The other Vegas revues: Where the men dance

As Vegas has discovered that female tourists have money to blow on skin shows, too, a crop of male stripper revues have popped up in some unlikely places, e.g., the Hooters Casino! More have come and gone, but right now there are four: American Storm at Planet Hollywood, Chippendales at Rio, Men of X at Hooters and Thunder From Down Under at Excalibur.

Unlike the eight shows centering around topless women, however, the production variety on the guy side is limited. Each of these serve up buff guys of varying races and backgrounds -- although almost universally with smooth chests -- appearing in predictable situations, from the studly firefighter to the randy executive.

They also draw audiences dominated by women and, often, drunk, aggressive and rowdy women at that. Men are welcome to attend, but they are generally not acknowledged and are often strategically seated near the back to avoid disrupting the female fantasy experience.

If there was one to recommend over the others, it would probably be Chippendales, in part because some of their dancers also sing -- and they’re pretty good too. But the Chippendales men are also the Playboy Bunnies of the male stripper world for a reason, and that is that they tend to hire very sexy, handsome men with fine but not grotesquely muscled bodies who also have an intangible approachability to them.