How to describe a seedy, suspicious strip club?

How to describe a seedy, suspicious strip club? As vividly and explicitly as possible.

Which is pretty much the way you need to describe anything else.

caw

What's seedy and suspicious about it? Include those details.

You need to describe your vision, not ours.
Maybe pay a trip to a strip club, or watch a movie, or just skip it all together.

WillSauger said:

Maybe pay a trip to a strip club

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This, exactly. You want to be a writer? Be courageous. Go to one of these places, and observe.

It's business research. Claim it on your tax returns.

caw

Down the street from me is the world's most terribly named strip club, "Jumbo's Clown Room". Inside and out it has a clown theme. I wish I was kidding. I've never been there, but once I met someone who went there. He was what I would describe as an extremely rough and appalling character, and he said he was so grossed out that he hoped no stripper would come near him.

Go on Yelp and read the one-star reviews for some vivid imagery of horror: http://www.yelp.com/biz/jumbos-clown-room-los-angeles?sort_by=rating_asc

If this is a contemporary story in the USA, be aware there is likely an anti-smoking law in establishments that serve food and drink, or just drinks. Also, if it takes place in a speciic region, even if fictitious, check out the liquor laws in that area. These establishments rely on alcohol sales, so they will not do anything to get the liquor licenses revoked.

It has been many years since I have been in one of the establishments, but the seedy feeling I got was not from what you might expect. I saw a cleanliness that was surface-cleaning deep, an ornate decorative touch that was obviously K-mart quality and lacking in any sublety. the dancing areas were extremely bright (certainly not dim). Even the tables, where lap dances were provided, were light enough for the patron to see what he was paying for.

So seedy, to me, was derived from contrasts that were anything but the expected (or cliche) dark, smoky, dingy, sticky, and smelly.

NeuroFizz said:

If this is a contemporary story in the USA, be aware there is likely an anti-smoking law in establishments that serve food and drink, or just drinks. Also, if it takes place in a speciic region, even if fictitious, check out the liquor laws in that area. These establishments rely on alcohol sales, so they will not do anything to get the liquor licenses revoked.

It has been many years since I have been in one of the establishments, but the seedy feeling I got was not from what you might expect. I saw a cleanliness that was surface-cleaning deep, an ornate decorative touch that was obviously K-mart quality and lacking in any sublety. the dancing areas were extremely bright (certainly not dim). Even the tables, where lap dances were provided, were light enough for the patron to see what he was paying for.

So seedy, to me, was derived from contrasts that were anything but the expected (or cliche) dark, smoky, dingy, sticky, and smelly.

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This. Strip clubs often seem like a showroom more than a dingy bar.

Maybe what happens, or who occupies the club, can speak more than banking on the physical description.

NeuroFizz said:

If this is a contemporary story in the USA, be aware there is likely an anti-smoking law in establishments that serve food and drink, or just drinks.

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Anti-smoking ordinances are local, and by no means universal, in the U.S. In my town, Anchorage, Alaska, we have one, and it is strictly enforced, as near as I can see. In the fourth most populous city in the U.S., Houston, TX, nothing like that exists. I'd bet far more localities in the U.S. have no anti-smoking ordinances applying to restaurants and bars than places which do.

caw

lhuds21 said:

In my story, one character leads a secret double life at a strip club. While I am aware most strip clubs are not like this, I imagine mine to be really seedy, with graffiti, the smell of cheap perfumes and cigarette smoke. I'm having trouble visualising beyond this though. Help?

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Shoot, go undercover and visit one. I'm sure that'll get the description juices flowing.

Susan Littlefield said:

Shoot, go undercover and visit one. I'm sure that'll get the description juices flowing.

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Or failing that, I believe that the movie Magic Mike has just been released on Blu-Ray/DVD, maybe that would give you some ideas.

*For seedy, the best example I've seen is a BBC drama called Our Friends In The North.

The one time I went into a strip club (to use the phone, people!) it seemed basically like a regular bar except for the windows being blocked in order to avoid offending passers-by/giving it away for free. I can't remember if there was a little stage, or a space to dance on the bar (probably the former, as I suspect drink spillage would make table-top dancing pretty dicey).

I think strip clubs will vary greatly according to neighbourhood, and age of venue.

