DVD Review #3 & A History of Nations

As we continue our series on flair bartending DVD reviews, we thought it would be appropriate to feature the 2008 Nations International Flair Challenge this month. After all, the 2010 Nations is scheduled for August 15-17, at the newly opened Rock & Ritas flair bar inside Circus Circus casino in Las Vegas, NV.

Because we’re always encouraging fans to attend a live competition, this is definitely one to put on your calendar. July and August flights to Las Vegas (within the U.S.) are generally less expensive…and with it being held at Circus Circus, hotel rooms should also be affordable. You’ll likely see some of the most talented flair bartenders in the world at this competition, because of the lineup now working at Rock & Rita’s. To stay up to speed on which competitors will be there (and by division), keep checking the Nations official website.

Mark your calendars and get the plane tickets and hotels booked…it’s looking to be a fantastic competition! We can’t wait to see you there!

A History of Nations
Nations is an internationally known event, organized and run by Jim Allison, President of the Flair Bartending Association (FBA) and Ken Hall, President and Owner of High Spirits Enterprises. Started in 2003 as a smaller budget event at Las Vegas’ Ice House Lounge, this flair bartending competition offers a variety of qualifying rounds such as exhibition flair, speed and pour-testing rounds. This, however, is a unique competition that offers competitors the chance to really showcase their flair bartending skills. Three divisions (or levels) are offered to bartenders, consisting of Amateur (those just getting started), Advanced (those with a few competitions under their belt) and Professional (world famous bartenders).

“The long term goal was to always make Nations an international powerhouse competition focusing only on raw flair,” said Allison.  “This is in contrast to other events like Legends, Quest, and Blue Blazer which all focus on more aspects of bartending than just flair.”

2005 – Nations took place at the trendy Cro-Bar in South Beach Miami. Top bartenders from around the world showed up for the second year of this competition, and had a serious throw down of skill. Christian Delpech took home the grand championship.

2006 – Nations moved back to Las Vegas, but this time at the Club Rio to a capacity crowd.  At this point, Nations became famous for upsets where the underdogs began to step it up and did the unthinkable to become World Champions…Rodrigo Cao was the first to shock the world by achieving this status with his amazing finals round.

2007 – the then unpolished Vladymyr Buryanov came to the main stage on finals night and threw down just enough to topple the unbeatable Christian Delpech.

2008 – the talent showcased at this year’s event was so great that several world champions literally did not make the finals, and yet again another new comer stormed the stage…

Review of The 2008 Nations DVD
Which brings us to our review of the 2008 Nations competition DVD. To sum it up quickly, Poland ruled this particular competition, as they’d been doing that same year in the European scene. Tomek Malek was definitely our favorite round on this video…and the judges agreed. We also enjoyed Justin Keane, who went on to take 3rd overall.

Nations Summary (on back of DVD):
Nine of the greatest flair bartenders on the planet went head to head for over $40,000 in cash and prizes in, what turned out to be one of the most incredible Grand Finals the flair bartending world has ever seen! Round after round, competitors blew the roof off the Ovation Showroom inside the Green Valley Ranch Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Strap in for the most exciting flair DVD ever!!!

Other rounds to watch at the Professional level were Danilo Oribe, Rodrigo Cao, Tom Dyer and Rodrigo Delpech. The lighting on this DVD is awesome, which allows those of us flair groupies to use our “slow” buttons for each of these professionals to see how their moves are being accomplished. Too bad they don’t offer an on-the-screen white marker so we could draw play-by-play diagrams like they do in the NFL.

Some drawbacks to this DVD, though, are that the finals results are not listed anywhere, so after watching each round, it was a bit disappointing in that we couldn’t see who won for each division. We know you want this for your records, so we’ve listed them below for your convenience! You can also find them listed on the FBA website for as long as they archive them. Another annoying issue is not having the flair bartenders’ names listed on each screen. You can hear JD and Chico announcing most of them, but it would be nice to have them on screen during each round. Call us nitpicky, but we also don’t enjoy the opening lime green font on a tie dye background…makes it very difficult to read. The menu options are also pretty limited to: Pros, Advanced & Amateur and Credits. No bloopers, finals results or behind the scenes footage.

