Deja Vu once . . . maybe Deja Vu twice? . . . probably not . . .

by Ben Tipton

It was my friend’s 19th birthday. After a long week, my other friends and I had plans for him. We decided to take him to a strip club. We chose Déjà Vu, conveniently located near Michigan State University, just a few miles outside East Lansing.

Most of the people I was with, including myself, have never been to any sort of exotic establishment. It was a surreal experience. After piling out of our cars, we entered the doors of our celebration spot. When I walked into the lobby, two things instantly struck me: the place smelled like a hair salon and located to the left of the lobby was a porno store that appeared to be the size of a warehouse.

Our destination was the doorway on the right side of the lobby. I stared at the entrance to the club and couldn’t help but laugh. In order to get in, we were required to walk through gates. These were the type you’d see entering Cedar Point. Roller coasters, anyone?

After paying the $15 cover charge, we were on our way. We entered a room filled with music, lights and an announcer who couldn’t get enough of his own voice. Our group sat to the left of the stage, which was illuminated from below by green light. I glanced around the room to see what was going on. On center stage, one of the many strippers was “performing” her act on the pole. Surrounding the stage were men and a few women sitting on stools, baiting her with dollar bills for a close encounter.

The entrance to the stage was a fake jukebox with a doorway cut out. After each act, a new stripper would emerge from it. The back wall opposite the stage was completely mirrored, reflecting all of the lights shining about. Surrounding the outer edges of the room were grossly oversized VIP red couches, which could be reserved for the extremely low price of $25. In the midst of the room were two other dimly lit poles with strippers suctioned onto them. Scattered throughout the room were empty and occupied chairs along with cocktail tables that had the phrase “Thousands of beautiful girls and three ugly ones” printed on them. (I counted more than three.)

The makeup of the audience was diverse, and, well…a little scary. It appeared to be evenly made up of horny old guys, college students and a few bachelor parties.

There seemed to be 30 to 40 strippers on rotation. As other girls were dancing on stage, every ten minutes other strippers would parade around looking for money in exchange for lap dances and (how convenient) there was even an ATM machine in the back of the room. The girls would lead the men to rooms behind us for a show.

Overall, I wasn’t thrilled. I was just there to make sure my friend had a good time on his birthday. The verdict: if you must go to a strip club…go with friends, make sure you’re drunk and remember to have a designated driver. If you’re looking for fun, stick to the parties at MSU—they’re cheaper and the girls are real!

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