A Holiday Visit to Club XXXtravagant

December 12, 1999

By JULIA RUBINER

Photo courtesy StripClubWorld

As The Holidays are in full swing, it seems only right to celebrate their true meaning with a charity do or two. I thus traveled to Long Beach recently for a Club XXXtravagant fund-raiser, an adult entertainment event benefiting underprivileged children (toys were accepted in lieu of admission). The festivities took place at an unassuming club called Live Bait; the theme for the evening was "painted on." And painted on it was. The show's organizer, feature dancer Rayne, and her go-go minions were clad largely in latex.

We arrived to find Kim Chambers (kimchambers.com) flanked by men on the concrete dancefloor. We had to elbow our way through the crush to see what was going on. By the time we achieved adequate proximity to Ms. Chambers, she was on the floor on her knees, a fellow entertainer spread out below her. The two drove all present crazy with a cunning simulation of oral sex (g-strings in no way impeding the suspension of disbelief). After this display, Ms. Chambers proceeded to the rear of the club to have polaroids taken with her understandably adoring fans.

Bewitched, my escort, Alex, and I surveyed the scene. To the right of the stage was an elevated platform where two topless dancers - one painted as a zebra - gyrated behind some military-issue camouflage netting. They were mirrored by a pair of girls on the dance floor sporting short-short vinyl skirts and feather boas; one wore a skimpy top, the other wore paint.

Shortly thereafter, Ron Jeremy (ronjeremy.com) took the stage. He amazed with a Borscht Belt schtick worthy of Henny Youngman, though instead of "Take my wife - please," he tended toward the more socially pointed: "Long Beach foreplay: Get in the truck, bitch." After a short set that left us agape, he introduced Rayne, who said a few words about the evening's sponsors and beneficiaries and tossed swag to the people, including some sex toys for the ladies in the audience.

Next came feature dancer Nikita Kash, whose performance proved to be the main event. She spun out onto the man-flanked dancefloor in long, flowing pigtails, a black vinyl lace-up corset, black vinyl skirt with white lace petticoats, pointed, high-heeled button-up boots (think turn of the previous century) and a bullwhip. Seconds after making her entrance, she fixed me with a lengthy, penetrating stare, which prompted the gentleman behind me to lean in and hazard, "I think she likes you."

Nikita proved herself an acrobat from the word go, launching into a brilliantly dirty floor routine (the floor was, in fact, dirty). At one point she pulled an aggressively nondescript guy onto the floor, pushing him down to his knees and then on all fours. She rode him like a donkey, all the while whipping his ass in great circular flourishes (actually, she was whipping the floor just beyond his sneakers, which created the requisitely authentic effect). She then got down behind him and pretended to give it to him in the ass. The crowd roared. When he tried to return the favor, she threw him over for another guy. This one got a vigorously mimed blowjob.

Dismissing him, Nikita strutted over our way, bending from the waist in front of Alex and thrusting her lovely posterior against his happy package. She then stood up against him, slithering like a snake, grabbing my thigh for greater purchase and rubbing up against me as well for a few succulent seconds.

And then she was off - stalking the lust-bedeviled mortals all around, finally alighting before a man in a wheelchair. She teased him languorously with her whip, draping it around his neck, knocking his cap off. She gave him "the look" for a moment before again bending at the waist, presenting her ass a few inches from his face. She slid her petticoats down and kicked them aside, offering her new fan an unparalleled view of her barely concealed snatch. Clearly not certain this view was unparalleled enough, however, she raised one leg straight up into the air, essentially performing a vertical straddle split. Again, the assembled signaled their approval.

Nikita's performance complete, we shambled away from the floor with a slack-jawed, that-was-worth-the-price-of-admission air. Remarked Alex: "Nikita Cash has changed my life. I'm ready to throw it all away and become one of her converts." What could we possibly do to top this experience? Introduce ourselves to Ron Jeremy, of course.

Alex spearheaded that mission, approaching Ron with praise for "bringing the Catskills to Long Beach." As it turns out, he of the enormously large penis had worked for years at the various Catskill resorts. A lovely chat ensued, with Ron evincing considerable charm. I must admit, I felt myself falling under his sway, despite the fact that he had previously been someone I could never imagine wanting to fuck. Up close and personal, however, the twinkle in the eye coupled with sincere rapport and witty repartee had me starting to "get it."

When the old-school punk band Cacawates hit the stage with the announcement "We're from East Anaheim," we retreated to a booth. We returned to the floor to survey the skills of Thomas Woods and Anna Maltese, The Exotic Fire-Eating Duo, also both in latex. Anna was quite the torch twirler (she was surely on the baton squad back in high school) and quite the looker - imagine Jodie Foster with long black hair and flames painted across her breasts. The finale found Anna and Thomas sharing a sexy fireball kiss.

