By Sherani Theophilus, Times Chronicle
The atmosphere in the Sage Pub in Osoyoos was all “hot and bothered” earlier this week as male exotic dance revue Body Heat turned up the heat for the sold out performance. Not only did it sell out, but it did it in a record three days and in an environment where ticket sales continue to slump across the board as budgets are under pressure.
Sage owner Al Redekopp said “They were on a tour in the area and had some available dates that they were looking to fill. They made me an offer that was too good to pass up and I thought it might be nice for people in town to experience a different kind of show.
“You never know what the reaction will be until you try it. I spoke with my staff and some regulars prior to making the final decision and it seemed fairly well received so we decided to roll the dice and see what happened.”
Before the 1970s the male body was sometimes portrayed erotically in entertainment, but its sex appeal was fairly chaste, and never included dancing. Male strip shows now differ quite significantly from female strip shows. Body Heat for instance features elaborate choreography and a healthy dose of humour.
Shawn Michaelz is the manager of Body Heat as been in the business for 14 years.
“I started off as just a shirtless server at the male strippers one time in my hometown. I was working for a buddy of mine that owns a strip club. And yeah, I was just serving and girls asked when are you going on stage?”
Matt , known as Magic Mattie, one of the newest dancers on the team said “We keep it fun and funny. Asked how he got into the business, he replied “I’ve been with Michaelz for a little bit over a year now. I grew up on a farm my whole life and I wanted a completely fresh start, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.”
He moved to Calgary where he didn’t know one single person. “I happen to watch the movie Magic Mike and after I watched the movie, I’m like, I don’t know anyone, what’s the worst that’s gonna happen?”
He called a bunch of strip clubs and then ended up speaking to Michaelz who said, “Try it out. I was scared at first, but he’s a great manager. And I’m still working today.
Michaelz recalled that when he started in 2010, it was the advent of dating apps and people just stopped going to nightclubs. “We used to have standing Ladies Night events every week. That kind of died off and the nightclub scene died off and there’s not many nightclubs around. So now we’ve kind of had to adapt and move into casinos and put on bigger shows. We have choreographed routines that we do and we also add in games and prizes.”
He says they like to try to challenge themselves a little bit and do more difficult, more theatrical styles as well. “We’re all we’re quite acrobatic, all of us can do backflips and stuff like that. So we incorporate that into our shows.”
Asked if anything ever got out of hand, Michaelz said “With our show with no nudity, we have everything covered. At the end of the day, we want everybody to have fun, we’re creating a party.” And he added with a wink, “You know, some do get out of hand, but we realize that we’re the ones that cause them to go too far.”
They attract a wide demographic. They had an 80 year old at the Grand Forks show and a 90 year old in Lethbridge the night before. Shawn spoke of diversity in the audience. “It’s 2024 and we have to adapt. Used to be a ladies only thing. We hardly use that tagline anymore. We just say we are Canada’s best undressed! There’s obviously more of the gay community attending. And we’re, we’re open to everybody.”
Asked if Osoyoos would be a regular stop, Michaelz stated that he was already talking to Redekopp about a return in the fall. “This is the first time I’ve actually stayed in Osoyoos. But yeah, it’s really beautiful here.”
