When I win the Lotto Max jackpot and buy myself a strip club, I’ll create that perfect and professional work environment where both the dancers, the DJs and the staff will look out for each other’s interests. Common sense and team effort will prevail over individual greed, everyone will make money…oh, that day won’t come soon enough!

But while I wait, I continue to navigate through the convoluted rules and tipping ‘traditions’ of individual clubs, trying to be reasonably generous and to avoid bad karma as I do. That last bit is a little more tricky than it might seem at first. So let me take a few minutes to talk about strip club payouts and tipping etiquette in Toronto.

Strip Club Freelance Fees

Usually, new dancers are advised to use common sense: come to work on time, show up for your stage shows, pay club fees and ‘take care’ of your DJs and wait staff. Only the idea of ‘common sense’ is actually different from club to club, and many new dancers, having developed certain work habits, are often reluctant to adjust when they change venues.

Let’s start with the basics: club fees, or floor fees. Back in the day, this was synonymous with the DJ fee, a set amount each dancer was expected to pay the DJ for the permission to work in a club on a particular night. Today, club fees and DJ fees are not the same thing.

The club fee is usually a set amount ($20-30, in most cases, rising to $40 or more after 9pm), that a freelance dancer pays to the club manager prior to starting work. In most clubs, this allows her to work for the rest of the day (or night), take as many breaks as she wants, and leave whenever she decides to leave, be it after 1 hour or 10 hours. This is the case in most Toronto clubs.

At the Sundowner (Niagara Falls), the business of club fees is a bit more complex. The fee rates vary depending on the time of the day and the day of the week. For instance, if you sign in at noon, you pay $20, and at 12.01 the fee rises to $40. At 4pm it drops back down to $20, rising again at 5pm. You better make sure you are at work by 9m, as that’s when the freelance fee skyrockets to $90. In addition to the fee, the Sundowner requires its freelance dancers to stay a minimum of 5 hours and to leave only after the manager has signed you out (if you leave without permission, you’ll be charged $50 fine next time you return to work.) Sundowner has 2 work shifts on a given day, and each dancer is expected to pay a fee for each shift she works. That means that if you arrive at noon and want to stay until 2:30am, then you’ll have to sign in and pay a second freelance fee at 7pm.

Clubs like For Your Eyes Only (Toronto) have chips system in place: clients compensate dancers in chips that they have previously bought from the club. Dancers then cash in their chips and get paid the next day, after their earnings have been processed and a certain percentage has been deducted as club fees.

In most reasonable clubs, freelance dancers are expected to do 1 or 2 stage shows, upon DJ’s request. Most clubs will allows you to opt-out of doing a show for an additional fee (ie. $10 at Jilly’s, up to $50 at the Sundowner.) Other clubs, such as the Brass Rail, will refund you $10 for every show you do (so, if you come to work before 9pm, pay your $20 fee and do 2 shows, you will get your club fee back.) In most cases, clubs hire several dancers for shift work (paying anywhere from $45 to $100 per 7-8 hour shift), and freelancers go on stage only if 1) they want to, in order to gain exposure and promote themselves; 2) there aren’t enough scheduled dancers and the DJ needs them. Some busier clubs can run solely on freelancers, which means that if there aren’t enough dancers, you will be expected to do 2, 3, 4 or even 5 shows, as necessary, for no extra pay.

Tipping Strip Club DJs

Not all strip club DJ’s are created equal. Their terms of employment and salary (if any) are specific to the establishment that employs them, and can vary greatly from club to club. This directly affects how much and how often you should expect to tip your DJ to avoid bad karma.

One Toronto club where I worked 6 years ago actively discouraged tipping its DJ’s so that ‘they don’t get lazy.’ In most strip clubs, tipping your DJ is not required but is greatly encouraged (and is an absolute must if you want to build a good working relationship. After all, inside the strip club, his (or, less frequently, hers) is the ‘voice of God’ that has the power to make you look fantastic on stage with just a few words. Or to ruin your show altogether. You choose.) At the Sundowner, a minimum of $5 tip per DJ per shift is mandatory. Weekend DJs, who do not receive a salary from the Sundowner and instead pay the club a percentage of their DJ fees, are very demanding and you should be prepared to tip out at least $20 or you’ll have a hard time getting on stage (and risking $50 club fine for a missed show.)

As a rule of thumb, I tip a small amount every shift, and reward my DJs generously if there were any favours involved (i.e. postponing the time of my stage show if I am busy in the VIP making money.)

Tipping House Moms and Other Strip Club Staff

Some more upscale strip clubs keep a ‘house mom’, a woman who is there to take care of most of your needs. The house mom will keep a supply of drinking water, snacks, and gum. She’s the person to go to if you run out of tampons, wipes, deodorant or spray tan. Many house moms keep a sewing kit around, and I’ve even met one who brought her own sewing machine to the club to fix costumes and do basic alterations right in the dressing room. More often than not, the house mom is not directly employed by the club, so you are expected to tip her generously. It’s best to start by compensating her each time you need something, but as you build trust, you can just tip her in one lump sum at the end of the night.

Some clubs also keep makeup artists and other professionals, all of whom need to be paid. I’ve never come across one in Toronto, but I’ve heard this is quite common in bigger US clubs, and dancers are required to have their makeup done and costumes picked by on-site professionals.

Tipping Doormen and Bouncers

Strip club doormen and bouncers are there to ensure your safety. If there is ever a customer who is unwilling to pay or is trying to rip you off, you rely on the bouncer to get your money. It’s always a good idea to show a little appreciation for them, and make sure to tip generously every time they help you in any way.

Tipping Wait Staff and Bartenders

Bartenders and wait staff know who is spending, who isn’t, so they can point you in the direction of the customer who has an open tab going and is ready to indulge. Or they can give the heads up to another dancer. Take care of your wait staff, always reward them generously for their help, and encourage your customers to tip them well also. Your efforts will be appreciated and will pay off.

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All that being said, don’t go all out on tipping just out of desire to make friends and impress your co-workers. Rather, estimate what other dancers find appropriate for your club, and follow suit. If you tip more than you can afford, you’ll both hurt yourself and create many bitter and confused staff when your generosity runs dry. Finally, if you are low on cash, offer to buy a soft drink, or bring them a coffee, but never tip less than a $5. No one likes to be thanked in small change.

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