Line #91 Main/FlairBartending


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3	[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/MadoromiBarmaid https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mb3.png]]]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:Dinner and a show.]]
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8
9	->''"It don't seem natural to me, throwing up a drink before you've even swallowed it."''
10	-->-- '''Reg Deadman''', ''Series/GoodnightSweetheart'', "Flash, Bang, Wallop"
11
12	Drink-making with an eye to showmanship, often incorporating juggling bottles and shakers, dance moves, flaming drinks, stacked glasses. Some flair bartenders make nonstandard use of bar equipment or do magic tricks with bar items. Flair bartenders may also have a sophisticated knowledge of drink mix recipes and mixing techniques. The goal is to entertain bar patrons.
13	Possibly more prevalent in RealLife than in media; any given media portrayal has a good chance of being an homage to ''Film/{{Cocktail}}''. In real life, there are flair bartender competitions.
14
15	Can also be done with food, particularly ice cream.
16
17	See also BarSlide. Likely to be an element of the CoolestClubEver. Nothing to do with bartending performed by [[Wrestling/RicFlair one of the greatest wrestlers of all time]].
18
19	----
20	!!Examples:
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
24	* ''Manga/{{Bartender}}'' averts this, or plays this straight, depending on your point of view. One arc specifically pits traditionalist bartender Ryu against a flairtender.
25	* ''Manga/MadoromiBarmaid'': As a manga that focuses on the lives of attractive barmaids, several characters are skilled at this sort of bartending whereas other are more low key and focus on tradtional drink mixing. Hiyoko is skilled at juggling and other flashy techniques compared to the more straight-forward bartending protagonist Yuki.
26	* In the ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' side story "Viral's Sweet Dream," Simon the bartender uses his '''GIGA DRIIIIIILL BREEEEEEEAKAAAA!''' …as a martini shaker.
27	[[/folder]]
28
29	[[folder:Comic Books]]
30	* Parodied in an issue of ''Comicbook/NightwingRebirth'', when Dick and Wally go to a bar and order a soda and lime and a [[BlandNameProduct Zesti]], and the bartender complains that he studied mixology in Metropolis for this. Wally says he can set the soda on fire if it would make him feel better.
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
34	* Long John Silver in ''WesternAnimation/TreasurePlanet'' uses his multi-function cyborg arm to cook like this.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
38	* ''{{Film/Speedy}}'' (1928): Creator/HaroldLloyd and coworkers are soda jerks with flashy, baseball-derived techniques. Includes more than one BarSlide.
39	* ''Film/{{Cocktail}}'' is the TropeCodifier.
40	* ''Film/CoyoteUgly'': The bartenders at the titular bar all do this. At one point we're treated to a montage of Violet dropping multiple bottles as she attempts to catch up to the others' skill level. Creator/MariaBello, who plays the bar's owner Lil, was a bartender for years before her big break, and gets to show off her skills in the film. Lil's flair is all Maria.
41	* Parodied in ''Film/JaneAustensMafia'', when the priest mixes an UmbrellaDrink for a distraught Joey.
42	* In ''Film/PoliceAcademy7MissionToMoscow'', Jones (the guy who does the sound effects with his mouth) goes undercover as a fancy barkeeper. This is part of his schtick.
43	* In ''Film/{{Uncharted}}'', Nathan Drake starts the film as a bartender who likes to add flair to his drinks while monologuing about the history of said drink's origin.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
47	* In an episode of ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'', Josh gets a job at the bar "Home Base", and watches multiple online videos to learn some bartender tricks. At the same time, he develops a staff infection resembling a large pimple on his chin. His tricks prove popular with the customers, but culminate in him trying a difficult toss that impacts his chin, popping the pimple and spraying puss in a customer's drink. This promptly gets him fired.
48	* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'', episode "Pour Judgment." Doug takes work as a bartender to fulfill an old dream. Broken glass ensues.
49	* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', episode "Three Days of Snow," when Ted and Barney briefly take over [=McLaren's=].
50	* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'''s Abby was shown to have flair bartending skills.
51	* One of the Challenges in ''Series/BeautyAndTheGeek''.
52	* In ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie'', Creator/StephenFry parodies this in the cocktail sequences that end all the season 3 and 4 episodes--he shakes around without rhythm and does such things as: shoving the shaker down the front of his trousers and hopping around, swinging it on a string like a yo-yo, and sometimes breaking it open mid-dance.