Pro Finalists (In Order of Placing):
Grand Champion ($10,000): Tomek Malek (Poland)
2nd Place: Rodrigo Delpech (Argentina)
3rd Place: Justin Keane (U.S.) – also won the Finest Call Stall for $500
4th Place: Tom Dyer (England)
5th Place: Danilo Oribe (Uruguay)
6th Place: Marek Posluszny (Poland)
7th Place: Rodrigo Cao (Argentina)
8th Place: Eiji Narita (Japan)
9th Place: Katsumi Ushiki (Japan)

Advanced Finalists (In Order of Placing):
1st Place ($1,000): Ryan Clark (Canada)
2nd Place: Jacob Mitchetti (U.S.)
3rd Place: Takanori Masuda (Japan)
4th Place: Cruz Gutierrez (U.S.)
5th Place: Masaya Suzuki (Japan)

Amateur Division:
1st Place: Rob Gagne

Add Nations 2008 to Your Library
Overall, we highly recommend having this is your flair DVD collection. Some of Marek’s sequences are plain sick and Tomek has an awesome bump sequence you won’t want to miss! If you’re interested in purchasing this important year of flair history, you can visit the FBA’s online store.

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World Flair Bartender Feature: Atilla Iskifoglu

We’re venturing to Europe once more for our latest world flair bartender feature to take a look into the flair of Atilla Iskifoglu…we bet you can’t say his last name three times fast!

This Turkey native is definitely one to watch in the upcoming year!

Performer Turned Flair Bartender
Beginning a career as a singer and performer, Atilla is no stranger to the stage. We believe this is likely why he’s so comfortable and fun to watch at competitions. He started flairing professionally in 2000 by competing and traveling internationally to teach flair bartending and mixology. His influence is certainly apparent. Over 800 bartenders in 15 different countries have had the privilege of learning and working with this talented professional.

“Atilla has influenced and inspired thousands of flair bartenders with his unique style, tricks and passion for flair bartending,” said Christian Delpech, former World Champion flair bartender and co-host of FlairLive TV. “The way he performs on stage, his interaction with the crowd, showmanship and ability of taking flair to a different level make him a ‘one of a kind’ flair bartender.”

Obviously a trailblazer, he is one of the first flair bartenders to choreograph his moves to music and one of the first people in Europe to embrace three- and four-object flair. Most European flair bartenders at the time he started had only done two object flair.

We were curious to know if Atilla had any flair bartenders who he really admired.

“I love many styles because they have all been created with different minds,” he said. “I like Sylvan for his creativity; Danilo [Oribe] for his smoothness; Rodrigo [Delpech] for his difficulty; Vladymyr [Buryanov] because he’s fun to watch and entertaining; and Dario [Doimo] for his many linked moves.”

Competitive Achievements
He has competed in over 36 flair competitions and has won over 80% of them, including the honor of earning the 4-time European Flair Champion title. Atilla is most proud, though, of winning the 2001 Roadhouse World Open because it was his first international competition. He later took second in the Roadhouse finals that year, making him second in the world at that time. Quite an accomplishment for a beginning competitor!

He is also grateful for being a 2009 Flair Battle Rome finalist as this is where he was able to execute some of his hardest moves in a competition. You can watch the video from that competition here:

“Atilla has an impressive resume of competition placement over the past decade…and we expect to see him place very well among the top competitors in the world,” said Ken Hall, President of High Spirits Enterprises, former world champion flair bartender and trainer for Walt Disney World and Harrah’s Entertainment.

Attracting the Attention of World Media
With his long list of accomplishments and dedication to training other bartenders, it’s not a surprise that the media took an interest in Atilla as well.

After competing on the TV show Britain’s Got Talent and making it through three rounds, he definitely became the center of attention in the European media. He has appeared on the BBC, ITV twice and served/performed with celebrities such as Madonna and John Travolta.

Below are a few clips of his media appearances.

Britain’s Got Talent:

BBC Video:

Compilation of various interviews & media footage:

Cocktail Masters
On top of his successful competitive career, Atilla is also well known in England for owning and promoting his company, Cocktail Masters.

“Not many people appreciate flair bartending in England,” he said. “Because of this, I decided to organise my own company that would offer cocktail parties for the people who really love flair.”