I've only been to one (and bear in mind it was more than ten years ago) but it was far from seedy. It was more like a big bar, clean and bright. With naked women.

I imagine seedy strip clubs do exist. It just seems bit cliched, though.

Suspicious isn't the right adjective, and Seediness is in the eye of the individual. It would only be seedy to those who were not accustomed to whatever the atmosphere was. So POV is relevant.

I may have the op confused with someone else but I don't think they're old enough to get into a strip club. Just for those who suggest going to visit one. :/

Kitty Pryde said:

Go on Yelp and read the one-star reviews for some vivid imagery of horror: http://www.yelp.com/biz/jumbos-clown-room-los-angeles?sort_by=rating_asc

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This is a good idea, actually. You can get a really good feel for seedy and trashy by reading the opinions of the 1 stars. From those descriptions you can build up your own amalgamation of Seedy Strip Joint and be perfectly spot on.

The patrons would contribute a lot in making the place seedy and suspicious. For example the dress sense would run to cheap nylon shirts and tight trousers. Hats would be worn by a number of men with the brim pulled down to look cool. Of course looking cool this way would interfere with getting a good look at the flesh on display so these guys would tilt their head from time to time while pretending not to care.

One guy would have smuggled in a beer can and would surreptitiously pour it into a glass (the beer in the club being more expensive than at the store). The groups at the far corners would be talking in low voices and glancing over to see if their mates or strangers were looking at them. They want to be looked at because this makes them feel like do'ers and move'ers because really they're not. The kind of guys, as one author put it (I think it was Elmore Leonard but can't remember for certain) who talk in thousands think in hundreds and pay out in tens.


Then there would be the lonely guys with needy eyes. Silent but intense with rich imaginations about how they could make the dancer beg if only she magically gave him the eye.

I worked briefly as a barman in a "gentleman's club" in London a good few years ago. It had an underlit bar and table tops plus a few wall-mounted uplighters. The pole-dancing stage was well lit of course. Other than that it was pretty dark, with floor to ceiling black drapes on the walls and no daylight. A pint of beer would set you back £25 and a cocktail for a hostess £100. There was also a VIP lounge for private lap dancing.

With the main lights on - the place was cleaned occasionally - it looked well seedy. Worn carpet, scuffed furniture, cigarette burns, patched upholstery. We went through loads of Febreze-type spray as there was a sour smell to the air when not masked by cigarette smoke.

lhuds21 said:

In my story, one character leads a secret double life at a strip club. While I am aware most strip clubs are not like this, I imagine mine to be really seedy, with graffiti, the smell of cheap perfumes and cigarette smoke. I'm having trouble visualising beyond this though. Help?

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there IS a seedy strip club in town here...one where they can no longer smoke but the place reeks of incense and the lights are kept dim enough to hide stretch-marks as the "talent pool" isn't terribly deep and they don't want to ruin the general male fantasy. The one time I was there I saw one girl near thirty with a barbie-thin waist and ridiculously fake tits, everyone else was remarkably ordinary, like you were paying random Wal-Mart customers to dance around a pole....badly. On the other hand, part of this was because there is another, much hieher-end club across town, which probably looks more like what neuro described. It is bigger, newer, and I suspect pays much better (yes, they earn mostly or exclusively tips, but I suspect the clientele at the newer club is much more free with their cash). There is no universal standard of strippy strippyness, so, you may have to do a bit of personal research, as mentioned. And if you aren't up for this, maybe you aren't up for this story. You'll have to decide. But getting OUR input, everyone describing a different club, with a different set of personal, subconscious filters and keywords, still isn't going to do much for YOU being able to write about one.

lhuds21 said:

How to describe a seedy, suspicious strip club? ?

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as your narrator would. The club I went to, I would describe as run-down and sad, a nice old building aging badly on the side of town that is still circling the drain from Madison losing many manufacturing jobs in the past forty years.....the spot looks like urban blight. That would tinge my opinion, and my words, so I might say the strippers looked desperate, girm, etc., whereas my mother, never one to miss a change to pass judgement and certainly horrified by the entire concept, might describe them as wanton and sallow, tawdry, etc.

