The Audition Playbook: What to Bring and When to Go

An audition is one song, sometimes less, undressed to the club's minimum, and the manager decides on the spot. Call ahead first, go in the first two hours of day shift or between 8 and 10pm for nights, bring street clothes and an outfit that comes off without going over your head, pick a song you know, and keep the rest of the day free in case they keep you. You do not need pole tricks. You need to look like someone who can sell.

Call before you buy anything

Leilah, who trained new hires at her club for years, says her own biggest early mistake was buying outfits before she knew the dress code. Clubs vary: some require gowns off stage, some have regulation thong rules, some set a minimum heel height, some restrict visible tattoos. A two-minute call fixes all of it. Ask three things: when they audition, what to wear, and whether you need a permit or license first. Some cities will not let a club audition you without a card already in hand, and it can take days to get. See /advice/permits-and-licenses-by-city.

If the person who answers cannot tell you the audition process, ask for the house mom or the manager on duty, and if nobody can, that is a small flag about how the club is run. See /advice/questions-to-ask-dancers-not-managers for the bigger ones.

What should I bring to a strip club audition?

Street clothes you can leave in, an easy-off outfit, platform heels, makeup, and a lock, plus whatever permit your city requires. Lily T.'s list from her beginner guide is the standard one and it has not changed. The outfit should come off in one or two moves: nothing over the head, no corsets, no fiddly zips, because you have one song and the undressing is part of what they are judging. Heels should be the platform stiletto kind with an ankle strap, around six inches; most clubs set a minimum heel and will tell you on the phone. Bring your makeup done, with the kit in the bag for touch-ups. Bring a lock because if they keep you, you will need a locker. And bring cash for the house fee, in case "we'll put you on tonight" is the answer.

When to go

Two windows work, and the reason is the same for both: the manager is there and the room is not yet busy.

Day shift, in the first hour or two after opening. The club is quiet, the manager has time, and day shift is where new dancers are most often offered a start.

Night shift, between 8 and 10pm. The night manager is in, the floor is filling but not slammed, and the DJ has stage time to spare. After 10 on a weekend they will tell you to come back.

Avoid event nights, holiday weekends, and the last hour before close. Keep the day clear. Lily T.'s advice is to assume they will keep you: if the manager likes what he sees at 1pm on a Tuesday, the most common next sentence is "can you start now?" and the right answer is yes.

The song

One song, usually. Freakonomics' description of the process at a New York club matches Leilah's and Lily T.'s: you go up, you take off what the club requires, the manager watches, and you are told yes or no before the next dancer is up.

Pick music you know well enough to not think about. Give the DJ a song that is slow enough to move to and long enough to get undressed to without rushing; most dancers pick something around three and a half to four minutes. Ask the DJ what the club's minimum is, meaning how undressed you need to be by the end, because that varies by club and by law. Topless clubs want the top off; nude clubs want everything off; some audition in a bikini on a quiet afternoon. If you are unsure, ask before you go up, not during.

Then do less than you think. Walk the stage. Make eye contact with the manager and with whoever is at the rail. Use the pole for a spin or a hold if you are comfortable, and skip it if you are not. Take your time undressing; the audience is watching the undressing, not the choreography. End near the rail, smiling. That is the audition.

Do I need pole tricks to get hired?

No, at the large majority of clubs. Leilah lists waiting to learn pole before auditioning as one of the most common beginner mistakes, because it delays income for months to acquire a skill that most managers are not scoring. Yamilah Nguyen, a traveling dancer who has auditioned across the country, says personality carried hers. What managers are judging is whether you look comfortable on stage, whether you can hold eye contact and smile under lights, whether you move in heels, and whether you look like someone who will sell dances. The dancers who make the most money at most clubs are not the best pole athletes; they are the best talkers. Learn pole later, for the stage tips and for your knees.

If it's a no

Ask for feedback. Say it is your first audition if it is. Lily T. notes that a rejection often comes with an offer: day shift, a trial shift, or "come back when you have your license". Take the day shift if it is offered; once one club has hired you, every audition after is easier, because you can say you have worked. Managers hire experience.

If the no is about your body, your age, your tattoos or your race, know that Leilah is blunt about this: clubs discriminate, and finding a size-inclusive or genuinely mixed roster is trial and error. It is not a verdict on whether you can do the job. Visit the next club as a customer, see who is on the floor, and audition where you see yourself. See /advice/scout-it-as-a-customer-first.

Do not argue with a no, and do not try to negotiate it. Thank him, ask when they next audition, and leave on good terms. Clubs share owners, managers move around, and the manager who said no in March may be the one hiring in September.

If it's a yes

Get the practical answers before you leave: the house fee and when it is due, the tip-outs, the dance prices and the house minimum, the shifts they want you on, the dress code in detail, and who the house mom is. Then decide whether to start tonight. Lily T. says yes if you can, and also says do not do a VIP on day one, because new dancers get targeted precisely because they are new. Work the floor, sell dances, learn the room, and leave the rooms until you know how payment works at this club. See /advice/paid-up-front-every-time before your first one.

Keep your own tally from the first shift. And write down the fee and tip-out numbers you were quoted at the audition so you can check them at cash-out. If they do not match, you have learned the most important thing about the club in one night.

Do this tonight

• Call the club: when do they audition, what do you wear, do you need a permit.
• Pack street clothes, an easy-off outfit, platform heels, makeup and a lock.
• Pick one song you know, three and a half to four minutes, and tell the DJ the club's minimum you were given.
• Go in the first two hours of day shift or between 8 and 10pm, with the rest of the day free.
• If it is a no, ask for feedback and the next audition date. If it is a yes, get the fee, tip-out and price list in writing or in your notes before you start.