Strip joints in London

[broxyman]

Still on a nostalgia trip, who remembers the time when Soho was full of strippers moving from club to club to perform their acts? There were loads of clubs then, but only around 20 girls, if that, and they just rotated from club to club.

Just two old-fashioned proper striptease establishments left in Soho now, I think - Sunset Strip and Carnival Club. Are these still going, and are they any good? Last time I dropped in a few years back they were pretty good - some very nice looking girls, probably students, and good traditional striptease. Pole dancing just isn't the same!

[Dominique]

Slightly off topic, but there is the legendry White Horse in High Wycombe, where I am told Louise Hodges performed, it would be alot more of a pleasant venue than the Soho places.

[the shaver]

When ever i go down to London, i always go to Shoreditch , there are 5 great pubs to go to,
The white horse on shoreditch high street
Rainbow bar
Browns
Ye olde axe
The griffin
Queen anne vauxhall walk
Flying scotsman kings cross
Nags head

All are a pound in the pot and free to get in apart from the axe and the rainbow £3, and the girls are all attractive , coming from the north , i have heard many rumours of rip offs in Soho so that's why i go to Shoreditch, see below for a link and directions.

http://undressedtokill.com/phpBB2/

[dogend]

Agreed - Shoreditch is definitely the best area nowadays - packed full of strip joints.

Most of the girls are Eastern European these days so if your preference is for British girls then you'll be disappointed - i was down at the axe & nags head a couple of weeks back and it was a good night, girls looked great but don't forget to take loads of £1 coins with you!

[bob1810]

>Just two old-fashioned proper striptease establishments left in Soho now, I >think - Sunset Strip and Carnival Club...

I was in London a few years ago,and found both establishments to be gone
for good :(

[AlanF]

I saw a few old hounds back in the mid-80's in Birmingham, full bushes as well, sometimes, they'd toss you off for a fiver!! Nowadays, the strippers are Eastern European with Brazilians or waxes and a definate HANDS OFF policy

[broxyman]

>Just two old-fashioned proper striptease establishments left in Soho now, I >think - Sunset Strip and Carnival Club...

I was in London a few years ago,and found both establishments to be gone
for good :(

Sunset Strip still seems to be going, though it's £15 for a ticket I see:

http://www.sunsetstrip.co.uk/

[alloverthemap]

Still on a nostalgia trip, who remembers the time when Soho was full of strippers moving from club to club to perform their acts? There were loads of clubs then, but only around 20 girls, if that, and they just rotated from club to club.



A scene immortalized by The Beatles on Abbey Road

[spartacus_p_m]

For all info on current goings on in London, there's an active Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/londonstrip

[beesfan]

I can confirm that the Carnival Club is long gone, sadly. Saw some great girls there.

It was strange sitting in those old cinema seats though.

Back to today, I can heartily recommend the White Horse on Shoreditch High Street. Just ten minutes walk from Liverpool Street station.

[alloverthemap]

Don't know the club where these pictures were taken, but the lady is the glorious Zoe Young.

http://img162.imagevenue.com/loc1158/th_32430_zoeyoung17_123_1158lo.jpg (http://img162.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=32430_zoeyoung17_123_1158lo.jpg) http://img19.imagevenue.com/loc1134/th_32649_zoeyoung18_123_1134lo.jpg (http://img19.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=32649_zoeyoung18_123_1134lo.jpg)

[beesfan]

An interesting link

http://londonstrip.co.uk/gallery/index.php?spgmGal=venues&spgmPic=0&spgmFilters=t#spgmPicture

[andysmz]

I can confirm that the Carnival Club is long gone, sadly. Saw some great girls there.

It was strange sitting in those old cinema seats though.



I was trying to remember the name of that place. Visited a few times in the mid 80s when the all the hardcore cinemas had disappeared. Always very good value for money, particularly if you got a front row seat.

[broxyman]

I was trying to remember the name of that place. Visited a few times in the mid 80s when the all the hardcore cinemas had disappeared. Always very good value for money, particularly if you got a front row seat.

Me too - it was good value wasn't it. If you remember, the front seats were always full, and as soon as someone left people would climb over the seats to get to the front row and take the space.

The girls knew they could get tips from the front row, and used to gyrate and almost thrust their pussies into the faces of the lucky ones sitting there. Just occasionally they were given a girl's panties too.

[spartacus_p_m]

Don't know the club where these pictures were taken, but the lady is the glorious Zoe Young.

I'm pretty sure that's the Olde Axe, Hackney Road.

[spartacus_p_m]

I can confirm that the Carnival Club is long gone, sadly. Saw some great girls there.

