Male strippers are a novelty. Men stripping for the pleasure of women or the pleasure of other men isn’t as common as female stripping for men’s However if one were to chart the history of male stripping, the timeline would look like this.
1976 – Chippendales, Los Angeles.
Somen Banerjee and Bruce Nahin open the first male revue venue in LA. The venue offered a more theatrical experience than straight up getting naked to music. The club becomes very popular attracts attention from near and far.
In 1978 LaBare opens in Dallas Texas. It focuses on the rugged cowboy look as opposed to the clean cut, boys in bowties look that Chippendales has. The club becomes an instant hit.
1980 – Club “le 281” opens in Canada.
The media takes an active interest in the burgeoning male stripper industry across the globe.
In 1986 – Dreamboys is opened in the UK. Dreamboys was more of a theatrical show. And because the UK didn’t have a culture of tipping, the strip club and performers would split the money made from ticket sales at the door.
Male stripping hit mainstream entertainment in the 90’s. Patrick Swayze, who was then a heart throb after dirty dancing performed a skit with funnyman Chris Farley on SNL, where they acted as hopefuls auditioning for a spot on Chippendales. That skit is one of the most memorable SNL episodes in the history of SNL. Now people who had never heard of Chippendales or entertained the idea of male stripping wanted to know more and to experience it. This led to the first Chippendales European tour in 1991.
After the Saturday night live skit, Chippendales went global. The show was taken to more than 10 different countries and was seen by hundreds of thousands of women.
Again in 1991, Manpower was founded in Surfers Paradise. It was small, tasteful and was the first Australia male strip club. Manpower separated itself from others by employing only men from Australia. The show was essentially an Australian version of Chippendales but proudly showcased Australian talent.
As stripping gained popularity, It was still hard to come up with a tipping system but that all changed when the New York Club, Hunk-O-Mania created a non- monetary. system called “hunk bucks”. With hunk bucks punters could exchange real money for hunk bucks at the entrance. These bucks could then be used to tip or to pay for lap dances.
In 2021, the Australian male revue from Manpower secured a Las Vegas residency. This was a big step for the Australian male stripping industry.
Fast forward to 2012 and Channing Tatum’s Magic Mike. It gave male stripping a much needed boost. Since then, male strip clubs have been popping up everywhere. The movie created an international frenzy with a lot of women wanting real life strippers for their bachelorettes or birthdays.
Of course, a Vegas residency always elevates the game. However, the 2017 launch of a Magic Mike Live at the Hard Rock Casino put male reviews on a higher level. They leveraged the popularity of the Magic Mike movie an invested big on the show. They built an entire show for the show. The theatre also has the first 360-degree stage. An investment like this means that the male stripping industry will be here for years to come.
