Las Vegas Weekly

Even more revealing

All-nude Palomino club builds a better lap dance with the addition of … trivia?

Just when you thought it was safe to get an anonymous lap dance in Vegas. Playboy TV’s newest show premiered on January 10, and you may recognize some of the unsuspecting customers who walk into the VIP room of the Palomino strip club and get more than they bargain for—though it’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Show Us Your Wits arrives just in time if you were thinking there weren’t nearly enough game shows with naked chicks. And we mean completely naked. As the only fully nude gentleman’s club in Sin City with a full bar, the Palomino is the perfect setting to loosen up a few customers with a couple of drinks, then lure them into what could potentially be an awkward scenario. Brimming with eager anticipation, customers are led into the back room by a stripper, who proceeds to inquire where they’re from—many are Vegas locals—and what they do for work. Then the dancer asks, “Do you like to play games?” Without hesitation, the male customers positively respond, and Playmate Daphne Duplaix, the show’s lingerie-clad host, enters the room.

“It’s the only trivia game show that gives you a dance—and a chance to walk out of a strip club with more money than you came in with,” says Duplaix to the now game-show contestants, most of whom look thoroughly confused at the abrupt change in plans. Yet they appear to be good sports, and are rewarded with 100 bucks right off the bat for not running out of the room. Plus, they’re still going to get their lap dances, though Duplaix will be asking the men embarrassingly simple trivia questions while a stripper proceeds to take it all off, causing a major distraction during the two-minute process.

“I think it’s just fun and entertaining,” says Duplaix of the show. “I want to say ‘cute,’ but I don’t know if ‘cute’ is the word when you’re dealing with strippers.” Duplaix’s involvement in the show began when she attended a birthday party of another Playmate and was approached about the show. “Honestly, it was hysterical to watch these guys in the situation that they ended up in. We really did surprise them,” she says. “They thought they were there to judge a lap-dancing contest, and the curtains close and the girls started to do their thing, then all of a sudden I popped in … It was pretty hysterical to see their reaction when I opened the curtain.”

Besides being the July 1997 Playboy centerfold, Duplaix also appeared on the delightfully horrible soap opera Passions and has an upcoming guest spot on CSI: NY. However, Show Us Your Wits is her primary project for now. “Maybe it’s the first time you’ll be laughing at Playboy TV!” says Duplaix, and some of the contestants and their responses will have you snickering, despite the naked dancers seductively grinding on the screen.

“What bubbly TV chef is known for her 30-minute meals?” Duplaix asks one contestant named Dave. “Rachel,” he responds. “Be more specific,” Duplaix counters. “Rachel, the chick that’s very fucking annoying,” says Dave. Sadly, he doesn’t garner points for what we think is a correct response. Other questions focus on slightly naughtier topics related to the contestant’s current situation (“What camping phrase is a euphemism for achieving an erection?”), yet most contestants don’t get the innuendos because they’re trying desperately to avoid looking at the dancer wriggling on their laps.

Though the show is relatively cheesy, it’s still moderately entertaining when you have 30 minutes to kill. Plus, the dancers chosen to appear on camera are a lot more attractive than some of the other strippers seen around town in person, though Duplaix explains some of the girls weren’t from the Palomino, but are aspiring Playboy models. Either way, Show Us Your Wits is probably the first instance where it’s perfectly acceptable to laugh during a lap dance.