(moving string music)
(glass shattering)
(phone ringing)
(traffic bustling)
- [Answering Machine]
You've reached Johnsons,
South Florida's only speakeasy
with male entertainment.
We're open Wednesday
through Sunday.
Wednesday, Thursday, and
Sunday is six to two,
Friday and Saturday
is six to three.
Wednesday night is college
and industry night,
we have no cover all night long.
Thursday a five dollar
cover after eight o'clock.
Fridays and Saturday
a 10 dollar cover
starting at eight o'clock.
Come enjoy a night of
beautiful boys and great music.
Sundays there's a five dollar
cover after eight o'clock.
It's also our amateur contest,
200 dollar cash prize,
the contest starts at 11.
Happy hour's every
day six to nine,
half off c*ck and
three dollars domestics,
four dollar imports.
For bottle reservations
and all other inquiries,
please leave a message.
We are a 21 and up club.
All ladies must be
escorted by a male.
(beep)
(heavy rock music)
♪ Got love, got soul
♪ I'm gonna play my role
♪ Gonna buy, I'm sold
♪ I'm gonna fly,
I'm gonna roll ♪
- My name is Matt
Colunga and we're
right in the middle of Johnsons.
Johnsons is my baby, Johnsons is
what I've wanted my entire life.
From the moment you
walk through the door,
it's a non-smoking environment.
We lease like a sent machine
that you smell at nicer hotels.
That puts a nice
smell in the air,
so as soon as you
walk in it's like,
wow this smells good, it doesn't
smell like dirty dishwater,
or a club that just got
cleaned with bleach.
The boys are gorgeous,
whether you want small boys,
medium boys, or
big boys, we've got
a little bit of everything.
(muffled speaking over
intercom) (thumping dance music)
♪ Hey there Superman,
can you hear me ♪
♪ Hey there Superman,
look what you done ♪
- So here at Johnsons
we have the two rooms.
You have the speak
easy side over there,
the antiques, the copper bar,
you got your little side
stage with your pole,
(mumbling)
We open that up for happy hours
from five to eight o'clock.
Dancers go on at six o'clock,
and it's one at a
time, it's more quaint.
Then at eight o'clock, our
eight o'clock dancers get here,
so then we're able
to run both sides.
♪ You're my skin
tight kryptonite ♪
♪ Makin' me weak,
got me (mumbles) ♪
- Then you have a
wall in the middle,
then you have a big
stage on this side
where the dancers are.
♪ We can try anything
you want tonight ♪
♪ You got it, you got it
- Club's only 27
hundred square feet,
I have seating for
128 people in here.
13 different types of seating.
I wanted to make the
most seating I could,
cause a customer that
can sit will stay longer
than the one that has to stand.
♪ Yeah we're going down
♪ Yeah we headed south
♪ And we're mouth to mouth
♪ Were you ready for me
- Everything in here's antiques,
chandelier, red velvet,
it's all reclaimed,
it's all used, it
all has a story.
So all the furniture I have
is all from strip clubs.
Whether it's Swinging Richards,
Pure Platinum, Solid Gold,
two titty bars and
a male strip club,
that are local in town.
♪ Hey there Superman
♪ Can ya save me
(announcer mumbling)
♪ Hey there Superman can
ya give me some more ♪
- My name is
Eduardo, (mumbling).
I'm a server and I
am also a dancer.
You'll see when you first
walk in is just our main bar,
and it's just one side
and it has one pole,
that pole doesn't spin,
dancers will know what I mean.
And then the other side,
the dark I like to call it,
cause we got cookies and buns.
It's the best time
in the entire planet.
Every time you go in
there you're gonna
have fun guaranteed.
♪ Are you ready for it
(thumping dance music)
- My name is Evan Pace and
my stage name is Alexander.
♪ Are you ready for it
♪ Are you ready for it
♪ Are you ready for it
♪ Are you ready for it
♪ Are you ready for it
♪ Are you ready for it
- [Evan] We're selling
illusions, you know?
We're selling a fantasy world.
Matt is one of the
most interesting
people I've ever met.
He's worked his butt off
for a very long time,
and I can just tell you
that he is a genius,
he is my mentor,
he has taught a lot
during my whole journey
and I'm forever grateful.
- So I'm Chris.
(mumbling)
My husband, Matthew, is the
one that owns this place.
(laughing)
Keep in mind, Matt started
at Swinging Richards
when he was 20 years
old, so he was a dancer
before he was even legal at 21,
and he's been in that industry
for all of his adult life.
With Swinging Richards alone,
he was there 18 to 20 years,
which is unheard of
in this industry,
So he's literally done it all.
(upbeat dance music)
- My name's Matt Colunga,
I'm 32 years old,
I've been her 12 years
at Swinging Richards.
I started dancing when
I was 20 years old
and I said I was only
gonna do it for six months,
then I danced for
two and a half years,
and then I started bar tending
and started waiting tables,
started DJing, and just moved
in the management since then.
At Swinging Richards
I danced for a while,
I waited tables, I bar tended,
I worked the door, I
worked the VIP door.
I never thought I'd
be a male dancer,
and when I was 20 years old
I moved to Atlanta, Georgia,
my friends went to
Swinging Richards
when it first opened
up, and I got on stage,
and I got hired
as a male dancer.
(upbeat dance music)
I said I'm only gonna
do it for six months
and I'll be out, I'll make
a little money and get out.
23 years later I'm
still in the business,
but I love it, you know?
I get a good group of boys,
I put out a good product.
(announcer mumbling)
So I started DJing
when I was 22.
Here the songs, they gotta be
four and a half minutes long,
they can't be any more,
cause their table dance
is too long if it goes over
four and a half minutes,
so you gotta cut a
portion of the song out
and mix it with another
portion of the song,
while you're talkin' on the mic,
while you're takin' care
of customer problems,
which it does keep me busy.
(mumbling)
At Swinging Richards I used
to DJ four days a week,
five days a week,
especially during (mumbles)
so it wears and tears
on my vocal chords.
23 years old I took
over Swinging Richards
as their full time DJ and
their general manager.
You know, it's been a dream
to have my own bar
after all these years
of working in the male
strip club entertainment.
I was looking for
that right name,
(mumbles) with Swinging
Richards for so many years
that kind of basically
sent what I'm selling,
and Johnsons says it all.
I started looking for the
right location to open my bar,
and it's hard because
there's so many things that,
they don't want a
male strip club,
and the city really pushed back.
I actually had a lot of people
that said this place
will never open.
Fort Lauderdale only
has four g*y bars,
but then you've
got Wilton Manors
right next to Fort
Lauderdale with 11 g*y bars,
with only a population
of 11 thousand people.
90% g*y, it's the
second gayest city
in the country, next
to San Francisco.
When I opened up in the
city of Wilton Manors,
I wanted to open a bar,
but I didn't want it
to be in your face,
I wanted it to be
that hidden gem, that you
wouldn't know about it,
unless someone
told you about it.
So we've got that
speakeasy door on there.
From the outside you would
never know what's on the inside,
you go in and it's a
whole different world.
(energetic dance music)
So, when It comes
to strip clubs,
there's lots of different
definitions of strip clubs.
Here we are in South Florida,
Atlanta, or Portland, Oregon,
a strip club is
considered full nude.
When you have a
bar such as mine,
where the guys strip
down to their underwear,
it's considered a go-go bar.
So it depends on where you are.
I consider, I own a strip club,
I don't call it a go-go bar.
The difference is my dancers
go on stage fully clothed,
and they strip down
to their underwear,
g-string, or jockstrap.
You can wear a
jockstrap in any city,
except you just have to
run the straps up the a*s,
because by all laws,
genitals have to be covered,
and your hole has to be covered.
(slower dancing music)
- Don't show your
as*h*le on stage.
♪ Don't know what
you're doin' to me ♪
♪ But you better believe it
- He would give you
tips about everything,
try to move more on stage,
cause there's dancers
that literally don't even
move on stage sometimes.
Make eye contact, be friendly.
- I did teach my dancers a lot.
Over the 23 years of
being in the industry
and everything,
I've learned a lot.
I've learned how to
finesse customers.
