Men of X do it nightly

I was supposed to be drooling, not laughing, but I couldn’t help it.

The ultra-masculine cast of Men of X, the brand new male revue at Hooters Hotel & Casino, danced, dry-humped and sex-stared their way through every prosaic female fantasy: fireman, pilot, construction worker/handy man, police officer, cowboy, soldier, James Bond, doctor, vampire, SWAT team--even silver-gloved, moonwalking Michael Jackson (not for me, but to each his own).

They also simulated a whole lot of sex, oral and otherwise.

The rest of the women in the small but full theater made up for me, screaming “Yeah, take it offs!” at the stage. The trio of blondes, the overweight tourists, they were all more than satisfied, ogling the men, reaching out to touch their sculpted asses, sticking dollar bills in their skintight boxer briefs.

Jeff, the gay friend who'd agreed to be my date for the evening, and I were the only ones who left not turned on but amused—and a little shaken up.

By the end of the show, we had been covered in silly string (supposed to simulate, well, you know), had a mouthful of bottled water spewed on us (also supposed to be sexy), had a sweaty wife beater land on our laps and watched a stray numchuck hit the woman sitting next to us in the face (the warrior-fantasy man accidentally let it fly).

At the 75-minute show’s climax (talk about endurance), I was dragged onstage to engage in a shower scene with the weathered, Fabio-esque Richard Anthony, who stuck my head inside his towel, shook his naked dong in my face, and then proceeded to smother me with his dripping wet body, ensuring that I got wet--no, not that kind of wet.

Men of X, which opened last Friday, replaces Bobby Slayton at the Night Owl Lounge inside Hooters and is the Strip's fourth male revue (but who's counting?). It is produced by Angela and Matt Stabile and their daughter, Tiffany Koepp.

The Stabiles also produce X Burlesque at the Flamingo and before that, ran its now defunct predecessor X Girls, which was at the Aladdin (now Planet Hollywood) in 2002.

Angela Stabile claims that she created Men of X because so many people--men and women--asked for a male version of the popular X Burlesque.

What makes the X shows different from the plethora of other sexy stripteases in the city?

"There are a lot of sexy shows in Vegas, but a lot of the guys and girls are not as talented as my casts," says Angela. "All of the guys, besides being extremely, extremely hot, are very talented dancers as well."

Before curtain call I spoke with a few of the Stabile's dancers, Steve Kim, a large and handsome Asian man, and the above-mentioned Richard Anthony.

Kim came out to meet me in a tight black Emporio Armani V-neck and jeans, cupping a cup of coffee in one hand and a banana in the other.

Anthony was a bit more outré, in a long black trench coat with nothing underneath.

Both are veterans of Hollywood Men and Chippendales, where they met one another six years ago.

Anthony was also a dancer in Splash at the Riviera from 1994-2000 before moving to Men of Sapphire. In the ‘80s he was in Hollywood Men and has performed in Vegas for 15 years, which gives you an idea of his vintage. But hey, he still looks great, and in my book, men only improve with age.

But why do they take off their clothes for a living?

“Dancing, people screaming, it doesn’t get any better than that!” says Kim. “We’re kids doing what we love, so it’s not really work; it’s physically tiring, but we’re very lucky to have this kind of job.”

Anthony had to warm up to it, but it didn't take long. Before he took to the stage he was a bouncer for a male revue in Orange County, and one night he was asked to dance. Already a clubber and a natural dancer, he got up on stage without much hesitation.

“The hardest part was taking your clothes off and hearing the girls scream, but that took only about three to four nights to get used to,” he says with a grin and shake of his chin-length curls.

Anthony’s favorite aspect is not the women (he claims) but “the camaraderie that we have backstage. We never have any fights. We all get along.”

Both Anthony and Kim are currently single, although both have been married at least once before (both to female strippers).

“We are eligible bachelors,” they state.

So is it difficult maintaining a solid relationship when you are sexing up women nightly?

“If a girl is insecure at all, forget about it,” says Kim. “You might have fun, but it’s not going anywhere.”

Have they ever hit on girls in the audience?

“Yes,” says Kim. “We’re not afraid to say ‘Hi,’ if you know what I mean. I mean we’re human beings, we’re not going to be like, ‘She’s a paying customer, I can’t!’”

Anthony chuckles and mutters something under his breath about “getting lucky a couple of times a night.”

“I’ve seen so many hot girls,” continues Kim. “They’re a dime a dozen. If you don’t impress me with your personality, it’s like, onto the next night! We’re not fazed by looks because we see it all the time. There are a lot of stigmas about dancers. People think we’re all about hooking up every night, but we aren’t, since it’s there every night. We know we can. We’re not trying to get into some girl’s pants, we’re hanging out with the guys, drinking.”

Is it easy for them pick up women?

Kim and Anthony look at each other and smirk. “It’s not hard.”

“Sometimes you can have the easy girl, the groupie, but you just want to hit it and quit it,” Kim explains. “And then there’s a quality girl, a special girl with brains and beauty that you actually like, but she’ll be like, ‘I’m a quality girl, I don’t want to be with a dirty stripper.’”

The guys themselves aren't as picky.

They both have married and divorced strippers and dated quite a few. Anthony’s last relationship was a three-year run with a stripper.

“I have respect for them,” says Anthony. “We understand their business, so we don’t get jealous like most men do.”

“I have nothing but love for them,” Kim concurs. “It’s a job—one of the hardest jobs. They have to hustle and we don’t. They have to drink and do drugs to deal with the men all over them. We do the show, take pictures after the show and leave.”

Which is just what Jeff and I did.