And now, the medium which has traditionally employed only females is broadening its scope to include men. Ripped, sweaty, gorgeous men who can dance rings around anyone taking to the go-go box at your local bar and incite the same eager squeals from the mostly gar crowd.  

Tuesday nights at Los Angeles hot spot Forty Deuce just transformed itself for an audience of gay men—and a random smattering of straight women who frequent the bars in Weho. Built as a burlesque club, the bar at Forty Deuce is sunken, the stage wraps around the bar and the action takes place right in the audience. There’s a sense of mystery to everything around you—if you don’t believe me, just try finding the restroom, which blend into the walls save two small, hard to read signs that simply say “Penis” and “Vagina”.  

The brainchild of nightlife entrepreneur Tom Whitman, Tuesday nights (dubbed Lucky Devil) are his way of bringing something unique to Los Angeles’ gay scene. Truth be told, he says, Lucky Devil is unique for any city’s gay scene.  

“There isn’t this kind of weekly event any where in the country, and everyone who has been the show is really excited about having something so different and unique,” he says. “It’s not like any other gay nightclub event you have ever been to.”  

Whitman’s no stranger to producing successful events for the L.A.—practically every night of the week is Tom Whitman night somewhere in this city, whether guys are belly up to the bar for the world’s fastest open bar for Thursday night’s Smack at O-Bar, getting ‘Drunk & Horny’ on Fridays at Fubar, or turning out to see who’s Popular on Saturday’s at Here Lounge. But Lucky Devil is different—it’s the art of the tease. The focus is on the talent, not the gratuitous nudity.  

“These are professional dancers, performing to professional choreography,” he explains. “This is about being sexy and masculine and hot, without being completely naked. It’s the art of the tease, and not about a guy coming out in a g-string and standing in one place dancing…  

“All of the go-go boys who work for me are going to read this and get so mad at me.”  

But Whitman’s right in the sense that, perfectly formed abs, oiled up bods and occasionally barely there costumes aside, the focus is indeed on the talent. Whitman says the dancers prepared for ten days straight, four to six hours a day in anticipation of last week’s opening night. They have a choreographer and will constantly be dreaming up new routines for the show.  

That, plus the fact this is the first time men have been seen anywhere near this artform—that is, at least, dressed as men.  

“After we came up with the idea, I did a lot of research into burlesque, specifically into ‘boylesque’,” he says. “Most of what was out there was gender-bending kind of stuff—drag performers burlesque dancing down to being a boy, or more peformance art stuff. What I did not find anywhere was hot masculine guys doing burlesque—the male equivalent of traditional sexy burlesque girls.”  

So, as they say, build it and they will come.  

Thankfully for Whitman, Forty Deuce already had a built in following of burlesque fans. Tap into the established clientele who wouldn’t mind seeing a bit of man action and lure the gays down the street from Weho for a rare, unique treat and you get a crowd much like opening night—a packed room of mildly intoxicated enthusiasts as interested in the dance as the meat on display.  

“I think that is partially what makes it so interesting – to take a traditionally female art form and make it our own. It takes what was traditionally a transgressive art form and continues the tradition…  

“And of course, I’m a gay man, so when I saw the Forty Deuce show with girls, I wanted something that sexy with men.”  

- For more on Lucky Devil, visit www.FortyDeuce.com. For more on Tom Whitman's events, visit www.TomWhitmanPresents.com.