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The Beaver Show
"I dance. Naked. For large (and occasionally insultingly modest) sums of money."
It all started five years ago in Sydney, Australia when she was just 23: “I still wanted to be a traveler, just not a poor one anymore. So I shaved my legs and bush, showed up to the first Google search result that came up for ‘gentlemen’s club Sydney,’ got naked for this old fat guy named Jim and, to my surprise, I liked it. A lot.”
Stripping is about feeling powerful, sexy, and endlessly curious about how far a dude’s kinks will go (‘show me your armpits’) and how much he is willing to pay for them ($1200).
And the money’s sexy.
It all started five years ago in Sydney, Australia when she was just 23: “I still wanted to be a traveler, just not a poor one anymore. So I shaved my legs and bush, showed up to the first Google search result that came up for ‘gentlemen’s club Sydney,’ got naked for this old fat guy named Jim and, to my surprise, I liked it. A lot.”
Stripping is about feeling powerful, sexy, and endlessly curious about how far a dude’s kinks will go (‘show me your armpits’) and how much he is willing to pay for them ($1200).
And the money’s sexy.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2015
28 people are currently reading
315 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
November 22, 2016
Drank a bottle of wine, had some good laughs, and at the end of the night no one told me to take my panties off. Basically this book is a better time than 90% of dates I've ever been on. Enjoy.
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November 25, 2025“men will always buy tickets to the beaver show”
Easy, fun little read! but also… men are horrifying!
Easy, fun little read! but also… men are horrifying!
July 12, 2016
I really like this book and I really don't. First of all I was repulsed by a title but I decided not to care too much because it could've been seen as a sign of good humor. And yes, we could say that Jaqueline is an intelligent woman with okay sense of humor. I giggled and lol-ed few times. But really-few.
What bothers me about this book is that she managed to missed out on drama (I know for a fact that stripper world is full of drama) or even when she would mention it, I just felt it wasn't very convincing or ... Dramatic. Now, I understand she is not a writer by vocation but in few bits of this book I felt like she maybe wanted to write down a shopping list, not a book. Club after club, customer after customer, just writing it all down, with a lack of enthusiasm. Superficial.
Another thing is that I was expecting just a bit more of pondering and self-reflection. I see she is very capable of doing this and also she showed few times that she can be quite observant. But I literally felt like she thought she was too cool to tell her own story.
If wonder what would I think about Jacq if I ever met her.
What bothers me about this book is that she managed to missed out on drama (I know for a fact that stripper world is full of drama) or even when she would mention it, I just felt it wasn't very convincing or ... Dramatic. Now, I understand she is not a writer by vocation but in few bits of this book I felt like she maybe wanted to write down a shopping list, not a book. Club after club, customer after customer, just writing it all down, with a lack of enthusiasm. Superficial.
Another thing is that I was expecting just a bit more of pondering and self-reflection. I see she is very capable of doing this and also she showed few times that she can be quite observant. But I literally felt like she thought she was too cool to tell her own story.
If wonder what would I think about Jacq if I ever met her.
May 16, 2020
Wow, ok. Well, let’s address the obvious first- did anyone proof read this?? What a totally insulting way to spend free time. I did it to myself so the blame is on me, but holy hell! I know this is set in a life based on ones physical appearance, and a healthy dose of confidence is a must...but this book is no humble brag. It’s a fairy tale- every word out of every mans mouth is soaring praise (duh! What else would they say about me?!). If you’re unlucky enough to reach the final 3/4 or so, you’ll be subject to the patronizing and embellished “online chat that occurred” between a friend and herself where the friend generously lathers our author in the type of praise a nice dog would give its owner if it could talk. Our heroic and brave author returns almost every text with a paragraph confirming what the friend said about her is true, and if you’d really like to be more like me...yikes. I’m honestly happy that people hold a high self worth, no lie- it’s powerful and important, and so is being a strong kick ass woman. That’s not what this is. This is bubblegum bullshit and the story is not about perseverance or girl power- it’s a platform for narcissism. Oh! And if you don’t want to take my word for it- dont forget to laugh at all the “jokes”, which are conveniently marked with footnotes, so that you know when the author considered herself to be extra cheeky!
March 6, 2016
Crass, crazy, and compelling, this stripper's journey is wonderfully intriguing. Not for the faint of heart this sordid tale of stripping and finding one's way as a sex worker isn't for everyone but for those that brave it this is a wonderful read. "The Beaver Show" strings together stories about how Jacqueline, a lesbian Canadian, got her start stripping in Australia and eventually moved on to other countries increasing her skill set, knowledge, and customer base. The stories range from hilarious to disgusting to eye opening. Peppered throughout the stories are wonderful little drawings and stripper tips that even the most enterprising of sex workers may find useful. Wonderfully feminist and empowering, I enjoyed this book immensely. It reminded me a lot of Diablo Cody's memoir, "Candy Girl" and makes me want to read more memoirs of this kind!
January 28, 2023
Great, if slightly shallow
I read this 75% of this book in one day, which I guess says something. It has a very fun, chatty style - Jacq seems to write how she talks. There were moments when she seems to fall back on sex work stereotypes or to denigrate full service workers, possibly unintentionally, though they are quite rare. I would have liked more details about the aspects of her life that weren't her job - like the girl she decides to marry - or about the political and labour rights issues to do with sex work such as stigma and (partial) criminalization, but that wasn't in the scope of this book, I guess. As a memoir of a stripping career, it does what it's supposed to. All the sex workers I've known have been both independent and full service, so it was interesting reading about a different dynamic and set of experiences. I also liked the footnotes.
