Most dancers do not get paid by the club. And it can be incredibly lucrative for the dancers.īut in some cities the bad nights far outweigh the good ones.īutterfly works in Las Vegas, where the steady stream of tourists makes it relatively easy for her to support her family.īut in the rest of the country, making a decent living as a stripper is no sure thing. Many clubs have even more exclusive areas, often completely private rooms or booths that can cost as much as $500 an hour. She said her clients talked about everything from work to their wives to their kids.īut if the client isn't paying, Butterfly said she cut him off after two songs. Over and over again, people will pay you just to sit there and listen to you," Butterfly said. "A lot of times we're like psychiatrists, listening to people's problems. If they pay, they get a woman who'll sit and talk and be charming. "They want the fantasy to think, you know, 'Gee, this girl really likes me,'" he said.Īnd they don't have to work hard to get the attention. And they want to get to know her," said Eric Langin, president and chief executive officer of Rick's Cabaret - a publicly traded company that owns gentlemen's clubs in cities across the country. "The big-money customers want to come in and spend time with a beautiful girl. And then you are compensated for that."Īnd that compensation is earned whether the customer wants lap dances or just a pretty girl to sit and talk with him - what they call "GFE," or Girlfriend Experience. And then you try to fulfill that need, you know? You try to make them feel better about themselves - smarter, stronger, whatever. You want to look at the guy who probably doesn't get that much love or affection or whatever. "The really cute guy, the cocky guy - we talk to them last, they're last pick. "Honestly, you look for the vulnerable ones," Jennifer said. Some said they treated all of the clientele the same.īut they all agreed that sizing up customers, to determine who the big spenders are, was critical.Ī client's shoes, wristwatch, type of suit, even the type of eyeglasses are scrutinized to see whether the client has enough money to pay for the pricey champagne room, or VIP room, where dancers give one-on-one attention for as much as $300 a half-hour. Some of the dancers said the sell had to be personalized. The most successful dancers, like Trina at the Hustler Club in San Francisco, combine the physical confidence of a runway model with the verbal skills of a used-car salesman. I'm sorry, but this is my job and that's what I am here for," she said. My second thought is how much money can I get out of this person. ![]() "Number one, I'm thinking about how I can move my body to please them and make their fantasy come true. Somebody who feels comfortable in this type of setting," Feinstein said.Īfter watching dancers give lap dances it's easy to guess what the customer is thinking about.īut what's going through a dancer's mind while she gives such an intimate dance to a complete stranger? "The primary thing, to be honest with you, that we look for is an entertainer that is attractive and socially capable of carrying on conversation with men. I believe that you're either born with it, or you're not," she said.ĭelores Eliades and Peter Feinstein, owners of the Sapphire Gentlemen's Club, told "20/20" what they looked for in their dancers. "I would just pretend, like in my head, like I was, you know, going through sex acts. To make real money, the women said, you have to work the room - chat up the customers and persuade them to pay you for a private dance or just for your time and attention.Ī one-on-one dance, or a lap dance, on the main floor costs $15 to $20 a song.īutterfly said she got over her embarrassment by blocking out what she was doing. The women said nobody took new dancers under their wing and mentored them, or told them how to survive and how to make a lot of money.Īnd what they learned quickly was that the job was more complicated than just dancing topless around a pole. I didn't know what was expected of me," Butterfly said. "I'd stand against the wall and I didn't want anyone to look at me and I didn't want to say anything to anybody. The women "20/20" spoke with all followed different paths to the same career choice.īut once they made that choice, almost all of them said they had no idea what they were supposed to do.
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