We are joined by former adult entertainer and ally Adam Stripz. We discuss his life as a male stripper and working in a predominantly gay strip club environment as a straight male. He also brings us new details on his new social media platform, Social Swing thing/ The Adult Social Media. Listeners can get a discount to join using promo code THEQLOUNGE when you visit socialswingthing.com or theadultsocialmedia.com.
Hello and welcome to the Q lounge podcast. We are your hosts. I'm Eric
Gil:I'm Gil.
Eric:Join us as we discuss news stories and life situations. As they relate to the LGBTQIA plus experience, please visit us@theqloungepodcast.com and hit that subscribe button or listen wherever you get your podcasts. Hello and welcome to the Q lounge. I'm Eric and I'm Gil. And today we are very pleased to be joined by Adam Stripz. How are you doing today, Adam?
Adam:Okay. Hey, thank you for having me on your show. I'm really excited to be here and, I'm happy to hear that, a lot of your fans are my fans as well. So I think everyone will be happy to hear an awesome
Gil:podcasts.
Eric:I'm looking forward to it. how are you doing with the life in the pandemic? Just catch up a little bit. I've known you for, I've known you for a few years, actually,
Adam:man. I think the pandemic has really hit everyone
Gil:really hard, so I hate to,
Adam:complain or put, any
Gil:personal stuff out there just because I would feel like,
Adam:almost undermining
Gil:everyone. Else's hard, a hard life that they've gone through, but it's,
Adam:I think everyone's pretty much been real
Gil:scared about
Adam:wearing masks, touching doors, using the gas pump. And you're like, Oh
Gil:shit, who used it before me,
Adam:but. as far as work, everything for me at least is strong. I haven't yet any job, that's really good,
Gil:but I've had a
Adam:few losses in the family, and not due to COVID or anything, but it's just a long with, all the crap hitting the fan in 2020 here.
Eric:Yeah, it's so hard. So I'm sorry to hear about that. And I'm glad that you haven't lost any jobs, so that's great. So I've known you probably for, I don't even know how long I want to say, like 12, 13 years, our paths have crossed.
Gil:It's gotta be about there.
Adam:Cause I haven't been at the club in about.
Gil:Four
Adam:five years and, I was there for nine. So we, we talked
Gil:for years.
Eric:Yeah. Okay. So just in case anyone doesn't know, Adam is a former male stripper. Yes. Woo. I am all for strippers. I love me a stripper, an exotic dancer and you are straight and you worked in a predominantly gay setting or gay strip club.
Gil:Yes.
Adam:Yeah. I got my start,
Gil:at
Adam:Boystown off of second and Broadway. and,
Gil:I've worked for a lot of different
Adam:clubs. I've done private parties
Gil:worked in Las Vegas.
Adam:but
Gil:yeah, I did, I worked
Adam:at, I think.
Gil:Three or four clubs out in Las Vegas
Adam:with a couple friends of mine, when we skipped out, on work there for about a week or two and
Gil:decided to just go out
Adam:and
Gil:dance and see what Vegas was all about.
Eric:I saw you in Phoenix once.
Gil:ah, yeah, that was
Adam:Oh, damn. You were the one. Dang. Yeah.
Gil:You were the same customer. I was, I
Adam:always wondered who that was. I was like, I know I ran into somebody that I knew from Colorado in Phoenix, Arizona, for some reason, but yeah, world.
Eric:Yeah, it is, I was actually performing in a dance show. And then you had posted something like I'll be at Dick's cabaret. And I was like, I am like right in Phoenix. How odd is that
Gil:that's crazy.
Eric:how did you get your start?
Adam:Ah, man. All right. I guess everyone needs a
Gil:push to
Adam:go and do a job like that. everyone has this idea.
Gil:Do you have Oh, a strip club. It's like a,
Adam:a dark,
Gil:back
Adam:alley kind of thing. And they got these dark corners and there's weird stuff going on. And, it's definitely not like that when you get into it, but
Gil:the
Adam:push was definitely not having money. And I got into it because my ex wife actually. Found the place on some kind of a business ad listing for jobs went in and applied. And I, they, a pair of underwear from needs, right next door under the male underwear store. And, yeah. Yeah, they hired me the next day.
Eric:where did you learn to dance? Cause you're a pretty good dancer.
Adam:shit I, Nan, I, you should have known me when I first started you with it.
Eric:Oh, I think I did know you when you first started. I think I saw your first few times.
Adam:I was not, I was definitely not, a professional dancer by any means
Gil:it took years
Adam:and years
Gil:to perfect a different
Adam:pole dancing skills. And
Eric:you were one of the best at the poles there for sure.
Gil:There
Adam:is a lot of fun. Awesome workout too. And, I was really happy to be trained by the second best male pole dancer in the world. Alberto Jerome, he won second place in the, male pole dancing competition in Spain. Oh, wow.
Eric:That's
Adam:awesome. And, so yeah, it was awesome time.
Eric:Oh, that's good. And how are you received, from your audience? You were always one of my favorites, but I'm biased. So
Adam:I think everyone really enjoyed, the hard work that I put into dancing and yeah. don't get me wrong.
Gil:I love strip clubs and I
Adam:love strippers and stuff. But if I walk in, even as a straight guy, if I walk into a female strip club and there's just some girl laying on the stage, not really doing anything and there's no way I'll tip her, I have to go in and see that there's actually a talent.
Gil:Before I
Adam:do that. Yeah.
Eric:Yeah. I'm the same way. I always tip those who I think, have that work ethic too, because being a former dancer, my just a former dancer myself, I always appreciate those who dance or who can put on a show, even going into a female strip club. If you're working the pole or you're actually dancing, I will like basically throw you my credit card. But if you're just taking off clothes and just standing there, I'm like, yeah, I, I. Don't really care that doesn't excite me and same with a male strip club. Like I want to see you put in some sort of work.
