Stripper Jargon

There are tons of terms those of us in the industry use in everyday conversation, which most "regular" folk probably don't understand. I am specifically writing about female strip clubs, although many of these terms are used in male or mixed strip clubs as well. Here's a list, with definitions:


Customers

PL - Pathetic Loser. Mostly used in online stripper forums in reference to any paying customer. This is not a derogatory term, but something which has been adopted by industry workers and customers alike. More specifically, we often use it to refer to those customers who spend more than average amounts on strippers.

ATM - see PL above. Might also refer to the machine used to withdraw cash from credit and debit card accounts.

Custy - short for customer.

Regular (reg) - a customer who comes to the club regularly or frequently. Could be a Club Regular (who may or may not spend money at all, but if so, spends on no particular girl) or a Dancer's Regular, who specifically goes to the club seeking entertainment from a certain girl.

White Knight - also known as Captain Save a Ho. The type of customer who thinks strippers want or need to be rescued from the life of stripping or some part of it. May or may not spend money on strippers' services but always annoys us. His perception of strippers is far more negative than he cares to admit, and even though we'll take his money, we resent this guy for believing we're so weak.


Money

Funny money - the fake money many clubs use to allow customers to pay for services inside the strip club using their credit or debit cards. There is a fee for this, of course, usually anywhere from 10-25% charged to customers, or strippers, or both. From my experience, most clubs charge 10% to the customer to buy the stuff, and another 10% to the strippers for cashing it. Funny money may be called all sorts of cheesy names which are club- or chain-specific, such as Diva Dollars.

Tipout - the money strippers are required to pay to strip club staff each shift. Sometimes interchanged with the term HouseFee. These fees can be mandatory pre-set fees/percentages or "suggested minimums". The amount the girls pay greatly affects their working relationships with club staff and can sometimes mean the difference between turning a profit and being run out of the club penniless.

House Fee - the money strippers are required to pay to the club in order to work. Sometimes called Stage Fee, Floor Fee or Rent. Can be in the form of flat fees, percentages or both, and can vary greatly by area, club, season and time of day.

Off-stage fee - in some clubs, the money strippers may pay to be left off the stage rotation in order to concentrate solely on working the floor.


Facility and Services

Floor - the floor. The general open area of the club where stages and bars are located, customers sit and strippers entertain and sell services. The main club area. "Working the floor" refers to dancers approaching customers to sell services.

Dressing room (DR) - separate room(s) where strippers change clothes before and after their shifts. Also used as a break room. May or may not contain a bathroom designated for the strippers. Sometimes contains the only ladies bathroom in the building, so female customers have to traipse through the dressing room to pee.

Pervert Row - the immediate area around the stage where customers who want the best view of stage performances sit (you are expected to tip the girls on stage if you sit here). There is often a rail or ledge of some sort along the perimeter - called the Tip Rail (or just the Rail) or the Rack. In some places the tip rail may also be called the Meat Rack. To my knowledge, Pervert Row is not location-specific, but Tip Rail, Rack and Meat Rack are.

Lap room - in some clubs, the designated area where lap dances are performed. Usually in back or upstairs of club.

Lap dance (LD) - a service strippers sell in which they remove some or all clothing and dance/grind/writhe on a customer's lap. Usually sold by the song, may be performed at the customer's table or in a designated lap dance area.

Table dance - similar to a lap dance except it's generally not performed on the customer's lap. May also be called an Air Dance because a certain amount of air is kept between customer and dancer ;-) Usually performed at the customer's table.

VIP - can be used to describe many different things in a strip club, but it's generally a more exclusive and private area of the club where customers can purchase dances and time with dancers, often at higher prices than on the floor. In some cases the VIP is just a more exclusive area for customers the club considers "special" to sit and feel important.

Champagne Room (CR) - a specific type of VIP area where customers usually pay for blocks of time with strippers. Entertainment in the CR can consist of anything from conversation to sexual services. Usually it just involves a higher mileage lapdance.


ClubSpeak

Set - the time/music a stripper uses on stage. Usually 1-3 songs in the US. In some places a set lasts up to 20 minutes.

Cattle Call - the annoying promo some clubs use to present all the dancers working that night all at once, on stage. This may be done once nightly, only on weekends, several times per shift, at designated times, or whenever the manager feels like it.

Mileage - refers to how much "action" (contact) is provided during a dance.

YMMV - Your Mileage May Vary. In the strip club context, usually means that mileage (contact) varies between areas, clubs, dancers and customers depending on a variety of factors. May also be used to express that everyone's experience (with whatever) will be different.

Extras - services above and beyond the norm of a lap or table dance. Could be anything from touching to full on fucking, depending on what's common in the area/club. May or may not involve an extra charge - some girls are stupid enough to do it for the same price as a regular dance because they are shitty saleswomen.


Workers

Feature - a stripper who has made a name for herself usually by obtaining abnormally large breast implants and/or doing lots of porn movies, magazine spreads, etc. May or may not use more sophisticated costumes and props during stage shows. Features are paid to perform scheduled stage shows at different clubs for anywhere from 1 night to 1 week. They often sell promo items such as polaroid photos, posters and videos in between stage sets.

House dancer - a non-feature stripper. House girls are generally not paid by the clubs (they pay the clubs for use of the facilities as an outlet for selling services). They may or may not dance on stage, depending on club policy and their own preferences.

House mom - woman stationed in the dressing room of many clubs to perform various services for club/dancers. She may be nothing more than a costume/toiletry seller, or a manager type who does dancer scheduling, collects house fees and helps enforce club policy on strippers. Often serves as a mediator between strippers and club staff.

Floorman or floorwalker - male club employee stationed on the club floor to serve as bouncer, dance counter, host, etc, depending on club policy.

Dance counter - the club employee responsible for counting all lap/table/VIP dances performed, usually so the club managers know how much to collect from dancers at the end of their shift in the form of dance cuts. Dance counters are normally only seen in clubs which collect a cut of each dance the strippers sell.

Host or hostess - in some clubs, the club employee who helps sell VIP and/or bottle service to customers, and who often lines up selected girls (ie, those who tip most) to entertain VIP customers. Hosts work on tips from both customers and dancers, and make as much money or more than the strippers. Read, pimp.