MORE than 20 years ago The Chippendales took the UK by storm. At that time the phenomenon of male strippers didn't exist and certainly no-one had ever seen such beautiful looking men, the stuff of fantasies, on the stage of Dunstable venue, The Queensway Hall.

Sometimes it's easy to remember a fantasy through rose-tinted glasses. The Chippendales returned to Dunstable's new stage, The Grove Theatre, for a one-night stand recently and age had not been kind to the concept.

There's no doubt the packed house of baying women thoroughly enjoyed ogling the group of young performers as they ripped off their vests to display their ample charms – though much of the screaming was alcohol fuelled.

But the whole show had as much finesse as a hen night in a working men's club. The dancing was poorly choreographed, the men cute but not top drawer, jaw-dropping gorgeous, the set pretty much non existent and the costumes decidedly tatty.

In contrast (sorry lads) their competition, Here Come The Boys – also American and, amazingly, featuring a couple of pretty well-preserved original Chips - who appeared at The Grove last year, produced a slick, all-round classier and upmarket show that mixed top quality singing, dancing, and, dare I say it, acting, with stripping to their thongs.

Whatever happened to fantasy? Within moments of the show starting we were subjected to a sleazy "Blind Date" style quiz with three very willing young girls brought up from the audience, one of who was asked to dress a banana with a condom.

Throughout the show "volunteers" were herded onto the stage to be groped and embarrassed – not that any complained. There aren't too many men built like these walking the streets of South Bedfordshire who are prepared to rub their naked bodies down your trembling torso.

All The Chips switched into automaton mode on stage with blank expressions and little animation in their routines, their eyes fixed on some distant point as they took their tops off (yet again).

Come on guys, you can do better. Come back again with a bit of Hollywood pizzazz, a bit of cash spent on the sets, costumes and routines. We want big set pieces, less audience participation, and more men.

Singer Scott Jordan did a great Justin Timberlake act with moments of Michael Jackson thrown in for variety and, if anyone's interested, I'd take any one of the strippers, gift-wrapped, any time.