Adam:and I guess I don't want to be a hypocrite. I guess one of my biggest moves was just standing there and shaking my Dick around, like
Eric:you definitely perfected the Dick wiggle. So
Adam:you got to hold one
Gil:leg up. So it
Adam:goes in a circle the same time. But, yeah, if there's a girl just, shaking her butt around, like it's cute, but it's not worth it. more than even a conversation
Gil:or a couple of dollars,
Adam:at max, I got to see some talent.
Eric:I agree. So how was it being submerged into that culture? The gay culture and the strip club scene?
Adam:it was, I guess I was nervous at
Gil:first.
Adam:and then,
Gil:You have a couple
Adam:of shots on the first night, and you get into it and you're like, you loosen up a little bit and you got some good music going on. And, I
Gil:think after a few weeks,
Adam:you find your
Gil:groove
Adam:a little bit better and. You get some music of your own, hopefully that, and that you like to dance too. and, after that, I think everything was pretty smooth, but, an awesome community of people
Gil:that really,
Adam:helped me get into everything and learn and taught me how to dance is amazing.
Eric:So were you part of the LGBTQIA community as far as an ally prior to, or did this kind of just bring you into that?
Adam:I've had gay, lesbian, friends even
Gil:throughout high school, but,
Adam:I was never considered in the community. and I didn't. Really have any at the time and any need to, I was in college and then working at an underground mine. And, so my life was
Gil:pretty full
Adam:with everything else to even be able to go out.
Eric:Okay. And then when you were submerged into that, did your perception of the LGBT community change at all or that it reinforced what you already thought your perceptions.
Adam:I think it opened up a lot of my perceptions because everyone has, and just like the strip club. And, you think
Gil:that there's like dark
Adam:little corners and holes and stuff going on. But, I think when I got into stripping and dancing, I had an idea of it and I was comfortable with it because I knew it was good pay, but. Once I got in it and I was more comfortable.
Gil:there were different
Adam:areas of it where, you'd
Gil:have the tops
Adam:bottoms, the real, flighty, type of, people. And then you'd have
Gil:guys that you would think are the straightest
Adam:on straight that would come in and, You wouldn't ever even expect them to hit on you or give you money and that's
Gil:yeah, there's a whole
Adam:spectrum
Gil:of. Variety of people.
Eric:that's cool. And did you have any altercations ever, or any tense interactions with patrons or other dancers or,
Adam:I didn't and I've never had any tense interactions with the
Gil:patron or,
Adam:Employee, I think ever in my life. but I'm a real easy going guy and I like
Gil:to solve problems instead of
Adam:create more. but I've definitely seen
Gil:bar fights.
Adam:many times I've seen chairs thrown
Gil:across the bar tables.
Adam:yeah.
Eric:Oh, wow. what are some of the most interesting places you've performed at?
Adam:I think that'd be the
Gil:Drais
Adam:nightclub in Las Vegas, and I
Gil:believe they're
Adam:closed right now. I've been trying to get ahold of the owner because
Gil:I would really like to,
Adam:do some cross promotion with them, on a different platform.
Gil:But that was just. the biggest, idea
Adam:of a party environment that
Gil:you could possibly go to
Adam:and it's expensive,
Gil:but rooftop
Adam:pool on the Vegas strip
Gil:is the place to dance
Eric:straight up VIP status right there.
Adam:Yeah. Yeah. Like the Kardashians and, everything Will Smith, Jada,
Gil:there's
Adam:a number of,
Gil:Artists, actors, actresses that go there,
Eric:Oh, very cool. So you said you did private parties, any big private parties, or how was that for you?
Adam:Oh, my biggest
Gil:private party that I ever did, I
Adam:think was,
Gil:for Larry Eulaberry, that he's the,
Adam:radio announcer for
Gil:it was Ks one Oh
Adam:seven five, but they moved it to. Something,
Gil:anyway, he's
Adam:pretty well known
Gil:radio host.
Adam:and,
Gil:that was
Adam:crazy
Gil:to.
Adam:Put on a party for somebody that you have been listening to for
Gil:years,
Adam:on the radio, what was
Eric:your biggest tip?
Adam:Oh, wow. not from him, surprisingly enough. It was. and not from a, not from anyone famous or even a male, it was a female that came in and gave me a thousand
Gil:dollars tip
Adam:damn. but I think that was just working.
Gil:With her over years and years, because she had,
Adam:some kind of a disability and
Gil:was just super happy
Adam:that I had been there and helped
Gil:her out real happy, friendly,
Adam:and understood the whole time. And so in appreciation, I think she came back and tipped me that.
Eric:That's really awesome. And you are always like such a wonderful guy. I remember you would just come in like chat with us at the table. Like I think even when we first start met and then like anytime we would come back and I think you always remembered me because even when I didn't live in Denver, you still like, would come chat with us.
Adam:yeah. And I think I got that. just from. being able to remember faces, I, for some reason I can meet somebody once and I'll see them two years later. And I'll be like, I remember you from somewhere where we've met before.
Gil:So it was a very awkward,
Adam:Interaction.
Eric:So how did, being an adult entertainer influence your life or has it changed your trajectory at all?
Adam:I think, Being a male entertainer and even working in the adult industry nightlife. it's an amazing gift
Gil:to be able to have a job where you're
Adam:also, entertained or, to help be a part of the entertainment. And so I think in a. A shaping of my life. That would be more that I know that I want to work with, the adult entertainment and nightlife industry. And if I can provide help, to any business like that, at a discounted rate, then that's right.
Eric:Oh, that's awesome.
Adam:Especially with COVID and everything, shutting them all down. Oh, yeah,
Eric:it's been really hard for, people in the adult entertainment field.
Gil:Did you have any tips for anyone who was like wanting to start in the industry now that you've had experience, under your belt?
Adam:Yeah, I,
Gil:I would say
Adam:I made a lot of mistakes and I, one of the most embarrassing ones, When you go on stage, don't
Gil:wear socks that are really long,
Adam:like long socks.
