...are there any girls or guys here who lived through this in the 80's/90's at the Mons Venus? Movie comes out March 2009.
http://www.tampaonlinefilmfestival.c...joeredner.html
http://www.myspace.com/joerednerthemovie




...are there any girls or guys here who lived through this in the 80's/90's at the Mons Venus? Movie comes out March 2009.
http://www.tampaonlinefilmfestival.c...joeredner.html
http://www.myspace.com/joerednerthemovie
"Peter, did you take Stewie to a strip-club? He smells like sweat and fear." - Lois and Stewie (Family Guy) ... "Through early morning fog I see, Visions of the things to be, The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see..."
I was a Mons girl from '96 until '03 and I will tell you this place is one of a kind. When it was good, it was GOOD. Guys came from all over the world and girls too to be at the world famous Mons Venus. HBO and Playboy both did specials on the place in it's heyday. Everything was good until City Council made the 6 Foot Ordinance and police were raiding the club sometimes as many as 4 times in the same night. We used to go into work only after midnight to decrease our chances of getting arrested. People would get arrested, go to jail, and it would be business as usual as soon as the police left. This seriously impacted business as guys were afraid to come into the place, fearing the worst. The city didn't like Joe's political activism and sought to bring him down but failed every time. I'm glad to have been able to have experienced this gem when times were good and the place was fun and carefree.





I had a wealthy friend who used to fly down from Chicago to Tampa, for less than 24 hours, just to go there. He'd get a hotel room but leave in the morning (later morning haha). He would regale me with tales of how much fun he had. This was before I was a DJ, it was not something from my world then. Now I have worked with and/or become friends with many former Mons girls. I have yet to go there.
Sounds like a fascinating movie.
You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Free your mind, and your ass will follow.
George Clinton
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I worked there 2 days. I met him, he was a very cool guy. Total silver fox. I couldn't take the contact!
Sound interesting. Thanks for bringing to our attention.
That will be interesting to see. I worked at Mons, and I think it is highly overrated. However, I still bump into customers who rave about the place.
I don't see the big deal.
^ At the time, strip clubs were either high class with beautiful girls and no contact, or low class with ugly girls who were basically whores. The Mons was the first famous place to have beautiful girls giving high contact.
Never worked there but I've been as a customer about 10 years ago. I thought the place to be pretty much a dump. There were MUCH better clubs in that area at that time. at least from my point of view.
The girls were ok but nothing like people said to expect and they were beyond pushy/bitchy. At least the ones working that night were anyway. Some even had on sweats and sneakers which was big turn off to me as it was like they could give a shit about their job. I mean come on- they could at least pretend to give a damn.
It's also not much bigger than a 2 car garage, lol! The stage was about the size of a small satellite stage at an average club. I've never been in such a small club before or after. I like some elbow room so it was really uncomfortable for me.
Maybe due to all the hype I was expecting more and so ended up really disappointed. I think if I had heard nothing of the place prior to going I would have been more like "eh, decent looking girls but otherwise just a local dive, no biggie"
I do think Redner is interesting guy however.




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The Mons & a lot of other clubs with beautiful girls had advanced beyond the airdance stage for several years before your stint there. Although not up to Tampa contact levels, by the mid-90's, several cities, with attractive dancers already offered a modicum of contact.
LitS-- What do club club size, and attire have to do with whether or not a dancer is attractive ? I've seen a lot of women in casual dress more attractive than some in evening gowns & high heels.
Last edited by minnow; 01-11-2009 at 08:04 PM. Reason: delete repetive phrase
Club size, nothing. I just thought it strange that a supposed world famous place would be so extremely tiny. Plus I'm a tad claustrophobic so it was not pleasant in that sense.
Attire. Well I guess that is a personal taste thing but seeing scruffy sweats and sneaks as their 'costume' was a big turn off for me. They looked more like they were taking out the trash at home than an erotic fantasy girl. Other than the lack of proper costumes the dancers looks were fine. Average to above average but just not what I was expecting from all the hype, that's all.
Compared to what I was used to at that time, the place seemed to be a dump with cute girls. Nothing really wrong with that but it just wasn't my cup of tea. My idea of a really good strip club is more like what you find at PEC in NYC.
well i guess i will come out and age myself. i started working for joe at the tanga lounge (pre mons) in 1982. i also was in cheri magazine that did a spread *haha* on the tanga. i also lived with him for about a year. not as his girlfriend but just a party buddy. not that we didnt fuck a time or two lol.
when the mons opened it was not near as popular as the tanga was at the time.
i got out of dancing for awhile and came back to joe to work in 1990-1995. i then moved away from tampa.
i did run into him about 5 years ago when he had a interest in a huge regular nightclub in ybor city. we immediately hugged and caught up briefly. he was still the same old joe.
i had many years of fun and money working for joe. he was always very good to me and the girls unless you were caught with drugs or setting up OTC.
As quoted by Luckyone:
I asked directions from a genie in a bottle of jim beam and she lied to me.
Methodus saved my life!
And all that is exactly what makes it the gem that it is.
The girls wearing the breakaway sweats with sneakers make shitloads of money because the guys love seeing the dancer in something other than typical costumes. Every girl there has her own unique persona and look. IT all works out there and that's what keeps the customers from all around the world coming back every year.




...in case anyone has not noticed, velvets post "Wins The Thread" so far. Damn girl ya lived with him!!! Velvet, how about telling us your version of Mons & Joe with a few stories before the movie comes out.
"Peter, did you take Stewie to a strip-club? He smells like sweat and fear." - Lois and Stewie (Family Guy) ... "Through early morning fog I see, Visions of the things to be, The pains that are withheld for me, I realize and I can see..."
Joe really is a great guy- he brings in fresh fruit every day and puts it in the dressing room so the girls can eat healthy snacks. He discourages eating fast food/junk food that will make the girls look bad.
well, lol. unfortunately those were wild, wild days and i dont know if he would want me to publicly tell most of them. he has a completely different lifestyle now and probably wants to forget some of those time.
i can tell you that he had a huge house that he redid. right in the middle of the ghetto! he had a whole room that was a jacuzzi room that i had one memorable night in. i had two girls join me there and we had a impromptu girl,girl,girl threesome. there are many more but i guess i will let the past stay there.
like i said he was always good to me even years later.
As quoted by Luckyone:
I asked directions from a genie in a bottle of jim beam and she lied to me.
Methodus saved my life!
^ velvet FTW





I love Joe, and the Mons!
Great memories of the time I spent working there, when I was a traveling dancer. I really enjoyed the healthy lifestyle that he promoted, because I was into health foods, and herbs/vitamins, before it was very popular with a lot of dancers I met.
Also, the fact that we could wear tracksuits, and tennis shoes was the added bonus for me, and quite refreshing.
I just heard that he has stage 4 cancer, so my prayers are with him, and his lovely family.
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