“I’ll just drop out and become a stripper.” Yeah, right, we’ve all said that. Gianni took it seriously.
The pay is great, you keep fit, rake in that yummy attention, and never have to read another academic article again. “What’s not to love?” said ex-student Gianni, who took up stripping as a part-time job while studying towards a double degree in Psychology and Sport and Exercise Science at Otago Uni between 2017 and 2022 (so he did actually have to read more articles).
Gianni’s stripping career has taken him around Australasia with different Magic-Mike-esque shows. On October 26, he’s bringing his current saucy tour to Dunedin.
Critic Te Ārohi (trying very hard not to blush over Zoom) had a yarn with the breatha-turned-Channing Tatum about the Dunedin stripping scene, local celebrity, and what students can hope to expect from his upcoming three-hour interactive (!) show at the Glenroy Auditorium. Tickets are 30% off for students, but clothes will be closer to 90%.
It all began when Gianni spotted an ad promising $50 an hour for topless waiters in his second year of uni. “At the time $50 an hour was like, ‘Woah, that’s pretty good’,” said Gianni. He was informed upon contacting the company that what they really needed were strippers, inviting him for a trial at Stilettos “to see if it was for me or not.” The trial for Gianni and one other newbie involved 20 to 25 strippers in a circle, “and then this chick Tabitha was like, ‘Alright, you guys pick three songs and just go’.”
Gianni passed with flying colours. As you’d imagine, the key to success was just “if you’re in shape and if you can dance.” He was promptly sent to Queenstown for what can only be described as a stripper bootcamp. After spending a few days with an American stripper who helped him learn the ropes, “I made up a routine and then started stripping on the weekends doing privates and hens’ parties and things like that, red cards and 21sts, just all sorts really.” So, if you were struggling for red card ideas...
Gianni said his mates were fully supportive while he was doing privates part-time in Dunedin: “The other guys thought it was chat.” And it was the perfect job in terms of work-life balance with the party culture in Dunedin. “We could be at a party or whatever… And I knew I would have a strip on that night. And so I'd be like, ‘I just gotta dip out for a little bit’.” He even ended up “pulling one of the boys into it a bit.”
One night as he was about to head out, one of his mates asked if he could join. “And I said, ‘Yeah sure you can come but you know you gotta take your kit off’ - cos he was fit.” The pair stripped at a red card on Castle Street, “And it went off. It was crazy. That’s what I’ve noticed actually, like private stripping is a bit more hectic in Dunedin versus like Wellington or other places around the country.” He and his mate ended up stripping together more and more, forming a duo routine between them.
The duo were catapulted to local celebrity status after one particular gig on St Patty’s Day in 2021. “These girls had booked a stripper,” said Gianni, “and it was pretty early ‘cos you know how students start in Dunedin pretty early on St Patty’s. So it was like lunchtime.” When he and his mate rocked up in their tradie costumes, there were around 50 girls waiting for them outside a flat on Queen Street. “The girls saw us and just started screaming, ‘The strippers are here!’” The crowd formed a circle around a chair in the middle.
Later, when the boys rejoined their mates and headed to the Lake House party, they ran into the same girls. “It was kind of buzzy because we’d be like little celebrities walking through because the girls would see us… People would come up to us asking for photos and things,” said Gianni, “but like, we're just students. And that was pretty cool, but surreal.”
After graduating last year, Gianni tossed up between postgrad study or continuing with a career in stripping in stage shows with different groups. “A big thing for me was like, well, it didn't feel like a job, you know?” said Gianni. “I was making pretty good cash from it. I was pretty much getting paid to travel, to train with a group of guys and dance in front of women. Like yeah, what's not to love?”
Admitting a preference for stage shows over privates (“It’s just more of a thrill, you know?”) Gianni is psyched to return to Dunedin with the international group Gentleman Prestige to perform their comedy cabaret ‘Tragic Mike’. The theme of the three-hour interactive show (yes, that means you could be pulled on stage) is ‘Netflix and Chill’, with the group describing it as “enlightening fantasies that our audience didn’t know they had relating to characters from movies and shows on Netflix.” Think Harry Potter with strip-off trousers and a very magic “wand” - courtesy of Gianni. He clearly didn’t get sucked into Draco-Harry fanfic if it's meant to be an unrealised fantasy.
Proceeds of the show will go towards Shine, a national charity dedicated to supporting domestic abuse victims and safer homes across the motu. So, not only will the audience be treated to a “good laugh and a sexy time”, it’s all for a good cause.