Gil:just wear
Adam:the standard ankle socks. don't go crazy. don't wear anything flashy and don't try too hard. Don't get up on the stage and just, really try to go all out on your first night, just so you can get in the door,
Gil:to take it easy, take it slow, try to
Adam:dance to some music you like, have a couple shots and try to have fun
Gil:Awesome.
Eric:that's Good to know.
Adam:and don't stuff, anything down there, either
Gil:people notice if there's a,
Adam:some something funny in the pants down there, it's not right.
Eric:You're super gifted down there. So people are having to compete with that.
Adam:Oh
Gil:yeah,
Adam:that was fun. The bartender would call me Gonzo all the time. Thanks Brian.
Eric:I remember Brian. Is he still there? I don't know if he's still there.
Adam:no. He's bartending at a different bar. I can't remember which one he told me last time I spoke with him.
Eric:Okay. were you ever pigeonholed in like a role, like people expected you to be a certain way or?
Adam:the owner of the club
Gil:originally would tell all of the dancers that they would have to tell,
Adam:Tell everyone that they're gay
Gil:because
Adam:you're trying to appeal as a business owner to a certain clientele. And not everyone that you have that walks in the door is going to be
Gil:gay or bisexual.
Adam:and you and legally, you can't make them be
Gil:gay or bisexual if they are straight or vice versa.
Adam:And that's the hard part I think with hiring as a strip club owner is most patrons feel like they aren't going to tip you if you're not of the same,
Gil:sexuality
Adam:as they are.
Gil:And
Adam:so I think, one of the misconceptions is that if you
Gil:lie about your. sexuality
Adam:then you'll make more money
Gil:and
Adam:that's a short-term game. If you want
Gil:to just
Adam:dance for a month or, or two and then be done. But, But if you're in a long-term game and you're nine years in, there's no way that you can lie to people and tell them that
Gil:you are whatever.
Adam:And there's no reason to. And I think most people would appreciate it more. If you're honest with them, instead of creating a
Gil:fictitious
Adam:person.
Eric:it's always a slippery slope with that. When you're talking about orientation
Adam:it is hard. And honestly, I don't blame people for trying, because there've been a lot of straight guys, quote, unquote, that, come in and they apply as a dancer and they don't really know they're, still figuring themselves out, so they end up, finding that they do. enjoy
Gil:both or, the other
Adam:opposite gender and that's
Gil:perfectly,
Adam:perfectly fine.
Gil:I just prefer to err,
Adam:on the side of being honest, instead of a. making up stuff. And I think that's what got me further in my,
Gil:Later
Adam:years of dancing
Gil:is just building trust with
Adam:people.
Eric:Okay. I always appreciate honesty, but I know in that field, it's also about selling fantasy so I can see both sides of it.
Adam:and there were,
Gil:let's
Adam:just call them, real hot flames, guys that would come in for a few months and they'd play that fantasy role. And they'd. They would,
Gil:put out all of these
Adam:lies and tell people things that they'd want to hear and then they would end up making a lot more enemies in the end because they ended up screwing people
Gil:over, taking their
Adam:money, not paying out or doing what they
Gil:were paid to do,
Adam:even though it may have been illegal
Gil:or whatever.
Adam:yeah,
Gil:it just causes issues. That
Eric:kind of leads me to another question. did you face or see any hypocrisy in that scene?
Adam:I had some people come in. they might not have known that they were in a gay bar and
Gil:they're also, straight
Adam:guys that would come in with their gay friends. And they'd be very standoffish. aside from that though, and it just the
Gil:weird part, would be that
Adam:you go into a strip club knowing that, and this is all pre COVID. knowing that this is a strip club, people are there to get attention, talk to, flirted with a little
Gil:bit,
Adam:and then you'd go up to someone and you'd be like,
Gil:Oh, Hey, how's your night
Adam:going? just want to say hi, introduce myself. And they were like, don't talk to me. I don't want to talk and you're like, wait, you came into this fun establishment, like an asshole. And, yeah, just, thank you so much. And
Gil:talk to you later.
Adam:Very confusing
Eric:I'm sure it can be.
Adam:are
Eric:there any misconceptions people have of you and, or the adult entertainment? We'll start with the adult entertainment world first as you know it. And then if any misconceptions on
Adam:you. so yeah,
Gil:as the whole
Adam:adult entertainment industry in general, I would say the biggest misconception is that most people that.
Gil:Create these,
Adam:preconceived notions,
Gil:something where they just they're like, I don't like that place because I feel like it's, dark, dirty dingy,
Adam:and
Gil:yeah, there are some strip clubs out there I
Adam:wouldn't go into,
Gil:but.
Adam:in the end of the day, it is a misconception because you have,
Gil:employees that work
Adam:there that are dancing entertaining for money, so they can go home and
Gil:just
Adam:put food on the table. And
Gil:that's what I did for
Adam:seven, eight years, and it was hard, every night you knew that.
Gil:You are
Adam:going to make your money and just being there alone. Isn't good enough. You need to go in and you need to be happy every night. And if you're not happy, you're going to be one of those other
Gil:types of strippers where they just sit off to the side and cry all
Adam:the time and they get petty tips and. That doesn't work for long either. Yeah.
Gil:but the
Adam:misconception, that I
Gil:noticed with everything is the Karen's of the world
Adam:that have never been, they've never been to a strip club. they only have their own agenda and their own thoughts and they aren't basing it off of anything. Factual. By going out and
Gil:actually
Adam:talking to some of these people that
work
Gil:there, it's destroying the families. Yeah. Like just,
Eric:yeah, because I've had some conversations with other adult entertainers and different aspects of that world. And I know a lot of people just want them to be a pretty face. And they don't want them to have any thoughts of their own and they don't, people don't respect them for being intellectuals. And I always think that's a huge slap in the face to them.
