Hey, all, with the site changes I know the Newbie FAQ link is broken, so for the time being I am posting it here.
Newbie FAQ
Most newbies start out needing to know where to dance and what to do to get a job. Here are some answers to our most frequently asked questions.
How do I find a club in my city (or in a specific area)?
This is the first thing you’ll need to do when you’re starting to dance. There are several ways to find the clubs in your area. First, you can start right here on StripperWeb, by going to the Clubs and Reviews section. It has reviews by both dancers and customers. There are also two other comprehensive strip club listing sites on the web. Strip Club List (SCL) is a free site, The Ultimate Strip Club List (TUSCL) is a pay one ($5.99 a month, or one month's free access with each review posted). Both list clubs by state and city, and include club addresses, phone numbers, and websites if they have them. The comments come mainly from customers, so they may or may not be helpful to you. They should be taken with a grain of salt; a club with bad reviews might be the place for you. Also, sometimes clubs in your town will advertise in the sports pages or in your local weekly paper. All of these resources will help you with what should be your first step: going to check out some clubs.
You’ll then head out, perhaps with a friend, to these clubs. Usually, when you tell them you’re interested in working there, they’ll let you check out the club. You can also just go out as a customer, but some clubs don’t allow unescorted women in as customers and will require you to have a male friend with you. The second option is a good idea if you can do it, since it allows you to hang out and observe the club. Feel free to talk to some of the dancers and ask them their opinion of the club, working conditions, etc. It’s nice to tip them for their time, something you’ll appreciate when you come in to work.
Now you know how to find a club. On to the next step.
How do I get a job?
First, make sure you’re old enough. In the U.S. the minimum age is 18in some areas, in others, 21. Call some local clubs to find out what the hiring age is in your area.
Clubs differ in how they hire dancers. Some will just take a look at you in your street clothes and let you immediately go to work that night if you want to. Some will want you to audition on stage. Some will have schedules and will have a wait before you start working.
If you’re ready to go to work, and think that you might be hired on the spot, pack up your dance bag with everything you’ll need (costumes, shoes, toiletries, makeup, and a lock for your locker). Go into the club and see what comes next. You might not get hired at the first club you try, but it’s likely that one of the clubs on your list will be ready to hire you.
If there’s going to be an audition, you’ll need your dance bag, too, since you’ll be dressing like you were working. An audition is usually a brief set on stage, though it might just be letting the manager see you in a dance outfit. How do you prepare for this? The same way you would prepare for actually working there. You’ll probably have practiced in the mirror at home. Every new dancer generally looks a little awkward, so don’t worry about being perfect. Fluidity and confidence on stage is something that will come with experience. As long as you’re not doing the Cabbage Patch up there, you’ll be fine.
Every club worth working at will want to see your ID and possibly your Social Security card, so be prepared. If you are hired, there may be some paperwork to fill out, just like any other job.
As a side note, you might be asked for your stage name. Start thinking about what you’d like your alias to be. Keep it understandable and pronounceable, since you’ll probably be introducing yourself to people who’ve been drinking over loud music.
What do I need?
There are just a few things that you’ll need to start dancing. One is a well-stocked toiletry and makeup bag, with everything that you might need during the night. You’ll also need a couple of costumes and some of those scary-looking stripper shoes. A good place to get started is on Ebay, where you can often find shoes and outfits cheaply. Just do a search with “exotic dancer” or “platforms” and you’ll see a bunch of stuff come up. If you need something now, look in the Yellow Pages for lingerie or clubwear. Any large city will have stores that cater to dancers where you can try on some shoes and outfits to get an idea of which styles suit you.
If you are dancing topless, you will need to make sure that your thong is legal. A standard legal thong is different from thong underwear. It’s made of sturdier material, like swimsuit material, and is fully lined. It’s best to buy it from a local shop that caters to dancers or from an online site that does the same. The clubs can tell you where to go in your area to find dancewear. They will also tell you if they have a dress code for their dancers, like if they require long dresses or if shorts aren’t allowed. You don’t need a lot of outfits to get started, just two or three should be fine (it’s nice to have a spare in case of spills). Chose what you feel most comfortable in and what flatters you. Don’t be afraid to ask the nice people at the dancewear store for help. They have heard everything before.
It can be scary jumping into those shoes, but you’re going to need to do it eventually. Nothing screams “newbie!” like a pair of short, chunky heels. If you like, start with a 5” heel that has a platform. Some clubs will actually have a height minimum for the shoes their dancers are allowed to wear, and that generally starts at 5”. Wear them around the house while doing your housework to get used to walking in them.
If you’re going to dance in a bikini or pastie club, ask the club about legal outfit requirements. In some areas you have to wear latex on your nipples or some other type of cover, which they'll probably provide to start with. It will depend on where you live. For instance, in Atlanta and Portland, it’s legal to serve alcohol in a nude club, so the clubs are nude. In Dallas and New York, it’s not, so most clubs are topless (with some BYOB or juice bars that are nude).
What do I do once I have the job?
This is where the wealth of information on StripperWeb comes in handy. There are usually two basic components to working as a dancer: going on stage, and selling dances. The amount of stage time and its importance will vary widely depending on where you work. In most cases, the majority of your money will be made from selling dances.
If there are a lot of girls in your club and you only go up on stage once or twice a night, you might want to skip it. It’s good to go up when you’re new just so that you can practice dancing, but once you’re a little more comfortable, you may decide to forgo stage entirely so you can spend more time on the floor talking to customers. In most clubs, you just pay the DJ or manager a set fee to get taken off the stage rotation. Some clubs won’t allow you to skip stage at all.
The type of dances you do for customers might be table, lap, couch, VIP, etc. Whatever they are called, it’s generally a one-on-one dance. You will be paid by the song. Basically, you’ll approach customers, talk to them, and ask for dances. There are a million different approaches to hustling, and you can read about them all over the site. A good rule of thumb is not to spend more than a certain amount of time with a customer without selling a dance. For some girls it’s one song, for some it’s three, and for some it’s the amount of time it takes a customer to answer “Wanna dance?” That last phrase, by the way, is universally hated by most experienced strip club customers and avoided by savvy dancers. It’s a good idea, even in an environment where girls generally walk around asking for dances without sitting with customers, to at least introduce yourself and ask how he’s doing.
What do I pay to work?
Most clubs have a house fee, which is basically what you as an independent contractor pay to use their facility. This, again, varies widely by area. It might be $10 or it might be $200 depending on where you are. Generally, a club won’t charge a house fee that its dancers can’t pay, so don’t necessarily be scared away by a high fee. It’s what you take home at the end of the night that matters. Some clubs take a cut of each dance price. It will just depend on what’s standard operating procedure in your area.
You will also be expected to tip certain support staff. It might just be the DJ, or it might include the bartender, management, security, and a housemom. What you are expected to tip will also vary. It’s a good idea to ask several different dancers what they tip out to get an idea of what’s expected. And of course, if someone really helps you out, like if a waitress leads you to a good customer or a DJ makes your stage set really lucrative, you should take care of them.
What do I do about (insert specific issue here)?
If you’re asking it, chances are another newbie has, too. Feel free to search the site for topics that relate to your question; a lot of good advice has been posted here. And of course, feel free to ask. We’re here to help!
Good luck!
Bookmarks