How 2 stripper roommates make Zoom bachelor parties more exciting than awkward

• Jessica and Aubry are roommates and also work together for the bachelor party service Bad Girl Productions, which started offering virtual parties during the coronavirus pandemic.
• Like in-person parties, virtual ones can be personalized with costumes and themes.
• To keep things exciting while working virtually, Jessica and Aubry wore "Star Wars" costumes, taught a bride-to-be how to twerk, and dumped money on each other as guests tipped them over Venmo.
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

In their San Diego apartment, Jessica and Aubry pull on black tights, strap on belts, and drape themselves in capes, before grabbing light sabers. They dial into their scheduled Zoom call and are met by a group of eight men, all clad in "Star Wars" getups.

Jessica and Aubry, who gave Insider their first names only for privacy reasons, aren't there for cosplay, but to strip off their capes, belts, and tights because one of these guys is getting married.

They both work for Bad Girl Productions, a company that offers bachelor and bachelorette party packages in person and now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, virtually.

Jessica and Aubry quickly turned to Zoom parties in their apartment when Bad Girl Productions went completely virtual in March.

It was tricky at first but now, nearly eight months since the pandemic reached the US, Jessica and Aubry are well into the swing of virtual events, and told Insider how they compare to the old in-person parties.

Demand for virtual parties was high when the pandemic hit

Virtual parties range from 15 minutes for $125 to 90 minutes for $390.

For people who had destination bachelor and bachelorette parties planned during the height of lockdowns, the virtual approach was welcome, Elizabeth Hahn, the company's founder and CEO, told Insider.

"They're all stuck at home and they're sad, so they love that there's a solution. They love that we can jump on a Zoom call and brighten up their day because they couldn't even go to their local strip club or local bar or anything," Hahn said.

Demand for the new virtual parties was high too, despite their more awkward nature. According to Aubry, she and Jessica hosted two virtual parties every week in March and April.

It's harder work to get a virtual crowd going, but twerk lessons help

In an in-person party, the energy is instantaneous. Virtually, it takes about 10 minutes to get the crowd excited, Jessica said.

"We go screen to screen with each guy or client," to do introductions, Aubry told Insider.

It helps if the guests request a certain theme or activity.

Some performers lead a drinking game with their crowd, and some play trivia, to get things rolling. Aubry and Jessica like to dress up in costumes — whether it's a sexy nurse or firefighter, or (for one Miami-based crowd) a shark.

For one party that was a dual bachelor-bachelorette, Aubry and Jessica taught the bride-to-be how to twerk over Zoom, then instructed her on how to give all of the guests lap dances.

According to Hahn, some of her other employees have improvised virtual lap dances by working with a fellow performer and dancing on each other, or using blow-up dolls as stand-ins for humans.

Pranks keep the guests on their edge of their seats too, and Aubry and Jessica created a go-to one for virtual parties.

"One of our favorite things to do would be like, 'OK, bye guys, have fun!'  Then we wouldn't actually hang up," Jessica said. "And so they'd be like, 'Oh my god those girls were so hot,' or 'That was so fun,' and we would kind of catch them saying things they didn't think we were actually hearing about how mesmerized they were."

Clients can Venmo tips, while they pour cash over each other

Tips, which come in the form on dollar bills at in-person events, also had to be reimagined due to the pandemic.

Guests are encouraged to send tips Venmo during the virtual performance, so performers would get tipped less often but in bigger amounts.

To make tipping as fun as it is in person, Aubry and Jessica used their own cash to "make it rain," or throw money on each other while dancing, when a guest sent a virtual tip.

They loved the experience so much, they've made it part of their in-person parties too.

"I didn't realize how much fun it actually was to make it rain on a booty in front of you. Now we bring change to all of the parties. We can be like, 'OK guys, you're going to want to do this. You really want to get ones to make it rain,'" Jessica said.

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