♪ Dunno what you're
doin' to me ♪
♪ But boy you got me there
- So I can see you dance
more, less standing on stage.
♪ Yeah you know what
you're doin' to me ♪
♪ You got me heavy breathin'
- [Matt] Remember,
hey, this is a job,
I'm here to make money.
♪ Got me actin' so crazy
♪ And baby I don't care
- [Matt] Okay?
It's not as simple
as getting on stage
and just taking
your clothes off,
a little work goes into
it, you have to learn it.
♪ You do those things
I know are forbidden ♪
- But when you're on stage
you have to look at people
when you dance for them,
and that makes them feel
like they're loved,
makes you feel
like they're dancing for you.
♪ Ben crossing all
the lines now ♪
♪ I try to keep hidden
♪ Losin' all control
♪ My body's shakin'
♪ Give me give me more
- One of the things
I tell my dancers,
don't wear your
baseball cap on stage,
turn it around because
the lights up top
shadow your eyes and your
eyes are your money maker.
♪ Underneath your clothes
gotta get you naked ♪
♪ I can't wait too long
- [Matt] You have to stay on
the outskirts of the stage,
you stare at a
customer's forehead,
and if you stare at a customer's
forehead from six feet away
they can't tell that you're
not looking in the eyes.
Eye contact is everything
in this industry.
I tell them, hey make
sure you get tipped
at the top of the underwear,
it's not a grab bag.
♪ Give me give me more
(heavy breathing)
♪ In the danger zone
♪ I can't take it
♪ Give it to me more
- [Matt] We're not tryin' to
give the dancer paper cuts.
As soon as you bend
over, someone's tryin'
to shove that dollar
bill as far up your hole
as they possibly can.
It's funny how many
dancers will come in here,
and I say, okay what
do you wanna dance by?
And they'll come up with
this most unrealistic,
I wanna dance by Black Thunder.
And it's like, okay,
let's try to find
something more realistic,
because once you start
telling customers your
name is Black Thunder,
they're gonna say, but
what's your real name?
And then you could
end up telling them
what the real name is
and then they're gonna
go by your real name,
and they're gonna call and
say hey, is so and so there?
And I'ma think, who
the f*ck is that?
- Yeah. (laughing)
- Because I knew you
by Black Thunder.
So I said, lets try to find,
and honestly, I dance
by my real name,
my husband danced
by his real name,
which (mumbles) because,
what's a person gonna find
out by your first name?
They have to
(mumbles) last name,
they need your social
security number,
and so there's only so much
they can find out about you.
- My name's Hiquan, H-I-Q-U-A-N.
My dancer name is Cole.
♪ Yeah you know what
you're doin' to me ♪
♪ You got me heavy breathin'
- My middle name's
Javier, and I use Javi
for all my entertainment.
♪ Don't know what
you're doin' to me ♪
♪ But boy you got me there
- You're getting really
close and personal
to a lot of people,
you can't let them in,
cause then they
know where you live,
then they know where to
go when you don't answer.
People get crazy,
people legit forget
that this is a fantasy,
and that it's not real.
♪ Got me actin' so crazy
♪ And baby I don't care
♪ Losin' all control,
my body's shakin' ♪
- My stage name is Sean Harding.
♪ Give me give me more
- My name is Jose Gonzalez.
♪ I can't take it
- Should I use my real name or?
Raphael is like stage name.
(thumping dance music)
I love the job.
(muffled announcer talking)
It's pretty entertaining.
(muffled announcer talking)
I like to dance, I noted
that I love the pole.
I would like to have a
pole in my house actually,
just because of the
art of doing it.
♪ You're funny little
secret, dirty little secret ♪
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
♪ I wanna be
- [Jose] My first time dancing
was like almost a year ago.
♪ Dirty little secret
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
♪ They get so confusing
desires that you can't deny ♪
- When you work for
someone for hours,
and you have to clock
in and clock out,
and all the stuff, no.
I have learned that
that's not my style,
that's not my thing.
I was really scared at first,
I was dancing in another club.
In this kind of job you
cannot afford to be shy.
You have to go and talk to
the most people that you can.
♪ I know your type
baby, hungry ♪
- You have to go one by
one, hey how are you?
Hey how are you, are
you having a good time?
You like the club, is
it your first time?
You have to take risks.
♪ Boy I wanna be your
dirty little secret ♪
- Another important thing
are these, very important.
(slapping)
The money makers right here.
This is the best
investment ever.
You don't have to have these,
there's guys that just literally
get money from their underwear.
They just go like
that and they have
this mini ATM in
their underwear.
But I like to keep
all my money here,
or sometimes here on
the sides, you know?
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
- [Alexander] But these, this
is the best investment ever.
♪ It's no illusion this
fantasy you wanna try ♪
- I tell them when
they come off stage,
make sure to go around and thank
all the customers
that have tipped you.
That opens it up normally
for a table dance or a VIP.
Never go and ask if you
want a table dance or a VIP,
cause straight up, you're gonna
get turned down 90% of the time,
cause that's coming
off it's heavy hustle.
So what you do is you find
out who's tipping you,
you go and sit down for
a maximum of two songs,
talk to em, where are
you from, what do you do?
At the end of two songs, say,
you know what, it's
been nice to meet you,
I got bills to
pay, I got college.
That'll normally open it up for
a table dance or VIP, or
now they know you better,
and they're gonna tip
you better on stage,
and form that relationship.
♪ Your dirty little secret
♪ Dirty little secret
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
♪ I wanna be your
dirty little secret ♪
♪ Dirty little secret
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
- My name's Jeremiah Jacobs.
I run the VIP and
Johnsons Fort Lauderdale.
That's pretty much where
all the fun happens,
and where the dancers
make all their money.
♪ This feels dangerous
♪ I can hardly breathe
♪ Between the two of us
♪ Just our body heat yeah
- It's 10 dollars for the
customer to go back there,
they get a wristband,
it's good all night,
and then it's 20 dollars a song.
And they can do as
many as they want.
♪ Gonna gonna gonna
give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give give
give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give it
gonna give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give give
give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give it
gonna give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give give
give it to ya ♪
- I actually worked at
Swinging Richards in Atlanta
for about 12 years,
maybe 12 plus years.
♪ We goin' all night
♪ I'm ready to blow
♪ Wanna get my
hands all over you ♪
- I did everything from
front door, bartending,
and eventually I
just ran the VIP.
And then when Matt and Chris
wanted to open their club,
I obviously came down
with them to help them.
- They're a team,
that's their club.
Without Matt, there's no Chris,
without Chris, there's no Matt.
- Me and my partner
have been together,
my partner and I
have been together,
use correct grammar.
My partner and I
have been together,
November will be 15 years.
Been married five,
I met him in 2003,
when he just moved from
Atlanta to San Francisco
when he was part side
manager of Pottery Barn
and a part time male dancer.
So it's not too
often you get to view
the equipment before you go out.
So I got to see everything
he had before hand,
it was nice.
- There's lots of ways the
dancers can make money.
Obviously the most
money they can make
is in the VIP with me.
♪ Gonna give it
gonna give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give give
give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give it
gonna give it to ya ♪
- They can do dances on a floor,
those are like 10
dollars a song,
they get tipped a
lot on the stage.
- I just did 50 dollars
on stage, what?!
- Most is back with me,
lap dance is 20 a song,
and then those rooms,
it's a hundred dollars
every 15 minutes they make
plus tips I'm assuming.
♪ It's you and me
just gettin' off ♪
- Since the club is so small,
I didn't want to put a wall
up creating another space,
cause that would've
taken up the main floor.
So what we did is we
put four big chairs,
we have the curtains that
rest against the wall,
and then when you go
in there with a dancer,
the curtains wrap
around the chair.
This city said you can't
have walls, we use curtains.
The curtains are
open in three ends,
you're able to see
in all three sides.
People's overall
look of a strip club
is always gonna be
drugged out boys,
lots of drugs, alcoholics.
I want to get away from that.
My VIP room curtains don't close
all the way, there's a gap,
because where a lot of
customers wanna go in that room
and have it fully closed, why?
Cause you're gonna do
something ill*gal in there.
