thanks for the tips.
Exactly. If I’m not allowed to bring in my knives, chains, and even on occasion firearms, it is not my kind of club. Good day.
Elaborating why not?
See post above about dealing with knives & bottles & my friend getting shot dead on the job.
I work at a nice brewpub now where a kind word & an RNC go a long way.
I bounced for years. Good part-time job. I hate amateurs and tough-guys though. they make the job harder for everyone.
-Always give the bad guy an opportunity to retreat with his dignity/pride/ego intact. If you do this, 99.999% of them will walk out on their own. They don’t want to fight, but they don’t want to get punked, either.
-You are never angry. Never. Everything about your voice and body language must be calm and relaxed. You are a host, not a hired thug, You want this person to come back and spend more money some other time.
-Never try to make a solo toss if you can avoid it.
-Blame the manager. Commiserate. “Hey man, the manager’s a little nervous about you guys, could you do me a favor and settle down so I don’t get in trouble?” Goes a lot better than “Chill out, assjholes!”
And, “Sorry guys, the manager says you gotta leave. I 'm really sorry, but he’s the boss. If you want, just come back next week and I’ll have it smoothed over” will work better than, “Time to go, dipshits!”
-When it’s time to toss, toss. Move fast, be decisive, and do not stop moving once you start. Get a grip, break the balance and drag them to the door in one motion.
-NEVER close your fist and strike anyone. Strikes leave bruises, bruises are evidence. Instant lawsuit if you do. You may win the suit, but you will ldeal with it. Restrain and remove; that is it. You WILL eat punches. Get over it, that’s your job.
I’ve never been a bouncer but I was a prison guard, a good tip I got from my Sergeant was when you need to break two guys up, send the timid one off, keep the mean one with you. The timid guy doesn’t want to be there anyway and will take your order as a chance to get out of it.
Sometimes there isn’t a difference, sometimes both are mad and mean and want to kill each other. In this case there is little you can do by yourself, if you grab one and he gets hit by the other you just helped assault someone, if you step into the middle you’re gonna get hurt. Best thing to do is crowd control and wait for help. Keep people from jumping in, don’t let it become a riot. If one guy gets hurt, or KO’d then you can restrain the other.
All that stuff Swayze said about being nice? Goes hand in hand with being a customer service representative. In fact if you repeat the bit about customer service in your interview I’m willing to bet you get the job. Don’t quote roadhouse.
We resolved most conflicts at the prison by seeing them coming and then utilizing a show of force.(Getting a lot of guards visibly in the area asap) If you’re in a fight, your doing it wrong. A lot of great stuff in this thread that if I’m ever a guard again, or a bouncer, I will remember and use.
While I’ve never been a bouncer, I imagine using the term “cooler” would create more trouble then its worth, as in “I’m the cooler”.
Get Peyton Quinn’s books " a bouncer’s guide to Barroom Brawling " and “Real Fighting”.
I’ve never actually met a “cooler”. I don’t know what the term means. I’ve been “head doorman”, “head of security”, “the boss”, “ugly mothafucker #1”, but never “cooler”…
I have gotten called Dalton on occasion, especially after I clocked a guy with a copy of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. But that’s a different story…
And get sued.
Seriously, those are horrible books for a freshman in college looking to supplement his studies with some income from a bar. They are great books, but some freshie walking in the door with his head full of Peyton Quinn’s stuff is going to have entirely the wrong mentality for the job.
Read them?
Yes, eventually.
But after having read “How to Win Friends & Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, “Introducing NLP” by Joseph O’Connor, and “The Body Language of Sex, Power, & Aggression” by Julian Fast. If you’re gonna recommend a Peyton Quinn book to start with, it should be “Freedom From Fear”.
I was joking with the “Roadhouse” post, but if you’re looking at working door as a “combative” position, you’re in the wrong mentality (or the wrong bar). You’re a host, a customer service specialist, who hopefully never has to get physical with a customer. There is no room for psuedo-badasses & thugs on my crew, and I wouldn’t work anywhere that was looking for that mentality.
I thought that the “cooler” was the guy with bad luck ( working in casino’s) that started to talk to casinocustomers who were on a winning streak so that there luck ran out.
I bounced from 94 till 97 at a bar where there was dancing in the weekends ( not quite common here, mostly you get pure clubs or pure bars ) and when you are nice and us the advice of DerAuslander108 and Scrapper you will get almost no trouble.
Something very important is also body language, never cross your arms, that pose is too macho/closed and gives a message that you don’t give a damn about someones explanations, and can hereby provoke a customer.
Also when there is a brawler at the door and you are trying to talk to him, don’t use any sudden arm movements, especially the “chill/backdone/wait” movement ( raising your two open hands and showing your palms ) because that really works like a red flag to a bull.
Keep your hands beside you ( relaxed ) would be a good pose and evaluate the type of customer that you’re talking too.
Quit the bouncing scene in 98, after starting working the door at techno/house/rave parties
thrown in indoor arena’s ( called the Dance Opera Trips) and they were really Trips. Everyone was so stoned on xtc and lsd that when the music stopped in the middle of the playlist, the lights went on and the rooftop opened ( a break of 15 minutes to prevent exhausten and dehydration) the 6000 ravers just kept dancing. :new_Eyecr
You couldn’t reason with those types and every night there were problems.