I read this 75% of this book in one day, which I guess says something. It has a very fun, chatty style - Jacq seems to write how she talks. There were moments when she seems to fall back on sex work stereotypes or to denigrate full service workers, possibly unintentionally, though they are quite rare. I would have liked more details about the aspects of her life that weren't her job - like the girl she decides to marry - or about the political and labour rights issues to do with sex work such as stigma and (partial) criminalization, but that wasn't in the scope of this book, I guess. As a memoir of a stripping career, it does what it's supposed to. All the sex workers I've known have been both independent and full service, so it was interesting reading about a different dynamic and set of experiences. I also liked the footnotes.
January 12, 2020
The author is a gay woman who makes her living stripping for men and women. The book is a look at her career but missing personal reflection that would have been interesting , like how did her more serious girlfriends feel about her job, or how had her perspective of her job changed as she became more skilled in her profession. Narrated by the author.
February 1, 2018
Jacq is a genius and so funny. I enjoyed this book so much and also learned a lot about what it can be like to be a stripper!
July 29, 2018
Respect the hustle.
June 16, 2019
Highly recommend listening this on Audiobook, Jacquline narrates it and made me laugh out loud 5 times. Easy listening and always interesting, got to peek inside the mind & life of a travelling witty stripper.
May 1, 2018
This was great; my only issue was the amount of typos. It deserves a proofread and new edition
January 13, 2023
as a fellow spicy dancer, I loved hearing Jacq's story of dancing internationally and all her adventures!!!! It was funny, happy, sad, gripping, and relatable.
August 24, 2023
The funniest book I’ve ever read. Genuinely made me laugh out loud
February 28, 2024
I found this to be a very entertaining and enjoyable read! The author shares her personal experience working as a stripper. She is self deprecating and very funny, making her extremely likeable. The story is light-hearted and fun. She shares both her good and bad experiences but it is such an enjoyable book to read!
December 10, 2019
I am a big fan of Jacq's work and I think that this is an important book.
I wish it were executed differently. While I am very glad for anyone who self-publishes, this book was in need of several types of editing help. On a micro level, layout of the book made it difficult to read (small font, oddly large margins on the outer edge of the page); as well there were copy-editing errors that were distracting. On a macro level, these amazing stories would have benefited greatly from structural editing. Some kind of organization to the chapters, with a narrative arc within which the "Stripper Tip # XXX" lived would have been a good start. A narrative arc overall was missing and I found myself toward the end wondering what was happening and I was surprised when (SPOILERS AHEAD) she had decided to quit stripping - some more real clues about it in advance would have been well done, as well as a slowing down of that last anecdote with the HJ. Lastly, while I like her messaging about owning your self and empowerment, I did feel like the anecdotes were superficial and there was lots going on that we would have benefited from reading her deeper thoughts about.
This is an important book and I hope that more strippers and sex workers write about their experiences and reflections on them.
I wish it were executed differently. While I am very glad for anyone who self-publishes, this book was in need of several types of editing help. On a micro level, layout of the book made it difficult to read (small font, oddly large margins on the outer edge of the page); as well there were copy-editing errors that were distracting. On a macro level, these amazing stories would have benefited greatly from structural editing. Some kind of organization to the chapters, with a narrative arc within which the "Stripper Tip # XXX" lived would have been a good start. A narrative arc overall was missing and I found myself toward the end wondering what was happening and I was surprised when (SPOILERS AHEAD) she had decided to quit stripping - some more real clues about it in advance would have been well done, as well as a slowing down of that last anecdote with the HJ. Lastly, while I like her messaging about owning your self and empowerment, I did feel like the anecdotes were superficial and there was lots going on that we would have benefited from reading her deeper thoughts about.
This is an important book and I hope that more strippers and sex workers write about their experiences and reflections on them.
July 9, 2021
Funny, entertaining and informative. I was loaned this book as research for a theatre show I’m currently working on and found it very useful.
January 2, 2016
Fast-paced and entertaining look into the life of an itinerant stripper who travels the world making her living. It becomes clear that, despite the sexual nature of the work, there is very little actual sex going on and this is a job like any other that has its demands and often boring and unpleasant bits. Probably the most genuine and affecting story in the book is when she agrees to travel to Paris with a client as "just friends" but is thrown when the inevitable occurs and she is forced to take a hard look at herself and how difficult it is to remain aloof from the emotional impact of her career.
December 21, 2015
Truly laugh-out-loud funny in the most scathingly incisively feminist way. Jacq takes us into an array of strip clubs and lets us peek behind the curtain (or women's bathroom door, more realistically) to get a glimpse into the world of stripping. Her writing is descriptive and observant and shows us that women who dance are not to be pitied or treated like scum: rather, we should be appreciating (most) of these gals for doing what we don't have the guts to do.
August 14, 2024
I'm obsessed with this book! I did my best to read it slowly as I just really wanted to properly enjoy it and also for it to never end. Jacqueline is hilarious and a wonderful story teller. Being in the industry myself I was able to relate to so many things which made it even more hilarious for me to read. Cannot recommend the book enough and if I could I give it at least 6 stars.
August 28, 2016
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. I loved the brash, unapologetic tone as she described her personal and professional experiences. Her self-effacing humor keeps things light even while she refuses to gloss over the violent or dangerous parts of her life.
March 12, 2023
This book was so much fun. Jacqueline does a fantastic job of painting the picture of her stripper life. You could see and smell every moment whether you wanted to or not.
July 26, 2017
Thanks Jacq for writing this book, making me laugh, and inspiring me to buy more lucite heels.
May 9, 2017
She's an engaging and witty writer. This book was surprisingly dense. You sort of feel like you've live in a strip club after reading it!
November 19, 2017
The Beaver Show is such a fun read and needed perspective. The author's voice is hilarious and honest.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews