The things we do for research.
I bore witness to the power of thunderas in the all-male Australian revue "Thunder from Down Under." Hundreds of women were screaming as the five main dancers and emcee Benny Hardy gyrated and strippedwith three of the awestruck patrons even participating in a very intriguing contest.
However, despite the troupe being primarily advertised as a party for women, the dancers contend that they are more than happy to entertain men and are very gay-inclusive. A conversation with Hardy and dancer Adam Hughes revealed their thoughts on everything from the gay community to the inevitability of retirement.
Windy City Times: So how large is the troupe?
Adam Hughes: We have a permanent show based in Las Vegas and there are 10 guys in that. Then, we have this show, where there are six guys, so there are 16 altogether. But we always have guys who train up.
Benny Hardy: By the way, you definitely have to be Australianbut it's funny, because you're selling that you're Australian, but they think that it's contrived, along with our sexuality.
Windy City Times: Your manager told me that me you're all straight. Why do you think some people assume that you're gay?
Benny Hardy: Well, we do dance around in thongs, and that's not something straight guys wear; I personally don't wear them.
Windy City Times: In Europe, I imagine you don't get this question.
Benny Hardy: When we tour Australia, Asia and Europe, we never get that question. But in America, a lot of our tours go through the Midwest and the Bible Belt. In Chicago and Vegas, people tend to be more open-minded. In 20 years, we haven't had one gay guy in our show, actuallyalthough we're fine with them being in it.
In Vegas, we sometimes have groups of gay guys who come see our show. In fact, we have a disclaimer: "Gentlemen are welcome." In fact, we have this contest and in San Francisco there was this guy who competedand we never get guys in it. He had such a great attitude, and the crowd loved it!
Adam Hughes: However, in Australia, I've got mates who can't think of anything worse than dancing to girls and having them up in their face. It's probably the worst job to do if you're gay. If you're straight, it's a great job.
Benny Hardy: Any job with any expression of art usually gets that sort of question.
Windy City Times: What term do you prefer: "dancer," "stripper," "ecdysiast" or something else?
Benny Hardy: Oooh ... I like [ecdysiast]. I hadn't heard that term before.
Adam Hughes: I like "entertainer." If we want to be funny, we say we're "clothing-removal engineers."
Benny Hardy: I like "performer" or "entertainer." It's semantics, really. "Stripper" doesn't bother me. If you get [worked] up about it, they say, "Hey. Easy..." Essentially, you're a performer because you're using all facets of entertainment: You're dancing, performing, relating to the audience and you have costumes. It's theater.
A stripper, to me, is someone who's just dancing around a lounge roomwhich is fine, you know.
Windy City Times: The word "stripper" has a different connotationin this country, anywaythan "entertainer."
Benny Hardy: It's really cabaret ... without the Liza. But I'll give her a run for her money. [Laughs]
Windy City Times: And sometimes you have legit actors who strip down for films.
Adam Hughes: There was [Jason Segel] in Forgetting Sarah Marshall...
Benny Hardy: ...and there was Kevin Bacon in Hollow Man.
Windy City Times: Interestingly, I was thinking of women when I was talking about nudity, such as Halle Berry in Swordfish.
Adam Hughes: Yes, that's true.
Benny Hardy: Then there's Charlize Theron, in just about every movie she's in.
Adam Hughes: With us, you may get some butt cheek, but that's about it. There is a lot of skin: chest, armsbut no dangling bits.
Windy City Times: How wild does the show get? What is the policy regarding touching?
Adam Hughes: They can slap us on the butt, but they don't go too far. But as long as they have funand, by the way, there are no photos allowed during our show but they can take a picture with the guys on the stage after the show. They can lie down across the guys' laps and post it on Facebook. It keeps our show free-flowing and non-tipping; tipping looks a bit seedy.
The most common response from girls after the show is "It's not what I expected. I had this preconceived idea of what it might be. It's just a very fun night.
It's not just "Look at my body." We have dance routines dressed as firemen or warriors, for exampleand Benny entertains the crowd throughout the evening.
Windy City Times: Maybe you could come out as congressmen.
Adam Hughes: [Laughs] Yeahactually, a suit would be a good routine. We've done something similar in Vegas, and we have a routine as gangsters as a tribute to Chicago. We're fully clothed, and we slowly take it off; it's a striptease, not a "strip, please." We always leave them wanting more. If we just took our clothes off at the start of the show, it'd be like, "What else is there?" Then there's the meet-and-greetand that's when the audience realizes that Benny isn't the only Australian.
Windy City Times: How'd you get started?
Adam Hughes: I was a high school teacher in Sydney...
Benny Hardy: [Smiles] That's the best.
Adam Hughes: I taught kids rowing and rugby. I moonlighted as a personal trainer. While I was training, I was asked to join the showand I got to tour the world. When I was in my mid-20s, it seemed like a good idea at the time.
Benny Hardy: I was in nightclubs and working as a personal trainer. Another guy was an engineer; that was the best one.
Adam Hughes: A lot of guys come from trades: electricians, plumbers, brickies [bricklayers]. They've always enjoyed working out. The general reasons you get picked are because of your body and attitude; once the [audience members] see you have an ego, it takes away the gloss. We're not about that; we're a bunch of "boys from next door" that you can take to meet your mom. [Hughes and Hardy laugh.]
Windy City Times: That brings up a question, though: How difficult is it to maintain relationships?
Benny Hardy: I haven't had a girlfriend for a long, long time but it would be hard to maintain a relationship. You do meet a lot of girls, right? But I imagine once is all is said and one, it's still hard. Eventually we'll be in Vegas and we can have a girlfriend and a house and a car and a pet. [This tour] is a great chance to live a different lifestyle, and it makes you appreciate it when you have a static life. It's sometimes about the grass being greener on the other side.
Windy City Times: So what's your workout regimen like?
Adam Hughes: We try to work out five to six times a week, mostly weights. We also do cardio; we have to maintain a good body the whole year round. It's in our contract; if we get too overweightif you don't have visible absyou get a warning. Singers have to have voice; we have to have abs.
Benny Hardy: No kegs allowed. I like good food, so I sometimes have to train hard. There's no motivation like taking your shirt off in front of a crowd.
Windy City Times: What are the best and worst aspects of this job?
Adam Hughes: The worst is the constant travelsleeping in a different bed every night; driving sometimes up to eight hours when you're going somewhere remote, like North Dakota. Also, you can't maintain a relationship. The best is that we get to stay in really nice cities like Chicago for the summer, in an apartment overlooking Lake Michigan.
Benny Hardy: I get bored easily, so I need many types of stimuli. Here, you get to meet heaps of different people. But I don't get to have hobbies because I'm constantly traveling. With food, you're at the mercy of [take-out]; also, you have to limit the amounts of shoes and jackets you carry around on tourthat's a big one for me.
Windy City Times: It's sounds like an exciting, entertaining careerbut it's not a long-term one.
Adam Hughes: You can do it to your late 30s. I know you're saying, "Yeah, you look about 28." [Laughs]
Benny Hardy: People ask, "What are you going to do when you're older?" I say, "If you have a good opportunity to save your money, then it'll take care of itself." I don't know what I'll do later onjust do what makes you happy.
The show runs Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 22 (with a three-week break in late August and early September). Visit www.ThunderInChicago.com .