And it's gonna get me shut down.
- When I go into a lap dance
room, I have my underwear on.
It's a lap dance, it's
a frictional lap dance,
it's sensual, I sit on
top of the customer,
and you have to make them feel
that that money that they're
spending in that private dance
is worthwhile,
because that's what's
gonna keep them coming back.
The customer only has to
pay a fee of 10 dollars
to the VIP manager for one
wristband the entire night.
That's it, it's only 10
dollars, it's not expensive.
I worked at other clubs and
it's 20 dollars every time.
What the dancer is charging you
is supposed to be 20
dollars every song.
I usually get customers
to do one or two or three,
sometimes a hundred
bucks, that's great.
You do three or four
of those a night,
and that's pretty good,
that pays the bills.
♪ Gonna give it
gonna give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give give
give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give it
gonna give it to ya ♪
♪ Gonna give give
give it to ya ♪
- When you're dancing to a guy
that you think you
really think that is hot,
sometimes you get pretty horny.
♪ I got no more boundaries
♪ Do what you want to me
- It really has to do with
connecting with the customers,
making them feel
special, making them feel
that they are loved,
and really having
a positive, uplifting attitude
to make them feel like you're
not so different from them.
That they're not so
different from you.
♪ It's just a
physical attraction ♪
- People come here, most
of the time it's because
they want to see someone
sexy, someone cute,
but sometimes they
are just looking
for some attention,
some conversation.
Sometimes they just have
a very stressful life
and they want someone
to talk about it,
because outside no one cares,
or no one pays them attention.
- They really just
want your support,
and they really just want
you to be sweet and nice,
and loving, and that's what
I'm really there to do.
- My name is Roger and
I am the front door guy.
We have various different
kinds of clientele.
We've got our
regulars that come in
and this is their neighborhood
bar with a little twist.
We've got our folks that
only come on a certain night.
We have our high rollers
that come every two weeks.
We have our special
daddies that come in,
fly in from New York, some
of them fly in from Chicago.
They're the ones that
they know what they want
and then when they come
in, they hit that ATM,
and next thing you know, about
a thousand dollars later,
has been given away
in 20 dollar bills
to some of the hottest, sexiest
dancers in South Florida.
(muffled announcer speaking)
♪ Hey there Superman
can you save me ♪
♪ Hey there Superman can
you give me some more ♪
- All the best dancers
from a lot of clubs,
a lot of them, Miami,
they are all coming here.
- My name's Joshua (mumbles)
and this is one of my favorite
places to go on the drive.
I'm not real big
into strip joints,
so that says something
about this place.
- My name is Gibson.
It's nice to come in
here, it's relaxed,
no body bothers you,
everybody says hello.
- It's something different that
we haven't had on Wilton Drive.
It's always a
different experience.
We have fun comin' here
to see the different guys,
but also just to see our friends
that all show up here.
It's a place really just
to meet and come together.
- It's literally
like a g*y Cheers,
which I think is the best
compliment we could ever have.
- If you like to
see nice young men
doin' their thing
on the dance floor,
this is the place to come.
♪ Are you ready for it
- I'm a artist, I'm
actually a painter.
Also I own my own art gallery
thanks to this career,
being a dancer, because
it is a great opportunity
for a young person to be
able to make great money,
and if you're smart
enough and not wasted in,
unfortunately some of the things
that some dancers and
strippers do waste money on,
if you're smart enough
and you save the money,
and you know how to invest it,
it is an incredible
opportunity for you
to be able to
invest in something
that maybe you've
dream of like me.
I really have dreamed of
owning my own art gallery.
I created my own
studio in the back.
I rent out other art
studios to the other artists
that I sublease the spaces for,
and I wake up every day to an
amazing community of artists.
And this is really
my dream come true.
Just like people pay me money
here at the artist warehouse
to rent the different spaces,
it's the same thing at Johnsons,
charging dancers a house fee
for the services
Johnsons provides,
entertainment services, when
the dancer gets on stage,
and services so dancers
can take customers
back to their lap dance room.
♪ Give give give it to ya
- So I have been able to fund
my own business out of dancing,
out of being an
artist, you understand?
It is the perfect
job for an artist.
I came to the US from Cuba
when I was 10 years old.
I'm a Cuban-American artist,
and my mother has
always been supportive
of me as a dancer.
(thudding dance music)
I am in a polyamorous
relationship,
and I have had
other relationships
while I'm still with
my boyfriend actually,
but my husband is like
me, we have a lot of love.
He loves going to Johnsons and
flirting with the other boys
and every week I have to
fall in love with a new boy.
They're so beautiful
and I'm like oh.
I can't handle it sometimes.
♪ Tryin' to get you naked
♪ I can taste it
- When I first started
dancing I was 19 years old.
(thumping music) (muffled
announcer speaking)
Back when I was in high school,
I actually started
doing tattoos,
I learned how to do
a tattoos an I just
found some equipment online and
I did my own tattoos actually.
I designed and tattooed myself.
♪ Losin' all control
♪ My body's shaking
♪ Give it give me more
♪ In the danger zone
♪ I can't take it
♪ Give it to me more
- As a dancer, the
automatic protocol
when you walk into work is
you see the front door guy,
and you sign in, and you
either pay your house fee,
right then and there,
or you can wait
until the end of the night,
so you have your choice there.
- I prefer paying my house fee
right when I come
through the door.
- We have to pay a
house fee every night
to be able to work there, and
it ranges from 10 dollars,
if you arrive at 6PM,
then it's 20 dollars
if you arrive at
8PM, and it would be
30 dollars if you arrive at 9PM.
- So many dancers sign up
for the six o'clock shift,
so many dancers sign up for
the eight o'clock shift,
so many dancers sign up
for the 10 o'clock shift,
and then it gives a
printout of every night,
let me know which dancer's
supposed to work at what time.
And they have from six
to 6:35 to get here,
at 6:36 you now jump to
an eight o'clock dancer
and you're not payin' 10,
you're payin' 20 bucks,
so it gives them that incentive
to get here a
little bit earlier.
(upbeat dance music)
- Unlike a lot of clubs
that I've worked at,
Johnsons is a very caring, its
a very family oriented business.
I personally breathalyze
every dancer at the end
of the night, make sure
they don't breathalyze over.
- At the end of the night,
at the end of your
six hour shifts,
cause it's only six
hours, you go to Matt,
ask if you can leave,
he'll give you a slip,
you take that slip to
Jeremiah, which is VIP,
and he breathalyzes the dancer.
If you leave without
getting breathalyzed,
you are fired.
- I pride myself, I
watch over my boys,
I do breathalyze my
dancers before they leave,
cause I wanna make sure
they're able to drive home,
they're safe on the road,
not only for their life,
but for other people's lives.
- I normally get home
around four 4:30.
- I want them to come and look
forward to coming to work,
cause gonna be fun and
you're with family,
and it's exciting, and
you can make money.
♪ They get so confusing
desires that you can't deny ♪
- Cause every night
is so different,
every night is
like an adventure.
You don't know
what gonna happen.
♪ I know your type baby
hungry to explore ♪
- I tell my dancers straight
up when I first hire them,
I don't ask that
they're g*y or straight,
for the majority of
them you can tell,
where they'll make comments
of something sexual.
Right now, 50% of my dancers
are g*y, 50% of them straight.
- Have you ever heard
about straight curious?
I think I could be g*y curious.
♪ I wanna be your dirty little
secret dirty little secret ♪
- There's like the gays, and
then there's the straight.
And real straight guys,
but we're all unified,
we all really look
up to each other,
so it's a really
nice environment,
I think that that also has to
do with what Matt has created,
because Matt really,
he's a genius
in creating his environment.
And we are all in our lockers,
we all talk about money,
we talk about girls,
we talk about whatever
the subject is,
but we all have this
little community in there.
(mumbling)
- I've never seen my ba*ls
this f*cking swollen,
they're swollen man, my
p*nis is just (mumbles)
but it's not swollen.
- This right here is like
the military right here.
We all talk about money,
the straight guys talk
about their girls, we
all talk about our stuff,
the client, the customers,
the stage, it's pretty fun.