You need to do two things:

1. If you have not already, figure out who your narrator is and their voice. Because if you're writing in close third, for example, THEY describe it, in their vernacular, even if those are words you'd never, in a million years, use.

2. You really should see a strip club for yourself. Ideally, see a few of them. They aren't all the same, and not everyone is going to pick up on the same things. Your take, coupled with your narrator, are going to be what makes it unique.

I've been thinking about this a bit, filtered through my few visits to such places in the (distant) past. I seem to remember more about the clientele and the "talent" than I do about the surroundings, except for the unexpected lighting and fake-fancy. Perhaps a good way to express the "seediness" of such a place would be through the POV character's view of the fellow customers, and of the physical qualities of the dancers (see quick's comments on stretch marks and overdone boob jobs).

As for the clientele...are there groups of frat brothers, obvious pre-marriage stag partiers, working class men still filthy from their jobs, pimps keeping an eye on their "charges"? Describing a setting involves way more than the physical surroundings, and the tone of the place can be described, sometimes better, through simple people watching. If that watching is done by the MC, it can play in a number of ways on his own reasons or rationalizations for frequenting such a place.

You can still smoke in bars here, and small, seedy strip clubs, and we have many, are considered bars, not restaurants.

Go visit one. If you live in or near a city of any real size, you don't live far from a number of strip clubs, ranging from big, fancy, and clean, to small, seedy, nasty places where you can catch an STD just from walking in the door.

If you want to throw in a little irony, have the strippers take off their clothes while Cat Scratch Fever is playing. I've actually seen this, and thought it was hilarious.

As previously mentioned, this is one of those research projects I suppose you could secretly enjoy (or hate, depending on a number of factors).

I've been to a few in Montreal and they were typically "higher-end" in that they invested a certain amount into the ambiance (lighting, decor, uniforms for staff) and had the talent pool that knew what they were about (these girls were good). Then there are others where it was simply a quick conversion to a rundown building with local talent. Quite frankly, the latter were often more hilarious due to comedic value and a strong incentive of alcohol prior to going. One such location was even cleared to open up right across the street from a local high school. It didn't take long for a few of the legal age grade 12 girls to show up inside and on stage; quite the kerfuffle in the local news.

Funny story from almost 15 years back. A strip club openned up in another town when I lived there. They offered a lunch menu, which was actually really good. A friend and I went there for a late lunch and were just shooting the $%&# over a couple of beers when the lights dimmed and music kicked off. Apparently the girls from Montreal had come down and were doing a practise run before the evening show. No cover charge, free show. Seemed a shame to leave without giving each their own standing ovation.

How key this particular location is to your plot may drive the amount of "research" you may want to bother with. If this is a single scene with limited impact, you could probably get away with going to a local bar/club of ill repute and just imagine a dj booth, stripper stage and lapdance booths off to the side or some such.

bearilou said:

I may have the op confused with someone else but I don't think they're old enough to get into a strip club. Just for those who suggest going to visit one. :/

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Oh, I didn't think of that.

Never mind, undercover work is not appropriate in this situation.

Bufty said:

Suspicious isn't the right adjective, and Seediness is in the eye of the individual. It would only be seedy to those who were not accustomed to whatever the atmosphere was. So POV is relevant.

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Yes. Your description should show us something about your POV character, not just about the club. It matters if the MC has been in such places before, or what her personal standards are, and how she sees her work.

blacbird said:

This, exactly. You want to be a writer? Be courageous. Go to one of these places, and observe.

It's business research. Claim it on your tax returns.

caw

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Also, I dont' know if this will help you or not, but where is your club located? I have lived in WVA where strip clubs are on practically every corner. In the panhandle of WVA, most of the strip clubs look like shacks on the outside, but inside they are completely different. Brand new carpets, nice, new, fuzzy looking seats, nice tables, etc. The bathrooms are a different story, mostly with a basic concrete floor without a covering, and stalls that needed painting.

Also keep in mind, some states differ between partial nudity, full nudity, pasties, etc. WVA embraces full nudity, while VA (not 100% sure on this), I believe the strippers still need to at least have a G-string and pasties.

Just a word of caution in general about visiting any 'seedy' location - don't get so caught up in the 'adventure' of research that you forget people that may go there don't care if you're researching or not. You still spell "VICTIM" to them. So keep safety in mind...