This is more of a GQ, but since it came up after watching HIMYM, I figured I’d post it here. Mods, feel free to move if necessary.
Monday night’s HIMYM included a speech by Robin about the wonderful things about Canada including, and I’m paraphrasing here, that in Canadian strip clubs you can watch a stripper get completely naked and drink a beer at the same time.
I’ve lived in the US all my life, and have never been to a strip club here (or anywhere), but I’ve always kind of assumed that’s what strip clubs were.
So is it illegal for strippers to get completely naked here, or only in clubs that serve alcohol? If the club doesn’t serve alcohol, do you get full nudity? Do strip clubs that don’t serve alcohol even exist? I’d imagine that alcohol sales would be about 95% of the revenue.
I’m not an expert on strip clubs, but I assume it depends on local laws. I know that in Las Vegas strip clubs that have full nudity are not allowed to serve alcohol (although there is one exception, which is grandfathered under the old law).
I cannot speak for other states or jurisdictions, but every strip club I’ve visited in Connecticut had full nudity and watered-down drinks from a full bar.
I do not know if either or these was allowed by the strict interpretation of the relevent statutes.
It varies state to state and county by county. In NJ, where I live, an establishment can’t serve alcohol while strippers are even partially nude…not even topless. If you want alcohol to be served to you, you have to go to a bikini or “go go” bar. If you want to see any nudity (legally), you have to go to a “juice bar”, where you can usually bring in your own alcohol. I stressed “legally”, because girls in go go bars have been known to break rules from time to time. The Bada Bing scenes from The Sopranos are obviously fictitious.
I imagine at such establishments there’s a significant cover charge? Or a two-drink minimum of obscenely overpriced juice drinks? Or both?
I only ask because I imagine that sober strip club patrons would be far less profitable, both for the establishments themselves and for the strippers (in the form of tips) – but this is pure conjecture on my part.
In New York, the rule is generally that topless clubs can serve alcohol and full nude clubs are alcohol free. I have seen a few exceptions but that rule works 99% of the time.
I visited a club in Des Monies, IA where you paid a $10 cover to get in, it was BYOB, and the girls not only got completely nude - but if you gave them a tip they’d come over and let you touch. I got a private dance for $20 and the girl pretty much let you put your hands and mouth anywhere you pleased (above the belt anyway.)
I think that the business model is really all lap dance and stage tip based. The strippers pay the house a significant portion of their stage and lap dance earnings. There are bouncers and DJ’s that monitor the activities. IIRC, haven’t been to a juice bar in a couple of years, the cover is never more than $20 and sometimes much lower. You’re correct in assuming that the establishments encourage the BYOB part, and even refrigerate your beverages for you, or provide ample ice.
As they say, it depends on local laws. One time I was in Baltimore, and was told at the strip club that they couldn’t serve alcohol. I lived in Utah for several years, and the girls couldn’t strip down past essentially a bikini, nor could the bar serve anything stronger than 3.2 beer.
On the other hand, most of the clubs I’[ve been to elsewhere in the US allow complete nudity and any alcohol.
One thing I WILL say for the Canadian strip clubs I’[ve been in – they were clean, well-lit (most US clubs are pretty dark), and catered to both sexes - there were plenty of women there to see the male strippers.
In PA, a club that has nude dancers cannot be licensed to sell alcohol. So the totally-newd places get around the law by charging a cover and not charging for beer. You don’t need a license to give beer away, you see.
In Santa Clara County, CA, there’s only one fully nude strip club. They aren’t allowed to serve alcohol, but they have a cover charge and a two (soft)drink minimum.
While we’re on the subject of Canadian strip clubs…
A couple of years ago, I seem to remember reading in one of the soft-core men’s magazines (mighta been Maxim, not sure) about Montreal strip clubs. IIRC, in the one they profiled, actual sex acts were available for purchase. Did I read that right? Is it legal? And how do I become a citizen?
There’s an episode of How I Met Your Mother, the thanksgiving episode from the first season, where Ted, Robin, and Barney end up having Thanksgiving dinner at a Strip Club. I don’t recall if this is where Robin mentioned the difference between strip clubs in the US and Canada, but it did have numerous jokes about Thanksgiving being in October in Canada (the first episode where they mentioned her Canadianocity, a source of much humor later on).
At the very end, you see Ted making introductions with one of the strippers, and then the POV cuts back to the “Present” (I wanna say somewhere around the year 2020), and the Narrator tells his kids “And THAT is the real story of how I met your mother.” “WHAT?!” “Hahaha, just kidding, no.”
It’s not legal, but it happens all the time, and (entirely anecdotal factoid) I’ve never heard of anyone ever getting busted for it. I’ve been propositioned by dancers several times, but have never taken anone up on it. Too prudish to enjoy myself, I guess.
I’d heard about it for a long time before I encountered it. After years of not going to strip clubs, I and a buddy decided to check one out. We had a couple extremely overpriced beers, watched some surprisingly hot ladies dance, and I finally decided to take one of the dancers up on her offer of a lapdance. When we got back to the “V.I.P” lounge (an even more dimly lit part of the club, with high-walled booth-type seats), she…
(slightly rude bits follow)
…slid down between my legs, grabbed my privates through my pants, and asked “can I?”. I almost laughed at her brazenness. Instead, I had just enough curiosity to ask how much. $200.00, I was told.
I tried to convince my friend to go and see if he could talk her down. Frankly, both of us found the whole thing hilarious. I’ve never paid for a … um … “date” … and neither, as far as I know, has he. To us, it was sort of a novelty, and a bit surprising at how open they were about it.
That said, the “Lap Dances” are straight-up grope fests. Hands and tongues go everywhere, if that’s what you want.
I’ve actually stopped going to strip clubs again, because the booze is so expensive, and the girls are so aggresive with their sales-pitches. Also, no one does a good two-girl show anymore. Man, those were the days.