This is like one of
the funest parts.
Most of us, we get
along, it's not like
the Swinging Richards,
we're opposite (mumbles)
We used to fight all the time,
there was a lot of rivalry.
In this club, I
dunno why, but we all
help each other out,
it's like a big family.
♪ I don't bite I've
got the time baby ♪
- They're like a huge family,
and I knew that from
the second week.
I was obsessed
with working there.
- We help each other, you know?
It's like we feel
protected by one another.
♪ Give me give me yourself
♪ Boy give me give
me what I want ♪
- Nobody can judge anybody here.
♪ Boy can you hear
me can you hear me ♪
♪ Can you give me yourself
♪ Boy can you give
me what I want ♪
- They are many
straight guys over here.
It's not like I'm the
only straight guy,
they have wives, they have kids,
I go out, smoke a
cigarette, we have a drink,
we talk, you know?
- We're not just
strippers, we're men
trying to make a living,
trying to feed our kids,
trying to live in our house.
- You know, you find yourself
with everything in the club.
My best friend there, he works
as a nurse during the day
and at night he
works at the club.
There's another guy that
works at a pet store.
In my case, I work for
children entertainment
during the day, I
dress as superheroes,
either Spider-man,
or Superman, Batman,
all the superheroes can name.
I think that Spider-man
is really cool.
It's a mystery because
they don't know who I am,
they can't see my
face or anything,
so I'm always masked.
They always get
to see the flips,
and I also do that on stage.
♪ Boy can you give
me what I want ♪
- One day, I texted Alexander,
I said, dude you're
supposed to be here at 6:30,
he goes, I ran late with
on of my kids parties,
and he starts sending me
pictures of him as Spider-man.
(laughing)
So driving down the
road, sweat coming down,
and the bottom part of his
neck in a Spider-man costume.
And I thought, aw,
that's just too cute.
- So this zipper's
a pain in the a*s,
so usually I just tell somebody,
hey can you help me out?
And they're like, oh
Spider-man is asking me to,
Then they get kind
of freaked out,
but I think I got it.
- [Matt] I have my dancers
that go to college,
and I have my dancers,
- [Alexander] That
have another job.
- That have another job,
but you never hear of
one of your dancers
dressing like a clown,
dressing like a superhero,
then he goes home,
then he takes a nap,
and he's a male dancer at night.
- There's a big misconception
about strippers,
that it's a dirty lifestyle.
I like to be unique, and I
enjoy everything that I do.
I wake up every single morning,
knowing that I have
a life full of joy,
that I go to a club and
I'm just laughing, dancing,
I'm on a stage, and
I'm making money.
♪ Let's make a break
let's make a getaway ♪
♪ Don't let the
monsters bring me down ♪
♪ They will eat your soul
♪ Blow up the b*stards
and just walk away ♪
- And I'm also bringing
joy to other people,
I'm bringing joy
to children as well
and making them
have a good party,
and also to the parents,
because the parents also
have a good time at the parties.
The parents are expecting me
to make their children happy,
and when I go to an
adult environment,
I have to make sure
that everybody is happy.
(upbeat dance music)
The hardest days, I
get four parties a day,
and then as soon as
I finish my parties,
I would come over here.
My thongs.
(laughing)
I don't wear jockstraps
My hair, I don't
wanna mess up my hair.
Ugh, these skinny jeans, man.
And there's guys on stage that
take em off just like that.
(upbeat dance music)
(slapping)
So today I have five parties.
There's gonna be like
a three hour gap.
I might go to the
gym, and I brought
my meal prep here with me.
For superheroes, I
usually wear this vaginer,
because it vagines my p*nis.
It gets it nice and flat.
You don't have your ba*ls
hangin' all over the place,
so it's nice and static.
You don't (mumbles)
cause we wanna make it
as rated G as possible.
If there's not kids around,
or if there's nobody around,
I would usually just change
outside and no Fs given.
Right now, since the kids
are walkin' over there,
and with their parents, I think
I'm just gonna change inside.
I shave my pubes, my
armpits, my butt hole,
I shave it all.
Oh, but I don't
shave here though,
cause I never grow hair here.
Where's my shirt?
Your adulthood is a
reflection of your childhood,
so you have to
treat children like
the best thing on the planet,
because they will remember
and forever, forever.
We're gonna hit
the gym right now.
(steady dance music)
Now we have another party and
we're gonna be Harry Potter.
We're gonna be Harry Potter.
(in an British
accent) Harry Potter!
(upbeat bright music)
Bubbles for the magic sword.
(muffled speaking)
I gotta piss, have you ever seen
Harry Potter takin' a piss?
(upbeat bright music)
When people ask me
what I do for a living,
I usually tell them
that I am a dancer,
and I'm an entertainer, so,
oh, entertainer, so
what do you entertain?
Well first off I start
with the appetizer,
I dress as Spider-man,
and they say aww.
And then the next set,
which is the entrée,
I tell em, hey you
know, besides that,
that's my part time job, but
actually my full time job,
is working as a dancer, and
then everybody goes whoa!
Not everybody knows
that I work as a dancer.
My mother knows, I
told her straight up.
This is something that I enjoy
and I'm not gonna stop
doing things that I enjoy.
♪ It's goin' down
♪ It's goin' down
- You have control
over your creativity.
I love to live, that's the
problem, I love to live.
♪ It's goin' down
- I love to make money.
After a long day of entertaining
children and adults,
making people happy,
I come back home,
after working really hard,
and I turn on the candles,
and maybe I could play
the guitar, I meditate.
(guitar strumming)
(singing in Spanish)
Originally from New York,
I was raised in Bolivia.
My father's from Portugal
and my mother's from Bolivia,
so that's like a chihuahua
with a golden retriever,
some weird sh*t. (laughing)
But I was raised in Bolivia
and then I came here,
I came back to the
states, to Miami,
when I was 19 years
old, with 500 dollars.
So 500 dollars and it was
pretty much a struggle,
so I got into male dancing,
and I walked up to Matt,
he was a DJ, so I just
walked up to his booth,
and I asked him,
can I work for you?
(mumbles)
He said, come on Sunday night,
cause Sunday nights
are the nights
that are not the busiest,
so he can take a look at me,
and that's it, so I went there,
and that's how
everything started.
And then, one day, I came
with my face beaten up.
He said, what happened, and I
kinda wanted to
hide it from him.
I was in a bad relationship.
- a*usive relationship.
- He helped me
also get out of it.
When I first met Matt,
I had a black eye,
and I ended up in jail, and
because of domestic violence.
The dancers, my coworkers,
and my friends there
were really helping
me out going through
that whole situation.
Matt is the most
interesting person I
(talking over each other)
The most unique
person I've ever met.
- I really care about
my dancers a lot.
I want them to come
here, I want this
to be a stepping
stone in their life.
I want them to work
here six months, a year,
make several thousand dollars,
put it in savings, go
after their dreams,
do something they wanna do.
A lot of my guys are
competitors in body building,
so we sit there and
from my DJ booth
we'll look at each other
and flex, and they'll flex,
and we have a good time.
(mumbling)
I competed 11 times,
I won five shows.
I went from being a chubby kid,
I got bullied in high school,
I got bullied in junior high,
I remember going
home and crying a lot
and I didn't wanna go to school.
I wanna do one more
body building show.
This will be my twelfth show,
one more show before I
open up the Dallas club,
cause once I have
two night clubs,
I won't have any time on my
hands to do anything else.
I've already got lots of
staff that work for me,
since I worked for Swinging
Richards for so long,
and this, I'm in the industry,
and I know a lot of
people, I'm ready
to open there and
have staff to fill it.
Everyone has a story,
everyone's tryin'
to be bigger and
better, you know?
- My name is Luis
Felipe (mumbles)
I was 17 when I first
jumped on a pole.
I suffered a lot when
I was a little kid,
not like suffer
suffer, you know?
But I received a
lot of bullying,
and all these you
see, it wasn't here.
(thumping dance music)
♪ Feelin' out a fantasy
- My face was full of pimples,
so I was never told
that I was beautiful.
(energetic dance music)
I came from Columbia
when I was 16 years old.
