[hoganrock]

ST Jan 28, 2007
Stripping away inhibitions
A group of guys taking off their shirts at Gotham Penthouse every night are driving the girls wild

By Frankie Chee

THE group of women in their late 20s and 30s, clad in demure office-wear, sit by themselves in a corner of the club, enjoying their whisky and beer. It seems they're out to unwind with a quiet chat and a laugh after work.

But then the music goes up, a throbbing beat starts pounding and five good-looking male dancers flexing oil-glistened muscles groove onto the bar's stage.

The women scream and rush, in their heels and clutching their handbags, to the front of the stage to gawk, dance and drool as the guys shake their hips and thrust their crotches.

The dancers turning these Singaporean office workers into wild women are new to these shores - five male strippers from South Africa whose act goes under the name Odyssey.

Their lust-inspiring gyrations have been the main attraction for the past week at Gotham Penthouse, a club at Clarke Quay.

The management of the two-year-old dance club engaged the five hunks - who all claim to be single - from the city of Johannesburg to heat things up.

Singaporean men may have lost their Crazy Horse topless female dancers with the closure this week of the revue bar, but local gals have flesh of their own to ogle - even if the bopping boys have stricter limits on what they can reveal.

The men tease as they take off their tops to reveal washboard abs and biceps, but they aren't allowed to go much further than that.

According to entertainment regulations, they cannot perform in G-strings, or have any contact with the patrons. Black shorts are okay though.

Still, those naked upper torsos whip up a frenzy.

When LifeStyle visited the club last Wednesday, which was ladies' night, women made up about half of the estimated 70 people during the first performance at 10pm. Most of them were office workers in their late 20s and 30s.

By the time the dancers came on again at midnight, about 70 per cent of the 150 people there were female, with a lot more younger girls in their early- or mid-20s.

According to the dancers, things got even wilder for their 2am show.

'It is very entertaining and hot, better than the male stripshows I've seen in bars in Thailand,' said one patron, Ms Cynthia Lim. The 24-year-old nurse happened to be walking by and popped in for the show with her colleagues.

Tourists also enjoy the show. Ms Andrea Marshall, 24, a technical engineer from Cape Town who was on holiday here, was there alone for the show and loved it: 'I've seen wilder ones overseas but this one is better. It's more tasteful.'

One woman, a foreigner, even ran up to the stage to insert a piece of paper - it could have been a dollar note - in one of the dancer's shorts.

The dancers are Sidney Saaman, 24; Richard Hewitt, 24; Riaan Van Wyk, 23; Fabio La Mantia, 25; and Devlin Conway, 20.

The fun-loving quintet say they have done raunchier shows in clubs in Johannesburg but have never done the full monty - stripping totally.

Their show here is more than just muscles and tight butts. The men are trained dancers and are more boyband-like than the Chippendales, the internationally known male exotic dance act.

They strut their stuff to hip-hop, dance and even rock 'n' roll music from Elvis Presley.

'We're not the new Chippendales. We can dance, have better stage performance and entertainment than just doing muscle-flexing or stripping,' said Van Wyk, the leader of the group who also does the choreography.

But the no-stripping rule is fine for flight attendant Bridget Tay, 29: 'Stripping doesn't do much for women, unlike for men. This is good, women should have our options as well.'

Odyssey is not the first male dance act at the club. Last year, it had Exotica, an eight-piece act comprising seven men and a female dancer.

Mr Adrian Khi, owner of Gotham Penthouse, was also a partner in a former club at the same site called Hotbods. It featured sexy male and female dancers, and closed in 1996.

The South African dancers in Odyssey say they enjoy performing here and find women to be much friendlier and nicer than the ones back home.

'We have met some girls and have gone for coffee or clubbing with them and they're all very nice and friendly; they'll come up to us and speak to us,' said Hewitt.

Not a surprise, considering their good looks. At that rate, Conway might even get to realise his dream. He had jokingly mentioned that he has 250 girls here to meet, a reference to the women they expect to perform to nightly.

But they lamented that they aren't allowed to get the customers on stage to add some more fun, as in South Africa.

'Imagine someone dressing up and coming here for a hen-night but she can't do anything except watch. If we can bring her up and make her part of the show, things will be much more exciting and special for her,' said Van Wyk.

Mr Khi, who spent about $60,000 to stage the show, agreed, saying that 'it's a pity the law doesn't allow the patrons to meet the dancers'.

The men in the audience, meanwhile, kept a close eye on their girlfriends but some later told LifeStyle they ended up enjoying the show too.

One, Mr David Goh, 28, said he was there with his girlfriend a treat for her 27th birthday.

His girlfriend, who did not want to reveal her name, certainly liked it. Mr Goh said she had indicated she might be going back again... without him.



'I've seen wilder ones overseas but this one is better. It's more tasteful'
- Tourist Andrea Marshall, 24, comparing the Odyssey show to other striptease performances

[Diakuku]

lol makes the sg woman have a deprivved image of men

[Lindy]

w00t...now this is interesting

[Urban_11]

more entertainin than usin the word deprive i would say..

[gaoxing84]

male dancers. read it in the papers. lol

[raidenCsv]

yeah, with crazy horse gone comes new crazy donkey.lol.

ok, tasteful entertainment for the ladies. although i can confirm i do a better job.

[yugi_J_J]

SG gals oso so deprived de ar? Wonder if any KT ppl got go there. Anyone went there b4?

[skor]

Originally Posted by hoganrock

The women scream and rush, in their heels and clutching their handbags, to the front of the stage to gawk, dance and drool as the guys shake their hips and thrust their crotches.

Still, those naked upper torsos whip up a frenzy.

juz show the top... already scream and rush like mad ppl..... i wonder how they will react if they see the bottom.... i think they will like flashers....

[拓哉]

I must go and train up also.