In higher-end clubs, VIP seating might include balconies and other overlooks, which might also include smaller stages for a private dance if the customer wishes,

Limited access zones

Portions of the club used only for the operation and maintenance typically have access restricted to staff and performers. These include (but are not limited to) management offices, employee booths, performer dressing rooms, and service areas, such as the kitchen and behind the bar. This business practice does not differ significantly from what is seen in other customer service businesses such as retail stores and restaurants. More frequently seen booths are entry booths, where security staff monitor customers entering and leaving the club and collect the cover charge, and the DJ booth, where the DJ operates. The DJ booth contains sound, lighting, and other equipment which is used to "orchestrate the crowd" by adjusting the club environment, and is equivalent to a control room in a traditional theater.

Dancers use dressing rooms to prepare for performances, rest between performances, and stow any of their belongings not secured by other means. In less frequent cases such feeds could also be accessed from off-site.

Performers and staff

Performers

Performers are called strippers, exotic dancers, just dancers, or entertainers. Strippers are the primary draw for any club. Dancers effectively entertaining customers are the key to generating revenue by keeping customers on site and enticing them to be repeat visitors. By the 1980s, the pole dancing and highly explicit imagery associated with today's performers was widely accepted and frequently portrayed in film, television, and theater. House dancers work for a particular club or franchise. Feature dancers tend to have their own celebrity, touring a club circuit and making appearances. Porn stars will often become feature dancers to earn extra income and build their fan base.

Work environments

In some localities strippers are required to obtain permits to work in adult entertainment. Not all strippers are comfortable dancing topless or fully nude.

Strippers can sometimes be contracted for performances outside the strip club environment. Others use the internet to generate revenue by performing via webcam, recording premium content, or running their own subscriber-based web site. Online erotic content is pervasive and generally classified as pornography. Much like activities inside the club, different dancers have different comfort levels for services they provide during private parties. One reason for this is the negative stigma associated with exotic dancing. Not all dancers are affected equally. Some dancers manage this stigma by dividing "the social world" and only revealing part of their identity. By revealing only a part of themselves, strippers may avoid being characterized by the stigmatizing attributes associated with exotic dancing. Dancers are commonly aware of this customer desire for increased confidence, and may allow the impression that a customer is seeing their true selves. In reality, it is often just part of the act with little to no emotional attachment for the dancer. Inside the club, personal boundaries are frequently crossed between strippers, customers, and other club staff. Research indicates that at some point every dancer has felt exploited by customers, management, or other dancers. The most common complaint from dancers is being portrayed as an object or instrument, rather than as a person. While dancers feel this exploitation and are affected by it, they also admit that they exploit their customers. Dancers are entertaining the customers in exchange for money and employing all of the resources at their disposal to do so. They sell the fantasy of sex, but do not typically follow through with the act. The stage persona is different than who they are backstage, even if it does mirror aspects of their true personality.

Primary staff

Additional club staff almost always includes a club manager, as dancer-run clubs are rare. One or more managers are responsible for day-to-day operations on behalf of the club owner. Managerial responsibilities include money handling, inventory, and hiring and firing of employee staff and contractors. The manager role can be split between a general manager and one or more floor managers. If a bar is present, one or more dedicated bartenders might be employed to assist customers by preparing their drinks or by storing drinks that customers bring into BYOB clubs. Not every club will have a house mom.

Bouncers are security personnel. They are typically relatively large and physically strong males, who enforce club policy and maintain order in and around the premises. In some cases, on-duty law enforcement may be on site if a club is viewed by authorities as a location with a high enough crime risk. More commonly, privately hired security (including off-duty police) are contracted to guard the premises. Bouncers can also double as doormen or Disc jockeys (DJs); serving as hosts and maintaining the flow of entertainment and even cuing music for the dance sets. Where a DJ is not present, music may be provided via either a jukebox or sometimes live musicians.

Ancillary staff

Strip clubs have a variety of configurations and staffing needs. Some clubs employ a host to emcee the show, in addition to a DJ. Hosts are more common in busier clubs or shifts, and during special ,such as amateur night and featured acts. If the club charges a fee for entry, specialized personnel may work the door to collect the cover. A common practice is to employ young women, which are known in the industry as door girls, for this function. The Block in Baltimore, Maryland has aggressive doormen stationed at nearly every entrance, only feet apart in a highly concentrated area of clubs. Broadway in San Francisco, California has fewer clubs clustered together, but practices similar activities with their doormen.