On my hat it says LF and
it's my name, Luis Felipe.
You gotta be original
in this life,
it's too many copies, everybody
wants to do the same sh*t.
Something different.
(thumping dance music)
- The best thing
about working here
is easy money.
- You can clock off with a very
very decent amount of money.
Sometimes what people make
in a whole entire night,
on a regular nine to five job,
a low income night
would probably be
like a bad bad day
working 250 dollars, 200.
I know for a lot of people
it might sound a lot,
but for us, as
dancers, we know that
that could be a very slow night.
Now when it comes to
a very good night,
you can earn from 800 to
13 hundred dollars a night,
the dancers, we all
call it the ocean,
you never know
what's gonna happen.
You never know when is the
biggest wave gonna happen.
(muffled announcer talking)
- I made 16 hundred
dollars in one night.
♪ Feeling on a fantasy
♪ Really slows you down
(mumbling)
- This is what happens
when you work at Johnsons,
you make money honey.
♪ Though your body's
kind of licorice ♪
♪ Cookie cutter
steals the show ♪
- One night, there's
plenty more to go.
My name's Omar Manseur.
(talking over each other)
I worked at Johnsons
bar in Fort Lauderdale,
I'm a bar tender over there.
I've known Matt for
about seven years,
and I was supposed to work
for him seven years ago,
but now I'm finally,
I'm a part of his team,
and I couldn't be happier.
I've worked in other night
clubs similar to Johnsons,
but Johnsons is by
far the cleanest,
most well ran g*y strip club
in the whole of South Florida.
- Lot of the dancers
live in South Beach,
and South Beach
to Wilton Manors,
depending on what time you come,
takes an hour and 10, and
hour and 15 minutes to drive.
It's only 30 miles away, but
with traffic and everything,
you're looking over an
hour drive to get to work,
over an hour drive to get home,
to come to a small little club
in Wilton Manors, Florida.
(traffic noises)
So the boys do pretty good.
A lot of the boys said they
average five to 700 a night.
I've had dancers say they
made a thousand in there,
and then sometimes
you have your nights
where dancer didn't try as hard,
and he said, Matt, I only
made a hundred dollars.
I have sent, probably, I dunno,
150 a week of my own
money to my boys.
If I see them up
there doin' bad,
(mumbling)
I give 20, 30 bucks
to a customer,
saying, hey, will you go
tip that dancer for me?
I don't want them to
know it's comin' from me,
cause I don't want them
feelin' it's pity dollars.
But I don't want them
to have a bad night.
- He's a nice dude
I have to say.
I have to say that
the first night
that I started working
here, one of the dancers,
that I think that had been
dancing for him for a long time,
he told me, you
don't know him yet,
but when you get to know him,
he could be maybe the best boss
that you're gonna work for.
- I met Matt at
Swinging Richards
and I did a contest.
I got second place
out of nine dancers,
but he let me work, you know?
- It's hard being a stripper.
Whoever thinks that stripping
is easy, it's not, at all.
(laughing)
Ever.
♪ Feel your soul
♪ Turn to salt
♪ How much more until
you give it up ♪
- If stripping was easy,
everybody would be doing it,
but it's not, it takes
a huge emotional toll.
I am a native to Florida,
I was born in Crow Springs.
My history at
Johnsons consist of,
being pretty much dead broke,
walking in there as a dancer,
cause I was living
with my grandparents.
One reason I'm
working at Johnsons
is because Johnsons really
does pay for school.
I'm currently
studying cosmetology,
and I'm actually
finished with school,
I did my 12 hundred
hours, however,
now I need to take my
cosmetology state board exam,
and that's a pretty big test.
Believe it or not,
I'm really shy.
I'm like really really shy.
And people wouldn't think
that I could talk a lot,
and I'm very
expressive on stage,
but I started not making
money as a dancer,
and if you're not making
money as a dancer,
you're not paying your bills,
so he put me on
board to be a server.
What I learned about stripping
from a waiter's perspective,
that's when I learned
it's an art, a seduction.
I see the way the men move.
I see how they talk to people.
I see how they touch people.
So that gave me a
really good upper hand,
because I'm really
socially awkward.
I'm not dancing to look good,
if it looks good,
that's just a plus.
A lot of people told me before,
that you can tell that you're
just having fun up there,
you're having a blast
on the pole, and I am.
And I think that's important,
you need to have fun.
You can't be too
serious dancing,
cause then you look weird.
Night life really does
take a toll on you,
mentally, physically,
emotionally,
it throws your mood off
sometimes, your sleep schedule.
Sometimes it can even really
interfere with your daily life.
Cause I know some
people that don't
even wake up until 5 o'clock,
where your whole
day's basically gone.
Cause I don't even go to
sleep till six sometimes.
And I'm off and home at
4:30, that's night life.
It takes a toll on you.
People don't realize how
hard it actually is to do,
to go up to someone in your
underwear and seduce them.
It really is a really
high pressure job,
and then dealing with
just people touching you.
So when I do a VIP, I'm
dancing, lookin' all sexy,
and then they start
tryin' to grab things
that they shouldn't be grabbin',
holes that should
not be touched.
What people seem to forget is
that we're selling a fantasy.
It's hard, the drunk people,
the cigarette breath,
the d*ck breath, I'm acting
like I like you touching me.
I'm acting like I care
about your dirty golf ba*ls
that you clean one by one.
I'm acting like I
know you're not,
you're a little beyond tipsy.
I'm acting like I
don't know that,
but it's a fantasy, I'm
putting on a fantasy,
even as a server you have
to put on the fantasy.
I let them touch my butt.
If I get a b*ner, cause I'm
young and I get a b*ner,
I'm like, hey look
what you made me do.
And I just kinda rub it
and I'm like, thanks.
It's an art, seductions
an art, for sure.
I have learned to be confident
from working at Johnsons.
- So what I do, is
as my boys come in,
I write 'em down on
a sheet of paper,
and if they're a good dancer.
I'll put a good dancer here,
if it's another good dancer,
I'll space em out down here,
another good dancer,
I'll space em out.
I space all my good dancers out,
and then I fill em
in with the boys
that don't know how to dance.
So that way, every rotation,
you at least got one dancer
that's on stage, that can dance.
That keeps it entertaining.
So then what I'll
do is, I'll go down,
it's like three dancers, three
and the fourth one on the side,
and I write side next to them,
then I write three
more, ah, side.
And then as you roll around,
the one's that have been side
don't go back over there again.
(mumbling)
75% of the dancers, they
end up being on side stage.
I try to explain to them,
if you're on side stage,
try a little bit,
dance a little bit,
but they feel like
that's hell over there.
There's 60 people in that room.
You got the whole
stage to yourself,
the whole room to yourself.
- It's about personality,
it's a show that I make.
And people love that, they love
seeing someone on the pole,
swingin', right,
swinging doesn't work.
(energetic dance music)
- So usually the
range of dancers,
the number of dancers
that go on stage together,
are two to four,
sometimes singles if
you're a great dancer.
There's side stage where one
dancer goes and dances there.
- I try to keep one
on the side stage
and three to four
on the main stage.
They dance for a
three song rotation.
I want them to
take it off slowly,
make it enticing,
tease a little bit,
look in the customers'
eyes, make it about them.
- The stage is like a
cover of the magazine,
that's what I like to call it,
the cover of the magazine where
everybody knows who you are.
So you can publicize yourself,
and you have to do the
best to publicize yourself,
so when you get off stage,
you can keep making money.
- So when I'm going
to call for dancers,
I'll give them a
one song notice,
as I'm going into the third
song of the set that's on stage,
I'll give them a
one song notice.
I'll say, third and final
song for Jason, Brian,
Alexander, and so and
so, coming up next,
and I'll say it
three or four times,
cause some of them
can't seem to hear,
especially in the smoking
section back there.
A dancer's back there.
So they get that one song notice
that gives them
three or four minutes
wherever they are
to go get ready,
put some clothes
on, cause I hate
when they got on stage
in just their underwear.
(muffled announcing)
- Alexander on stage.
(laughing) (mumbling)
- Looking for Alexander.