Adam:Oh, yeah, there were so many times I would get told, why are you talking?
Gil:Stop talking,
Adam:shut up and just dance.
Gil:That's all. I was just dance. Don't talk. It's wow. okay,
Adam:I am a human being. I am an individual. I'm not just a piece of meat. However,
Gil:That's what people go
Adam:there for, they want to
Gil:express their sexuality
Adam:openly and have fun with it, and I think as an adult, everyone should have a place
Gil:to be able to do that.
Eric:Yeah. I used to always get in trouble there for dancing.
Adam:I think everyone did. And I think that's the dumbest reason.
Gil:okay. So however,
Adam:I understand it's a dumb rule. Everyone wants to dance, but,
Gil:this bachelorette.
Adam:Never danced. However, one of my
Gil:craziest stories,
Adam:She and her seven friends came in and they all got a seat, right next to the catwalk and the main stage. And she's right in the corner, the bachelorette's right. And in the corner of the stages, And I go up on stage and the beats about to drop and it's, go and go in and I'm about to do this huge kick spin, pole trick and, the music drops and it's boom. And I go up on the pole and I come around and all of a sudden
Gil:it's just. Smack like right into the girl's head because she stood up at the same
Adam:time and she was like, does anybody want a drink and bam down?
Eric:Why do I think I was there when that happened?
Adam:And I didn't see, I didn't see her coming, nothing, but she was down and
Gil:I had to play that
Adam:off. Really quickly. and I bought the whole table shots. She ended up buying the lap dance for me in the end of the night, but
Gil:it was, it was a very tense situation
Adam:for a second.
Eric:Oh, wow. I feel like I was there that night. It sounds so familiar.
Gil:how do you look
Adam:sexy while you kick a female in the face?
Eric:Yeah. that's almost
Adam:impossible.
Eric:Pretty much.
Adam:Yeah. She at least left with a
Gil:good story. That's memorable.
Adam:and I'm sure some
Gil:nice pictures the next day for her. wedding.
Adam:Honey. Why do you have a black eye in these pictures? Oh,
Eric:did you ever witness, or were you ever a victim of any homophobia?
Adam:I think I was a few times and
Gil:I, as a straight guy would laugh about it
Adam:because internally I wasn't
Gil:upset about it,
Adam:you always double think something, even if it's two or three
Gil:seconds after
Adam:the fact, and I'm like, okay, yeah, I am straight, but wait a minute, fuck you buddy. You can't go around and
Gil:say that to people like that's fucked up. What if we all is a group went up
Adam:to you and told you that, you
Gil:were a certain way or felt a certain way? it
Adam:always irritated me
Gil:if I had ever
Adam:heard that, from anyone, I think one of the first things we'd go do is
Gil:just let
Adam:the DJ know. And you remember Davey.
Eric:Don't know,
Gil:Davey, the big Black DJ
Adam:used to sing, like top of
Gil:his voice go up to tables. Sing right in your face.
Adam:yeah. Yeah. he would always go and
Gil:throw those people out real quick.
Eric:Oh, that's good.
Adam:Yeah, they, they're usually pretty drunk.
Eric:You need to have a safe environment. cause there's a lot going on. you want to have it fun and turned up, but at the same time, like you don't need people being belligerent either
Adam:on their way out. He would
Gil:always say a
Adam:drive fast take chances.
Gil:Eric, you did that on a shirt.
Eric:I do that on a shirt that would
Gil:be badass.
Eric:Maybe I'll put that on my new tee shirt line.
Adam:You can have, so you can have the idea right. Fast, take chances,
Eric:drive fast, take chances. I will write that down. did, Any of your patrons ever try to cross the line? Or did you ever cross the line with any of your patrons or because I know that in certain places that's super taboo and you're not allowed to do that. And then other places there are a little bit more lenient. Yeah. You still want to sell the fantasy, but there's maybe some leeway once in awhile.
Adam:yeah, I think, I think it was six nights a week,
Gil:that I was there,
Adam:there'd
Gil:always be some
Adam:patron trying to break the rules. that was nothing new
Eric:in trouble for not always tipping on the side. So
Adam:yeah. sometimes you let people
Gil:go a little closer to the
Adam:front because you either know them or they're, that they're respectful. Yeah. if you know that they're a person that's just going to try and pull everything out, there's no way there's no way, but, the fun
Gil:parts or the,
Adam:the interesting nights I would say is when a dancer would come back in the dressing room and they would have, some kind of a really kinky
Gil:public like story you just did that with that. Customer right over there, like really like
Adam:at
Gil:the table
Adam:and no one saw
Gil:what the fuck,
Adam:it as few and far between you'd ever hear these. And that's what made them so interesting is, when they'd happen, do
Eric:you have any of those stories yourself?
Adam:I might. He's a gentleman, gentlemen, don't tell. Okay. That's
Eric:fair enough. I have to respect that.
Adam:Don't kiss and tell,
Gil:but
Adam:I won't deny that.
Eric:Did you ever have people, trying to turn you one way or the other? I know that's a stereotype that's out there. if a woman thinks your gay is going to try to turn you straight and gay men always fantasize about the straight guy.
Gil:I think
Adam:that is a fantasy, for sure. just and it's interesting for me being a straight male and I'm not really into lesbian porn. so I guess. I dunno, maybe I'm a smaller, percentage of males that aren't really into lesbian porn, but yeah,
Gil:there are areas of the gay
Adam:male community
Gil:where there, or people that are much more into
Adam:trying to turn a straight guy into, a gay guy or even just having fun with them. so that was a niche that I would
Gil:always,
Adam:here, on a pattern basis. And, you play along with it because that's
Gil:what they're
Adam:tipping for. And that's what they came to the club for was
Gil:a little bit of saucy conversation
Adam:or something. But, anything after that, when it would end up getting too far into a conversation and they start, throwing dollar amounts around and times and dates and meeting locations. that's when you got to
Gil:gracefully. Excuse yourself.