That strategy worked. In less than six months, Atilla organized more than 100 flair events.

“With Cocktail Masters, I was finally able to cater to the people who actually enjoy watching flair,” he said.

However, due to his move to the U.S., Atilla is planning to temporarily shut down the successful event company so he can focus on practicing, competing and working in the U.S.

“In the future, I am definitely thinking of making Cocktail Masters a bigger and better business, so stay tuned,” he said.

Where You Can Find Atilla in 2010
Selected as one of the few flair bartenders to work at Las Vegas’ newest flair bar, Rock & Rita’s inside Circus Circus casino, Atilla is excited to move and work full time in America.

When asked about making the cut after auditions, he said, “I felt so happy and excited, this is the dream of many flair bartenders. And for me, this is a new beginning.”

Rock & Rita’s interview – FlairLive TV (interview is 5:00 minutes into video):

Rock ‘n Rita’s is scheduled to open in June with some of the best flair bartenders known in the industry. To learn more or to schedule your visit, go to http://www.circuscircus.com/dining/rock-rita.aspx.

Atilla’s Dream: Reaching New Heights for Flair

Passion is a word commonly used to describe a professional flair bartender’s interest in flair. However, the word doesn’t do justice to Atilla’s definition of what he feels for flair bartending as a sport…

When I perform flair, it makes me happier than anything else. All I see are my hands…and when I practice bottles and shakers are all I see. The music is all I hear, while the surroundings behind and around me completely disappear. Flair takes me to another world where I can actually feel the high and all the excitement under my skin. It’s something that I could never quit…I can say for me, it’s a lot like making love.

He continued to describe his personal goals for himself which included reaching to the highest flair level possible.

“I want to bring a new vision to flair bartending and create new, original styles. My aim is to practice as hard as I can to achieve this.”

With practicing nearly seven hours each day, we believe Atilla is well within reach of his flair dreams.

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Zero Gravity Competitor Interviews – Omaha’s 2010 Flair Competition

We met with Josh Briggs of Bar Entertainment Specialists, Chris Bridges and a few others at the recent Zero Gravity flair bartending competition in Omaha, Nebraska this month.

Below are the video interviews from that trip. We loved what each flair bartender had to say about flair bartending as a sport and its potential for growth.

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Celebrating Generation Flair’s 1st Birthday

It’s officially been a year since Generation Flair began working to grow the sport of flair bartending for fans worldwide with this blog. And, what better day to celebrate than Mother’s Day?!

To commemorate this special milestone, we’re giving you a short review of our favorite GenF posts to date. We look forward to another year of continued growth and success. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your readership, support and time. Flair bartending fans ROCK!

Cheers!

Pouring 101: The Best Way to Decrease Alcohol Loss - Our most popular post to date, this article goes into detail about minimizing alcohol loss and saving money for a bar owner or manager. We all know that because flair bartenders practice and are regularly tested on their pouring skills at competitions, they are a step above non-flair bartenders in their ability to be a more valuable employee.

Meeting Oscar Perez: FlairLive TV’s Entrepreneur – One of our favorite interviews last year was with the owner and founder of FlairLive TV, Oscar Perez. His passion for the sport and his contribution in making flair more accessible to thousands around the world landed him the coveted FBA’s 2009 Trailblazer award. Keep it up, Oscar! We’re all cheering for the success of FlairLive TV!

Anatomy of a Flair Competition – One of our more lengthy posts and certainly more technical, this article gives the judging perspectives of the two most popular organizing bodies of flair competitions worldwide – the Flair Bartending Association (FBA) and the World Flair Association (WFA). This is a must-read for any flair bartending fan or new competitor!

Educating the Anti-Flair Bartending Customer – A fantastic article on common misconceptions about flair bartenders and the real facts behind why flair bartenders are gaining popularity in bars worldwide.

Flair Bartenders Actually Compete?! – If you have friends and family who are still uneducated about how big this sport really is, send this article to them. It’s a great testament to the sport and gives some real stats to how much money is at stake and a basic overview of how competitions work.

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Pro Flair Bartender Feature: Gianluigi Bosco

The new Italian on the U.S. flair scene, Gianluigi Bosco, is certainly making a name for himself this year. We sat down with Gianluigi in Las Vegas to learn more about his secret to flair success.