(talking over each other)
(muffled announcing)
(upbeat music)
Then everybody
comes in and says,
did you ever DJ in
Atlanta, and I'll say yes,
I've DJed at Swinging Richards.
They go, oh that's where
I've heard you before.
(muffled announcing)
- [Mikey] I worked
at Swinging Richards
for the majority of
my time in dancing,
almost seven, eight years
now, and it's been great.
♪ I don't bite I
got the time baby ♪
- It is great dancing, it's fun.
You make great money and
you have fun while doing it.
Believe it or not, dancing
can bring you six figures
and very easily, so why not?
You can do this at
night, have a career,
or a day job during the day,
and it's just great living.
And it's fun.
I've known Matt for many years.
Clubs have treated me well,
and I don't think I would stop
until they don't
want me no more.
- I have a scheduling
system for my dancers here,
they pick the times
they wanna work,
the days they wanna work, and
if a dancer misses a shift,
and they don't call or text me,
they lose a Friday shift.
- The rules of our
job is to be on time.
It's like any job in the world.
You have to be there on time,
you have to be
disciplined about it.
You can't just
arrive at any time,
you can't just be
drunk at work either.
You have to maintain
a certain discipline.
- I tell the dancers, this
is the schedule you made.
The dancers choose what
days they wanna work.
They choose what times
they wanna come in.
If a dancer is going
to miss that day,
they have to call
or text me and say,
hey I'm missing this day.
It's not hard, it's easy.
That lets me know what
dancers are coming.
If they don't come
and they don't call,
and they do a no call no show,
then they lose
their Friday shift,
cause it's easier just
to take away their shift,
fill it with another
dancer that wants to work
that couldn't get on, and
now the dancer's gotta think,
sh*t, how much money could
I have made on Friday?
You could have made a
thousand dollars on Friday,
you'll never know,
but I guarantee
they never ya they never
no call no show again.
If a dancer was
going to come to work
with a better attitude, knowing
there's only gonna
be this many boys.
Where at Swinging
Richards or Boardwalk,
or some of the other places,
they run as many dancers
as they possibly
can, and what happens
when you have so many dancers
in such a small space,
they turn into hustlers,
where you have dancers
breathing down your neck,
constantly massaging you,
wanting money for
every little thing,
because they've got
to, to make the money.
So now when you
come into my club,
you know you've got
six or seven twinks,
six or seven middle boys,
six or seven big boys,
and it's a little
bit of everything.
It's a nice variety, and the
boys don't have to hustle
to make money because there's
only a couple that
look like them.
So I have 20 boys
on the weekdays,
and then 30 on the weekends.
- There's talent in
stripping, it's an art.
It's the art of seduction.
- It's art, ya know?
Between working out, dancing,
it's all about your
body, and personality.
- Whether you're small,
medium, or large,
you better be top-toned.
And when my boys
get a little chubby,
I'll grab the fat on
them and let them know.
(mumbles)
It's time to hit the cardio,
cause nobody comes to
see a fat stripper.
Average is everywhere
else, I don't sell average,
I sell above.
- Do you see these kid's diets?
Do you see the stress that
they put on themselves?
To look that good, all the time,
it takes a huge toll
on your mental health.
- I try to maintain my
physique as best as possible.
I hit the gym every single day,
that's part of being
able to work here.
You have to be in good shape.
The stage is part
of my daily routine,
you burn a lot of calories
doing six sets a night.
- I normally work out six times,
six to five times per week.
I used to hate Matt, because
the first time I came here,
I wanted to start working here,
and he was outside,
I didn't know
if he was the
owner, the manager,
or whatever he was,
but he was outside,
and I asked him, hey,
do you know the owner
or the manager, I don't
remember what he told me,
but I told him that I wanted
to start working here.
And he told me that you need
to lose a little bit of weight.
Come back when you lose
a little bit of weight.
And I was like oh, nice,
this dude just called me fat.
♪ Boy can you give
me can you give me ♪
♪ can you give me yourself
♪ Boy can you give
me what I want ♪
♪ Boy can you give
me can you give me ♪
♪ Can you give me yourself
♪ Boy can you give
me what I want ♪
- When I get a new
dancer, I tell them,
(mumbling)
Hey, I've never danced before,
this is my first time, cause
customers eat that sh*t up.
They love hearing
that someone's fresh.
And maybe I can take
advantage of him,
but as long as the
dancer's got in his head,
this are my boundaries,
this is what I'm gonna do,
I'm not gonna cross that
line, you're good to go.
- Yeah, and this is his
first night dancin'.
(mumbling)
- You don't wanna act mean
on him, or nothin' like that,
but at the same time,
you gotta be like,
you gotta set boundaries too,
otherwise then people
think you soft,
they gonna try you.
♪ Boy can you give
me can you give me ♪
♪ Can you give me yourself
♪ Boy can you give
me what I want ♪
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
- This is my first time dancing.
Usually I do porn, escorting.
I love being naked
and having fun,
so sex work is my industry,
so I have fun with it.
It's my first night here.
♪ Tonight will be a relief
- I have a singlet
on, which I know
you have to have jockstraps
shoved up your butt,
but I think it's
still different.
(mumbling)
I've always been like a
socially awkward person.
I have social anxiety and
being around large crowds,
but I can shift into
a different mindset
when I'm in
situations like this.
- My porn persona is
a different person
than who I am in
day to day life.
If I go on set I get
into a character,
and if I'm here, it's
the same character.
♪ Tonight I learn to be free
(muffled announcer speaking)
- My first night dancing
at Johnsons last night,
it was a lot of fun.
There was a lot of
hot male dancers,
I was their first hairy
dancer they've had in a while.
♪ Give me that now yeah
- Because I'm already cursed as
a little white boy
with no rhythm,
so dancin' to the songs
was a little awkward.
Early in the night the main
stage is kinda closed off,
so there's just a little
bitty one person pole
that you kinda cycle through
till the crowd gets bigger.
When you're on the main stage,
there's two or
three other dancers,
so it's not like
all eyes are on you,
it's a little easier to work at.
You have some company on stage.
♪ Givin' up givin'
up givin' up ♪
♪ Givin' up givin'
up givin' up ♪
♪ Givin' up givin' up
- We're at my apartment
and about to do
a just for fans video sh**t
with another porn actor,
who lives here in
Fort Lauderdale.
His name is Hunter Scott,
and he's like a big bear guy.
- Dude this is so nice.
- I had a friend
who used to escort
and he's like it's a lot of fun,
it's not weird people,
you'll make a lot of money,
so I was like, sure,
why not, I'll try it.
And then the money
just kept rollin' in,
and I actually kind of started
enjoying myself doin' it.
You'd be surprised, escorting
is maybe about 40% sex.
A lot of times there's
actually no physical contact.
Sometimes people
just want company.
That kinda opened up
into the porn industry.
- Sean and I have
been talkin' about
workin' together for a while,
and this is kind
of like a warm-up,
because we're gonna do this.
It's a little more amateur-ish,
and a little more laid back
than doing a full studio scene.
It's all about body
positivity and really hot sex.
So it's a little awkward when
we go to the health department
to be tested and they're like,
how many partners have you
had in the last 12 months?
I'm sitting there having
to count on my fingers.
- I just say a lot.
- More than 20, oh
okay, you're high risk.
You work tonight?
- No, not dancin' tonight.
- So you're off the
rest of the day?
- I have a client tonight, but.
- Oo, gosh, I haven't had
a client in three weeks.
Wilton is the island
of misfit toys,
It's like the
Venice of the south,
and there's a lot of waterways,
it definitely lends to a
very tropical atmosphere.
When you're down here you
feel like you're on vacation,
but there's been a
ton of development
in the last 50 years.
You look at pictures from Fort
Lauderdale Beach and Wilton
from the 60s, it's
much more sparse,
we were not dearly as dense,
we're not nearly as g*y.
- So Wilton Manors is
considered an island.
It's got these canals
that go all the way
around the island and it
links in to the inner coastal.
This waterway will take
you directly to the ocean.
It's a long a*s trip, but it'll
take you directly to the ocean.
- We are just north
of Fort Lauderdale.
I'm Gary Resnick, I
have the privilege
of being the mayor of the city
of Wilton Manors, Florida.
I've been the
mayor for 10 years,
and I've been on the city
commissions since 1998,
which apparently make
me the longest serving,
openly g*y elected
official in the state.
We're actually known
as the island city,
because we are surrounded
by the North Fork
in the Middle River.
Our waterways are actually
a recreational resource,
we got a lot of
people that boat,
that kayak, that paddle board,
whatever around our waterways.
And we have the distinct
honor, according to the census,
of being the second highest g*y
and l*sbian city in
the country per capita.
It's a really
wonderful community,
we have great
neighborhoods, an incredibly
thriving downtown
area, Wilton Drive,
if you come in on a Friday
or Saturday, it's packed.
And it's a variety of things.
There's dance bars, there's
sitting around drinking bars,
there's video bars,
there's some bars
where you can have a
great conversation,
there's some bars
that are super loud
where you can't hear
each other at all.
There's bars for athletes,
there's piano bars.
There's the real variety
of everything that you want
in an entertainment area.
We were actually
ranked the best city
in Florida for walkability.
Wilton Manors has had
incredible achievements.
Very proud of what
we've accomplished,
especially in the 10 years
since I've been mayor.
When I first was
elected in 1998,
one of the first things we did
was create domestic partner
benefits for our employees.
We were one of the first
cities in Florida to do that.
We're two square
miles, so we're small.
Matt came to me, he also
was living in the city,
and he wanted to give
back to the community,
so he was looking for a charity
or some organization
that he could give to.
- I made a promise
when I open my own club
that when I have
my own business,
I'd give back to the community.
- So he came in
and decided to make
a five thousand
dollar contribution
to Wilton Manors to support
our after school program.
And he had a mock up
of a large check made,
cause he was gonna do this
at a city commission meeting,
and the check said
Johnsons, and so,
some city officials
were a little leery
about accepting a
contribution from Johnsons,
because of the type
of entertainment
that they have in the bar.
- (mumbles) that five
thousand dollar donation.
- [Voice On Phone] I think
there's a misunderstanding.
This donation is actually
from an individual
who is a resident of the
city of Wilton Manors.
It happens to be the manager
of a business in the city,
but it is not from the business.
- [Female Speaker] The check was
received from James Colunga.
- Excellent, and it
was not from Johnsons.
- [Female Speaker] Correct.
- It'll be unfortunate to
deny this gracious offer
to assist the children
of Wilton Manors.
I also believe that when you're
making your decision tonight
to actually weight in
on what Johnsons is.
It is a business on the Drive.
They actually breathalyze
their own staff
before they're allowed to leave
to ensure that their staff don't
become a danger
to the community.
Other bars of this
nature don't do that.
Other bars of this
nature have actually
had accidents on Wilton Drive.
I hope that you will
vote responsibly,
and that you vote in favor
of accepting the check.
May name's Laymon Rupe,
I live in Wilton Manors,
and Johnsons on the Drive is
a preferred location for me,
because it's a
clean establishment,
smoke free, the
owners are friendly,
and the people that work there
make me feel like I'm
welcome every time I show up.
It's a draw to the
Drive, it brings people
that normally wouldn't
be on the Drive.
The donation was based on
the fact that they are,
and want to be a good
actor in the community,
and that's important to kind
of let that be recognized.
- So Matt's donated
money to the community
and to the after school program,
which is the first
time we've ever seen
a club on the Drive do
something like that.
- They said the parents, which
I think is total bullshit,
the parents said
that they didn't want
the money coming
from a strip club.
I said, technically,
we're not a strip club.
We're a go-go bar just like
every other bar on this drive,
we have go-go dancers,
where the other bars,
the go-go dancers are
a side attraction,
they're the main
attraction in our bar.
- We accepted the five
thousand dollar contribution.
We're very grateful for
that type of support.
I think that's the
largest contribution
we've received from
a business owner
for the benefit of our
after school program.
So it sets the bar,
which is great.
- The sense of community
here on Wilton Drive,
from the business
owners is challenging.
- I got told that
I wouldn't open,
cause they don't want that
type of environment here.
- A couple of our
competitors have been calling
on different issues that
they said we're violating,
whether it's the way
we order our liquor,
or the way we park our
cars, all this stuff,
so we're constantly
having people come
and check in on us to make sure
we're doing
everything correctly.
So last week we had the
state of Florida here
checkin' all of our liquor,
everything was good.
Florida state police here,
checkin' our VIP rooms,
everything was good.
Latest thing is, now,
city of Wilton Manors
has said we can no longer park
on this mulched area here.
They said that only
churches and non profits
can actually park on
grass in their area.
People do worship here,
but it's not classified
as a church, unfortunately.
And we do make a
tiny little profit,
so we're non profit either.
We've been using it for the
year that we've been open
and now because someone,
our competition,
the way they say is
Mister Anonymous,
called and complained about it,
and said it's against code,
and when they pulled the code,
and were like, well
technically it's against code,
(mumbling)
- So they want me to plant
bushes all through here,
all the way here to
meet these other bushes,
and leave this as green space.
(mumbling) (talking
over each other)
- There's a lot of judgements,
even though everyone
watches porn,
even though everyone
comes out to strip clubs
and they kind of think of
you as a lesser person.
- Everyone always has
that general consensus,
that strippers are trashy.
♪ Dirty dirty dirty
(muffled announcer speaking)
- It's really frowned
upon in society,
if you say you're a stripper,
you're deemed as
a sl*t, that's it.
- Oh I'm very public
about it, I don't care.
I don't tell my family
just because of,
it's unnecessary,
but if I'm out there
with someone I
don't really know,
I will tell them,
oh what do you do?
I'm a stripper, if you like
it or not, that's your choice.
- I have been around as a
stripper for a very long time.
I see a lot of abuse
of drugs and liquor.
I'm not innocent,
I've done a lot of,
I mean my first four or five
years of being a dancer,
I saw a lot of it
because I was doing it.
- Some dancers tend to spiral
down in this environment.
You're working nights now,
I've been working nights
for 23 years of my life.
I don't go home and
I don't go to bed
till four in the morning.
- So I was working at
Johnsons, everything was fine.
A client informs Matt
that I was in the back
crying about a dancer
there, and I lost my temper.
It was bad, and I
miss them so much,
cause they're like family.
- You have to sometimes
be able to step back
and look at yourself, and
see why you're doing this.
Some dancers, when
they do start dancing,
and they are given
this new stripper name,
or dancer name,
this new identity,
some of them do lose themselves
in that name actually.
And in fact, they'll
forget, some of them
will literally actually forget
about who they used to be.
- That stripper
life will eat you,
chew, swallow, sh*t
you out, step on you,
eat you again, and
spit you back out.
And you know what
you're wanting?
More.
- I just really hope I can
get my life back together.
I really hope I can
mend my relationships
back at Johnsons, I don't
even have to work there again.
It's just they're
such amazing people,
why would you not want
that energy in your life?
After about three months,
if you're really in it,
you just kind of
forget yourself.
And that's something that
strippers never talk about.
They always talk about
the money and the fame,
and the fortune and
(mumbles) and the this,
and they don't talk about, oh,
who was I before I walked
through those doors?
Because how can
people talk about it,
if they're all lost?
What are they gonna find?
You're blinded,
you can't see life.
You're blinded by all
the lights in your face,
and all that money, the
potential in dancing,
really is limited,
gravity's against everyone.
Stripping is a hard
job and it's very,
physically, mentally,
spiritually challenging,
but don't be a stripper,
because it's hard to get out of.
Losing this job and losing the
opportunity that was given,
that made me say
goodbye to Javi,
and made me rediscover
who Eddie was,
made me rediscover
where I came from
and why I wanted that
job in the first place.
What was my purpose
in getting this job?
And it's to pay for school.
- It's a hard life, you know?
You're livin' the night life,
you're not goin' to bed till
four or five in the morning,
you're sleeping till
noon, you wake up,
your day is gone,
next thing you know,
it's time to get
back to work again.
- No matter how hard it gets,
no matter how tough it is,
there's always a bigger d*ck.
