STRIP ACTS NOTHING NEW TO CAPE GIRARDEAU

A strip club might be new to Cape Girardeau, but strippers aren't: Big Al's Big Video Dance Club, 610 S. Kingshighway, has been featuring male and female strippers on occasion for some time.

"I like to do things that are fun and innovative," said Al Bisher, owner of Big Al's. "And I've never been picketed or anything like that."

Bisher opened his dance club Thursday night for Seduction, a male-stripper dance review. On occasion he also has hosted events featuring female strippers.

"There are some things you can't show," he said, "and we don't."

Regina's House of Dolls, a club that features female strippers, is scheduled to open on Enterprise Drive in Cape Girardeau Feb. 1. David Rosener, a lawyer representing Regina's, defends it as legitimate.

The Cape Girardeau City Council last week approved an application by Regina's for a liquor-by-the-drink license after city police OK'd the request.

Police in Paducah, Ky., where a Regina's operates, have said they have had no problems with the club there.

The Hitchin' Post, a bar that closed here about two years ago, featured scantily clad women who danced, but they didn't strip.

Cody, a 25-year-old stripper from Kansas City who performed Thursday night, said women who go to clubs to see male strippers are looking for something different than are men. "Women want to be entertained," he said after his hourlong dance routine Thursday. "Men just want to see a naked woman."

Some of the women attending the show Thursday night said the opening of Regina's House of Dolls doesn't upset them.

"The thought of a female strip bar coming here doesn't bother me," said Becky, 32, a manager for an engineering company. "It doesn't matter where [men] go to get the appetizer as long as they come home for dinner."

Becky said her husband didn't object to her going with friends to the male strip show. She said that if her husband wanted to go to Regina's with his friends that would be fine with her.

Vaneesha, 23, a convenience store clerk, agreed: "There's nothing wrong with it. I came because a friend told me they were having this. It's just fun to watch."

Cody, the male stripper, said he and his co-workers work out and practice their routines at least five times a week. He said the tour of eight strippers has a different show every night for two months.

"We work hard," he said. "We have to train, too."

Tyler, a 22-year-old stripper from Tampa, Fla., said people don't realize how much work goes into stripping and how much money he has to invest in his act.

"This fringe on these boots is expensive," he said. "We have to buy clothes and outfits all the time."