Newest Gig: Becoming a Flair Bartender at Rock ‘N Ritas
Selected as one of the few flair bartenders to work at Las Vegas’ newest flair bar, Rock ‘n Ritas inside Circus Circus casino, Gianluigi is excited to work full time in the U.S.

“My dad is not very happy about it, because I’ll be far away from the family. But my mother is very happy as are my brothers and sister,” he said, smiling.

When asked about making the cut after auditions, you could see the pride and excitement in his face as he described what we all know as true career success. “I was very happy,” he said. “You know, as a flair bartender, you always think, what’s my goal? This was it for me…to be able to work in the U.S. and for a bar that is going to change the scene for flair bartenders.”

Rock ‘n Ritas is scheduled to open June 2010 with some of the best flair bartenders known in the industry. To learn more or to schedule your visit, go to http://www.circuscircus.com/dining/rock-rita.aspx.

Getting Started, “Bosco” Style
Gianluigi’s story of how he got into flair bartending is a fairly typical one if judged from the average flair fan. However, the success he’s had in such a short amount of time is nothing short of spectacular.

“I started out in the service industry as a waiter in Lecco, Italy in 2002,” he said. “It was a second job, actually, that I took to earn some extra money. I saw the bartenders working and I had become a bit bored with what I was doing, so I started training to become a bartender.”

Shortly after he completed his training, an opportunity opened up in Spain for a season. However, he ended up staying for a year and a half. This was his first experience working in a flair bar. “I then took a job in a restaurant, where I became the head bartender and after a short stay there, I decided to move to another country to learn another language.”

By the way, he’s fluent in four languages.

“In 2006, I moved to Paris, a much larger city, where I learned French and met Rafael Arce (better known in the flair world as Rafa),” he said. “This is really where I started to practice properly by going to the Bar Academy every Wednesday. They open a really nice space to practice flair for anyone who’d like to come and do that.”

This is really where Gianluigi became serious about flair bartending. “I learned that I had some raw talent for flair, so I started to learn how to compete and practiced every day,” he said. “That year, I did three competitions, and although they weren’t very good, I continued to work hard and in 2007, I went to Roadhouse and made the finals for the first time.”

Since then, Gianluigi’s momentum has continued to flourish. Not only did he win the IBA World Championship, he also tacked on first place at all of the following: Warsaw Flair Challenge (Warsaw), Roadhouse UK Challenge (London), Que Pasa Flair Challenge (Chelmsford), Bols Master Battle (Berlin), Underground Flair League (Amsterdam), Elite Flair Comp (Orlando, FL), and World Online Flair Contest. At Legends XII, he took second place, just after Danilo Oribe and was honored with the FBA’s 2009 “World Traveler” award. This award was given to him for attending and competing in 35 competitions last year in 12 countries.

Now that’s a dedicated (and successful) flair bartender!

We wondered if the increase in competitions is what created some of his success. “Yeah, of course,” he admitted. “Because my biggest problem was stage presence and being in front of so many people while competing. I always felt uncomfortable. So, the amount of competitions have allowed me to get used to that and overcome that fear.”

Gianluigi is well known on the European scene, but he’s recently become more active in the U.S. We wondered if he favored one country over the other as far as competitions are concerned.

“Flair is really different in America,” he said. “The FBA Pro Tour is very good and very professional. They care about the drinks, how you make them, your show, etc. In Europe, it’s all about flair…not so much about the drinks, but I like both styles equally well. They’re just different.”

What he really likes about Europe is the variety of talent and skill across all flair bartender levels. “There’s closer skill levels in the top competitors in Europe along with a wider variety of styles and flair moves,” he said. “In the U.S., there are some well known guys, but a big gap exists between the Pro and Amateur levels..I think mainly because right now there are more flair bartenders in Europe.”

Where is Flair Headed?
It’s always important to look at the trends of any up and coming sport. Flair bartending is no exception and we were curious if Gianluigi felt the same. So we asked him where he thought flair might be going in the future.

“It’s getting really big,” he said. “In the states, it used to be very big, but last year there weren’t as many competitions. Europe hasn’t seen the recession, so last year Europe was better for competitions than here…which is why I had some doubts about moving here.”