Now a trendy bar
http://kinkycowboy.co.uk/gallery/index.php?spgmGal=venues&spgmPic=1&spgmFilters=t#spgmPicture

[welshken]

just for the record, Sunbset Strip is still going strong, although mainly overseas girls now, which is a shame, 'cos they aint as good as British lasses, sorry but true! Still £15 a head (no pun) and even better now that the smoke has gone. Can be funny when the occasional oriental tourist will sit on the front row and fall asleep, The old British girls would give them a gentle kisk, get the tip, then let them fall asleep again, It was hilarious to watch!!

[slut-lover]

I remember some years ago I got a blowjob whilst visiting a strip joint in Soho. Does places like these still exist?

[spartacus_p_m]

I remember some years ago I got a blowjob whilst visiting a strip joint in Soho. Does places like these still exist?

They've closed most of the Soho places where that kind of thing went on, but there are still plenty of opportunities to get blow jobs from strippers in London; just don't ask about them in mainstream legal strip joints, as you're likely to get a slap

[Deviant]

A good place that I go to is Browns pub, at the junction of Old Street and Shoreditch High Street. It's open at lunchtime and then all afternoon and evening until about 11pm. It really is a pub with a stage where the girls strip, rather than a strip-club.

Drinks are cheaper before about 5pm. The girls strip on a stage and there are some back rooms for 'personal' dances. If you go there, take lots of £1 coins. Whilst one girl is stripping on stage, the girl who is next goes round the audience collecting coins in a mug.

Most of the girls are really quite good looking and you can chat with them, if you want to.

Having said all that, I haven't been there for about 2 years now, so things might have changed. Oh, and don't wear trainers and jeans; you won't get in.

[ymcba321]

I can highly recommend the Sunset Strip - it's a great place, and the girls are always worth seeing. Quite a bit of variety - some are experienced poledancers, others are clearly moonlighting students in danger of falling off their platforms - but whatever they are, they're less than a foot from you if you sit in the front row.

If you've never done it - you owe it to yourself at least once to slide a fiver into a sexy girls panties while she thrusts her chest into your face - it ain't half bad!

Completely un-intimidating, with sexy girls and a suprisingly excellent taste in music, I can think of many worse ways to blow a few quid.

[welshken]

I agree, Sunset Strip is a top venue, great music, just wish we could have a lot more British girls, and a few that werent balder than Yul Brynner down below!!

[Tonywa]

I'm pretty sure that's the Olde Axe, Hackney Road.


I'm with you there. Certainly looks like the Axe.

[Jenkinson]

I would endorse all that ymcba321 and welshken say about the Sunset Strip. It's an enjoyable place to spend a free afternoon or evening in central London. The performers are generally well worth seeing. I was really delighted when I first discovered it back in 1990: at last, an honest strip show in Soho that delivered what it promised. Becoming something of a regular for a time, I was amused to find a passing reference to myself included in its review in a small book called "The London Strip Guide". The author, wrily describing the audience on a certain afternoon, assumed me to be a banker (which I'm not, except perhaps in rhyming slang).

At that time, the decor of the Sunset Strip was very tatty and probably quite unchanged since the 1960s. Definitely 'vintage erotica'! Renovation has occurred since, though I rather miss the phenomenally dusty old blue velvet curtain that would open tantalisingly slowly with many mechanical creaks and groans to reveal each successive performer. Now the girls just stride on to the open stage. There's not the same sense of anticipation. Of course, this is quibbling.

My earlier attempts to find striptease in Soho in the mid-1980s had only led me to a couple of clip-joints. and they were very nasty indeed. I had the sense to walk out of the first one fast, but the second tried to extort £70 with threats of violence and blackmail. After much argument, I escaped after handing over £16 - for absolutely nothing in the way of erotic entertainment. These vile places still operate, and I would warn any Soho novices who may read this to avoid them like the plague. If there is a young woman at the door of any establishment trying to lure you in, you can be sure that to enter is a very bad idea.

Aside from expensive table-dancing clubs, there are currently to my knowledge only two bona fide value-for-money strip shows in Soho. The Sunset Strip has already been mentioned. The other is the Boulevard Striptease Theatre, up a flight of stairs towards the northern end of Walkers Court, just off Brewer Street. I can recommend it as warmly as the Sunset Strip. It too charges £15, and the atmosphere and quality of the performers are equally good. The most striking difference between the two is the height of the stage. The Boulevard has a very high stage. When you are seated and the stripper is standing, your eyes are on a level with her calves. The girls tower above you, which is great when you're in the mood for a hint of fem dom, but a stiff neck can be the result if you sit in the front row too long. That said, I'm always reluctant to leave it, as, when the girls sit or lie down on the stage, the height suddenly seems just right! Many of the dancers cadge pretty openly for tips. You normally won't get much eye-contact from a girl unless you slip a fiver into her garter-belt. Considerable self-control is therefore required if an evening at the Boulevard is not going to cost rather more than the basic £15 entry. On the other hand, there is no pressure on you to leave, even if you don't tip. I've spent many a happy hour there.