Waitstaff are also employed to assist with providing drinks, and in some cases meals, to customers on the main floor and others areas of the club. Shooter girls are specialized waitstaff that carry pre-prepared drinks in shot glasses, that customers can conveniently purchase. Depending on the local ordinances, these shots may be arrive with some erotic part of the body of the shooter girl, typically her cleavage, involved in the delivery. If a club has a policy of setting a drink minimum per visit or per hour, the floor staff also assists in enforcing those rules. Dancers may also be required to generate a certain number of drink purchases per shift and as part of their rounds, the waitstaff may ask customers if they would like to buy a drink for the dancer seated with them. If a kitchen is present and if premium fare is offered, the club may also employ a chef to prepare and cook food items.

Parking lot attendants can include people who simply coordinate where to park and how much to pay or they may also include formal valets who will park a vehicle and keep track of the driver's keys while he or she is in the club. Some clubs require paid or valet parking to be used if keeping cars on the premises, to generate revenue and help regulate patron behavior. Bathroom attendants monitor the restrooms on behalf of management; primarily watching for policy violations and potential liability concerns. In strip clubs, policy enforcement can range from watching for drug use, sex, fighting, and other activities the club would prefer to see done off the premises. The attendant will also attempt to keep the restroom area clean, assist with the washing of hands, and if available, provide by request an assortment of cologne, mints, and other disposable items. More money is spent in the U.S. in strip clubs than is spent on theater, opera, ballet, jazz and classical music concerts combined. Some clubs have hundreds of entertainers appear on stage within a single year.

Global industry

The U.S. and international markets for clubs offering Americanized striptease are not well defined and published revenue figures are estimates. In 2002, the size of the U.S. industry was estimated to be US$3.1 billion, spanning 2,500 clubs and generating 19% of the total gross in legal adult entertainment revenue. The U.S. market for strip clubs was estimated to be as large as US$15 billion in 2005. That same year the U.S. state of California alone accounted for US$1 billion in revenue, and the total size of the global strip club industry was estimated to be US$75 billion. basing that estimate on Adult Video News Media Network (AVN) statistics One factor in the proliferation of British strip clubs is Britain's 2003 Licensing Act, which introduced the one-size-fits-all premises licence, which meant that strip clubs in Britain no longer had to receive special permission for nudity. In 2005, revenues for the U.K. strip club industry, one of the fastest growing sectors of its leisure industry, were estimated to be UK£300 million. and the demand for these types of business is soaring in economically developing nations. Most most adult entertainment companies, which include strip clubs, are in privately held ownership.

Two strip club companies are publicly traded in U.S. financial markets and listed on NASDAQ: VCG Holding Corp. (VCGH) and Rick's Cabaret International, Inc. (RICK). In February 2010, the two clubs agreed in principle to merge, with Rick's Cabaret acquiring VCG Holding. The estimated purchase price, according to the statement of intent, was for the acquisition using RICK stock to be at a value of US$2.20 to US$3.80 per share. The US$45 million deal fell through after the statement of intent expired on March 31, 2010, with Rick's Cabaret unable to enter into a definitive merger agreement to acquire all of VCG's outstanding stock. A third publicly traded company, Scores Holding Company, Inc. (SCRH), licenses its brand to strip club operators but does not own or operate any club properties itself. Publicly reported earning statements for U.S. companies operating strip clubs have not provided guidance on how they define their market segment, non-public competitors, or overall industry revenue. Profitability of strip clubs, as with other service-oriented businesses, is largely driven by location and customer spending habits. Clubs closely proximate to Wall Street in New York, New York are notorious for hosting meetings with financial industry power brokers, among other business heavyweights, which are frequently expensed on company bankrolls. Since clubs located in urban areas or business centers have caused concerns over traffic and social issues, some club owners with common interests in close proximity have shared representation without consolidating their businesses. After numerous incidents during the 1990s with local and state government, Downtown Entertainment Inc. was formed in 2000 to represent the interests of business owners on The Block in Baltimore, Maryland. Because of negative perceptions of the adult entertainment industry, many clubs engage in public displays of charity to generate goodwill. VCGH clubs, in order to be good corporate citizens, actively sponsor and participate in local charitable events and contribute to local charities.

