Male Strip Shows
Founded in 1987, Dreamboys are undeniably the most famous and successful male strip show in the UK history and have been featured in more newspapers, magazines and on more TV shows than any other male strippers in the UK put together. We are famous for our celebrity guest stars such as Jake Quickenden, Michael Griffiths, Dan Osbourne, Scotty T & Gaz Beadle to name a few. No other company in the world is responsible for so many celebrities getting their kit off!
Male striptease shows have been around for decades, in the UK they have come to the forefront of the entertainment world thanks to the massive feature film “The Full Monty" hitting the Hollywood screens in 1997. The film was based around 5 average working guys who accidentally embarked on a male strip show taking place at their local social club. The hysteria and atmosphere at this show was second to none and the male stripping industry as we know it today was born. It wasn’t long until male strippers started popping up in pop culture and featuring on tv and in music videos.
The Dreamboys have been a pioneering force from long before the movie. With their elaborate choreography, cheeky personalities, a healthy dose of humour, the nationwide Dreamboys theatre tour and Saturday night shows offer you a chance to let your hair down and go wild for a night.
We are proud to be the world’s most inclusive male strip company welcoming everyone to our shows. Dreamboys has been created for all audiences age 18 - 100 from every walk of life. We welcome everyone from all communities to our shows, whether its a girls night out, gay stag do, hen night, birthday, date night or just because, we offer the very best of the male strip show experience.
1976 – The Chippendales club is founded in Los Angeles
The first conception of having males dance in a club for a ‘women only’ audience was seen in a Los Angeles club called “Chippendales" (named after the same style of furniture that adorned the interior). The club owners were ‘Somen Banerjee’ and young attorney ‘Bruce Nahin’.
However the initial idea of the ‘male revue’ was by ‘Paul Snider’, a former night-club manager from Canada who was working illegally in the US, with his high profile play-boy feature wife ‘Dorothy Stratten’. Banerjee and Nahin later hired a well known New York based choreographer ‘Nick De Noia’ and turned the show into a more theatrical experience for the guest’s with a unique ‘hands-on’ element that had the nation’s women buzzing with excitement.
1978 – “LaBare" first opens its doors in Dallas
The southern U.S answer to the ‘Chippendales’ came shortly after in the form of a club called “LaBare" based in the city of Dallas, TX. With a focus on more ‘rough’ and ‘rugged’ looking men, the club appealed to the cowboy loving women, as opposed to the ‘clean cut’ and model look of the Chippendales.
LaBare instantly became a massive hit with the women in Dallas, with many even selling their own car and other personal belongings to regularly visit the club!
1980 – Club “le 281" in Montreal, Canada – was founded
Not long after male stripping had gained some popularity in the United States, thanks to news articles, magazine publications and Television exposure, it wasn’t long before a dedicated male strip club opened in Canada. The club owner Mr. Delisle apparently visited a “Crazy Horse" establishment in Miami, and had the idea to open up a similar bar in Montreal to cater for women.
1987 – Dreamboys founded in the UK
After hearing about the excitement of this new industry coming to life halfway across the world, the United Kingdom had its first male strip show open its doors in 1987.
Dreamboys was different to its counterparts in the U.S, being based in a country with no culture of tipping, it was formed as a male revue – a theatrical show, in which they could sell tickets performing erotic theatre. The show started in Wardour st, London.
1990 - Male stripping hit’s the mainstream media
1990 – SNL created a skit with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley as Chippendale hopefuls auditioning. Chippendale show owner Nahin and celebrity Swayze were discussing the possibility of doing a hilarious ‘Chippendale audition’ based skit on a popular comedy TV show named “Saturday Night Live" (which still airs to this day). The idea came to life, and the comedy skit was a huge success, prompting male stripping to be thrust into the global spotlight.
Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley perform the hilarious ‘audition skit’ on national television show SNL.
1991 – Manpower is founded in Australia
Australia’s first male strip show was created by entrepreneur and performer “Billy Cross" in a small nightclub Australia. It featured a similar show that was on offer by the Chippendales, however it marketed its point of difference by being exclusively 100% Australian “beef", meaning that they only employed Australian men.
1991 - The Dreamboys celebrate Princess Diana’s Birthday
In 1991, The Dreamboys were invited to play gods in a scene with the British Youth Opera and Ballet at Whitehall Palace for a charity gala in celebration of Princess Diana's birthday. Lady Diana met the boys after the show and is reported to have said 'You aren't wearing very much tonight.' One of the boys replied 'You should see us in our show'.
