Lessons Learned Dancing @ Chippendales PART 2
Posted: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
by Robin Brown
There I am at the front door of Chippendales in Los Angeles in the late 1980s asking a janitor for a job! As I reflect back on this time, I can now see that this janitor could have easily been the manager who was sweeping the floor of the club before opening. I am still not really sure because I was really in another frame of mind at the doorway of this iconic nightclub! The man with the broom in his hand invited me into the club and when I stepped inside, he made his way to the bar and picked up a phone receiver and began dialing right away. The whole time, this man was looking at me from head to toe. No man had ever looked me over so hard before except when I was in the Castro district in San Francisco doing research for a new restaurant I was opening in Austin, Texas years earlier.
When this so-called janitor began to speak to the person he was calling, he began, " Hello, this is so-n-so and I have a gentleman here who is looking for a job with us. He looks like that guy, John Doe! You know, that dancer with a mustache? Do you want me to send him over? The janitor went quiet except for a " Yep Yep " , every now and again. The janitor then said his good-by and hung up the phone at the bar. Im looking at him saying to myself " And? " The janitor then began writing an address on a piece of paper laying next to the phone, stopped and handed me the piece of paper and said, " Go to this address and ask for Bob. " Wow! This was like a James Bond movie! I thanked the janitor, turned and walked out the front door of the club thinking, " Bob, Bob, Bob " . I drove to the address and walked in the door of a small office building. When I walked in, I introduced myself to the receptionist at the desk and said, " Hello, my name is Robin and a gentleman over at the club sent me over here to meet with BOB " . O.K., I guess this is the best place as any to tell you that when I began my time as a stripper, I used a stage name so, those of you out there that are attempting to find out if you have seen me perform or flipping through old Chippendale calendars looking for Robin well, good luck because that stage name and persona was put away years ago. So, the receptionist at this location told me to have a seat and she would go and inform Bob that I was here to see him. As I later learned, Bob was the man in command of hiring the dancers at Chippendales. Bob was right below the owner, Steve Banerjee.
Steve Banerjee was the owner of Chippendales who was charged with murder in the early 90s. The owner committed suicide in his jail cell by hanging himself right before his judgment of homicide was handed down. This was the same guy who I met in his office in L.A. with his four year-old daughter one day after my first tour on the east coast was completed. Little did I know at the time of meeting him that he was in the process of hiring an assassin to take out or kill a dancer who left Chippendales to dance for another dance company. That period still haunts me to this day. Bob soon came out of his office and we shook hands and he began to ask me a few questions about my experience. He was looking at the photo I had brought with me. He asked, " Have you ever performed as a stripper before? " I'm like, " Yes, at a club in Austin, Texas! " I had entered a single contest at the first male strip club in Texas a couple of years before but I just answered " YES, at a club in Austin, Texas. " This performance only happened once and there wasn't much dancing going on because I wasn't much of a dancer! I just walked around the stage while these much smaller males in their underwear were flopping around the stage. I came in second place in that contest which I was pretty proud of because I was scared to death running around in a small Speedo bathing suit in front of a room full of screaming females without dancing a lick! It was a strange moment, no doubt! I never was really embarrassed about anything in my life but this was the closest thing to that emotional place because it just seemed unnatural running around almost naked in front of a room full of screaming women!
This moment reminded ME of ME in a dream state standing in front of my school classmates with my underwear on... same thing! I always considered myself an actor of sorts and as an actor, it was my job to act as though I knew how to act as if I did or could act like anything that needed to be acted upon so, I did! It worked! Bob told me that the original Chippendale club was closing down in a few days but they were in the process of moving to a new location in downtown L.A.. Bob asked when I could start and I answered, " Yesterday! " He then gave me an address of a club downtown called " Byrons Ballroom " and began writing on a piece of paper and told me,
"Show up here at this time on this day. I will go get you your outfit, Ill be right back! " Bob left the room and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, " Did I just get hired at Chippendales? " Bob entered the room and handed me some black stretch pants and some white wrist cuffs and a wrap around bow tie collar. When I saw the cuffs and bow tie collar, it hit me! I just got hired to work at Chippendales! I left the office and walked out the door of the building with my black stretch pants and white cuffs and collar in hand. I remember how I kept looking at the cuffs and collar thinking, " Yep, I was just hired to work at Chippendales! " Driving home from the other side of town over to North Hollywood, I was trying to figure out my new wardrobe. Do I wear this outfit to work? Do I take it with me and then change there? I was lost in SPACE! This was one of the most exciting and confusing moments in my life as a young man!