[ymcba321]

Hi Jenkinson,

Thanks for letting me know about the Boulevard - I'll definitely give that one a go next time I'm in town. I like the idea of the high stage : ) I can see many a fiver ending up in a good home...

[welshken]

just remember, the girls rely on the tips, and they usually earn them.
Just make sure you have a few notes when you go in, they dont take credit cards, nowhere to swipe them, although watching the show, you may see a few places you'd like to swipe ! ! !

[brunel]

I can highly recommend the Sunset Strip - it's a great place, and the girls are always worth seeing. Quite a bit of variety - some are experienced poledancers, others are clearly moonlighting students in danger of falling off their platforms - but whatever they are, they're less than a foot from you if you sit in the front row.

If you've never done it - you owe it to yourself at least once to slide a fiver into a sexy girls panties while she thrusts her chest into your face - it ain't half bad!

Completely un-intimidating, with sexy girls and a suprisingly excellent taste in music, I can think of many worse ways to blow a few quid.

I am thinking of visiting Sunset Strip as I have never been before. What are the prices like? Do you have to pay to talk to the girls at the bar? What sort of outfits do they wear on the stage? Thanks

[damp-patch]

Though I've not been myself, I prefer the walk-around strip pubs in West London, by all accounts the Sunset is a quality venue of its type. As far as I know the girls are very approachable in the bar as long, presumably, as you are buying the drinks. Its what makes a place like that and the pubs I visit better than the ubiquitous table dacing rip-off places.

[Demento]

I had the pleasure of spending an hour at Sunset Strip last night and can vouch for it as a pleasant, hassle-free environment. There was an amazing young, leggy blonde called Charlotte who had the looks of a supermodel but wasn't shy about revealing every detail of her beautiful body. Try and check her out. My woody still hasn't subsided!

[bigchris1971]

Slightly off topic, but there is the legendry White Horse in High Wycombe, where I am told Louise Hodges performed, it would be alot more of a pleasant venue than the Soho places.

They used to quite often have well known girls stripping at The White Horse in Wycombe - over the years I've seen not only Louise but also Vida Garman, Lynda Leigh, Laura Hawkins, Alison Brown, Gilly Sampson...happy memories! It's still going strong, but unfortunately nowadays it seems to be mostly unknown European girls

[Jenkinson]

There have been some changes at the Boulevard Striptease in Walkers Court, Soho, since I recommended it last year. Most obviously, it has changed its name. It’s now called “The French Pussy Cat” (though it hasn’t become any more French or feline!). It has also been partially refurbished, and there has been a perceptible shift in the primary emphasis of the business.

This last change I regret. The old Boulevard was a straightforward strip-show with a bar attached. You sat in the small theatre, enjoyed ogling the girls, and slipped into the next room for a drink if you wanted a break (i.e., usually when your least favoured performer took her turn on stage). The new "French Pussy Cat" is more like a hostess bar with a strip-show attached. The girls now spend most of their time in the bar, persuading men to buy them drinks at £4.50 a time. To be fair, the price is not extortionate, and much of the clientele seems to like the new regime: the bar is often full while the theatre is left deserted. But that’s disappointing for customers like me whose pleasure lies in prolonged exposure to the hypnotic appeal of non-stop striptease. I’d far rather slip any spare fiver in my pocket under a stripper’s garter in return for a close-up than pass it over the bar for five minutes chit-chat with a girl who may indeed be lovely to look at but whose conversational powers in the English language are likely to be limited – yet the customer is now gently but persistently pressed to do the latter. I’ve never felt any qualms about paying gorgeous girls to expose their physical attractions, but I find it depressing to think that I’m effectively paying somebody to pretend to be my friend and humour me with silly flattery.

All that said, I mustn’t be too curmudgeonly. "The French Pussy Cat", like the Boulevard before it, is an honest establishment and the quality of the girls remains high. It’s well worth a visit. Entrance is still £15. Only I don’t visit quite as often or stay quite as long as I used to do.