53	* Carla did several stunts to win a best barmaid contest in ''Series/{{Cheers}}'', including a complete flip while holding a platter of drinks.
54	* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': JD and Turk did this in one episode.
55	-->'''JD:''' Last summer, Turk and I had to choose between working disaster relief or going to bartender school. I like to think we made the right choice.
56	* The ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'' episode "Feats of Clay" has Piper cast a confidence spell on a meek waiter so he'll have the confidence to ask a female coworker to marry him. Instead, he becomes a hyperconfident bartender, not very interested in his coworker anymore. Phoebe {{lampshade\|Hanging}}s this by asking "I thought you were supposed to make him confident, not turn him into Tom Cruise?"
57	* In the season five episode of ''Series/{{House}}'', "House Divided", the title character did this...'''in the hospital's morgue'''. Long story short, House needed to add "chemical burns" to a guy's cause of death.
58	* The Norwegian comedians Music/{{Ylvis}} try it on the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbTaoUvNPF0 back of a moving truck.]]
59	* ''Series/LasVegas'': When Delinda opened her new club in the Montecito casino, one of the first things she did was hire a stellar flair bartender. She had to steal him from another establishment, in fact.
60	* ''Series/Sense8'': Sun is about to go undercover as a waitress at a party thrown by her family's company so she can confront her brother. Problem is she doesn't know how to tend bar. Luckily it turns out Lito learned flair bartending skills for a movie where he had to play a bartender, and their PsychicLink means Sun can use his skills to impress the head of the catering staff.
61
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Video Games]]
65	* Introduced as a skill in ''VideoGame/TheSims3: Late Night'', and retained for ''VideoGame/TheSims4''.
66	* Although the Citadel bartender in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' pours drinks normally for the most part, he adds some style when Commander Shepard decides to down [[GargleBlaster ryncol]].
67	* The Frat Army in ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' includes "wartenders" who mix drinks on the battlefield and even use them as weapons.
68	* Rodin from ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' indulges in this, most prominently intermixed with Bayonetta's LockAndLoadMontage.
69	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'' Tifa Lockhart is shown to be a skilled bartender with some flair bartending skills when she flips a cocktail shaker over her head whilst doing a twirl and catching it perfectly before decanting Cloud's drink order.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
73	* Defied in ''VisualNovel/Va11Halla'', when a customer says that Jill should be more extravagant in serving drinks, throwing bottles around and such, Jill points out that it would take longer to get the drink, the drink would be improperly mixed and therefore taste worse, and there would be a high likelihood of a broken bottle, broken glass, or broken face. And it adds nothing to the flavor or the experience.
74	[[/folder]]
75
76	[[folder:Webcomics]]
77	* ''Webcomic/ChampionsOfFaraus'': In the third story chapter, the barkeep is this, but only when making an "[[ImprovisedWeapon Explodey]] [[MolotovCocktail teacup!]]", which he uses to scare intruders away from his tavern.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder:Web Original]]
81	* In the ''WebOriginal/{{Paradise}}'' fiction setting, a bartender who Changed to take on monkey characteristics bartends this way, using all five limbs. Because he looks perfectly human to people who can't see through the Change, the way he does what he does is perceived as puzzling to say the least.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Western Animation]]
85	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' do this while making milkshakes in the episode "Out to Launch."
86	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "Pygmoelian", Moe competes in a bartending competition. An Irish bartender chops a beer can in half with a meat cleaver, removes the two halves of the can, and overturns a frosty mug over it. The beer, against all logic, stays put until the beer mug is set down right side up. Contestant #2, a well-endowed Hooters girl, simply bounces up and down while overflowing two taps. Moe arranges mugs in the shape of the Duff logo. Contestant #2 wins.
87	* WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants often does this while preparing Krabby Patties.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Real Life]]
91	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Thomas_(bartender) Jerry Thomas,]] likely the RealLife UrExample.
92	* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flair_bartending#Flair_competitions Flair bartending contests]] are regularly held, some of which are even televised.
93	* See Coyote Ugly up there in film? ''[[{{Defictionalization}} That's a real place!]]'' (It started in New York, and has spawned duplicate locations in various fun-loving cities.)
94	* Sany Bacsi gained internet fame in 2021 when [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9JThwjVXg8 a video of him doing flair bartending while making a formula bottle for his son]] made the rounds on the Internet.
95	[[/folder]]

Context Main / FlairBartending