Eric:Now
Gil:that's yeah, they're harder part is to gracefully, excuse yourself, from a
Adam:conversation and still end up recouping the customer. The next night they come in.
Eric:Okay. And I can see, everyone probably has their own boundary of like, when they're going to gracefully, excuse themselves, some will go a little bit further than others.
Gil:True.
Adam:And,
Gil:I always tried to figure out
Adam:even as a,
Gil:employee of a strip club
Adam:and a patron, where that fine line was. If you walk in, like I think everyone,
Gil:it sits back with their buddies and
Adam:they say, okay, what are we going to do? Are we going to go in and are we going to tip
Gil:$5 to all of the dancers?
Adam:And we're going to see which one gives us the most attention, or are we going to go in and pick the one. That we want and drop all the money on that one. And then that one will end up giving us more than what any other dancer would.
Gil:I would stick with,
Adam:the first option, spend less
Gil:and see who,
Adam:gives you the attention. Because it's going to be the person that either,
Gil:really deserves it
Adam:and needs it and is working for it, or it's going to be the next person who's trying to scheme and scam you out of as much as you have. And as long as those two are coming, you can decipher between them. and then you Wade your way through and you find the one that's just a little friendlier than the others
Gil:and
Adam:start throwing some $5 bills and 10, and
Gil:then see where it goes.
Eric:that's some good advice. I think I fluctuated between. Both sides. sometimes I'd be like, I know I'm going in just the tip, these people. Cause I just want to see this one or two dancers and they're getting all my money, but then occasionally I'll be like, Oh wow, that person I've never seen before. And they're really good. So I should give them some attention too, so
Adam:well, and if you go in tipping, the person that you think is the hottest person in the club right off the
Gil:bat,
Adam:you'll almost be cutting
Gil:yourself out of other opportunities with other
Adam:dancers. and some that may actually be willing to do
Gil:stuff with you.
Adam:Whereas the one that you thought was very hot is either in a committed relationship or most of the time is straight. Yeah.
Gil:What I've heard.
Eric:No, that makes sense. That's some good advice. Do you have any, advice on etiquette strip club etiquette?
Adam:don't. as a customer, don't leave your money on the bar. don't come in, flashing your money, put it out on the bar
Gil:because
Adam:dancers will come up and talk with you and they will
Gil:just slyly
Adam:take some money off of the bar, thanks for your time, because they're going to assume that money is there to come up and say hi, and Halloween candy or some shit. I don't know. I never did that, but in any case,
Gil:the other etiquette,
Adam:just
Gil:try to be as respectful as possible,
Adam:and realize that
Gil:strippers get treated like, pieces of meat.
Adam:every night.
Gil:so if you come off
Adam:as a genuine person, who's genuinely interested in that other individual, and
Gil:what
Adam:makes them tick and what are their hobbies and passions outside of
Gil:the club,
Adam:you'll
Gil:get a lot further with that type of conversation
Adam:than you will with a,
Gil:Oh, you
Adam:got a big Dick. Should come over here
Gil:so I can,
Adam:let's do this and
Gil:get a little creepy with it. that turns people off pretty quick.
Adam:And if you don't have the money to back it up, then you're just going to turn
Gil:dancers away.
Adam:Yeah.
Eric:I can see that. I always appreciate it. Like actually having conversations with the dancers and getting to know them on a more human and personal level. Cause I'm all about that authentic bond or something, even if it's just for the moment. I don't know. I just, it feels, more genuine to me. And so I always appreciated those that would come and talk to you and actually have full on conversations with you and not just rub my shoulders and say, Oh, you should come get a dance with me. And then.
Adam:Yeah, they're not being genuine as
Gil:strippers,
Adam:they're trying to work there. One angle that worked for them on the first week and they needed to step it up and start
Gil:talking to people about real stuff. And then
Adam:maybe they'll get
Gil:into better conversations, but as far as, The customer's
Adam:concerned, like that weight shouldn't
Gil:fall on their shoulders. They're just coming in
Adam:for a good time.
Gil:It's up to the entertainer to
Adam:entertain with good conversation.
Eric:I think that's fair. but I do sometimes think customers come in, like with just that mindset. And so they don't want. To see what the entertainers have to offer.
Adam:I have a question for you
Gil:guys
Adam:and for your listeners, if they put in any input here, With this new world of
Gil:COVID
Adam:going on and the lack of fun and entertainment, in strip
Gil:clubs, especially,
Adam:you're not really getting your
Gil:private lap
Adam:dances, you're not getting your one-to-one interactions. And so
Gil:without that,
Adam:do you think that this would open up more
Gil:of a world for. Strip clubs to have their clubs live stream,
Adam:and even maybe live stream the back, dressing area. And you can tip the models that are on screen.
Eric:Oh, I definitely think that there's a market for that. if you look at like the only fan sites or the different chatterbate sites where the models will come and talk to you, or you can watch them doing stuff and you can tip them through the computer and everything else. I think there's definitely a market for that. And to actually have it not just be the model masturbating in front of you or. Watching them have sex and just having that fantasy like of the strip club. I think there's definitely a market for that because people love fantasy. Aye.
Gil:aye.
Adam:Sorry. I understand why, people are going to only fans because of, the clubs having a hard time. But if
Gil:the clubs were to stream,
Adam:their own models,
Gil:I think that they could still recoup some of that lost
Adam:income.
Eric:I think that's very
Gil:good and go digital
Adam:because I know when,
Gil:I was informed, like in Portland, they're doing drive-thru, strip clubs right now. So the, like they tent over your car, you drive up, they make it a one-on-one, experience and that's the way that you reserve a time in advance and You
Adam:go from
Gil:there. That was very interesting for COVID. Yeah, but they're doing that in Portland right now, I was like, okay, interesting.
