Stripper Chris Jackson, a.k.a. Flip
Dozens of well-dressed men at The Saloon dance club stand in a semi-circle around a glass-encased shower elevated a few feet off the ground, effectively turning the shower into a stage. Thunderous dance music pounds off the nearby dance floor, but none of the men look like they’ll be moving to the dance floor any time soon.
The dim lights explode to life, bathing the shower in light. The water sprays. An emcee babbles on about the show, but the men don’t seem to be listening. They’re waiting for the next performer.
It’s 1 a.m. on a school night and the next performer, University of Minnesota freshman Chris Jackson, is ready to take center stage.
“Here’s Flip!” the emcee yells into the microphone.
Jackson, whose stripper name is Flip, appears from a curtain behind the shower stage clad in a pair of tiny black shorts. He walks to the beat of the dance music and steps into the shower. Water sluices over Jackson’s well-tanned, well-muscled body. His blond hair slicks to his head as water streams down his body. His hips begin to move rhythmically to the music. Jackson smiles. His hands wander over the flat planes of his body.
Jackson has the audience’s full attention.
Suddenly Jackson, a long-time gymnast, flips onto his hands in the shower, his legs straight up in the air. The audience cheers. Jackson begins doing handstand pushups under the stream of pouring water, earning him more whoops from the crowd.
A dozen men approach the shower, sliding well-worn bills through a slot in the shower. When a twenty-dollar bill slips through the slot Jackson again flips onto his hands. With one hand he slowly slides off his black shorts to reveal a black thong underneath.
Jackson’s fingers slip under the strap of the thong and, in one smooth movement, he slides the thong off his tan, muscular legs.
Jackson is naked, still standing on his hands. The audience applauds. The lights go dark and the show is over. The dance music is still pounding.
The student behind the thong
The next day, clad in a hoodie sweatshirt and jeans and curled up on a brown sofa in his dorm, Jackson explains how he became a male stripper.
“Well, it was one of those things I used to joke about with my friends,” Jackson says. “Then I came here to Minneapolis [from California] and I didn’t know there was a male dance company here. I had a couple people approach me at a club saying, ‘Hey, you should be a dancer.’ I was just like, ‘Fine, I’ll give it a try.’”
Interviewing for a job as a male stripper with JDE Studios, much like other exotic dancing companies, is a little different than interviewing for most jobs, Jackson explains.
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