We are so excited about this new stripper reality show, set to air this fall, about strippers at the Stadium Club in Washington D.C. Strippers show up on reality television often enough, but there still hasn’t been a strip club show, and this looks to deliver. According to the Washington Post, it will air on a network to be named. They’re speculating it will be VH1, which would be a crushing loss for Bravo.
Friday is Valentine’s Day, that special day wherein we celebrate patriarchal norms and reinforce insulting gender stereotypes with rampant consumerism.
So romantic.
Valentine’s Day is one of the those special “off” days that happen every-so-often in the strip club. Working the night of one these off days is never business-as-usual—it’s usually, business-as-oh-my-God-did-that-just-happen. The day of Cupid falls on a Friday this year, and there’s going to be a full moon.
Get ready.
A friend sent me this video last week, rightly pegging it as relevant to my interests. The song is “The Way Out” by Porcelain Raft, the performing name of multi-instrumentalist Mauro Remiddi. It is expansive and atmospheric electronic pop that might be a little too downbeat for a packed club but, as in the video, a perfect track for a quiet afternoon shift. The video stars a very capable pole dancer, employs an elegant one-shot format, and has a subdued mood. It’s more Exotica than Showgirls. Its events threatened to upset me, but the story has a satisfyingly dark conclusion. I reached out to director Michael Lawrence to ask him about his process. Watch the video and read our Q&A below.
Happy Wednesday!
Christopher Walken, Pennies From Heaven
Michael Ontkean, Slap Shot
Danny DeVito, Friends, “The One Where The Stripper Cries”
This week Tyga comes through and supports single moms on the day shift and Nicki Minaj visits a strip club where every day is New Year’s Eve.