Thunder from Down Under Male Strip Show in Fairfield Iowa: Review of the Revue

G'Day! Should you spend your time and money seeing one of Australia's hottest exports named the 'Best Male Strip Show' by the Las Vegas Review Journal for four consecutive years- Thunder from Down Under Revue? You are probably shouting "Yes!" to what seems a silly question

When and Where: My review is for the May 27, 2009 Thunder from Down Under show performed in Fairfield, Iowa at the Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts, housed in The Fairfield Arts & Convention Center. On the Wednesday evening, nearly all of the theatre's 522 seats were filled- with women of all ages, from all walks of life. And with a few brave men.

Thunder from Down Under Revue Pre-show: A promo video montage of the male strippers, which is also on the Internet, was displayed on a large screen against the stage rear. It showed excerpts of the Thunder Revue featured on shows such as NBC s Today Show, The Tyra Show, E!'s Top 12 Sexiest Vegas Shows, and The View. I give the pre-show two thumbs down. We don't need the hype. We're already sold. We're here, aren't we?

The video also showed the blokes posing nearly naked for photos and drew ear-piercing screams of sexual excitement from ladies who had earlier spent time in the atrium eating chocolate-covered strawberries and drinking wine. I hope the ladies were wearing earplugs, which are offered at some Thunder shows. Or perhaps they were too besotted to care. My friend and I kept our fingers in our ears. We didn't know about the earplugs.

The Thunder from Down Under Hunks: All Thunder hunks are fair dinkum Australian. Some are acrobats, some are dancers- and some are both. All are bodybuilders. Their strong hard muscles, washboard abs, and huge...smiles make them immensely attractive. I give the blokes two thumbs up. I wish I had more thumbs.

Thunder from Down Under Revue: The Revue had no warm-up act- unless you count the video, which I don't. The live performance started at least a half hour late, with no excuses made. But when the hot Aussie hunks penetrated the stage, nothing else mattered.

Using just six blokes from the stable of Thunder From Down Under male strippers, the show offered several dance routines. I use the dance term loosely because only one Thunder hunk of this particular group really could dance- Dave Moore. While the others shuffled through simplified steps, Dave danced more complex steps- with precision, energy, and grace. Although not my personal favorite in the looks department, he's the one I watched.

The Aussie blokes danced in costume and lip-synced to popular music for each thematic routine- they were cowboys, pirates, Spartans, etc. During their dance moves, they flexed their muscles, did energetic acrobatics, break-danced, and sexily stripped off clothing, one article at a time. After the dancing, the males ran offstage and threw themselves into the audience. Women touched and caressed them everywhere- well, nearly everywhere. And that's the main strength of this show- the touchy-feely.

The Fake Orgasm Contest: Another strength of the show- besides the strong gorgeous hot bodies- is that the men brought audience members onto the stage to participate. They tended to ignore the glamor pussies and chose instead girl-next-door and pleasingly-plump gals. For the Fake-an-Orgasm contest, they brought up three ladies. The rules? The ladies must keep their clothes on and the orgasm must be a fake.

The first two females each faked an orgasm with moans- neither female came close to matching Meg Ryan's loud and lengthy fake orgasm in the film When Harry Met Sally. But the third female, who was given permission by a hunk to use him as a prop, humped the hunk as she screamed in ecstasy. Of course she won the contest. The male hottie crowned her with a tiara and gave her a ticket to have the first photo op with the blokes after the show- which is when every female in the theatre was given the chance to sprawl across the laps of the male strippers and have her photo taken.

More Male Stripper Antics: Other women were brought on stage singly. Each time, a male stripper would grasp her hands in his and slide them onto his buttocks. Or press them against his naked chest and slide her fingers teasingly close to his donger- driving the woman and the audience insanely wild. But the screaming nearly broke the sound barrier whenever an Aussie stripper pretended to do the sex act with his female prey, without touching, or to perform cunnilingus on her- all tastefully done, nothing raunchy. I assure you, despite how it sounds.

To further tease the ladies, the sexy blokes were always playing with their thongs- or G-strings or penis-wear. Each would slide a hand inside, close to his manhood- or donger or doodle. Turning their backs on the audience, the males pulled down the backs of their thongs, showing off taut derrières. The women would jump to their feet and clamor to be chosen to participate on stage or to touch a stripper mingling among them. Or standing on one of the low walls. Then the place was really going off!

Shannon Robinson- the new bloke on the block- did the sexiest and most romantic routine with a female member of the audience, who was likely pre-selected and coached. One of the best acts, it showed off Shannon's awesome physique and artistry in the tantalizing play between a man and a woman. The fluid poses resembled those of romance book covers.

Recommendation: Two Thumbs Up! Despite flaws and rare disappointments, the Thunder From Down Under male strip show overall pleases, delights, stokes, uplifts, and titillates. Every female and gay guy should see the hot Aussies of Thunder From Down Under if only once. And once was enough for me, unless all the guys learn to dance and get dirtier- the good clean fun was too clean. But, yes, yes, yes! Go see the hot hunks with their hard muscles, flat six-pack abs, bulging thongs, and big, big smiles. They give you a hot sexy night of sensual fun.

The best joke of the night by one of the hottie blokes was-
Q: What's the difference between a French kiss and an Australian kiss?
A: We like to do it down under.

The Man behind Thunder: The Chief Executive Officer of Steck Productions International (SPI) Entertainment, Adam Steck (39), co-owns and produces Thunder From Down Under, which began in Australia as Manpower in the early '90s and debuted at the Stardust in Las Vegas. Steck took over the show when its creator, Billy Cross, shelved it a few years earlier. Since then, the SPI chief has imported other acts from Australia, including Human Nature- a male singing group who perform Motown songs. He also produces Louie Larger Than Life with Louie Anderson of Family Feud fame.

So, how did an Iowa town such as Fairfield with a population of less than 10,000 land a tour stop by Thunder from Down Under? Because it's the hometown of the show's producer. Steck graduated from the local Maharishi High School in 1988. But despite this connection, he was a no-show for the Fairfield performance. Self-taught in the business of promoting showbiz acts, Steck has made his SPI Entertainment headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada.