HOOK: E-zine By, For, and About Men in the Sex Industry

HOOK: How did you get involved in stripping? How has your interest in stripping changed from the beginning to now?

David: Although I danced once in a club in NYC for an audition [it was horrible and I sucked], I got involved in San Francisco when the guy I was dating was dancing for a club occasionally. I went with him to the club and the coordinator of the dancers thought we were both ‘hot’ and would love to see us dance together. So, we danced together and when that relationship fell apart, I just continued dancing there as a resident dancer. Eventually, I was lured into bigger clubs.

Dancing was definitely a novelty thing for me at first. You're on a box, there’s music, and a light show…your part of the entertainment! Dancing was exciting and there was a ‘semi-celebrity’ component in that I just moved to San Francisco and people knew who I was right away. The money was also definitely an extra addition to my ever-so-slim budget. Finally when I first started, I was all about showing some skin! The crowd reacted and I gave them what they wanted.

I stopped dancing for about a year and half because it bothered the guy I was dating and when I got back up on the box, it was all about fun. My primary job takes care of the bills so I dance now because I want to – not because I have to. I only dance at clubs where the environment is going to be fun [not just for the crowd, but for me]. Although the money is still there, it’s an added bonus not a main component. I still drop my drawers occasionally for the crowd, but showing skin is less of my routine now than good dance moves.

HOOK: Do you tell people you are a stripper? How do they react when you tell them?

D: Most people ask, “Do you dance at so-and-so.” Otherwise the topic really doesn’t come up in conversation. That is, unless I am at a bar and someone has had too much to drink and their confidence level rises. I have never had to “come out of the closet” as a dancer to anyone.

I can definitely tell when people know me as ‘David” and those who know me as “the dancer.” I get a lot of people who point and whisper and smile and those are usually the folks who only know me as the dancer. Most of the time, they will only know me as the dancer so all the pointing and whispering becomes static. Most club goers are more shocked that I have a Master’s degree from NYU once they learn a bit more about me [like you can’t have intelligent, good-looking dancers].

HOOK: Do you think you are good at what you do?

D: To sound confident and not conceited, yes I do. I also know there will ALWAYS be someone who dances better than me and two people that I dance better than in any one given night.

HOOK: Do you practice routines at home?

D: Nope. What’s to practice? I have no idea what music the DJ is going to play until I get there. I relax at home.

HOOK: The Editor of HOOK used to be a stripper and he thinks there are 'methods' to get more money while dancing. Do you have a method or technique?

D: ‘Methods’…that sounds a little scandalous…Certainly there are outfits that will get more attention/tips than others. When I am just wearing pants and a hat and dancing, people let me ‘do my thing.’ I used to do a towel dance [nothing but my boots and a towel – which is now illegal in San Francisco] I got a great deal of the crowd’s attention and a whole lot of tips. I believe it has a great deal with how you work with the crowd. Those dancers that just ‘do their thing’ all the time and ignore the crowd are ignored to some degree themselves. When you look available and accessible and react along with the crowd, the music, and the evening, then you see results in the crowd’s attention and their wallets.

HOOK: How do you like being the center of attention? Is this different than when you first started out?

D: I like the attention when I am “on the box.” I believe I have always had a ‘showmanship’ or entertainment component to my personality. When I was much younger, I used to make up gymnastic routines with my sister for our parents and then have mini-competitions with the neighbors. I also played trumpet all throughout college so I have been performing on a stage [of some sort] for quite a long time.

The entertainer in me has remained consistent throughout my dancing gigs. I believe it is the factor which propels me to give 110% when I am on the box, even if I am not feeling 100% myself or don’t even feel like being at the club. Five years later, I still enjoy the crowd’s attention, but I like to check it at the club door. I used to hang out at the club after I danced, now I tend to go home to relax and recover.

HOOK: What is the best kind of audience for you? Prefer male or female audiences?

D: I like dancing for an audience that is responsive to the music and the atmosphere. I have never been dancing in a club where the crowd wasn’t mostly male with a few women. Women seem more surprised, shy [for the most part], and shocked by the whole dancing thing. The women also tip less and watch more. Men are much more ‘touchy’ [for the most part] and believe they can stick their finger up your ass for a $1.00. I am going to have to publicly say to the world: “It’s not OK to stick fingers anywhere in anyone for a $1.00…ever.”

HOOK: Has stripping lead to other opportunities like getting paid for sex?

D: And of course we go right for the scandal…hmmmm…I have had offers to be taken home and I politely decline, because that is not my thing, and for the most part I am REALLY relationship oriented so I am either in a relationship most of the time, or if I did go home with someone, it would be because I liked them and then I would expect breakfast and the whole nine yards, so I tend to ignore all of those invitations…just a bit too much trouble for me.

Outside of offers for sex, I have received modeling gigs from photographers. Once you’re up in front of a huge crowd you tend to have less inhibitions and many times that translates well in the camera lens.

HOOK: How did it feel when you were first offered money for sex?

D: I was totally offended. I felt like the person truly didn’t understand my purpose for being at the club. It seems like people think my dancing is a real sexual thing. Although I can get into the music and the crowd, dancing is WORK. I can’t tell you how many times I have gotten on the box with a HUGE cramp in my leg…that never feels sexy.

HOOK: Have you met anyone that you wanted to start a relationship with on the job?

D: [Laughs] The guy I am currently seeing. I never [which was of course the jinx part] give my number to club goers, but I had actually been stalking him for about three years and I saw him at the club. He came over in between my sets and asked me if I was done dancing. I said, “Well that depends on whether you’re done dancing.” So we danced together and that’s that. We have been keeping things ‘lite’ and its been about 3 months so far…I will say he’s intelligent, he’s funny, he’s gorgeous, and he’s danced with me a couple times now too!

HOOK: How has stripping affected your love life? Are people intimidated when they learn that you are a stripper? Does it turn them on or off?

D: With the exception of an ex-boyfriend who asked me to stop dancing [he was uncomfortable with clients touching me], it hasn’t been a big topic of conversation. Most guys know I dance through conversation before we get anywhere involved. I hear a great deal that people think I am intimidating, but I have never understood those comments. Most of the guys I meet seem intrigued rather than intimidated. Whether guys are turned on or off? I guess if they are turned on I have enjoyed it and if they are turned off, then things never got that far!

HOOK: What has stripping taught you about yourself?

D: I have body image issues! Not to a severe degree, but I am pretty conscious of how I look and present myself when I am dancing. I realize many people [but not all] who watch the dancers also pick us apart to some degree. It’s a way to find ‘cracks’ in the Adonis statue. I have never claimed to be perfect, but many dancers are seen that way.

Outside of the occasional chiseled insecurity, I also have gained some acceptance of that same body and my confidence in putting it up on a pedestal so high, people can see up that towel!

HOOK: Finally, any tips on becoming a stripper superstar?

D: I offer three tips:

Daniel sucks cock best after he’s been decently mind-fucked. A former go go dancer/stripper, he is now taking strides to fully develop his inner smut-peddler, but not spending nearly enough time accommodating his bisexual envy.

When doing neither things, he can be found in the kitchen cooking his spinster life away or strategizing to achieve his lifelong goal to be both an expatriate and cultural juggernaut by shamelessly promoting himself. Read his funny writing at www.amateurbastard.com, his politically-oriented work at www.spoonfedamerika.com, and saucy sex poems in the anthology, Take Out: Queer Writing from Asian Pacific America.