Adam:I'm pretty sure there are some people that would definitely pay for a Dick imprint or some titties rubbed on the
Gil:window for sure. Their car
Adam:won't come off. All right. My car,
Gil:they have a coffee shop
Adam:like that.
Gil:I'll just do a random
Adam:shout out, for, hot chick, a latte,
Gil:it said a drive through coffee shop, but all of the models there were lingerie.
Adam:Oh, nice. So it's an interesting coffee shop on East Colfax.
Gil:If you haven't
Adam:seen it, you should check it out.
Eric:I haven't been to Denver in a while, but I know that some of our listeners are from Denver. So hopefully they'll go check it out. if you could give any advice to a younger you, what would that be?
Adam:When you're not
Gil:at your day job, what are you working
Adam:on that will
Gil:benefit your life
Adam:in the next five
Gil:years?
Adam:would be my question to myself. In my later years,
Gil:I was a drunk stripper
Adam:for many years, and, off and on, good and bad. I think I was having fun the whole time, but, if I could go back and I could spend, the 10 hours out of my day to do something that would benefit me, reoccurring benefit, financial benefit. that's something I think everyone needs to find, a way that they can make money with passive income without having to spend all of their time in that box. whatever box it may be. You go to every day,
Gil:there's a way out of it, for sure. Or at least a partial way out of it. So you can work part
Adam:time, and
Gil:enjoy the rest of your life because you
Adam:only have enough time on this planet to
Gil:do so much.
Eric:looking back, is there anything you would do differently?
Adam:I wouldn't have worn the
Gil:first pair of socks. I decided
Adam:for sure. some girl gave me
Gil:hell about that for years, but
Adam:yeah, no. I never got into. a big drug scene. I didn't make too
Gil:many crazy bad decisions, but
Adam:I do think
Gil:that if I could
Adam:go back, I would
Gil:probably save
Adam:more money for the long run. and instead of, spending it on just
Gil:whatever that you don't
Adam:even remember, two years, three years
Gil:down the line
Adam:and you're like, damn, I made
Gil:50 K last year, but I don't know
Adam:where the money went.
Eric:It's happened to me a few times.
Adam:I found,
Gil:much better areas for.
Adam:Investing my time and money than I ever even knew about when I was a stripper. And I think if I would have woken up and a little sooner, I have
Gil:realized that I had a lot
Adam:more time in my day that I could have done a lot of things now that I barely have time for. And I still do. Do
Gil:you have any projects or anything that you're currently working on?
Adam:Yeah. thanks for asking.
Gil:I do have the three businesses
Adam:that I run. One of, them's not really doing too much.
Gil:It's at Denver smart
Adam:mirror.com. I'm not
Gil:even sure if the URL is really working on that, but it's,
Adam:it'll be a fun, digital. Mirror that, companies can buy casinos,
Gil:stuff like that. But
Adam:then I have the web development company, as well. And right now we're developing, a brand new social media
Gil:platform for adults.
Adam:so a dumbed down version of Facebook, mixed with
Gil:the, sexiness
Adam:of Instagram. but the, the nudity involved as well. Then we have some
Gil:private groups, for Reddit,
Adam:type blog, posting content, and free giveaways,
Gil:as well as streaming models.
Eric:And that's social swing thing, right?
Gil:Yeah, a
Adam:socialswingthing.com or the adultsocialmedia.com. I'm still trying to figure out which way I want to go with that.
Gil:Because if I
Adam:go into a
Gil:specific niche, like social swing
Adam:thing, it makes people think that it's just a
Gil:site for swingers.
Eric:Okay. That makes
Adam:sense. Yeah. When, it's really for
Gil:everyone, LGBT straight,
Adam:and anyone who wants to
Gil:feel like they want to express their sexuality,
Adam:Without having that raunchy kind of side, you know, a whole bunch of spammy advertising, stuff like that. you want to meet people
Gil:talk,
Adam:Create
Gil:groups
Adam:create conversations. you want to, live stream models and check them out and send them tips and credits. Then, that's another thing we can do too.
Eric:Pretty cool site. Cause I have an account. I have an account on there, so it's a pretty cool site. And let me know when you decide, what web address you're going to go with. So we can totally throw that up on the website.
Adam:Yeah. It's for right now it's just social swing thing.com, but you can search it up
Gil:as the adult, social
Adam:media.com as well. And it'll pull up just the same.
Eric:Okay, cool. I'm done. I'll throw both of those up there. and you have an app coming out too, don't
Adam:you? so I'm not exactly sure when the app will
Gil:be fully developed.
Adam:however, it's going to definitely help the communication level between users so they can get a notification on their phone
Gil:instead
Adam:of just an email, letting them know that someone replied,
Gil:Oh, that's good.
Eric:And what made you decide to get into this?
Adam:I really don't mean to, Be any type of a downer,
Gil:with the background of this story. It all, it's actually a really happy story for
me
Adam:because it got me up off my ass and changed my thinking.
Gil:but earlier this year,
Adam:I
Gil:had said I had a
Adam:couple of deaths in the family. My mom, passed away.
Eric:I'm sorry to hear that.
Adam:Oh, and her and I,
Gil:we joked and laughed
Adam:about, her passing in the future. And, we tried to come to terms with it and understand because she's
Gil:actually,
Adam:been having heart attacks since I was 14. And so I knew it was coming at some point, I'd been taking care of myself for a very long time. And.