A few months back, I had been hired to work as the head of security at the Playboy Club in Century City right before they closed their doors and then I was asked to transfer over to the Playboy Mansion and work security for Hugh Hefner but this was a whole other thing! I didn't even know what I was hired to do at Chippendales! Do I just go there and begin stripping in front of screaming women? I had no clue!
END of PART 2
When this so-called janitor began to speak to the person he was calling, he began, " Hello, this is so-n-so and I have a gentleman here who is looking for a job with us. He looks like that guy, John Doe! You know, that dancer with a mustache? Do you want me to send him over? The janitor went quiet except for a " Yep Yep " , every now and again. The janitor then said his good-by and hung up the phone at the bar. Im looking at him saying to myself " And? " The janitor then began writing an address on a piece of paper laying next to the phone, stopped and handed me the piece of paper and said, " Go to this address and ask for Bob. " Wow! This was like a James Bond movie! I thanked the janitor, turned and walked out the front door of the club thinking, " Bob, Bob, Bob " . I drove to the address and walked in the door of a small office building. When I walked in, I introduced myself to the receptionist at the desk and said, " Hello, my name is Robin and a gentleman over at the club sent me over here to meet with BOB " . O.K., I guess this is the best place as any to tell you that when I began my time as a stripper, I used a stage name so, those of you out there that are attempting to find out if you have seen me perform or flipping through old Chippendale calendars looking for Robin well, good luck because that stage name and persona was put away years ago. So, the receptionist at this location told me to have a seat and she would go and inform Bob that I was here to see him. As I later learned, Bob was the man in command of hiring the dancers at Chippendales. Bob was right below the owner, Steve Banerjee.
Steve Banerjee was the owner of Chippendales who was charged with murder in the early 90s. The owner committed suicide in his jail cell by hanging himself right before his judgment of homicide was handed down. This was the same guy who I met in his office in L.A. with his four year-old daughter one day after my first tour on the east coast was completed. Little did I know at the time of meeting him that he was in the process of hiring an assassin to take out or kill a dancer who left Chippendales to dance for another dance company. That period still haunts me to this day. Bob soon came out of his office and we shook hands and he began to ask me a few questions about my experience. He was looking at the photo I had brought with me. He asked, " Have you ever performed as a stripper before? " I'm like, " Yes, at a club in Austin, Texas! " I had entered a single contest at the first male strip club in Texas a couple of years before but I just answered " YES, at a club in Austin, Texas. " This performance only happened once and there wasn't much dancing going on because I wasn't much of a dancer! I just walked around the stage while these much smaller males in their underwear were flopping around the stage. I came in second place in that contest which I was pretty proud of because I was scared to death running around in a small Speedo bathing suit in front of a room full of screaming females without dancing a lick! It was a strange moment, no doubt! I never was really embarrassed about anything in my life but this was the closest thing to that emotional place because it just seemed unnatural running around almost naked in front of a room full of screaming women!
This moment reminded ME of ME in a dream state standing in front of my school classmates with my underwear on... same thing! I always considered myself an actor of sorts and as an actor, it was my job to act as though I knew how to act as if I did or could act like anything that needed to be acted upon so, I did! It worked! Bob told me that the original Chippendale club was closing down in a few days but they were in the process of moving to a new location in downtown L.A.. Bob asked when I could start and I answered, " Yesterday! " He then gave me an address of a club downtown called " Byrons Ballroom " and began writing on a piece of paper and told me,
"Show up here at this time on this day. I will go get you your outfit, Ill be right back! " Bob left the room and I'm sitting there thinking to myself, " Did I just get hired at Chippendales? " Bob entered the room and handed me some black stretch pants and some white wrist cuffs and a wrap around bow tie collar. When I saw the cuffs and bow tie collar, it hit me! I just got hired to work at Chippendales! I left the office and walked out the door of the building with my black stretch pants and white cuffs and collar in hand. I remember how I kept looking at the cuffs and collar thinking, " Yep, I was just hired to work at Chippendales! " Driving home from the other side of town over to North Hollywood, I was trying to figure out my new wardrobe. Do I wear this outfit to work? Do I take it with me and then change there? I was lost in SPACE! This was one of the most exciting and confusing moments in my life as a young man!
A few months back, I had been hired to work as the head of security at the Playboy Club in Century City right before they closed their doors and then I was asked to transfer over to the Playboy Mansion and work security for Hugh Hefner but this was a whole other thing! I didn't even know what I was hired to do at Chippendales! Do I just go there and begin stripping in front of screaming women? I had no clue!
END of PART 2
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