He also mentioned one of our favorite flair media outlets, FlairLive TV. “It’s new and something good for our sport,” he said. “Finally, we have some high quality footage of the professional guys doing flair. You know, there are loads of flair videos out there, but most are not high quality. I would love to see FlairLive TV explode and give the sport the more professional look it deserves.”

We couldn’t agree more, and certainly think Oscar Perez and his team are well on their way to making this happen.

Flair is a Way of Life
Gianluigi is one of the more passionate flair bartenders we’ve met. It’s obvious that combining his talent and dedication to working hard, he’s going to go even further in 2010. “Flair has been a way of life for me for the last two years. I love the traveling and meeting new people from all over the world,” he said. “Truthfully, If it wasn’t for flair, I’d probably still be in a crappy bar in Italy. It’s added passion, it’s life for me now.”

To learn more about Gianluigi Bosco, you can visit him on his Facebook page, become a fan of his group “Flair Competition Results” or see him at the next big flair competition.

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World Flair Bartending Competitions: 2010 Spring Preview

We announced last week that we would outline a few upcoming competitions this spring for you in the hopes that one of them would make it on your calendar to attend! Because as you know, the best way to support this growing sport is to watch a competition live.

March
March 28: “Roadhouse World Flair” in London. This is the UK Open and where all bartenders resident in the UK can earn points which will see them through to the UK Final taking place in August. For more information please check out www.roadhouseflair.com or contact oli@roadhouseflair.com.

March 28: “Kings of Flair” at Kahunaville inside the Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, NV. This is a once a month flair contest at Kahunaville, each month the winner gets $300 plus a spot in the finals, 2nd place gets $150 and 3rd place gets $50. Each finalist will get at least $1000. Rules are very simple: make one drink in 5 min. For more information on attending (which is free), contact Shawn Oana at Chants91@aol.com or visit his blog: http://justbarflair.com.

March 31-April 1: “Flair Kremlin Stars 2010″ is a newly added event to the WFA calendar. To see more details and RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=106905419329687&ref=ts

April
April 1: “News Cafe Menlyn Flair Comp” in Pretoria, South Africa. South Africa is a turning into a hot spot for flair and this comp has had massive success in the past few years. Grown steadily from just a city competition, it has now turned into a nationwide get together of bartenders wanting to perform in front of the famous Pretoria crowd. For more information, contact Patrick: ellis.patrickm@gmail.com.

April 11: “Living Room Shake Down” in Bristol, United Kingdom. This will be Bristol’s biggest Mixology and Flair event to date and promises to be loads of fun for all who attend! What makes it even better is that this event will be free to watch so clear your schedule! The mixology event will start at 4:00pm and the flair will kick off 6:00pm. For details, please contact Emma at bristol@thelivingroom.co.uk.

April 12: “Maloney’s Flair Comp ” in Southport, Merseyside, United Kingdom. This bar has a long standing tradition of flair bartending and the comps are special to say the least. For more information please email maloneyflaircomp@hotmail.co.uk or check out the Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=8399473182&ref=ts.

April 20: “Underground Flair League 2010 – Heat 2″ in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The second heat out of five in the UFL, all heats will be held in the Bitterzoet located right in the center of Amsterdam, with cheap accommodations available nearby. For more information contact Anthony via info@flairbartender.nl or check the facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=256887522706#/group.php?gid=15677273713&ref=ts

April 21: “Crystal City Flair Challenge” in Arlington, VA. For one night only, some of the best bartenders in the world will converge at Bailey’s Pub and Grille. This competition will be part of the 2010 FBA Pro Tour, with complete rules, prizes and drink list to be posted on the FBA website.

April 25: “Kings of Flair” at Kahunaville in Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, NV. See description above.

April 25: “Roadhouse World Flair – World Open” in London, United Kingdom. This competition, similar to the one mentioned above, offers a chance for all International competitors to showcase their talents. The top three bartenders in this competition will be invited back to participate in the World Final taking place at the end of November. For more details check out www.roadhouseflair.com or contact Oli@roadhouseflair.com for more details.

May
May 3-4: “MyBar Showcase” in Louisville, KY is a perfect comp for those also interested in attending the Kentucky Derby (May 1), which coincides with the showcase. So, head out early and make a week of flair bartending and horse racing!

