Carmen Ali and Siân Docksey are among the comedians who riff on their experiences as strippers. The pandemic has revealed both industries to be precarious – but they’re looking out for each other
What do standup comedy and stripping have in common? “I see them as the same, but one is better paid and heavily stigmatised. They’re both disappointments to your parents,” says Jacqueline Frances, who has careers in each and has the online pseudonym Jacq the Stripper. “Strip clubs and comedy clubs used to be the same thing: cabarets. You’re getting people to feel something, and don’t have a lot of time to do it, so you need to be swift and clever.”
There have always been performers who combine both jobs. “A lot of people in the arts have dabbled, out of necessity, in various areas of the sex industry, while in between jobs or to finance the Edinburgh fringe,” says comedian Siân Docksey, who has worked as a stripper before.
