Vancouver’s Karl Kelly is putting the butt into butler.
The 30-year-old IT specialist sheds his business casual each weekend in favour of a bow tie, cuffs and apron that leaves his backside bare as part of a new Canadian fleet of Butlers in the Buff.
The international company, now recruiting in Victoria, offers the services of scantily clad butlers to bachelorettes, birthday girls and anyone else for $95 per hour.
“We’re a nice alternative to the traditional stripper option,” said Jennifer Didcott, who co-directs the business with her husband, Jason — the original butler.
“We go more for what women really want, which is a little bit of titillation and the chance to be served and pampered by some handsome guys.”
Without performance or full nudity, it’s not stripping, she said.
The business is more about combining eye candy with service: Butlers serve drinks, pass appetizers and host party games.
“We’re not out to shock or embarrass,” Didcott said.
Butlers in the Buff, which launched in the U.K. about 10 years ago, now employs about 450 butlers and has franchises in Australia as well as starting businesses in Florida, Vancouver, Whistler and Victoria. The company has plans to expand to an additional 15 American cities and six Canadian cities by the end of April.
Victoria auditions will be held via Skype on March 15. Butlers earn $40 per hour, plus tips.
According to Annalee Lepp, chairwoman of the women’s studies department at the University of Victoria, services like Butlers in the Buff reinforce traditional ideas about male sexuality, at the same time as turning them on their heads.
“On one hand, it kind of reproduces notions of male sexuality — that men are allowed to be sexual and be sexual in various contexts,” she said. “Simultaneously, because [men] are providing the service, it kind of reverses what we would conventionally see in the sex industry.”
There seems to be an appetite for this type of service among women, she said, especially thanks to films like Magic Mike, about a male stripper.
Kelly, originally from Dublin, said he got into the business four years ago in Australia at a friend’s recommendation.
“I’ve got a personality sort of suited to it,” he said. “I love the attention. I love having fun. It’s totally worth the money.”
It’s very different from stripping, he said.
“Apart from your cheeks being exposed, you’re wearing about as much as you’d wear at a beach,” he said.
Another Vancouver butler, Matt, said his hockey buddy recommended it as motivation to stay in shape and meet people outside of a pub atmosphere. He had experience bartending, which helps him in the job.
“I just get a good time out of it,” he said.
“Obviously, extra cash helps pay the mortgage or whatever. Other than that, I get some fun entertainment myself.”