Among clubs, there is a variety of different ways to deliver entertainment and fee structures commonly differ between clubs. A cover charge (entry fee also known as a door charge) is customary at many clubs, the amount of which can vary by factors such as day of visit, time of day, gender, and other factors. To make the charge more acceptable to customers, some clubs include bonus items in the admission price, such as drink tickets that can be redeemed once inside. Some clubs also have drink fees tied to interaction with performers. Champagne Room pricing (where time with an exotic dancer in a private room on the premises can be purchased) is a variation on that same theme.

Operations

In the U.S., striptease dancers are generally classified as independent contractors. While a few smaller strip clubs may pay a weekly wage, for the most part, all of a dancer's income is derived from tips and other fees they collect from customers. In most clubs, dancers have to pay a "stage fee" or "house fee" to work a given shift. For the customer, the fee structure of a club is determined by management policy.

In many smaller clubs the staff roles filled by the same person, such as a bartender and manager, and in extreme cases one person fills all the support functions within a club. Some clubs will hire attractive women onto the staff as bartenders and shot girls to complement the strippers, who can also double as stage and lap dance entertainers depending on the club. Paid staff are discretionary positions and turnover can be quite frequent, but standard employment laws do apply and have been enforced through the courts and other regulatory means. Hiring of staff and performers in the United States is almost always voluntary on the part of the club and worker. Some strip clubs have hosted job fairs to address staffing needs. While not a common practice in the United States, globally, women are regularly compelled into working as strippers with the knowledge of club management.

U.S. company VCGH, Inc. uses a variety of highly targeted methods to reach its customers, including local radio, billboard trucks, internet, newspaper and magazine ads, and professional sporting events. Its advertising and marketing expenses decreased by approximately 3.9% to US$2,805,260 from US$2,921,327 over the year ended December 31, 2008. Advertising and marketing expenses were approximately 5.1% of their total revenues in 2009 and 2008. The decrease was attributed to a shift in advertising, including using billboard trucks for mobile advertising versus leasing fixed billboard signs.

In the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington, its Major League Baseball franchise, the Seattle Mariners, initially sued in King County Superior Court to try to prevent Dreamgirls cabaret from opening. The team's attorneys argued that the strip club's existence would adversely affect families that visit the stadium. The suit was dropped after the Mariners reached a compromise which included limits on outdoor advertising, window displays, and signs. The compromise specified that the clubs video screens would only show text on kids days at the stadium, and not images of strippers. In May 2010, there was public controversy because the club showed strippers on its large electronic display on "kids' day". Dreamgirls claimed it is the team's responsibility to tell them when such a display is to be prohibited.

In Tucson, Arizona, Elite Cabaret, a Tempe city strip club, filed suit in 2007 against the City of Tempe in federal court. In the settlement that was reached, the two sides ended the legal wrangle amidst a host of stipulations. One clause is aimed at preventing the racy image strip clubs promote. The club is not allowed to depict the human body on the exterior of its building. Signs cannot say "nude", "topless", "girls" or similar words. The sign can only have the bar's name and terms like "cabaret" or "gentlemen's club". Strip club advertising and its associated controversy are not limited to the United States. In South Africa, well-known strip club chain Teazers generated media coverage and official complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority of South Africa (ASA) over its suggestive billboards.

Cultural influence and impact

The strip club as an outlet for salacious entertainment is a recurrent theme in popular culture. Blaze (1989) features Lolita Davidovitch as notorious stripper Blaze Starr. Starr herself appears in the film in a cameo role. Exotica (1994), directed by Atom Egoyan, is set in a Canadian lap-dance club, and portrays a man's (Bruce Greenwood) obsession with a schoolgirl stripper named Christina (Mia Kirshner). Showgirls (1995) was directed by Paul Verhoeven and starred Elizabeth Berkley and Gina Gershon. Striptease (1996), was an adaptation of the novel starring Demi Moore. The Players Club (1998) starred LisaRaye as a girl who becomes a stripper to earn enough money to enter college and study journalism.

In Jekyll and Hyde (1997), the character of Lucy Harris (originally portrayed by Linda Eder) works as a prostitute and stripper in a small London club called The Red Rat, where she meets a multi-dimension man named Doctor Henry Jekyll, who turns into his evil persona Mr. Edward Hyde. Lucy performs the song ‘Bring on the Men’ during a show at the Red Rat (which was later replaced with ‘Good ‘n’ Evil’ in the Broadway production, some claiming ‘Bring on the Men’ was too ‘risqué’.). In Neighbours (1985), the character of Daphne is originally a stripper at Des's bucks party, and eventually goes on to marry him.Married... with Children (1987–97) often featured Al Bundy, Jefferson D'Arcy, and the NO MA'AM crew spending a night at the Nudie Bar. Business was often conducted at the Bada Bing strip club during the six season run of The Sopranos (1999–2007).

2000s-present

By the 2000s, visits to strip clubs by characters in action movies were a common occurrence. Dancing at the Blue Iguana (2000) is a feature film starring Daryl Hannah. The female cast of the film researched the film by dancing at strip clubs and created their parts and their storylines to be as realistic as possible. The Raymond Revuebar the Art of Striptease (2002) is a documentary, directed by Simon Weitzman. Los Debutantes (2003) is a Chilean film set in a strip-club in Santiago. Portraits of a Naked Lady Dancer (2004) is a documentary, directed by Deborah Rowe. In Closer (2004), Natalie Portman plays Alice, a young stripper just arrived in London from America. Crazy Horse Le Show (2004) features dance routines from the Crazy Horse, Paris. I Know Who Killed Me (2007) stars Lindsay Lohan as Dakota Moss, an alluring stripper involved in the machinations of a serial killer, and features a long striptease sequence at a strip club. In 2009 a DVD called, "Crazy Horse Paris" featuring Dita Von Teese was released. Barely Phyllis is a play on Phyllis Dixey which was first staged at the Pomegranate Theatre, Chesterfield in 2009. Stripsearch (2001-), an ongoing Australian reality television show which centers around the training of male strippers. (2007), In the two part season 6 finale titled Don't You Want Me, Alex Nunez resorts to stripping after her mother and herself don't have enough money to pay the rent on their apartment.

Notable locations

One of the most famous strip clubs in the U.S. is on Route 17 in Lodi, New Jersey. It was featured on the television show The Sopranos. The club is actually a go bar, serving alcohol with dancers, but it does not offer nudity. It is called "Satin Dolls" in real life, but is known more universally around the world and in the show as "The Bada Bing". The Gold Club was an Atlanta, Georgia adult entertainment club receiving national attention for the indictment of several of its owners, managers, and employees. The Gold Club trial also received significant attention because numerous significant professional athletes were called to testify. The club was closed after the convictions of its owner, managers, and employees.

Sapphire Gentlemen's Club in Las Vegas has been billed as the world's largest strip club. In 2006 it sold at auction for US$80 million. Amsterdam, Netherlands is famous for its live sex shows at De Wallen.

Top clubs

Given the variety of club formats and laws governing the operation of strip clubs around the world, a definitive and objective list of top clubs is not practical. The popularity of a given club is an indicator of its quality, as is the word of mouth among customers who have visited a cross section of clubs in different regions. A 2008 article published by the AskMen.com portal posted a list of the top 10 strip clubs in the world. According to their criteria, which included aesthetics, quality of girls, services, and such, the top clubs at the time were:

The top ranked club on the list was closed in 2008 because of legal violations, including fraud and prostitution, for which the owner pleaded guilty. U.S. style striptease remains a global phenomenon and culturally accepted form of entertainment, despite its scrutiny in legal circles and popular media. Over half of clubs still open from the list are located outside of the United States. Popular internet sites for strip club enthusiasts also have Top Club lists calculated from input from their online visitors. The Ultimate Strip Club List has a Top 100 Strip Clubs list, generated by analyzing the ratings for all of its clubs as entered by individual reviewers. Its list regularly includes strip clubs from outside of the U.S. and the site details clubs from countries across six continents. The Strip Club Network, owned by strip club conglomerate Deja Vu, calculates its online Strip Club List: Top 100 Clubs, by the total number of views that each club information page has received on their website.

Law and politics

The legal status of strip clubs has evolved over the course of time, with national and local laws becoming progressively more liberal on the issue around the world, although some countries (such as Iceland) have implemented strict limits and bans. Strip clubs are frequent targets of litigation around the world, and the sex industry, which includes strip clubs, is a hot button issue in popular culture and politics. Some clubs have been linked to organized crime, which has been known to use legitimate business as fronts for its illegal operations.