Those with a yen to boogie surged back onto the floor, though a crowd quickly formed once more, this time around the go-go dancer in the red vinyl mini and beautiful, natural red latex boobs. La Femme Nikita, meanwhile, had stationed herself on the floor just behind Red Skirt, video camera in hand. Enjoying the attention paid to her rear view, Red Skirt began hiking up her red skirt in tiny increments until her nether regions shyly came out to play. I watched from a distance while Alex and the throng stood over Nikita's shoulder watching the show on the video monitor, where a more revealing picture was emerging. The post-modernist bent of watching a gathering watching this presentation on video while the real thing was gyrating inches away was not lost on us (and to their credit, some of the looky-loos had their eyes glued directly to the girl, several at nearly point-blank range).

I had to hire a tow truck to pull Alex away from this manifestation, but the night was growing long. Our appetite for spicy entertainment more or less glutted, it was time to hit the 405 once more.

If you, too, might enjoy this sort of amusement, Club XXXtravagant will be mounting several such events in December:

Dec. 12 at Live Bait in Long Beach
Dec. 16 at Club 369 in Fullerton
Dec. 20 and 21 at The Dragonfly in Hollywood

For more information, call The Club XXXtravagant Info Line at (714) 703-4553.

Julia Rubiner is a free-lance writer and editor of Taking It Off: 13 Strippers Bare All, a work in progress. Her review of the Nov. 14 Club XXXtravagant event originally appeared in the December issue of MASH magazine.

Cambria is Kayla's New Name

November 21, 1999

Thanks to all the participants of the contest and congratulations to Rurich from San Diego for sending in the winning entry name "Cambria". Kayla will now be known as Cambria or TDFKAK (The Dancer Formally Known as Kayla). I don't know of any other dancers with this name so I think it is a wonderful choice for her.

Rurich will be coming up to Los Angeles to collect his free lap dances and promises to report back his results. Cambria will do the same. I don't know if "Ru-Rich" is or isn't, but he doesn't have to be, because the lap dances are FREE!

Kayla of Hawaii Theater Needs a New Stage Name

November 2, 1999

Kayla from Hawaii Theatre and Z Bone are sponsoring a contest to find a new stage name for Kayla. The person who suggests the winning stage name for Kayla will receive 3 nude lap dances OR 10 topless lap dances from Kayla herself for FREE! The deadline for submissions is midnight November 19th. This prize is a two hundred dollar value. Please read the contest rules at the end of this article.

Do NOT send any more entries. The contest has ended.
To enter the contest, simply email your stage name suggestion to Z Bone at webmaster@zbone.me with the subject "Kayla Contest". Please limit your entries to 5 names per person per day. You will receive a reply confirmation email if your email is received. Check the Kayla Contest page to see what names have already been submitted. Also, take a look at what other people think are great names on the Pop Poll. The winner may choose if he/she wants to have the nude or topless lap dances. However, Kayla doubts that anyone can go the full 10 topless dances, since she is "very good at her craft".

To help you find that perfect stage name for Kayla, she has included some personal information about herself and a picture.

"I started dancing in June 1992 when I was 19 years old and chose the stage name Kayla when it was not common. Ever since about 1996, almost every club I have gone to has had a Kayla or some spin off of the name because another Kayla came into the club and modified her name. Now, I have known and worked with a Kiri, Kasey, Kaylee, and a Kylie. What will be next? Kaya, Kaybee, Kasey, Kaydee, Kayeef, Kaygee, Kayha, Kayja, Kayka, etc.? With the approaching new millennium, I have decided it is time to reinvent myself and shed the old stage name that has served me for all these years.

The reason why Kayla has been such a good name for me is because I am young looking, have a wild and wacky sense of humor, and am mischievously naughty. Kayla seems to emote these qualities by the mere sound of the name. The ideal new name ought to possess similar qualities. I would like it to be unique, easy to remember and pronounce, and a name that few dancers would think up or dare to copy.

Here is more information about what I am like to help you find a good name. I am blond, blue eyes, large natural C-cup breasts, five feet seven inches and I am slender but curvy. I look like an icon of a stereotypical Southern California girl.

I have a tattoo on my left bun cheek that says, "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", which is a poem by John Keats. In the center of the writing is a red rose. It is a poem about an enchantress who breaks a knight's heart and he dies of a broken heart. Some early suggestions have already come up with some pleasing names derived from my tattoo, you may also want to use it.

I hope that my information is helpful. Good luck! I am looking forward to lapping with the winner, All Ten Rounds, whether you last or not!

