Thunder from Down Under

Amped-up throng relishes days of 'Thunder'

Staff Report

Pass the earplugs, please.

What gets into the so-called fairer sex when 400 of them attend a male strip show such as "Thunder From Down Under" at Excalibur?

Can they not conduct themselves with a little decorum?

Well, no. At least not at a "Thunder" performance, where handsome hunks with bulging biceps and abs of steel coax women out of their shells and encourage them to live out their fantasies.

"There are two things you won't see here this evening," the host must yell to be heard, "your husbands and your boyfriends."

His words are almost drowned out by women screaming, whistling, howling like -- like men at a topless bar, only louder and wilder and raunchier.

Where are those earplugs?

The revelry, perhaps abetted by a few cocktails, continues almost nonstop throughout the 90-minute performance of the male revue, which boasts of having pleased more than 5 million women around the world during its 14-year history.

It's an evening replete with double-entendres as a fine line is walked between vulgarity and frivolity.

It's all in fun.

There's no real contact, except for some hugging and kissing and handshaking as the nine strippers alternately perform their sexually provocative routines and race through the audience to greet the fans.

One of the things that makes this show so popular is that the stars focus on the women.

Other male strippers draw attention to themselves, their chiseled physiques, their handsome features -- stressing how wonderful they are.

It's about them, the men. But for the "Thunder" cast, it's about the women.

The men are there to entertain, to make sure each and every member of the audience has a good time and leaves feeling good about themselves.

It doesn't matter how beautiful the fans are, or how fat or thin or old.

Each is drawn into the circle of fun. No one is excluded.

Cast members are fine physical specimens who strip, do cartwheels and back flips and bounce off trampolines to soar through the air.

They dance and lip-sync their way through such songs as "Hero" and "Viva Las Vegas," all the while teasing the women into a sexual frenzy.

"Our job," the host tells the fans at the start of the show, "is to make sure each and every one of you girls get exactly what you came for."

And they do, if they came to have a good time.