Kelly: Wow.  How does that happen?

Armand: I hardly know where to begin.  Girls have called me and told me their friends were practically molested by the male dancers. who grabbed them and grinded them - giving them attention they didn't want.  Some shy girls, along for the ride with their friends are shocked and some end up in tears after a guy gloms onto them and gets closer than the girl is comfortable with.  I've actually fired dancers - on the floor, at the show and on the spot - for getting too close to a girl without her permission.   Even down to the drinks - some male strip clubs advertise a "no drink minimum" and then gouge the ladies with $15 drinks with 20% service fees slapped on top of that.  Who the hell wants to pay $18 for a Cosmopolitan?

We at New Age Productions, Inc. love our customers and the male dancer industry. Unlike our competitors we care about our product and our brand. It saddens us to see our competitor's unethical business practices and the constant confusion created by deception. There’s no need for it. With only 5 male revue shows in New York City there is plenty of business to go around. True business people know that competition is good. However it is my belief that competition should be about quality & service and not about who’s better at fooling the public or deceptive business practices.

Kelly: We've seen a lot of that too and it really sets us off.  In regards to the men if we want a hunky guy to come closer we'll let him know.  Speaking of hunky guys, where do you find the hunks in Hunk-O-Mania and your other male revue shows?

Armand: Gyms, modeling agencies, bodybuilding shows, the beach and a lot of the prospective candidates just email us their pictures and tell us they want to be a male dancer and perform in male revue shows.  We get as many as 100 inquiries per week.

Kelly: How do you carry out quality control of your male strippers with so many possible candidates?

Armand: First, they must have the look and the height we're looking for which is 5' 11". Then, we start everyone off as waiters and we see how they interact with the patrons. While they're working and earning money as waiters we examine their personalities and demeanor. Once they pass the personality test our director of talent and choreography trains them into the art of male stripping. The more they apply themselves learning the choreographed dance routines; the more disciplined they are with their diets and appearance, the more professional and the more they follow the rules the quicker they move up the ranks.

Due to our high standards we turn away 99% of all candidates because they just don't make the cut.   What makes me laugh is that some of our rejects end up appearing in our competitor's shows.  I don't fault the guys for trying to break into the business and work with a male revue show with lower standards.

Not trying to hurt anybody's feelings but a lot of the wanna-be male dancers need to consider another career choice.  Maybe go to medical school or park behind a desk in an accounting firm.  They really don't belong up on stage.  Let's face it, not everyone has what it takes to win American idol and that's equally true for being a Hunk-o-Mania male stripper.

Kelly: I've been to your shows and I love the atmosphere as much as the men.  What do you look for in a night club?

Armand: The new trend in New York City night scene tends towards smaller lounges which makes it difficult to find a location that can comfortably seat 400 women per show while delivering an electric atmosphere.  I start with carefully screening out newcomers to the scene and only look at established venues with a good track history and seasoned management like Club Element. Then I personally inspect the venue from back to front, speak with the management and make sure that the high standards I set for my male strip shows are always maintained.  It's getting harder and harder to find night club venues like these but I refuse to lower my standards. 

Kelly: Clear up something for me.  There's HunkMania, HunkAMania and Hunk-O-Mania.  What's the difference?

Armand: Without boring anyone with a long history lesson I'll cut right to the quick and say I originated the name Hunk-O-Mania back in 1998.   In 1999 I began a business arrangement with a promoter named Thomas Zizzo under the name "Hunkmania"  who made many promises, but never delivered...Two years later he figured he'd save money by cutting me out of the business arrangement; so he hired my dancers directly, made a cheap knock-off copy of my show, I mean  a really lame knock off of my show, secretly registered the name "Hunkmania" and attempted to put a restraining order on me preventing me from ever using my own" Hunk-O-Mania" name again.  Since I used the "Hunk-O-Mania" and "Hunkamania" names in commerce prior to this promoter the law granted me priority rights to the name even though I did not have a trademark registration. Initially, this promoter only got a trademark registration for the name "Hunkmania"  but since "Hunkmania" was not getting much of a following and my company "Hunk-O-Mania"  was, in 2005 he petitioned a second registration for the name "Hunkomania". Trading on betrayal and brand confusion from day one, this ex-promoter ekes out a meager existence by picking up customers who are looking for Hunk-O-Mania but end up with a third-rate show.  It infuriates me because the girls are being cheated by a lower quality show delivered at the same prices I charge for Hunk-o-Mania tickets. 