[Synthman]

Here-click on his link and it will give you a list of strip venues all around the country.
http://www.ukstripclubs.com/

[pharoahegypt]

i apologise if this is slightly.. okay, a fair bit off the theme of london strip pubs and clubs...............however........

i cant speak from recent knowledge; but bham used to have several of the lapdance places where you could get more than the average 'no touching' dance from a few more open minded girls.........

the best back around ten years ago was no doubt a converted pub on holloway head, called 'Demon'. not sure its still there, as ive not passed by it for ages; but it was a great place. had a small room at the front with the bar; and a tiny pole stage where the odd girl would give a reasonable show. but all lap dances were performed in the back room; where there were supposedly no cameras.

though most would still do a normal legal routine back there; many would, for a slightly higher price; ten quid being the norm back then; or just the promise of regular punters; would be more than happy to allow much more contact. both ways.

i can vividly recall one such willing girl touching my erection through my trousers; while i glanced over to see another girl; who i later found out was russian; letting her punter finger her while she bent over her lap. the girl dancing for me quickly got my attention back by straddling my lap; and then after pulling my fingers onto her own pussy; making no move to stop me from fingering her own surprisingly wet hole, slipped her own hand inside my trousers and jerked me off expertly.

there are several tales of this nature just from Demon; but at first we had several clubs of this variety; until the authorities began to clamp down on it all. Legs Eleven was similar; but you were less hidden, all dances conducted in the one open plan room, and girls had to pick and choose both their moments, and their punters carefully.

there was a club hidden behind the old Dome nightclub for a while too; where the girls were also quite accomodating. one girl there who had remained 'professional' while dancing for me in legs xi, was more than willing to break almost every rule in the book while dancing here instead.

running sex shops back then; the late 1990's to early 2000's; it didnt take much persuasion to entice girls to visit me; often on the pretence of selling them lingerie and dresses cheaply; or other sex items they wanted; while asking them for a more private dance in return. i wont boast; but i even got to shag several popular lap dancers that way; as well as other more well known models i have named in other threads.

though i have been assured we still have 'dirty' establishments both in bham (spearmint rhino on john bright st, if you ask the right girls) and the likes of west bromwich (top hat & tails?) which is close by; i have yet to take the chance on visiting recently; due in part to financial restrictions; but mainly my fear of being disappointed now things have changed.

ill freely admit; im a dirty (41) old bugger.... but then, aren't all of us who love this kind of strip club...????

[Don Kinslow]

Does anyone remember the Keyhole Club?

[Alvin Lucifer]

I don't know if clip-joints still exist in Soho, but I was there twenty years ago when I was a naive-looking college student randy for flesh. Classic. I fell for it hook, line, and sinker. The bird outside the place asked me sweetly if I was 18. I was 22, but looked about 15! Anyway, she took £3 off me which got me into the lobby. I should have walked out when I saw a sign demanding another £6 to get upstairs. I don't know what I thought I was going to get, but what I get was a seedy lounge and a menu of preposterously priced drinks ranging from £9.50 for beer to £400 for a bottle of champagne! So I spent £9.50 for a half-pint of beer as bitter as bat's piss from a barmaid who liked an extra from a David Lynch movie. After 20 minutes, some tart sat down next to me and tried to get me to sign over my traveler's checks. I bailed. I just walked out.

I thought I should tell the police. Glad I didn't. They would have just laughed! I ran into some old pimp who tried to hook me up. I said no thanks, so he tipped his hat and gave a friendly warning about the topless bars. I told him my experience and I was out £25 for nothing. He said, "Yer lucky, mate, I know blokes who lost 'undreds!" I later learned about threats of violence and extortion going on in those clip-joints and felt rather fortunate. I can laugh about it now, but at the time I was mortified!

[pharoahegypt]

alvin. your last paragraph reminds me of one time i found myself down in the smoke, picking up stock for a shop.......

i couldnt find the pick up point, and found myself passing the same market square in sosho three times..... the first i was approached by as mixed girl in her twenties, who asked me if i wanted to take her somewhere a little quieter.. id didnt.... as i passed the second time she must have thought id decided differently, but again i politely told her, thanks, but no thanks.......

unfortunately, my loss of direction took me by yet a third time..... but after grabbing arm again, the girl blatantly propositioned me by offering to sort me out a much younger girl, in her mid teens if i wanted... so long as i sorted her out...!!! needless to say, i exited, sharply... and somehow managed not to lose my sense of direction until long fter i had located my pick up, and had gotten back to my car under park lane....lol.

scary at the time, we dont get this in bham to be honest...not so blatantly open anyhow.... but humorous to look back on now....

[C152]

A good story, Alvin, which reminded me of my only experience of this sort of thing 20 or so years ago.

