In Montreal of late, there's a free-lance striptease artist making the rounds and making a lot of people either nervous or amused, depending.
Most recently, he struck in front of a store clerk at a boutique here over a week ago. Last December, a man saying he'd been hired for the performance stripped for two women at separate West Island shopping center stores.
In the most recent incident, the clerk told police of a blond, blue-eyed man coming into the store late afternoon and saying he wanted to go somewhere private to present a "strip-a-gram". The clerk believed friends had set it up and was uncertain how to respond, then took him to a basement room and asked, when the routine finished, if she was expected to applaud.
The apparent stripper said yes. But when the clerk inquired as to whom he worked for, she discovered he worked alone, apparently.
In the December incident, one of the two women was frightened, while the other encouraged the show to go on.
The faux stripper can't be that difficult to spot, according to received descriptions. He's said to be in his early-to-mid 20s, with reddish blond hair, blue eyes, standing 5'7" and speaking English, with a small, blue-green cartoon character tattooed on his left rib cage.
But he is not a legitimate Strip-A-Gram performer. For one thing, the company says, Strip-A-Gram performers usually go on special occasions only.
Company representatives say they've had questions come in for over a year about a man operating this way. Company spokespersons say they refer callers to police, while the company's real strippers usually show up with a telegram showing the company logo. They also leave business cards after their performances.
