Mastering the Master of Ceremonies

by: WiscoStripper

When you are first becoming a stripper, you meet all sorts of new challenges.  When it comes to almost all things, the motto is “All things are difficult before they are easy.”

One of the most difficult relationships to master is the one you have with the DJ. There are tons of great DJs in the industry that know exactly how long a song should be, which girls dance to what, and keep rotation nice and equal, but you already know how to handle those guys.  Here are the two most frustrating types we’ve encountered and how we deal with them.

 

The “god complex” DJ

This person sits in their booth all night like it’s the royal throne. They decide the music so respect them, or expect to hear, “Oh you mere mortals try to tell ME what to play? You want to hear T-pain??….hahaha here is Toby Keith!”  He doesn’t care what’s best for you or the club, just his own ego.  What is even worse is when you don’t tip him, he will refuse to ever play your music.  The natural response to this egomaniac is, “Why should I tip a DJ who didn’t play my music, or verbally abused me before playing a song or two I like?” The natural response isn’t the most effective, however.   We are professional entertainers, and as professionals, we have to simply: Suck it up, be humble, tip, and hope that you can change the course of the relationship.

The  “forgetful” DJ

At the beginning of the night he is personable, life of the party, you want to hear that song hell yeah I’ll play that! Then a few hours into his shift things start to go down hill. Those shots of Patron’ that everyone was buying him are starting to kick in. His speech is a little incoherent (did he call Katie or Casey?!?!) and all of a sudden the club turns into what HE wants to rock out to all night.  Usually these guys are pretty nice, so if you can, before your set leave him a list of songs you love so he can queue them up on the computer.  I try to do this two girls before my set so I don’t have to rush to stage. Some girls will try to tip him at the end of the night, but he’s usually pretty hammered by then, so I find that tipping him at the beginning of the night for the day before works best. He remembers that I did tip, and that puts him in a great mood to start out his night.  Bitching about this guy or to him will do no good.  I just joke with him, and if I end up dancing to something I can’t stand, I try not to let it ruin my mood; my mood makes the money, not my music.

The “I’m grandfathered in” DJ

There are some DJ’s that are just part of the boys club.  They are friends with every male staff member and have slept with half of the girls.  They basically create drama everywhere they go, and none of it effects them in the least.  Girls fight over him, he calls girls names, he forces himself on girls and actually gets away with it.  Unfortunately, this is business and your personal beliefs need to come second to your money.  I say be cordial to this guy, even though you probably hate him. Tip him $5-$10 above the minimum every night consistently, and keep your distance personally.  Don’t gossip about him and definitely don’t develop a crush on him.  He has the upper hand, and you need to get this money, girl!  No one is saying put your morals on the back burner, but definitely save your emotions for something that you can control.  Just pay him to do his job, leave the character judgement to the silly girls who go to bed with him.

The one thing I try to remind all girls, new and old, when dealing with anyone who works in the club is that this job is exhausting. No matter if you’re a Dancer, DJ, Bartender, or bouncer this industry can wear you down. Cut people some slack. If the DJ is grumpy, let him be grumpy, don’t penalize him because today he wasn’t in the best of moods and so instead of your rock music he felt like hearing some R&B. Is it fair to do to you? No. Think about this though, most strippers make their own schedule. If we are having an emotionally or physically exhausting day. We can choose to stay home. If the DJ is…he still has to show up. Just that fact alone, I try to empathize the best I can, and I encourage you do too. This may make your relationship with your DJ just a little better, and could turn a god complex DJ into a friendly I’ll play what you want DJ.

written by: WiscoStripper @wistripper

Got a red bull and cousins!!! Ready for guys to fall in love and empty their bank accts #StripperProblems

— wisco stripper (@Wistripper) January 5, 2014

Biased out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin I was born and raised in southeastern WI. Though I only started dancing a year and a half ago, I have used it as an ally of self expression to push my way into other performance arts. I currently practice the Arial hoop, or Lyra, and have begun to compete and showcase my talent in it. I also am an avid fan of burlesque dancing. My recent interest into burlesque has led me to begin to practice with a burlesque group out of Kalamazoo, Mi. I thoroughly enjoy performing, but just like everyone else I can get burned out pretty easy. One way I find to deal with that is to write. My blogging, and podcasting, in the past has been an outlet for stress from my environment. This has brought me to http://www.SurvivetheClub.com. I hope that with writing I can not only find an outlet for myself, but to inspire and assist others to share their experiences and to improve their situations. Through Twitter, blogging, and in the future podcasting I hope to create a network of outreach for entertainers across the globe.