May 12: “Graffiti Bar Flair Comp” in Earlsfield, London, United Kingdom. This is a real bartender’s competition as it’s a test of entertainment, as well as flair, reflected in the almost equal weighting of the scores. For more info, contact info@graffitibar.co.uk.

May 23: “CFFB 5th Qualification Round” in Strasbourg, France. A series of competitions happening in and around France all through 2010. Please note before getting to excited that this event is only for residents of France which means any foreigners working in France are eligible. Five qualifiers in total with the semi-finals taking place October 24, and the final happening in Paris, November 21. The fifth qualifier will take place in Strasbourg at Cafe de Anges and three bartenders will qualify for the semi’s in October. Please check www.cocktailzone.fr or contact Laurent on lg@baracademy.net.

May 23-25: “Super Flair” in Windsor, Ontario (Canada) at the Beach Nightclub. Last year this was rumored to have the best competitor swag bag anywhere. Always a great time, the Canadians certainly know how to throw a professional comp. For more information, visit: http://www.superflair.ca

May 25: “Cincinatti Summer Flair Tour” – the first stop on this five-comp tour located all around the greater Cincinatti area. For more information:  info@cincisummerflair.com.

May 30: “Kings of Flair” at Kahunaville in Treasure Island casino in Las Vegas, NV. See description above.

If we haven’t listed a flair competition you know is happening in your area, please leave a comment, and we’ll update this page as we go along. Would also love to hear from those of you who have attended a competition recently – what did you think? Will you go to another one?

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Legends XII: The Super Bowl of U.S. Flair Competitions

One of the best things you can do to support the flair bartending scene as a fan is to attend a flair bartending competition. This week we hopped a jet plane to Las Vegas to attend the largest U.S. flair bartending competition called Legends of Bartending. This year was its 12th year and has been described as the Super Bowl of flair bartending competitions. Therefore, we knew we’d be witnessing some of the best flair bartenders in the world competing for a $10,000 first place prize and bragging rights.

Sunday Night: Competitor Registration
The first night at a competition of this type is the beginning of it all. The Sunday night meet and greet is where all competitors (both advanced and professional levels) gather to see each other and finalize their registrations in the competition. Registration is simply the time when competitors sign their liability forms, give the organizers their music and pick up their swag bag (which normally contains a commemorative bottle, tin and bottle opener, a few t-shirts, and any other sponsor gifts).

The evening is normally open to only competitors and their guests. Sponsors are invited and there’s usually a free, open bar for all attendees. At Legends, this is also the time when the FBA announces its year-end awards from the prior year. The FBA’s 2009 awards are voted upon by the membership at large several months before Legends happens. You can see the 2009 winners by visiting the FBA’s Awards page.

Competitive Atmosphere
If you’ve never been to a professional flair competition, it’s a lot like a normal sporting event…only it’s held in a bar. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of fans attend. This year Legends XII took place in LAX nightclub inside the Luxor hotel & casino.

After the first night of meet and greet, it’s a full day of qualifying events. Competitors at Legends are expected to pass a Pour Round, a Speed Round and an Exhibition Flair Round. Because Legends is one of the only competitions that requires all three rounds, it is considered one of the most difficult and challenging competitions in existence today.

Eric Parker competes with Behnam Gerami for the Spill-Stop Pour Off

Pour Round – In this round bartenders pour ten drinks as fast and as accurately as they can. Bartenders are given eight glasses and two tins. Bartenders then pour liquors only (actually they use water in all competitions) into the empty glasses. No ice or mixers are used. Bartenders must pour the proper bottles into the proper glasses with the proper amounts that follow the provided recipes. This round is worth 200 points out of their total qualifying score.

Speed Round – The speed round requires the competitor to make six drinks and open one beer as accurately and quickly as possible. The six drinks are derived from the Master Drink List which is drawn randomly by the competitor. One of the judges then announces those drinks to the competitor and officially calls “Go” to start the clock. Point deductions can happen for spills, missed or wrong ingredients, under-pours and drops or breaks. This round is worth 300 points toward their overall qualifying score.

Eric Parker in his Exhibition Round finals night.