Gil:So after she
Adam:passed,
Gil:it was hard because
Adam:I had to go and I had to, move stuff out of
Gil:her place and,
Adam:take care of, the, Cremation and everything they weren't doing
Gil:burials or
Adam:anything like that with COVID. But, it seemed like, even a couple of days after
Gil:she passed,
Adam:I
Gil:had this crazy dream
Adam:and I can't even remember the dream at all. but I remember waking
Gil:up out of it with this idea
Adam:of, An adult
Gil:site where people can share
Adam:their own nudes or nude content. they can upload their nude content. People can pay for it. models can stream on it. Businesses can advertise, Users can date and flirt. and then if, if anyone, doesn't like someone, they can block them, report them, and, have total site
Gil:security. because
Adam:I have been getting a little fed up with
Gil:the level of security that we
Adam:have on social media these days. And there is none,
Gil:whatever you put out there is out
Adam:there. And, and people take it and
Gil:use it for targeted advertisings
Adam:and stuff so they can sell you more stuff. and that's something that I won't ever do. I have of advertising's on there
Gil:because they're adult,
Adam:Business oriented. but I don't track
Gil:what people
Adam:click and don't click and what they're interested in and not. And then I don't sell that information
Gil:to a third party.
Adam:Company, so I can benefit off of your information. I think
Gil:that's just horribly fucked out.
Adam:Yeah.
Gil:I
Adam:like to sleep at night and I like to look at myself in the mirror. I think I'm decent looking. Yeah,
Eric:I would agree. how do you think this business is going to help people. Getting into the adult business or in the adult business?
Adam:I really do think that it'll help, all areas.
Gil:the businesses themselves are
Adam:low on customers coming through the door and
Gil:if they've had to close their doors
Adam:and now they're reopening, they may not know. people may not know that they're open. So if they can advertise on my site
Gil:for. Way cheaper
Adam:than any other
Gil:site out there.
Adam:for instance, I've looked into advertising on, traffic junkie.com and there's a minimum of $25.
Gil:So you have to have
Adam:a
Gil:hundred dollars
Adam:in your account, minimum to start and you can do
Gil:four days of advertising.
Adam:Yeah, that's it.
Gil:so yeah, the businesses will be able to advertise
Adam:on this site and, it'll
Gil:be $50
Adam:per month.
Gil:So 30 days instead of two.
Adam:And, you can pay a hundred dollars a month and you can be on
Gil:multiple pages on the website instead
Adam:of the main, first one. and, you can do either, one month
to
Gil:try it out or
Adam:reoccurring, monthly payments and just set it up and make it easy. another thing, it gives the models that
Gil:have lost their jobs or have had their clubs closed,
Adam:an additional place to stream from, to make money from different clients. they may have only fans and, and that's awesome. Only fans is amazing. I think that they help
Gil:people as well.
Adam:however, my platform again, I don't take any cut from the models like
Gil:zero. So every other cam site out there, they take
Adam:anywhere from 20%
Gil:to 60%
Adam:of the models, It's crazy. Yeah. and I won't ever do that. the patrons that pay on the site are paying $5 per month because they know that their data and their pictures and everything
like
Gil:that will be theirs. And
Adam:once they delete
Gil:their account,
Adam:it's gone. I don't take it. I don't sell it. I'm
Gil:actually
too
Adam:busy to even look at it. and eventually this will need to be monitored. Better, when we have more users, but for now I think it's
Gil:a
Adam:pretty friendly site, and pretty tamed down.
Gil:there's not a lot of
Adam:raunchy level to it, which is nice. more of an Instagram, feel would be nice. Can
Eric:I make a quick suggestion?
Gil:Yes.
Eric:I've had issues with only fans because every time I pay to subscribe to someone's page, my credit card gets blocked or my bank card gets blocked and then I have to call and I have to have it unblocked and reopened. So then I can maybe make a purchase and then I can usually make purchases within the next two days on an only fan site. And then after that I started getting blocked again. I don't know if there's anything that you can do from it on your end or what that would be, but it's always frustrating. So I don't even really. Subscribe to many only fans anymore, just because I'm like, I don't want to deal with the headache of my card, getting blocked all the time
Adam:that most likely has to do with their payment
Gil:processor.
Eric:Okay.
Gil:So
Adam:basically, and, give me just one
Gil:quick second here. sorry. It's like a mini strip tease
Adam:up in here now. Awesome. Do
Eric:some Bitcoin or something?
Adam:Just getting so hot. Oh
Gil:gosh. but
Eric:people are gonna want the video of this
Adam:shit.
Gil:I got to start doing
Adam:video editing right now, but, let's see. Where was I? Oh yeah, the payment
Gil:processor. so if they
Adam:have a negative Mark or a few big negative marks on their, payment processing and there's only a few, that you can really link up on a site, then yeah, it
Gil:can cause there, I guess
Adam:their payment fund, and or the payments coming in and out, look a little more fraudulent to some banks. not all banks
Gil:will flag that.
Adam:As fraudulent. and they won't bug you so much, but if you have a business account or if you have any type of a bank that, really keeps track and alerts you from it,
Gil:most likely they'll do that just because of the other
Adam:companies, standings with. Their bank.
Eric:Okay. that makes sense. I just thought I would throw that out there because it does keep me from subscribing to as many only fan sites as I would want to, yeah. Got to support the sex worker come on. Of course.
Adam:and I think right now, our payment
Gil:processors Stripe
Adam:and, out of, I think 360
Gil:subscribers. So far,
Adam:I have, I've only had to refund one person and
Gil:that was because, they had
Adam:put in their information, and they didn't
Gil:read that it was $5 a month.
Adam:And
Gil:I wasn't
Adam:obligated to return yeah. Any money to them. But, I
Gil:did for sure, just because I felt like
Adam:it was the right thing to do. and, I think that they were pretty happy with it. And I'm happy with not having a lot of payment processing issues
Gil:or
Adam:anything like that.
Eric:That's good. You don't want a whole Bella Thorne situation happening? what happened with only fans?
Adam:Oh God, no, that's definitely not what I'm trying to do.
Eric:Yeah, no, that was awful. I'm not even in the sex work industry and I was so heated for sex workers. I was like, that is just so disrespectful. It was just awful. So
Gil:what did she do?