1997 - The Full Monty
The Full Monty is set in Sheffield, England and tells the story of six unemployed men, four of them former steel workers, who decide to form a male striptease act in order to gather enough money to get somewhere else and for the main character, Gaz, to be able to see his son. Gaz declares that their show will be better than the Chippendales dancers because they will go "the full monty"—strip all the way—hence the film's title.
Despite being a comedy, the film also touches on serious subjects such as unemployment, fathers' rights, depression, impotence, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and suicide. The Full Monty was a major critical success upon release and an international commercial success, grossing over $250 million from a budget of only $3.5 million. It was the highest-grossing film in the UK until it was outsold by Titanic.
1997 - The Dreamboys get together with the Spice Girls
In 1997 The Dreamboys featured in Spice World (film), a 1997 British musical comedy film starring pop girl group the Spice Girls who all play themselves.
1998 – Hunk-O-Mania begins in NYC
Prior to Hunk-O-Mania in NYC, there was a permanent Chippendales show regularly performing on weekends. However the women of New York demanded a club environment, similar to that of LaBare in Dallas. A club that could be open most days of the week. As opposed to the more Broadway style of show that the Chippendale’s offered. This is how Hunk-O-Mania was born, it was the “LaBare" of NYC. Hunk-O-Mania later created a world first non monetary tipping system called “hunk bucks", in which women exchange their real money for fake money and the entrance to the club. Using the fake money (hunk bucks), they are able to pay for lap dances.
2011 - The Dreamboys launch a nationwide UK Tour
Due to the high demand the Dreamboys officially launched their first UK tour in 2011 performing for thousands of women all over the country. It was a sell-out and they have toured the UK every year ever since and now do over 100 dates in theatres and arenas each year.
2012 – Magic Mike Film is released
Every women who saw the film wanted their own real life magic mike to strip for them at their birthday or bachelorette party. The film created even more demand for male strippers and boosted the male stripping industry to new heights as never seen before. That year male revues had record breaking ticket sales including the 2012 Dreamboys Fit & Famous Tour.
2019 - Dreamboys clubs in the UK total 13
After ever increasing enthusiasm there are now a grand total of 13 Dreamboys male strip clubs in the UK in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Blackpool, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle & Nottingham. Catering for a liberalised & inclusive society men and women regularly attend shows. There are more than 500 night club events every year on Saturday nights and over 100,000 tickets are sold for these events alone.
Male striptease shows have been around for decades, in the UK they have come to the forefront of the entertainment world thanks to the massive feature film “The Full Monty" hitting the Hollywood screens in 1997. The film was based around 5 average working guys who accidentally embarked on a male strip show taking place at their local social club. The hysteria and atmosphere at this show was second to none and the male stripping industry as we know it today was born. It wasn’t long until male strippers started popping up in pop culture and featuring on tv and in music videos.
The Dreamboys have been a pioneering force from long before the movie. With their elaborate choreography, cheeky personalities, a healthy dose of humour, the nationwide Dreamboys theatre tour and Saturday night shows offer you a chance to let your hair down and go wild for a night.
We are proud to be the world’s most inclusive male strip company welcoming everyone to our shows. Dreamboys has been created for all audiences age 18 - 100 from every walk of life. We welcome everyone from all communities to our shows, whether its a girls night out, gay stag do, hen night, birthday, date night or just because, we offer the very best of the male strip show experience.
Buy Tickets 〉
A HISTORY OF MALE STRIPPING
1976 – The Chippendales club is founded in Los Angeles
The first conception of having males dance in a club for a ‘women only’ audience was seen in a Los Angeles club called “Chippendales" (named after the same style of furniture that adorned the interior). The club owners were ‘Somen Banerjee’ and young attorney ‘Bruce Nahin’.
However the initial idea of the ‘male revue’ was by ‘Paul Snider’, a former night-club manager from Canada who was working illegally in the US, with his high profile play-boy feature wife ‘Dorothy Stratten’. Banerjee and Nahin later hired a well known New York based choreographer ‘Nick De Noia’ and turned the show into a more theatrical experience for the guest’s with a unique ‘hands-on’ element that had the nation’s women buzzing with excitement.
1978 – “LaBare" first opens its doors in Dallas
The southern U.S answer to the ‘Chippendales’ came shortly after in the form of a club called “LaBare" based in the city of Dallas, TX. With a focus on more ‘rough’ and ‘rugged’ looking men, the club appealed to the cowboy loving women, as opposed to the ‘clean cut’ and model look of the Chippendales.
