auto-bio 3

At the same time I was working at Nitelife I was still trying to make money other ways. My boyfriend R. got a number for a bachelor party company at a party we went to that was porn-star themed (porn stars were very chic in 99) that had actual porn stars attending. It was the second time that year that I got to meet Ron Jeremy, but that's a story for another time. Anyway, I didn't end up getting steady work with the bachelor party company but I did work one night with the owner and I was very impressed with her professionalism and success. She told me if I needed money I should just go to Little Darlings and "do some lapdances", cause that's what she did when short of money. Also she was friends with the manager so I just had to mention her name. I don't think I even had to audition. I really had no perspective, I was flying blind and took almost any advice I was given, especially from industry professionals. In retrospect it was probably stupid to go work there, because I had to go get another license, which was more money out of my pocket. You see, in San Diego they made exotic dancers (and still do, in all but two clubs) go to the police station and get fingerprinted and checked for warrants if they wanted to dance within city limits. You also have to pay two hundred dollars or something and you get your photo on a card with huge letters that say NUDE ENTERTAINER, even if you work at topless bars and never get nude. The thing was, Little Darlings was in Lemon Grove, a different city, and so I had to get another license for another two hundred dollars. There were advantages to working there that would benefit me later, though.
L.D. was part of the ginormous Deja Vu chain of strip clubs that were rapidly taking over most major cities to become the Starbucks of strip clubs. In the five years I worked in San Francisco, for instance, they bought five clubs and partnered with four more. Any girl that got blacklisted from them very quickly ran out of places to work. Today there are only three clubs in that city not at all affiliated with Deja Vu. Privately owned clubs might have more trouble with cops raiding and whatnot also.
Little Darlings focused on getting as much profit off dancer effort as possible. Instead of encouraging costumers to tip dancers they encouraged them to get lapdances, which they then took a piece of from the dancer. At Nitelife after they finished up a stage set, the girls (that's what dancers were called, "girls", at every club I've worked at) would walk around the room and collect tips from everyone. That's at least a dollar from everyone in the room, not just the guys at the tip rail. That's why it was real easy for me to go home with a decent amount of money without really knowing how to hustle at all. At Deja Vu strip clubs, if you want to survive long at all, you have to learn how to hustle.
In order to promote lapdances Little Darlings (and all Deja Vu clubs) would do things called "blue-light specials". That was when everyone had to stop what they were doing and come out of the dressing room and come up on the stage and clap and look sexy and excited to be there while the deejay played "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Motley Crue and yammered nonstop about whatever lapdance special was going on. Usually it would be a two-for-one, but sometimes they had free passes or three- or four-for- ones. I did many, many blue light specials in the years I worked for Deja Vu. (OfficiallyI think they were supposed to do one every half hour, but thankfully a lot of the small clubs weren't that vigilant). Although I suppose they were sometimes useful to generate customer interest, most girls I knew really resented being told what to do and when to do it when we weren't even on the payroll. Even worse was how they choreographed how we filed up on the stage in a line, made a circle, and clapped hands in unison (one manager actually clapped his hands all exaggerated, in front of the stage, and we were supposed to sync up with him). Then we had to stay up there until the deejay finished his spiel, then file down as he named us all off in order. It was a bit humiliating, and part of life at Deja Vu. My personal feeling was, I know how to hustle and present myself, don't fucking try to do it for me. Gosh, am I ever glad I don't work for them anymore.
to be continued, more about Little Darlings........................