Contest Rules and Fine Print:
Kayla will be the sole judge of this contest and will choose the winning stage name that she deems to be best for her. Her decision is final. Submissions are accepted and recorded according to the date and time of the received email by Z Bone. If the same name is suggested, the submission with the earlier date and time will be recorded. The voting on the Pop Poll has no bearing on the winning entry. The winner will be notified by email and the winning stage name and winner will be announced on this website. At the time of winning the contest, the winner must provide his or her name to Z Bone which will be forwarded to Kayla. In order to collect the free lap dances, the winner must show a picture ID with the same name on it to Kayla. In the event that Kayla does not like any of the names from the contest, a winner from Z Bone's website will still be awarded the lap dance prize for the best name, which will be selected by Kayla. Kayla reserves the right to use or not use the winning stage name at her discretion. Moreover, Kayla reserves the right to use the winning stage name as her trademark or servicemark and the winner relinquishes any rights to the name. The prize awarded does not have cash value and cannot be exchanged for other services or products. Z Bone and this website does not control the distribution of the prize and cannot be held liable for non-delivery.

“Will Strip For Food” Goes to the Movies

August 11, 1999

Raelle Tucker, one of the co-writers and creator of the play Will Strip For Food is preparing to take it the next step and produce a movie based on the play. This reporter managed to catch Raelle between her Hollywood power lunches for this quick Q & A session to get the latest scoop on the project.

Z:
For those people who didn’t get to see the play, could you first start by summarizing the wonderful play, “Will Strip For Food” that you and your friends wrote?
R:
“Will Strip For Food” was the true story of five women who work in the sex industry. It was a compilation of original writing, poetry and live strip acts; almost more performance art than theater. We talked directly to the audience about our real life experience as sex workers; how it effects our relationship to our bodies, our boyfriends, our families, ourselves. We tried to take the concept of nudity to another level; where we were not just undressing our bodies on stage, but also our lives. Essentially the play would be classified as a comedy, complete with lap dance and domination demonstrations performed on audience members. But I think we touched on some very real, scary subjects and emotions. I mean, on one level, stripping is just a job, but let’s be serious, people respond pretty dramatically to women using their bodies to make a living. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the show. People either totally embraced it or it made them sick. Which in my mind is the best kind of art... art that warrants a strong reaction.

Z:
How did you decide to write a play on this subject matter?
R:
Ever since I got into the stripping industry, I had wanted to write something about it. I mean here were all these colorful characters, all of these amazing women, all of this drama going on every night. And the few attempts Hollywood has made to capture that world were so far off mark it was ludicrous. On an artistic level I was intrigued by the possibilities, it was untrodden territory full of great visuals, dialogue, and stories, not to mention tits and ass.

“... the only images we see of strippers are... blond, fake breasts, vocabularies skimpier than their G-strings.”

On a political level, as a feminist, I felt very strongly about the bad rap sex workers get in our society. I was so tired of feeling like I had to defend my choice of profession, feeling like I had to assure everyone that I was not being permanently damaged by that environment, explaining to everyone that not all strippers are flaky, crazed, molested, drug addicts with no future.

In the USA alone there are nearly two hundred thousand sex workers, most of them female. There is a huge variety of women who strip. And yet the only images we see of strippers are these two dimensional stereotypes - blond, fake breasts, vocabularies skimpier than their G-strings. I mean come on! If Hollywood was making films about.... let’s say female police officers, they wouldn’t dare portray them all as dykes with crew cuts, right? The problem is that because society has such a negative response to strippers and sex work, most of us stay in the closet, and lie about our jobs. So how can we even begin to change the stereotypes if no one is willing to come forward and talk about what they do? It’s a vicious circle. A huge part of what the play meant to me was an opportunity to show some of the positive effects of the sex industry on both the women who work in it and the men who pay for it.

Overall, I felt that a true expose of the real women beneath the make up, and the real work beneath the smiles and titty shaking, was long overdue. I put the word out to some of the women I work with and a group was formed. Everyone involved in “Will Strip” is a trained actor/writer struggling to make it in the business. We also happen to be strippers. We put our heads together, combined our stripping talents and considerable theatrical experience, and after four months of work-shopping the monster was born. It ran for twelve weeks, was nominated for several LA Weekly awards and may be on its way to tour Europe this fall.

Z:
I did really enjoy the play but you're right that it had different reactions from different people. Now, let's get to the movie project. You are now getting ready to do a film version of the play, right?
R:
The film version is due to shoot sometime this winter.