Exhibition Flair Round – Each bartender in all divisions has four minutes to make two drinks. The first drink is made using Working Flair while the second drink showcases Exhibition Flair. Unlike the Speed Round, the competitors know the two drinks they will be making before the competition begins. This allows them to create a full routine (with music). Bartenders are judged on things like Difficulty, Flow of Routine, Creative Flair and Overall Performance. The most valuable of all three rounds, Exhibition Flair is worth 450 points toward the competitor’s overall score.

Tuesday is solely dedicated to finalist rounds. The Advanced Division this year announced five qualifiers: Santiago Gomez, Mike Mills, Ezequiel Abergo, Richard Ramirez and Kevin McCormack. The Pro Division accepted nine qualifiers: Dario Doimo, Danilo Oribe, Gianluigi Bosco, Steven Jarmuz, Behnam Gerami, Riccardo Mastromatteo, Eric Parker, Miyuki Kamimura and Nick Olliney.

These gentlemen (and lady) then competed in another day’s worth of flair to see who would win the ultimate title of Legends XII Champion and $10,000 in prize money. An additional round called Working Flair is added on finals day. This round is worth 300 points and consists of a competitor making 4-5 drinks in three minutes while being judged.

Another unique thing about Legends is the Tandem event. This is where two flair bartenders come together with a routine and are judged similarly to the other rounds. Below is the video of Colin Griffiths and Vladymyr Buryanov of “Team Bar Flies,” who took this year’s Tandem Championship title.

Commentating with Christian Delpech For Thousands of Worldwide Fans

Christian & Kacy Commentating on FlairLive TV

The last part of finals day is considered the “big show.” This is where all finalists compete in the Exhibition Flair Round (worth 475 points) on the main stage. Generation Flair was asked to co-host FlairLive TV’s coverage of the main event with Christian Delpech, a well-known legend in this sport. Since this was our se

cond experience with FlairLive TV (first being at Quest 2009), Kacy gladly accepted the challenge once again.

As each competitor took the stage, Christian and Kacy were commentating for fans all over the world (3,500 computers logged on from over 25 different countries)! For the first time, FlairLive TV offered viewers various sponsor commercials and product plugs during the broadcast. The energy was high and the results were anxiously anticipated as each judge reviewed the overall list of finalists to determine who would be crowned Legends XII Champion.

Legends XII Results: 2010 Finalists
Flair bartending competitions like Legends not only offer the prestige and bragging rights of each flair bartender who earns his/her trophy, they also offer some amazing prize money! Below are the final results and their cash prizes won for this event.

1st: Danilo Oribe (Uruguay) – $10,000
2nd: Gianluigi Bosco (Italy) – $2,500
3rd: Dario Doimo (Italy) – $2,000
4th: Miyuki Kamimura (Japan) – $2,000
5th: Nick Olliney (USA) – $1,500
6th: Steve Jarmuz (USA) – $1,500
7th: Eric Parker (USA) – $1,500
8th: Riccardo Mastramatteo (Italy) – $1,500
9th: Behnam Gerami (USA) – $1,000

Attend Your First Competition
If you’re interested in attending a flair competition, check the Flair Bartenders’ Association or the World Flair Association to find a professional competition near you. We’ll be writing a detailed list of upcoming spring/summer competitions next week, so be sure to subscribe to GenF alerts (enter your email address in the Subscription box at the top of this page). Even if you’ve never been to a flair competition before, but you’re curious, give it a try! Everyone is welcome and it’s an opportunity for you to watch the sport as its meant to be seen: LIVE!

Interview with Captain Boogie: Eric Holbert’s Flair Story

Best known in the world of flair bartending as “Captain Boogie,” Eric Holbert is the classic story of how an average bartender began living an above average life by becoming involved with this popular sport. We sat down with Boogie in Orlando at a recent competition to get the full story of how this Vegas-native got into flair.

Origination of the Nickname
GF: “Your nickname is ‘Captain Boogie,’ how’d you get it?”
B: “I got that nickname from Todd Connell at the first competition I ever did, which was Quest for the Best in 1998 at Pleasure Island. It was actually the second year I got into flair and it’s also where I met Ken Hall, Alan Mays and everyone else who’s important in this industry. I was at the registration table to sign up and Todd asked what nickname I wanted. Me being nervous since it was my first competition, just said, ‘Whatever you want.’ Todd said, ‘Give me a nickname or I’ll give you one.’ I said ‘Yeah, whatever,’ and left.”

