Good Flair Requires Good Service First
One thing I don’t talk about enough on here is the important of service. I spend a lot of time teaching flair bartending moves, focusing on trying to help bartenders improve their skills at flipping bottles, tossing tins, and putting on a show. However, all of this means nothing if you don’t start with good service.
Good service means giving people what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. It means being quick, efficient, and friendly – even if you’re having a bad day. Being a good bartender means recognizing your regulars, knowing what they drink, calling them by name, and making them feel special. It means making every customer feel special. It means if you are new to bartending, put down the flair bottle and tin, and focus on these other things first. My love for flair bartending is surpassed only by my angst over poor service.
As a flair bartender, it is so important that you be a good ambassador of flair. The popularity of our sport grew rapidly in the ’90s and ’00s but has waned a bit in the last 5-10 years – in part because flair bartenders got a bad reputation, justified or not, as being showboats who put entertainment first before being a good bartender. Ironically, nearly every professional flair bartender I have met in my 15 years could work a whole shift, never flip a single bottle, and still make all of their customers love them and want to come back. As flair bartending begins to grow its audience again, it’s monumentally important that the new crowd of flair bartenders learns to do the same. Take to heart the FBA’s motto: “Service First, Flair Second, Competition Always.”
If you’ve managed to make a career as a bartender, you’re well aware of the importance of exceptional service; it’s in your blood. If you’re new, it’s important that you follow in their footsteps.
A tip of the hat to Dave Simpson of the Avenue Classic Bar, as he puts it: “If you can forget about being the centre of attention and focus on the customer, you’ll never go wrong.”
WGN TV Beer & Food Pairing
In case I haven’t properly introduced myself yet: Hi, my name is Chris. I’ve worked in hospitality for over 18 years, the last 15 of them as a bartender. You might know me from my instructional flair bartending videos. However, in the last two years I’ve started working more in depth with the beer industry as well. Still love my flair – in fact, the new job has finally allowed me the time to develop the FlairBartending.TV website and videos – but I mostly make my money nowadays from teaching people about beer. I love what I do.
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of being on Chicago TV channel WGN to talk about beer & food pairing in support of an upcoming festival, the American Beer Classic. If you’d like to see what I do when I’m not flipping bottles, here’s the segment. At the very end, he asks me about my website, which I had no idea he even knew about. Anyway, he got me a little tongue-twisted and I ended up saying I had 5 million YouTube “subscribers” which is a bit of an overstatement! I meant to say 5 million YouTube views (between the new and old channel.) Whoops. Ah, well, gotta dream big!
NBC’s America’s Got Talent
I got an email from a casting agent at NBC’s TV show America’s Got Talent; they are looking for flair bartenders to audition for this season. They’ve already filmed some episodes of the show and are looking to fill a flair bartending spot pretty quickly. The right person or team will have to be 1) talented, 2) unique, and 3) American (sorry my non-US people, it’s an American show). I would be auditioning for the spot myself but my schedule is taking me overseas for the next two weeks. If you’ve got a unique, impressive style, you should give it a shot. Also, after chatting with the casting agent I feel like two people doing a solid tandem routine would have a better shot – they’ve had flair bartenders before and they’re looking for something that really stands out.
My understanding is that you’ll need to submit a 90 second audition tape of your routine. They want to have this wrapped up very quickly – as in this week or next – so get on it asap. That’s all the information I have. If you’re interested, email me from my Contact Form and I’ll pass along the casting agent’s info. Be sure to select “America’s Got Talent” in the subject line and include your email/contact info.
Share this post on Facebook with anyone you think would like the opportunity. Good luck! Can’t wait to see you on TV!