Eric:So she started an only fans page. And so she had like millions of people, subscribed to her page. And she was like, Oh, I'm going to go ahead and release stuff. And so people thought she was going to release nudes. And so all these people started like paying all this extra money and tipping all this extra money for her nudes. And she made like a few million, I think, off of it. And then it was just like a few pictures of her in lingerie and people were pissed, so they wanted their money back and they went after only fans. And so they had to refund. All this money back. And then, so now they put caps on how much the individual people who legitimately have only fans, pages can actually get paid now from individuals.
Adam:I think the max is
Gil:$50. I want to say
Eric:50,
Gil:$50 tip.
Eric:Yeah,
Gil:because of that. Which is good,
Adam:I'm trying to work that in a scenario in my website and
Gil:see if
Adam:that could be a potential issue as
Gil:well.
Adam:however, I
Gil:don't think so. You transfer credits just like you would
Adam:tip a dancer, you transfer X amount of credits to them and they
Gil:give you the password to their content.
Eric:Yeah, I think that's more than fair. I think that's really cool. That's a good way to do it. So what do you do on your spare time? spare time because you have 85 jobs,
Gil:like
Adam:shit. They, the spare time, that's the fun part. I think. I love learning every day and. Anytime I can. So my spare time
Gil:consists of,
Adam:in the shower and I'm driving. and I
Gil:try to get to work every day, about half an hour early, so I can sit in the
Adam:parking lot and continue to listen to the video that I was listening to driving
Gil:to the way to work.
Adam:Usually that's on. anything from, Elon Musk and
Gil:Tesla with a
Adam:Starlink and his other company. Neurolink, AI networks, different,
Gil:typology of,
Adam:fifth and sixth dimensions.
Gil:Different,
Adam:time-space
Gil:theories,
Adam:everything it's nuts.
Eric:It's really
Adam:cool. anything I can learn? That's really cool. everything interests me if it has something to benefit off of the information. And I'm not planning on going to a different planet anytime soon, but, conspiracy theories and, alien,
Gil:stuff
Adam:like that. That's all fun
Gil:as well
Adam:to get into, and you
Gil:take it with a grain of salt for sure. But
Eric:I totally believe in aliens. I'm from New Mexico. So we have Roswell here.
Adam:Yeah. Yeah. that'd be interesting to walk around a little bit. yeah, there's just some evidence out there, that's irrefutable and
Gil:there's a
Adam:CIA, documents that have been,
Gil:declassified
Adam:recently on the brain Hemi sync. I don't know if you've
Gil:ever Googled that,
Adam:or looked it up, but, brain Hemi sync
Gil:it's,
Adam:Meditation, to get
Gil:both sides of your brain on
Adam:equal wavelengths. So you can,
Gil:have access to, a higher, A higher
Eric:frequency or vibration or,
Gil:yeah, just,
Adam:you have a question in your head and it just comes to you and you're like, damn, I've
Gil:never put out a rap song.
Adam:I don't know how to do an EP, I'm working literally right now, I'm working with a new up and coming artist. his name is Aiko NASA and, he asks me questions all the time, Dude,
Gil:how do I put this out?
Adam:How do I do this and that? And I don't know. Sometimes
Gil:it works, sometimes it doesn't,
Adam:but I feel like sometimes you hit that resonance and you're just having a real good day and you're just on your game and someone asks you a question and you have no idea. You've
Gil:never heard that before, but for some reason you just
Adam:have the answer. It's amazing.
Eric:Yeah. That's awesome. So any thing else that we can look forward to
from
Adam:you? let's see,
Gil:hopefully with this
Adam:new platform, I'll have the app out. I'm giving it a timeline of
Gil:roughly four to six
Adam:months. there's going to be a whole brand new live cam area
Gil:that is set up with a URL redirect,
Adam:to, a different
Gil:hosting. So it keeps the site speed quick, that's
Adam:nerd language
Gil:for, there will be an
Adam:awesome, cam area coming out very soon within the next couple of days.
Eric:Awesome.
Adam:and just general site
Gil:user-ability
Adam:speed, everything. we keep working every day on that, but, as far as myself,
Gil:I hope to
Adam:build as an entrepreneur and have more businesses and provide, more entertainment and fun for everyone if I can.
Eric:That's awesome. good luck with all of that. And thank you so much for spending this last hour with us here in The Q Lounge.
Gil:Yes. Thank you so much.
Adam:thank
Gil:you guys so much.
Adam:we definitely have to hook up some time and, catch up, have some drinks or whatnot.
Eric:Absolutely. I look forward to it when I can start traveling again. I'm definitely hitting up Denver. So I actually think about moving back there most of the time,
Gil:it's that's your fallback
Eric:say, like going to 90% of the time. I'm like, let me look up real estate. In Cheesman again, or cap Hill or whatever and Baker. I like, those are like my favorite area and
Gil:stuff. Yeah. they're expensive areas, but
Adam:it's
Gil:nice. I actually just, got,
Adam:I, my life's been fucking crazy, but I got an apartment in cherry Creek.
Gil:It was like, Four
Adam:five months ago. I lived there for about a month and then I moved out.
Gil:for personal reasons,
Adam:you know what not, but, but I found a subletter and everything, so
Gil:it all worked out there. Good.
That's good. Yeah I lived in Cheesman when I lived in Denver, so I love that area, but
Eric:Q lounge. If you would like to check out social swing thing, please go to social swing thing. Dot com. Under promo code type in the Q lounge in all caps, no spaces. And you will get 60 days for $2. That's two months for $2. swing thing. Dot com promo code the Q lounge. All caps, no spaces.
Track 2:And thank you for joining us
Eric:here at The Q Lounge.
Gil:Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed your time in the Q lounge. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions on topics, or you would like to be a guest or contributor, please email us at info.TheQlounge@gmail.Com or through our contact page at theqloungepodcast.com while you're there hit that subscribe button or listen wherever you get your podcast. If you would like to further support us, hit that donation button
Eric:until next time live in your authenticity.