Customer Reviews

Exotic Entertainer's Bible

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book last year and have read it several times even though I'm out of the business.

Overall, this is a very good book that covers the basics of stripping and making a career out of it. Obourn says what I've always said, "It's a job, treat it like a job." She explains the ins and outs of treating it like a job, which is refreshing.

She talks about dealing with friends, family, co-workers and I love her hilarious takes on loser boyfriends. This is a woman who has been there, done that and gives the full report. She talks about drinking in the clubs, which is a huge issue. She admits to having had too much sometimes. She admits to smoking quite a bit. She admits she's not perfect. Obourn looks at the industry for what it is: a way for club owners to make money in drink sales and as entertainment. She tells you how to work with your club of choice and how to sell more dances. She talks about customer psychology and how to play the game. She interviews feature dancers, as well as house dancers; give an overview of cosmetic surgery and devotes whole chapters to finances, mental health, sexual health and overall well-being. To some degree or another, she covers every topic I can think of.

One thing she doesn't do is try to describe dancing in words. Obourn has enough common sense to realize this is a useless exercise. Instead, she recommends types of music, outfits and ways to increase table dance sales. There is a pole-trick video that you can also purchase. That's where dancing is best described in its correct medium (visual). I haven't bought it, but if it's as good as the book, I would recommend buying it.

She dispenses very common sense advice with a cheerful voice uniquely her own. I felt her personality come through the pages, yet there is good editing in here and no horrible grammar or misspelled words. This book seems self-published but does not have all the usual flaws of self-published books. Obourn covers all of the mentioned topics well (plus others) and teaches from her own extensive experience. What she doesn't know she researches and includes her sources. She tries to cover everything you need to know and I found no huge gaps in the book. Her personal stories are kept to a minimum; she's all about giving information. To that end, she succeeds.

The only thing I disliked about her was the way she dissed a college education right from the start. Maybe things are different up North, but a whole lot of strippers and I used dancing to pay for school, instead of eschewing college altogether. She later recommends taking classes as a fall-back. Frankly, it's easier to go to college full-time and dance part-time than it is to dance full-time and take a class here and there. Take that advice from me.

Basically, this is a very good 101 type of book and I recommend every beginning dancer to get it. I like her warm, sassy voice and she doesn't say anything that comes across as hot air. She has the experience to back up everything she says. This is a very informative and entertaining read.

I gave this book five stars because it is the best stripping guiebook I've read yet.

I bought this book as a brand new dancer, on the recommendation of another fellow new dancer. If you dont feel like reading on into what I have to say about this book, know this...it's only worth to buy if you are new to dancing and dont have any other sources to the information (such as experienced people you know). Other than that, do not waste your time.

It's a very short and a very easy read. I feel that the author leaves out some very important information about dancing that even I, a dancer of a mere 6 months, know ought to be included in any guide, little alone a "bible" to exotic entertainment.

She doesnt discuss much information that newcomers can be clueless about. One for instance, the money aspect. Throughout the book she's always claiming that "you can make more money than your daddy!!". This is very optimistic and certainley in the profession there is unlimited earning potential...but that's just it. She says nothing about the nights where you will go home with little or no money at all, which is one of the most frustating aspects of the job. There are slow times of year and especially slow areas in the country, and these arent pointed out either.

I feel there should also be a checklist to the qualities of a good club, and one you should get out of. She describes the different clubs you can work at and the money you can earn at both, but many people dont know when theyre at a bad place. For instance, there should always be GOOD MANAGEMENT (most places will allow catty stripper feuds go on, or just not step in, therefore promoting a negative work environment). Some places dont treat their girls as professional dancers but stupid sluts, and they take too much of their earnings. Some places will fine you for really dumb things and at some places, they dont need any information from you at all to work (so if something crazy happened to you at work or after work, what would they know?). All of this information is undiscussed.

As the previous reviewer also pointed out, the author also dismisses a college education (on the first page!). This is ridiculous. I personally have a B.A. and decided to dance only after college because I havent found a real job yet. I love what I'm doing right now, but few people pay to see 45 year old boobies. Plan for the future, bottom line. She does talks about investing the money you make, however.

The chapters on Plastic Surgery and Feature Entertainment are good information but I think they take up too much of the book. She discusses the topics thoroughly and well, but she doesnt discourage plastic surgery at all. In which I think she should...I mean, you're compromising your health and well being for a bunch of guys in a bar and for money. Millions of people have had complications and/or died from such operations, and I think she needs to replace this chapter with one on building your own self esteem. My personal advice is that if you have a good personality you dont need fake ta-tas. Guys are there will ALL different fetishes and likes. That actually, is what the chapter should be about.

She does give good insight into the customers and what to expect from them. I will say that. She also has good ideas for interacting with them, such as giving them your own business card. I thought that was pretty damn smart. She also has good insight on how to interact with employees at the club.

What I really wanted from this book was advice on some good moves, but I found little to none. She explains the lap dance fairly ok. But if you're looking for info on that, buy a pole, take lessons, watch a video or something, cause theres not much of that in here. There's also not much information on how to hustle money....sad but true. She kind of gives the reader the assumption that it's easy to continue to milk a guy for money, dance after dance, and its just not true...and I think her formula for getting 10 dances in a row is ridiculous. Just take things slow, follow your man's lead and be natural. That's all there is to it.

I do however, like that she points out that you should change your outfits often and especially after a stage set!! I see too many girls, grinding guy after guy in the same crusty g string for 5 hours straight. Ew. Do they not think anyone else notices?

Bottom line...buy it for its basic advice if you really are new to the job. I just had to put in my 2 cents....because if I can see so much information left out and I've only been doing it for 6 months, thats kind of, well, bad.