Kelly: I'm a little confused here.

Armand: If a girl is looking for Hunk-O-Mania on Google or Yahoo! but doesn't remember the spelling she might end up searching for Hunkamania because it sounds so similar.  But Hunkamania or HunkMania is not Hunk-O-Mania, which is owned by my company New Age Productions, Inc. But the girls don't know that.  They remember the ticket prices, they remember how hot the guys were at Hunk-O-Mania so they buy tickets thinking they're getting tickets for a Hunk-O-Mania male revue.  But they don't.  They get ripped off instead.

As I explained earlier, Hunkmania and the rest of the competition in New York City hires the rejects I refuse to hire and turn away. What's worse is the fact there's no choreography to the dancing.  Hell, there is no dancing.  It's a room full of mediocre men groping and molesting women and hassling them for lap dances they don't want.  The drinks are over priced and watered down.  And talk about bait-and-switch. Girls go to HunkMania's website and see pictures of hot men.  Then when they get to the show not one of those guys is to be seen.  Even the pictures of the venue. gives a false impression.  The websites show pictures of this gorgeous mega nightclub but when the girls show up at show time they are directed downstairs to a small, darkly lit hole in the ground.  It's really seedy like an old adult film theater.

I mean the whole experience is a big negative for the ladies who were looking forward to a quality male revue.  When girls walk out of a HunkMania show they never want to go back.  That brand confusion - between Hunk-O-Mania and HunkMania - ends up hurting me because the girls are under the false impression that they saw a Hunk-O-Mania show when nothing could be further from the truth.

It's gotten to the point where I've started to market HunkaMania in my own advertising to help my customers avoid all that confusion of going with the wrong show instead of Hiunk-O-Mania - which I believe is the show they're really looking for.

Kelly: You've talked about choreography a lot.  How does New Age Productions orchestrate the choreography of its male revue shows?

Armand: I am very proud of the choreography in our shows.  I have a professional dance choreographer on the payroll who works with all of our male dancers in planning an unforgettable  show.  We carefully plan entertaining and erotic vignettes that touch upon every lady's fantasies.  Every woman has a fantasy and we work hard to make her fantasies come true as much as is possible.

Our vignettes feature firemen, police officers, rough-riding cowboys and many other types of men  in quality costumes.  To cater to every lady's taste we have black male dancers, Latin male strippers, a small army of all-American hunks and even Asian male dancers.  It's quite a scene to see a male hunk in a Naval uniform strut across the stage followed by a Wall Street power broker in a Brooks Brother suit with a tool-belt toting construction worker right behind him. 

Kelly: Wow that sounds hot! Tell me a little more about those vignettes.

Armand: We could easily put some guys on stage and have them strut around but that's too gratuitous.  We want to give ladies a complete show.  Before the male stripper in the US Navy uniform dances across the stage the emcee might introduce him with something like this.  "A US Navy vessel just pulled into New York Harbor to give the crew some R&R ashore after not even seeing a woman in six months.  We were fortunate enough to get one of those Naval officers here tonight..." and then a few male dancers shoot across the stage in their dress whites.

We're not trying to compete with Broadway where a singing, dancing scripted show is concerned but we definitely want to deliver an entertaining show every woman will enjoy.

Kelly: I've been to dozens of male strip shows and never could say exactly why I liked your male revue shows more than most others. Thank you for taking the time to talking with us Armand.