I was only 17 at the time, and in London for a university interview. As a consequence, I was wearing my best/only suit, and being tall, I must have looked a lot older than I was.

After my interview, I had a few hours to kill before my train home, so I headed for Soho on the look out for a bit of excitement. After a while, I plucked up the courage to go to a peep show, which I enjoyed, albeit it was over very quickly. So, a little while later, I returned again - this second time, the girl wasn't as attractive, but the sap had well and truly risen and so when, after leaving the club, an attractive, scantily dressed woman offered me live nude striptease for only a fiver, I was easy prey. After getting her to confirm that there would not be any extra charges, I paid my fiver, and went downstairs into the basement.

Going in, it was tiny - to my left was a bar, and at the other end was the small stage. A projector was showing some pornographic slides above the stage, but the pictures were so faded, it was hard to make anything out.

Along each side were a couple of sofas, and I sat on one on the other side of the room. I was the only customer, and the only other person there was a guy behind the bar.

After a couple of minutes, a girl came out from behind the bar, came over to me and asked if I would like a drink. I said I didn't want one, but she said that it was a condition of being there so, anxious to demonstrate what a cool, urbane man of the world I was, I muttered "a lager please". She then asked if I wanted her to join me, or if I wanted to buy her a drink - luckily I said no to both.

After a while she came back with a half of lager, and told me that I had to pay for it. I can't remember how much it was, but I think it could have been £10, as it was certainly a round number and very extortionate. I queried this, and she said that all the prices were contained in a menu that was on a coffee table that was near my sofa. I reluctantly paid, but not until I had confirmed once again that I didn't want to buy her a drink or her to join me.

After she left, I had a look at the menu, and the realisation of the type of place I was in slowly dawned on me. It was clear that I had been lucky - my lager was about the cheapest drink in the house, with many of the more exotic sounding cocktails and champagne having what were to me phenomonal prices. It also listed the price of the girl's company - the cover charge was huge, as was the per minute charge.

As I drank my beer (which the menu confirmed was non alcoholic) and tried to watch the slides, I was wondering what would happen next when another bloke came in. He sat opposite me, and again after a few minutes, the girl appeared and went over to him. As she did so, she opened the front of her blouse to expose her boobs, and I remember being a little peeved that she hadn't done that for me.

The guy ordered his drink, and once it had been served (and he had been astute enough to also decline the offer of buying the girl a drink or getting her to join him), another girl appeared from behind the bar and walked over to the stage.

She stood on the stage, took her clothes off and then, once naked, picked them all up and walked back to the bar. That was it - no music, nothing. It was spectacularly unerotic, and as I finished my drink, I decided it was time to leave as, if nothing else, I wouldn't be able to afford another. I was worried that I may have difficulty getting out, but made it back onto the street ok, albeit I had spent £15 on an experience that had lasted perhaps 15 minutes at most.

I was lucky - had I asked the girl to join me and / or bought her a drink I would have racked up a bill of several hundred pounds.

These places are still around in Soho, so avoid them at all costs if you are in the area. There was a tv programme on a couple of years ago that showed an undercover trading standards and police operation against them. The basic idea was that a couple of officers would go in and innocently run up a large bill, which they would claim they were unable to pay. At which point a lot of muscle would appear to escort the officers to the nearest cash point....

[Alvin Lucifer]

C152 -- At least you got to see a naked lady! I didn't get jack (no pun intended)

[WaWats]

I visited Pleasure Lounge on Rupert st. Have to say good place. Good girls cheap drinks ( beer 4.50) spot on !!!! Private for 25 thats not bad for west end. . And i did like that the girls are not pushy hate that in the strip club !

[kenshabby2000]

Here's somthing from the golden age of Soho strip clubs. a program form the Gargoyle Club. About A5 size, like the line on page 5 saying
'artifcial aids to vision are not permitted'
http://ist2-1.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/_/_/_/1/1/m/1/G/1m1Gd/scan0001_0.jpg (http://pimpandhost.com/image/20026013-original.html)
http://ist2-1.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/_/_/_/1/1/m/1/G/1m1Gn/scan0002_0.jpg (http://pimpandhost.com/image/20026023-original.html) http://ist2-1.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/_/_/_/1/1/m/1/G/1m1Gw/scan0003_0.jpg (http://pimpandhost.com/image/20026032-original.html) http://ist2-1.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/_/_/_/1/1/m/1/G/1m1GJ/scan0004_0.jpg (http://pimpandhost.com/image/20026045-original.html) http://ist2-1.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/_/_/_/1/1/m/1/G/1m1GU/scan0005_0.jpg (http://pimpandhost.com/image/20026056-original.html)