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Strip Clubs Are FUN

But it’s so important to understand strip club etiquette!

It’s true. Strip clubs are (mostly) fun places. There’s music, and people partying, and drinks at the ready, and gorgeous dancers. What’s not to love? It’s natural that at some point pole dancers will get strip club curious, especially if they’re generally into sensual styles of dance. Why not see where it all began? (Because, um, we know that’s where it all began. But those who say otherwise….well, that’s another beef haha.) When you’re a pole dancer and you go to a strip club, you stop being a pole dancer and become a customer. That’s not to say you remove all vestiges of your dancer self; after all, that self is what got you there! But you may have to adopt a different mindset for the evening. The following etiquette rules come from the responses I received as part of a poll of actively working strippers, as well as conversations I’ve had with strippers male and female.

What you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD DO at a strip club:

1) Have a good time! It’s a party atmosphere; you can and should allow yourself to have some fun.

2) TIP. TIP TIP TIP TIP TIP. Tip the bartenders, tip the servers, and above all else, TIP THE DANCERS. This is their job. They are working. They are working to make money. So give them some.

3) Know what kind of club you’re going to. Some are well-known for having dancers who do tricks and acrobatics. So if that’s what you want to see, try to find one of those clubs.

4) Appreciate the flow. Strippers in general have sick pole flow, killer floorwork, and the understanding of how to make beautiful, flattering lines with their bodies.

What you ABSOLUTELY SHOULD NOT DO at a strip club:

silver glitter platform heels1) The number one “don’t,” and I mean numero uno, is not opening the ol’ purse and setting some cash free. If that makes strippers sound like mercenary creatures …. it’s because they are! As they should be. Seriously, this is how they pay their bills. They have to pay the house no matter what they make, so they need to make money.

–If a dancer spends time with you or your group, compensate them for that time. Even if it seems like they are having fun talking to you, compensate them for the time they spent with you. Stripper socializing is transactional. Again, this is how it should be.

–Buy a dance or two, or buy a dance for someone else if it’s not your thing.

–Tip when dancers are onstage. Oh, and don’t sit right by the stage if you aren’t expecting to spend some dough. Seats with stage access are money seats.

2) Don’t chat up the male customers. Or the female ones, for that matter. Every minute you spend talking to customers outside your group is a minute those customers aren’t spending on the dancers. Your social time is directly removing potential earnings from the dancers’ hands. One dancer brought up the fact that customers may think they can take you home since you’re not working, and that really has an effect on the dancers’ business! So please don’t cock-block them.

3) Don’t get too cozy. This is apparently a big problem. Female customers think it’s OK to get touchy-feely with dancers, female or male. Abide by the rules. They’re in place for good reasons!

4) Back off with any and all judgment of what they do onstage. If the dancers aren’t doing tricks, don’t let it disappoint you. Dancers work long hours, and the actual dancing is just a tiny part of what they do. They are psychologists, salespeople, customer service reps, models……their stage time is spent doing things that will make them money. For some dancers, in certain clubs, that means tricks. Death defying stuff that will leave your jaw on the floor. But most of the time, their money doesn’t come from being way up on the pole performing acrobatics.

5) Related to #4: don’t underestimate the dancers. It is no easy thing to get onstage and take most or all of your clothes off, knowing that your mortgage check depends on how well you can showcase yourself. Dancers face rejection literally dozens of times per night, and that’s in a small club on a slow night. And unlike the rest of the world, where rejection stings but leaves us back at status quo, rejection for a dancer = less income. So if you sit there and think “pfffft, anyone could do what they’re doing” you are 100% wrong.

6) Stay off the poles! Are they tempting? YES. More so to pole dancers than anyone else. But it’s bad form to ask if you can go onstage unless the club is having an amateur night. Just enjoy being a spectator. There you have it. Go forth, and have fun!


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