United States and the Americas

With the legal system of the U.S. based on common law, motivations for law suits can range from legitimate legal grounds to cases filed with the intent of shaping case law to favor the socio-political aims of special interest groups. Clubs around the country have personnel and clientele that are purported to engage in not only sex acts on the premises, Strip clubs are obligated to enforce age limits for entry to the clubs and consumption of alcohol. Club owners have closed their businesses as a result of losing a liquor license. specific and strict in response to allegations of corruption among local officials, which included contacts in the nude entertainment industry. Among its provisions is the "six foot rule", copied by other municipalities in requiring that dancers maintain a six foot distance from patrons while performing. Fully nude clubs may be subject to additional requirements, such as restrictions on alcohol sales and no-touch rules between customers and dancers. To circumvent these rules, two "separate" bars—one topless and one fully nude—may open adjacent to one another. In a small number of states and jurisdictions where it is legal for alcohol to be consumed but not sold, some clubs still allow customers to bring their own beverages.

Still other rules forbid "full nudity" in certain districts, which can vary among different areas within the same town. Some parts of the USA have laws forbidding the exposure of female nipples or even areolas, thus requiring female dancers to cover these with pasties. These laws are not, however, known to be applied to the exposure of male nipples. Managers, dancers, and other club workers can be cited or arrested by local or federal authorities for violating nudity, drug, and other violations. The Detroit city council has since softened the rules; eliminating the requirement for pasties but keeping other restrictions. Both municipalities were reputed to have suffered rampant occurrences of illicit activities, including prostitution, all linked to striptease establishments within their cities' limits. Detroit has also drawn attention from the federal government for incidents of human trafficking in its strip clubs. The state of Missouri recently passed a similar law to that of Houston and Detroit banning full nudity in strip clubs across the state.

Strip clubs have also received attention in the Americas outside of the United States. There have been annual attempts to amend the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), passed in 2001. The 2009 version of the bill (Bill C-45: An Act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) had specific provisions related to tightening the issuance of exotic dancer visas as a means to combat human trafficking. In August 2009 one of Rio de Janeiro's most notorious clubs, the Help discothèque, was closed by the city in its bid to clean up the area before its hosting of the 2014 World Cup. The move was also seen as related to its ultimately successful bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Officials in Rio de Janeiro threatened in November 2009 to sue American comedian Robin Williams for disparaging comments made on a late night talk show. His comments on its Olympics bid, "Rio sent 50 strippers and a pound of blow. It wasn't really fair, you know?" was replayed several times on news shows in Brazil and prompted a public response from its mayor. The Olympic Committee for Rio had its lawyers investigate whether there were grounds for a law suit but no charges were filed.

United Kingdom and Europe

In 2009, the United Kingdom passed the Policing and Crime Act following concerns about the expansion in the number of live sex entertainment venues across its territories. Any strip club where live entertainment takes place more than 11 times a year must now apply for a license from its local authorities. The Irish government had, at one time, special visa categories for 'entertainers,' which enabled the trafficking of women for strip clubs and prostitution. Throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and the Netherlands, studies have shown that Russian individuals and organized crime groups are importing women from Russia, the Ukraine, the Baltic States, and Central Europe into the Russian sex industry to work in stripping, prostitution, peep and show club services, and massage and escort services, among others.

In March 2010, Iceland outlawed striptease. The politician behind the bill, Kolbrún Halldórsdóttir, said: "It is not acceptable that women or people in general are a product to be sold." In South Africa there has been public controversy over incidents of prostitution and violence related to its strip clubs. 17 customers were arrested during a raid at a strip club in Cape Town in June 2010 for committing unspecified illegal acts. 35 Eastern European dancers were also arrested for working at the club without the correct documents.

In 2008, the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research in Sydney, Australia reported 1,600 people were charged with committing a range of 27 criminal offenses in the state's "places of worship". Oddly, the figures showed only 282 people were charged with the same offenses in premises classified as adult entertainment establishments. A breakdown of the statistical figures showed that 85 people were assaulted in places of worship, compared to 66 at adult entertainment locations. Incidents of both sexual assault and harassing and threatening behavior were also greater at places of worship. The report included churches, synagogues, monasteries, mosques, convents, cathedrals and chapels as places of worship. Premises listed as adult entertainment sites included strip clubs, sex shops, brothels, massage parlors, gay clubs, gaming houses, and gambling clubs. The bureau's interpretation was that people were just as likely to be assaulted or robbed in the sanctity of a church as they were in sex industry venues.

See also

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Adult chat rooms

Bar fine

Bargirl

Burlesque

Cabaret

Cage dancing

*Camgirl

Clip joint

Dance bar

Girl-girl

Go-Go bar

Hostess club

*Peep show

Pole dancing

Sex club

Sex show

Table dancing

|| |}

Notes

Bibliography

Category:Erotic dance Category:Sex industry Category:Nudity