Chasers in Charlotte, NC

[Guest Michaelnc]

I went to Chasers earlier this week for the first time in months. The place has been hit-or-miss for me; the last time I went, there were only a couple of dancers there, and they hardly danced at all. They mostly just sat around and talked to their friends.

 

I went on Tuesday, fearing another slow night, but it turned out to be really fun. They have drag shows on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and (I think) Saturdays, and they definitely do bring in more people; several dancers confirmed that Tuesday is generally a good night at Chasers. There were about 10 dancers working, none of whom I'd ever seen before. At first glance, they seemed kind of scrawny-looking and twinkish, but I revised my opinion when I had a chance for a closer hands-on inspection. They were all in their mid-20s, mostly white, and almost all had the same body type - lean, muscular but not bulky or very defined. Several of them were very friendly and accommodating, hanging out and encouraging me to explore. I got conflicting information on whether they were straight or gay; one dancer (who said he was gay) told me most of the other guys were straight, and one who I took to be straight told me most were gay.

 

The dancers no longer do privates in the club; they made vague references to changes in the law, but I don't know what the real story is. Instead, they have a Hummer limo that you ride around in for 20 minutes with a dancer; it costs $50, plus you're supposed to tip the driver. The dancers seemed quite happy with this as a replacement for the old arrangement for private dances, but it seems very odd to me. Fooling around in the back seat probably allows you to get more for your money than in the old days, and I was tempted. If the ATM in the club had been working, I probably would have taken one of the friendlier guys out for a test-drive; but it was temporarily out of order, and even though they tried to fix it, I took it as a sign that I should hold off. I never minded spending $20 for a private there; but given that some of those privates turned out to be disappointing, $50 seems like a lot of money with no guarantee of a good time. Maybe next time, if I can get past the strangeness of it. Has anyone heard of anything like this before?

 

One more thing. The adult bookstore next door is gone, replaced by one of those internet sweepstakes cafes that have sprouted like mushrooms in North Carolina recently. It seemed much more unsavory than the bookstore (no mean feat), but it will be gone in a few months anyway; the legislature just voted to outlaw them a couple of weeks ago.

[Guest Wetnwildbear]

Okay I'll Bite

 

What is an internet sweepstakes cafe? that have sprouted like mushrooms in North Carolina recently

[MsGuy]

Internet sweepstakes cafes are mini-casinos.

 

Internet sweepstakes cafes feature gaming computers that appear to the user to be video poker, slots, etc., but in fact merely check for predetermined winners. Players make some nominal purchase (say cell phone minutes) to get access to the games. In principle the game mechanics are no different than the legal sweepstakes games offered by McDonalds and other retailers.

 

It's just a clever workaround to give folks the subjective experience of a casino type machine w/o actually operating a true gaming device. More or less legal under most state gambling statutes.

 

Give me a PM if you want to know the details of how all this skirts the gaming laws. It's one of those devil in the details things.

[Guest hot4latin]

I went to Chasers on a Friday and Saturday night a couple of weekends back. I've got to say both nights were a huge disappointment. The dancers are extremely lean to the point of malnoursihed - all except one who was pretty bold to dance given his chunkiness. But hey, everyone has their types. Unfortunately, none of mine were there. Also, the dancers could use a lesson in working the room. On Friday I wasn't approached by a single one. On Saturday, only one guy came over to say hello. Too bad as I had $200 in my pocket looking for a place to spend it. **shrug** But then again, none of them really flipped my switches anyway. Regardless, the guys dancing here are a joke. One actually reminded me of Garth from Wayne's World. Yes, that bad.