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How I Learnt flair bartending I am asked all the time how I learnt to flair bartend. I have written this article to give bartenders an insight into the road I took in developing my flair skills. 
I started my bartending career as a glass collector to give myself income whilst I studied. I worked in a dumpy nightclub at one of Sydney’s leading Leagues Clubs. The only concept of flair bartending was watching Tom Cruise in the movie cocktail, I had never seen a bartender actually flair in a bar when I started to throw my first bottle. I first gained an interest in mixing cocktails & started to compete in cocktail competitions, at these competition there was also a flair bartending competition. The level of flair was to catch a bottle behind your back & toss it from one hand to the other, very basic stuff. I then had a good friend named Stewart Roberts return from a working holiday in England & Greece he had learned to do some basic Flair. I learnt my first flair moves a basic spin pour & hand stall from Stewart. Then in my second flair bartending competition Hayden Wood the father of flair bartending in Australia, arrived from New Zealand & did a routine that just didn’t seem possible, it blew my mind. Australian Flair bartending was born. Over the next 5 years I broke countless bottles developing my flair style, developing a totally unique style as I had no flair videos or mentors to teach me, competing in the rare competition that was held. I then was blessed to worked with Gerard Walker & Malcolm Butcher 2 of Australia premier flair bartenders at the Marble Bar in Sydney, after so many years of flair bartending I finally had bartenders I could learn from. The greatest development however came when I moved to London & went to compete at Roadhouse. In the practice area it seemed every other flair bartender competing had easy moves bigger than my biggest move. Nicolas St John was doing his rolling stall move in the practice area & he wasn’t even competing. Toby Hilton won the competition with Neil Garner a close second their moves just seemed impossible. It was inspirational the level & quality of these guys flair. I had no money but access to as many empty bottles as I wanted, that English summer, then autumn, then winter, then spring I practiced in the yard where I lived & developed my flair. At times it was so cold it felt like my hands would freeze. 
I became a mid field bartender, I didn’t have the moves to win not that I was ever motivated to win but was respected for my ability to entertain & flair with original moves. I competed in 20 Roadhouse events as well as other competitions in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds, Brighton, Milan Italy, Rotterdam Holland & Koln Germany. Picking up a couple of Roadhouse Man of the match awards & competing in one roadhouse final, plus placing 2nd & 3rd in some other events. In this period of my flair development I moved to The Livingroom & in the year I spent with the company, I had the pleasure of working & building friendships with amazing flair bartenders including Terry Gillespie, Roberto Panici, Vince Chapman, Scott Jones & Ben Daracott. The Livingroom had built its success on team spirit & flair bartending it had regular competitions for the bartenders from all its venues. It was also of great benefit in regards to the development of my working flair. Since then I have continued to work on my flair, returning once to roadhouse, working with Hayden Woods company Mondo Bartender, spending 6 weeks travelling around Malaysia doing flair shows for martell cognac all over Malaysia & now doing countless cocktail parties for my own business Earth Bar. So what is my secret to learning how to flair, well flair bartending is an art form, every truly great flair bartender has his own unique style. Learn from others when possible but be aware that flair is a bartender’s art of expression it comes from within & no video of another person flair bartending can teach it to you. The best flair bartending teachers don’t just teach you flair bartending moves but teach you the art of creation. If you look at any dance floor you will see everybody moves differently so who ever is developing your skills must be able to give advice that best suits you. The 3 people who have given me the best advice when it comes to flair bartending are Roberto Panici who taught me a lot of the basic combination moves to connect my tricks, James Maroney (Jimbo) who explained why I need to move my feet when I flair & Hayden Wood who taught me about simplifying your trick to limit drops for flair bartending shows. The greatest inspiration for my flair has been my imagination. In my imagination the impossible becomes possible. Unless I in the future get the chance to directly train you in the art of flair bartending my advice is be creative, instinctive, innovative & creative with your flair, let your imagination roam wild. Flair is an addition to your personality behind a bar, flair is more than a few tricks, flair is about you. May the Flair be with you  |
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