This is all really informational. Who knew wealth like this was buried in L3?
I was thinking of looking for a part-time gig as a Doorman, over the summer. Do you have to be over 21?
Usually you do. But owners are good for working around rules. Especially if you are working under the table. If the place is 21 and older then I doubt it.
So, from all the bouncers on here…
Would you do it again?
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Sure. It’s a good part-time gig.
So that’s where I know you from.
What, it worked for Dan Webre. :waoya
[quote=3moose1;2078954]So, from all the bouncers on here…
Would you do it again?
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[/quote]
Shit yeah. I’ve even considered doing it again just for kicks. It is a lot of fun. You meet lots of chicks. And you get to be the most popular guy and most hated guy all at the same time.
Bouncing propelled me into the career that I am in today. I wouldn’t change it for anything.
One thing to remember though, you will be put in situations where only you know if you are doing the right thing or not. That is when your character will be tested. A real man can make the right decision even when no one will ever know.
[quote=Zendokan;1928263]I thought that the “cooler” was the guy with bad luck ( working in casino’s) that started to talk to casinocustomers who were on a winning streak so that there luck ran out.
I bounced from 94 till 97 at a bar where there was dancing in the weekends ( not quite common here, mostly you get pure clubs or pure bars ) and when you are nice and us the advice of DerAuslander108 and Scrapper you will get almost no trouble.
Something very important is also body language, never cross your arms, that pose is too macho/closed and gives a message that you don’t give a damn about someones explanations, and can hereby provoke a customer.
Also when there is a brawler at the door and you are trying to talk to him, don’t use any sudden arm movements, especially the “chill/backdone/wait” movement ( raising your two open hands and showing your palms ) because that really works like a red flag to a bull.
Keep your hands beside you ( relaxed ) would be a good pose and evaluate the type of customer that you’re talking too.
Quit the bouncing scene in 98, after starting working the door at techno/house/rave parties
thrown in indoor arena’s ( called the Dance Opera Trips) and they were really Trips. Everyone was so stoned on xtc and lsd that when the music stopped in the middle of the playlist, the lights went on and the rooftop opened ( a break of 15 minutes to prevent exhausten and dehydration) the 6000 ravers just kept dancing. :new_Eyecr
You couldn’t reason with those types and every night there were problems.[/quote]
The concept of “fencing” (keeping your hands between yourself and the guy so he can’t sucker-punch you) isn’t a bad one, but guys that do it obviously (with both hands out in front of them for example) are basically just taking a boxing stance. The way to do it is to make it natural. If you see me scratch an itch on my left pec, then fiddle with my right ear, then illustrate a point with my right hand, that means I think this guy is going to punch any time.
You have to judge people’s temperament well - some people you can actually corral by patting them on the shoulder, just start to move them away from the trouble spot during conversation - other people will hit you for touching them.
If you’re working a concert venue, there might be a mosh pit - mosh pits are not normally volatile, but you have to watch for a couple specific situations - the safety of people who fall down, girls who get a boob groped and go grab their boyfriend, the occasional guy who will throw a real sucker-punch in there because he can.
The single best “move” for me has been clinch, spin the guy around or step behind, light standing RNC, start walking toward the door.
You’re not there for any marquis de queensbury fights - just like cops or mental health workers, the safest way to control somone is with help. There are very few people who can deal well with three people trying to drag them out the door.
Domestics - when a couple fights, eject them both and stagger the ejections and/or send them out different doors. If you put your hands on the guy without someone on the woman, you will find about 3 times ouf of 5 she’ll “make up” with him on the spot and become a pain in your ass. If you think the domestic is going to get physical, it’s usually time to give up and call a cop.
Park either very close or very far from work - either where someone can see employee cars or far enough that patrons don’t associate them with the bar. Don’t walk out in singles if there was a problem that night.
Have a female staff member. There are just all kinds of reasons for this.
Most of your problems are totally solvable with talk. Drunks are volatile, but they tend to calm down just as quick as they rev up.
Oh - and communicate with your staff. They need to know when to assist each other, they need to know the descriptions of anyone you 86 and vice versa.
Also, remember the whole property is usually your charge - it’s good to keep an eye on the alley or front if people smoke outside, and to buzz the bathrooms and parking lot once in a while.
I used to get told by the owner of the firm I worked for, the idea of a Steward is you don’t have a good time so other people can have a good time.
Also never ever try to run the door on a busy nighclub comunicating only in mime and dumb show it never works out well.
I worked on and off as Bouncer/Doorman/Steward from the age of 17 to my mid 30s and had 2 fights and both were gang related in a small way and nothing to do with ordinary customers.
Have a female staff member. There are just all kinds of reasons for this.
I was actually thinking of doing some bouncing/ door work at a couple of local bars after i get back from my trip. I know a quite a few of the locals because alot of them train with us. I like lifeguarding, but the place i get work year round sucks.
Anyone have any tips or usefull knowlege for ladies looking to do, get into this kind of work? Thats not already been mentioned, of course.