Z:
How similar will the movie be to the play?
R:
It varies considerably from the play. We’ve added several main characters and developed a new story line that follows through the film. I don’t want to give too much away yet, but I will say that it’s an awesome script, funny as hell and brutally honest.

Z:
Will there be any men in this movie or will it be an all female cast?
R:
Yes, there are male characters in the film, and no they’re not all asshole customers. But the main focus of the project has been, and still is, the strippers themselves and their lives in and outside of the industry. If you want to know more, come see the movie! [Laughs]

Z:
With the success of “Blair Witch Project” and other “indies”, as well as the Sundance and IFC cable channels, is it easier to get a low budget film produced?
R:
Definitely. The fact that a movie that cost less than a quarter of your average studio flick, with no name actors, directors, can gross as much as a Julia Robert’s romantic comedy is amazing and inspiring. I think what it’s saying is that audiences are bored of seeing the same kind of movies over and over, with the same untouchable celebrities trying on different accents and hairdos, hiding behind big special effects and manipulative writing. They want different, they want real, they want raw. Because audiences are changing, Hollywood is changing. They’re taking risks. So a lot of doors are opening right now.

Z:
Or did it bring a magnifying glass over, which makes it harder?
R:
There is more competition. I mean nowadays, Joe Blow who lives next-door can get a digital camera and shoot an indie in his backyard. There are more films being made now than ever. But I think that’s exciting rather than intimidating. And if it makes audiences and producers more choosy about what they pay for I think that’s a good thing. It makes us all strive to do better work.

Z:
Was it an uphill battle to get this produced?
R:
It still is! We’re talking about a really low budget independent film here. Maybe if we go to Europe this Fall with the play there will be more interest and money. But for now we’re working with the bare essentials, which means calling in favors to friends, haggling and begging and stealing. I’m definitely not sitting in my trailer right now sipping tea and vaguely recalling what it was like to sweat. I’m still stripping and so are some of my co-writers. I’ve been working on this project in one form or another for over two years, and now we’re finally at a place where things are starting to happen. But we have a long way to go before we can sit back and remember when times were tough. The film isn’t made yet.

Z:
I understand that you are casting the film now. What type of actresses are you looking for?
R:
In order to keep the integrity of the project we’ve decided that all the main stripper characters will be played by real life strippers. Basically our selling pitch is: We’re strippers and we made our own movie! So we want to stay true to that. We’re looking for dancers who have acting ability, discipline, dedication and something to say. Some of the script will be improvised so it is essential that everyone involved knows the industry inside and out and isn’t afraid to be truthful in front of a camera. All actors will be getting paid for the shoot, but it is low budget, so they have to be very dedicated and believe in what we’re doing. It isn’t mandatory that they have training or even experience as long as they have charisma and are passionate about the project.

Z:
How will this movie be marketed? Will we see it in a movie theater first?
R:
Good question. That will depend on our distribution deal, which we don’t have yet. The idea is to make the movie and enter it in festivals. There is already talk of a distribution deal in Europe but we’ll see what happens down the road.

Z:
What, if anything, do you think this movie will do for the strip club industry?
R:
Judging from some of the reactions we got from the play, I’m sure the response will be varied. Certain dancers found the play depressing and it made them want to quit. Other dancers were inspired to go home and tell their boyfriends that they weren’t really waitresses. Women who had never stripped asked me advice after the show about getting into the business. Some men told me they would never be able to go to a strip club again. Other men went straight to the nearest club as soon as the curtain closed. An older couple sat in the front row groping each other throughout the entire production. Later they called a radio show we were appearing on and said they’d had the best sex in ten years after the play. I don’t think that any man could go into a strip club and behave like a flat out misogynist after seeing our show. Maybe that’s giving ourselves a lot of credit. But I do think that one of the most powerful things about the project was the fact that it made strippers human for a lot of people.

Z:
Do you have any more projects up your sleeve?
R:
I have treatments for two screenplays, a novel in progress, a play I just started working on, and I want to write and star in a one woman show. Basically I want to do everything. Everything, that is, except another project about stripping. I plan to retire from stripping at soon as things start rolling and after that ,I want to look back and say, “Been there, done that, it was a lot of fun.” I will never hide what I did for a living, not that I could after the film anyway, but I’m really proud of what I’ve done. I’m very grateful to the sex industry for everything it’s taught me and the places it’s taken me. In many ways I feel like “Will Strip” is a way of giving something back.

Z:
How can people who are interested in this project contact you?
R:
If you are interested in either auditioning for a role in Will Strip For Food, donating services, equipment, locations, or investing in the film, please contact Madderlake by email at madderlake@hotmail.com or write to:

Will Strip For Food
c/o Madderlake Entertainment
1355 Westwood Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA, 90024