How the Adonis Lounge Male Strip Club Keeps Thriving During COVID

LOS ANGELES—Male strip clubs, even before coronavirus took over our world, have been struggling. Some guys prefer to have this sort of experience available on their mobile devices nowadays while others view attending these atmospheres as archaic or simply not that interesting. And time has not been good to some of the more iconic spots. Take for instance Nob Hill Theatre, one of the most legendary adult theatres and strip clubs in San Francisco. It was a place where debauchery was king with customers witnessing mind-blowing sex acts from their favorite porn stars of today and yesteryear while other extremely hot men happily stripped butt a** naked for its audience to enjoy. They shut down permanently in 2018 after 50 years in the business, leaving one less space for people who bask in this kind of visual delight to go to. There are still a handful out there who have been doing their best to survive in a pre and present COVID world. Adonis Lounge, which began many years ago in The Big Apple, is one of them. Adonis threw parties multiple times a week that were specifically m4m (male for male). Here customers could engage with gorgeous men who were either wearing next to nothing (or in their birthday suits on some occasions) in a safe, comfortable, and ultimately fun place to be. Now they’ve switched their in-person activities to the virtual side, which has become a massive success for them. Adonis’ owner, Tim De Iturriaga, spoke with AVN about the lengths he and his team have had to go to ensure that his business keeps running, his men are paid, and his customers are happy throughout a very bizarre time in the world today. AVN: Adonis Lounge has been going on for a while now. How did it begin? TD: It began in 2009 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn of all places. I had been dancing for about eight years in the gay scene at that point throughout New York City, Florida, and Atlanta on a regular basis. This was after I began dancing for women in a male revue with my older brother. At that time I was working at a once-per-week event that had lap dances for men, something rare for The Big Apple back then. After being there for a while, I had the wild idea of starting a small weekly party with the same format on an off night. The only night I could land was a Thursday and in Brooklyn, but I took it! We were a very small event for most of that first year, but in year two I got the opportunity to move the party into Manhattan and as they say, the rest is history. We're now in our 12th year of operation in NYC and 8th in Los Angeles with tenure in several other cities during that time including Las Vegas, Phoenix, Palm Springs and many others.  You've had some pretty big names, both in and out of the porn industry, come through at least once. How are they usually recruited? Back in the day while I was still dancing, I did a fair amount of traveling to work the clubs in Florida and Atlanta. While there I had the good fortune to meet lots of great people, both dancers and customers, which allowed me to build what would become a massive network to support Adonis. Those days I begged guys to come work and often offered to fly guys in to try Adonis. As people started making money and the word began to spread, more and more big names and porn stars started to become available. Eventually, the big porn stars and private models would reach out to me when they passed through NYC for an opportunity to work. It's been that way for quite some time now. Are you able to say the craziest thing you've witnessed at one of your amazing events?  I may get myself in trouble if I give you too much juice, but we have had some wild times over the years. During one of our anniversary all nude parties, porn star Ryan Rose f**ked 2 of my "straight" boys in a live sex show. That was fun. World Pride was another crazy weekend. We had a float in the parade that year as well. I've never seen that many people in NYC having a crazy time together in my life. What do you look for when it comes to scouting a guy who is perfect for The Adonis Lounge brand? The Adonis brand can be summed up in one word: hot. We have plenty of big muscle boys, private models, and porn stars, but ultimately hot comes in many shapes and sizes, so we'll take them all... as long as they have abs!  Tell me what happened when COVID hit and you realized that these parties you threw had to be put on hold. Like everyone else, we assumed we'd have to close down for a few weeks and then be back to normal. Once we realized this would be a long-term shutdown, my brother and I put our heads together and transitioned to online Zoom events. After working out some kinks, we managed to create two separate virtual gatherings—an “Ask Me Anything” free event, which is basically a Q&A with special guests and of course a few hot dancers where my brother and I interview them; and then a second “Virtual Nude Party” (which customers pay for) that features eight naked guys where we run contests like Best D**k, Best A*s, and Best Lap Dance. To date we've completed 33 total and they've been very successful. Some of our AMA's had viewers from 15-plus different countries at once. Are you hopeful that these gatherings will resume in 2021?  We have no choice but to be hopeful for a return to live shows in 2021! When that may be is anyone's guess though. What advice would you give to those who want to create their own Adonis Lounge in their state or country? The only advice I'd give to someone thinking about opening their own Adonis Lounge in their state is don't—stay in school!