LaBare instantly became a massive hit with the women in Dallas, with many even selling their own car and other personal belongings to regularly visit the club!
1980 – Club “le 281" in Montreal, Canada – was founded
Not long after male stripping had gained some popularity in the United States, thanks to news articles, magazine publications and Television exposure, it wasn’t long before a dedicated male strip club opened in Canada. The club owner Mr. Delisle apparently visited a “Crazy Horse" establishment in Miami, and had the idea to open up a similar bar in Montreal to cater for women.
1987 – Dreamboys founded in the UK
After hearing about the excitement of this new industry coming to life halfway across the world, the United Kingdom had its first male strip show open its doors in 1987.
Dreamboys was different to its counterparts in the U.S, being based in a country with no culture of tipping, it was formed as a male revue – a theatrical show, in which they could sell tickets performing erotic theatre. The show started in Wardour st, London.
1990 - Male stripping hit’s the mainstream media
1990 – SNL created a skit with Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley as Chippendale hopefuls auditioning. Chippendale show owner Nahin and celebrity Swayze were discussing the possibility of doing a hilarious ‘Chippendale audition’ based skit on a popular comedy TV show named “Saturday Night Live" (which still airs to this day). The idea came to life, and the comedy skit was a huge success, prompting male stripping to be thrust into the global spotlight.
Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley perform the hilarious ‘audition skit’ on national television show SNL.
1991 – Manpower is founded in Australia
Australia’s first male strip show was created by entrepreneur and performer “Billy Cross" in a small nightclub Australia. It featured a similar show that was on offer by the Chippendales, however it marketed its point of difference by being exclusively 100% Australian “beef", meaning that they only employed Australian men.
1991 - The Dreamboys celebrate Princess Diana’s Birthday
In 1991, The Dreamboys were invited to play gods in a scene with the British Youth Opera and Ballet at Whitehall Palace for a charity gala in celebration of Princess Diana's birthday. Lady Diana met the boys after the show and is reported to have said 'You aren't wearing very much tonight.' One of the boys replied 'You should see us in our show'.
1997 - The Full Monty
The Full Monty is set in Sheffield, England and tells the story of six unemployed men, four of them former steel workers, who decide to form a male striptease act in order to gather enough money to get somewhere else and for the main character, Gaz, to be able to see his son. Gaz declares that their show will be better than the Chippendales dancers because they will go "the full monty"—strip all the way—hence the film's title.
Despite being a comedy, the film also touches on serious subjects such as unemployment, fathers' rights, depression, impotence, homosexuality, body image, working class culture and suicide. The Full Monty was a major critical success upon release and an international commercial success, grossing over $250 million from a budget of only $3.5 million. It was the highest-grossing film in the UK until it was outsold by Titanic.
1997 - The Dreamboys get together with the Spice Girls
In 1997 The Dreamboys featured in Spice World (film), a 1997 British musical comedy film starring pop girl group the Spice Girls who all play themselves.
1998 – Hunk-O-Mania begins in NYC
Prior to Hunk-O-Mania in NYC, there was a permanent Chippendales show regularly performing on weekends. However the women of New York demanded a club environment, similar to that of LaBare in Dallas. A club that could be open most days of the week. As opposed to the more Broadway style of show that the Chippendale’s offered. This is how Hunk-O-Mania was born, it was the “LaBare" of NYC. Hunk-O-Mania later created a world first non monetary tipping system called “hunk bucks", in which women exchange their real money for fake money and the entrance to the club. Using the fake money (hunk bucks), they are able to pay for lap dances.
2011 - The Dreamboys launch a nationwide UK Tour
Due to the high demand the Dreamboys officially launched their first UK tour in 2011 performing for thousands of women all over the country. It was a sell-out and they have toured the UK every year ever since and now do over 100 dates in theatres and arenas each year.
2012 – Magic Mike Film is released
Every women who saw the film wanted their own real life magic mike to strip for them at their birthday or bachelorette party. The film created even more demand for male strippers and boosted the male stripping industry to new heights as never seen before. That year male revues had record breaking ticket sales including the 2012 Dreamboys Fit & Famous Tour.
2019 - Dreamboys clubs in the UK total 13
After ever increasing enthusiasm there are now a grand total of 13 Dreamboys male strip clubs in the UK in Birmingham, Bournemouth, Blackpool, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle & Nottingham. Catering for a liberalised & inclusive society men and women regularly attend shows. There are more than 500 night club events every year on Saturday nights and over 100,000 tickets are sold for these events alone.