(laughing)
My life now, after
I left Johnsons,
is great, I'm a cosmologist,
I work at a salon, I'm glad
that my life is better,
mentally, physically, job-wise,
I'm so grateful for that.
And I'm especially
grateful for Matt.
- I do my best, I wanna
see the best for them.
(thumping dance music)
I have had boys over the years
that get into the
drugs and stuff.
And I'll pull 'em aside
and I'll tell them,
it's not the right, trust me,
I've been there,
I've done the drugs,
I've done my share of
all sorts of things,
but I'm speaking from a
42 year-old's perspective.
I'm more like a
father, and I try
to treat them like
they're all my kids.
I wanna see the best for them.
I do want the best for them.
Sometimes they don't listen,
sometimes I suspend them,
or I'll have to get rid of em.
And they just keep
following that bad road
and I've had my share of dancers
that have overdosed and stuff,
that have stopped
working for me.
I couldn't help them,
and I couldn't fix em.
You go to bed every
night thinking,
could I have done
something else for them?
♪ Nothin's gonna change nothin's
gonna change till you try ♪
- All of our boys are family.
Some of them will hang
out when we're not here.
A lot of them we're
really good friends with.
If they need something, if
they need a couple days off,
they just talk to
Matt, and it's like,
I'm goin' through
some stuff right now,
I need to take a
couple weeks off,
alright dude, no problem,
come back when you're ready.
It's really just a
family environment,
same with our staff,
us and all of our staff
will go out and do escape
rooms, or go bowling,
or somethin' like that.
Not because we have to go
out and do team building,
but it's cause we all
wanna hang out together,
we like it, we have fun.
- To my bar tenders,
my doors, my waiters,
everyone gets along, everyone
fixes the problem together,
it's awesome, I couldn't
ask for a better staff.
My boys, all my dancers
are nice, they're sweet.
They're polite, they all say
they enjoy coming to work.
And I think that's
very important.
There's so many
people, (mumbles)
Just get a job, don't
worry about what it is.
You could be in a cubical
the rest of your life,
but you'll have a retirement.
I'm sorry, that's
no way to live.
I came out to my dad
when I was 20 years old
and he disowned me.
And that was the
hardest part of my life.
He told me I was no longer
a part of his family,
and I no longer had brothers
and sisters anymore.
It was hard, cause I was
in a big city by myself,
I was a male dancer, and now
I just lost half my family.
So when I moved to LA (mumbles)
I started working
at 20 years old,
then I started stripping
at 20 years old,
and then at 27 years
old I met (mumbles)
hey I wanna do a
body building show.
Well the kind of shape
I was used to being in
for good shape, and
the kind of shape
you have to be in for
a body building show
are two totally
different things.
I haven't competed
in four years,
but I figure it gave me focus.
I'm looking forward to
opening a Dallas club,
but the same time, I
didn't wanna regret
never doing another
body building show.
I compete today,
I've been dieting
for the last 15 weeks.
I haven't competed
in four years,
and I decided, before I
open up another Johnsons,
maybe I ought to
do one more show,
because once you got two
night clubs opened up,
it's gonna be pretty
much impossible
tryin' to do a
body builder show.
So I figure I get one
more under my belt.
This'll be my twelfth show.
I went down and got one
spray coat yesterday,
but they seem to
think everyone's got
the same size d*ck,
cause they give you
and infant sock.
And I'm sorry, the
infant sock's either
gonna be fitting
the top of my d*ck,
or the bottom of my d*ck.
I'm putting a sock on my d*ck
so I can get tanned
by this nice woman.
(talking over each other)
I'm a pro at this, I
can make everything fit.
When you've been on
juice as long as I have,
you're ba*ls will fit anywhere.
- Separate your
legs nice and wide,
both feet pointed to the front.
- When you get on stage,
there's so many stage lights,
you can't be white,
it'll wash you out,
so no matter how tan you are,
I mean even black guys, Latinos,
Have to get color on them.
In the regular
light we look black,
you get on lights and you'll
see it washes you out.
Start with the normal
color, one coat last night,
you wake up this
morning, you rinse off,
a lot of it stays
attached to your body.
Then you come out here
and they do two more coats
on you in the morning
time, roll it out,
make sure it's set.
Then when you're backstage,
they put oil on your body
to make sure the contures
and everything looks great,
So on the stage (mumbles)
Chris, come see my sock.
Come see my pretty sock.
- [Chris] I'm not
fallin' for that again.
- No come here, Chris come here.
- [Chris] No.
- Chris, come here, Chris.
Come here, please?
(muffled speaking)
- Go where?
- [Chris] I gotta
go to the club.
- Why?
(Chris mumbling)
(mumbling)
- [Chris] We'll talk tomorrow.
- No, no no no no,
no you can't do that.
(thumping music)
We know I already won one
class, so I can do national.
Not that I would do nationals,
but I'm just saying
it's possible.
So I did my
competition yesterday,
I got a first, a
second, a third,
I'm happy, there's no greater
feeling than winning something
I won with this bar,
I've got amazing staff,
amazing dancers, I'm
gonna do the same thing
with my body building.
I went in there
to win and I did.
I don't wanna be average.
I was a fat kid, I got
beat up in high school
and picked on in
junior high and stuff.
I don't wanna be that guy.
I didn't get anything
put in my lap.
And it took me five months
to get my business
license for this.
They fought back, they
didn't want it here.
I've had undercover in my bar.
I've had Broward
County sheriffs,
I've had under
cover Wilton Manors.
I've had everyone, you know?
And as long as you run
a clean establishment
I want my boys to go home and
respect themselves at night.
I don't want them to
know they went in there
and had to sell their
d*ck for a dollar
to make a buck to pay a bill.
I run great dancers, they're
respectful, they're nice.
My clientele's nice,
the music's nice.
The club's clean.
I wanna keep my life that way.
So I can expand and do
bigger and better things.
Help people along the way.
I wanna change lives.
And this is the only thing
I've ever done in my life,
so this is the only way
I know how to do it.
- For Matt to finally
be able to execute this,
I think he pinches
himself on a daily basis.
He's always been like I'm
gonna have my own bar someday,
and when I have my own bar,
I'm gonna do things right.
I'm gonna make money of course,
because that's
what you wanna do,
but I'm gonna treat
my staff right,
I'm gonna treat
my dancers right,
because he knows this would
be nothing without our boys.
- Dancing is a gift,
male stripping actually
gives an incredible confidence.
- It's all about
learning, new experiences.
- I think that I've learned
a lot about human behavior.
- Stripping's a journey
of self discovery.
You know, maybe that's why
they call it stripping.
Maybe it's not even
cause of the clothes.
Maybe you're stripping
yourself layer by layer.
(laughing)
- Stripping is not a job
that's gonna last forever.
You're gonna get old,
everybody is going
to the same direction.
Right now the key is
just to save money.
Save money and maybe
open up a business.
That's what I'm tryin' to do.
- I like what I
do, I like knowing
that I'm a boss that
takes care of my staff.
I'm a boss that takes
care of my dancers.
I'm a boss that
watches over them.
And there need to
be more like me.
So if I can open another club
where I know I'm going to
have another 60 or 75 boys
that I can steer in
the right direction,
have them use this as just
a little stop in their life,
where they can make some
money and follow their goals,
follow what they wanna
do, I'm all for it.
I get to do something
I enjoy to do,
I get to help others out,
I get to give back to
the community in full.
What could be better than that?
I had a dream and I chased it,
I went after it, and
even after my dad,
even after everyone said you
need to start focusing on stuff
you need to start doing this.
I didn't give up on it.
My dad came around, he
ended up getting a divorce.
It was my stepmom
that said I couldn't
be part of the family anymore.
He loves my partner,
we go and visit.
He sends Chris, my partner,
a Christmas present,
a birthday present.
If you want it bad enough,
and you work hard enough
you will get your dreams.
It's my baby, this is Johnsons.
(energetic triumphant music)
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All Male, All Nude: Johnsons (2019)
Moderators: Maskath3, GabrielAlejo2341, sidolanters, Maskath3, sidolanters, GabrielAlejo2341