“During the first flair round, JD Spradlin was announcing me on stage and said ‘This is Eric “Captain Boogie” Holbert, who works at the VooDoo Lounge in Las Vegas!’ I looked down at the judges table and everyone was laughing hysterically. I thought, oh great I’m already nervous and they’re pulling pranks! This is where the nickname originally started.”

“I did my round and overall finished 16th. But, this is when the competitions didn’t have divisions. So, I was up against hard core pros and veterans. I was very happy about that placing!”

“Anyway, the year after, they broke out into divisions. I qualified 4th in the Rookie division. In the final round, I did a whole car wash routine; on roller skates and finished first! When I did that routine and won, (as well as took Best in Show overall), the name stuck. There was no way it was leaving at that point. It was given to me so I just went with it.”

GF: “Even your Kahunaville promo video features your nickname and this theme.”
B: “Yes, the “Captain” was dropped so now it’s just Boogie. I don’t mind it whatsoever.”

Boogie’s Affair with Flair
GF: “When did you start flairing and why?”
B: “Actually, I thought flair was kinda stupid at first. But I’d been around it quite a bit due to living in Las Vegas and having been a bartender for quite awhile. Ken Hall more or less pushed me into doing flair…he kept pushing me to do more tricks and moves and then finally recommended I compete at Quest. So I went and tried. He mentored me, showed me the format of the comp, how to prepare and what to do. The rest is history.”

GF: “You work full time at Kahunaville, but do you have any other jobs?”
B: “Yes. I also have a part-time job at Red Rock Station Casino, which is a fairly high end casino. Oscar Perez works with me as well. We work a lot together. Carolina, Christian Delpech’s wife, also works there. So I’m surrounded by some other great flair bartenders and I love that.”

GF: “You’re an official judge for the FBA, tell us a little bit about that.”
B: “I’ve been an official judge for nearly seven years now. Over the last three years, I’ve been a Master Judge for the FBA. I’m also an elite judge for WFA. I’m one of the only people that judges for both organizations and I really enjoy it. I’ve traveled the world and have met some great people as a result.”

GF: “While we’re on the topic, a lot of our readers want to know the difference between the WFA and the FBA…can you explain?”
B: “Judging standards are different within each organization, but mostly it’s similar for criteria on how the bartenders compete. The WFA is based in Europe and does a lot of advocating for flair there. The FBA is the older organization and is based in the U.S. Competitions are geared toward being a better bartender, which is good. The WFA also has more country access. It’s not a big deal to travel from one country to the next there. So, it gives flair bartending some great exposure to new cultures, languages, etc.”

GF: “The WFA is really creating a presence in Europe. Do you see yourself going over there a lot?
B: “This year, I took a rest, but last year I visited 10 countries. So yeah, they are creating more of a market for what’s going on and I hope to continue to be a part of it.”

GF: “What about the IBA?”
B: “The IBA is very strict on drink making, it’s more about mixology and protecting the bartending craft. They have an older management that advocates old school bartending, you know, the 1940s ways of how you make drinks. I think this is great, because you don’t see that anymore.”

GF: “When did you decide to do judging more than competing?”
B: “Age kicked in. Christian Delpech & I did a flair competition in Korea and I realized I wasn’t physically OR mentally ready. I couldn’t keep up with the level. I felt then it was time to retire from competitions, so now I focus on judging which allows me to keep up with flair in a different way.”

“I competed for nearly six years, which might not seem like a long time. But you have to remember, I started when I was 32, so in six years, I was 38…and it was time to slow down. Dario (Doimo) was 17 when he started; (Rodrigo) Cao and (Rodrigo) Delpech started when they were really young and they’re still going. For me, I started late and did the best I could do in that amount of time.”

GF: “What made you fall in love with flair?”
B: “It was the fact that when I was on stage, I got an energy level from the crowd that’s indescribable…it’s hard to explain. You know, I’ve always been an entertainer (I used to do street dancing and such). It’s just a whole other aspect of bartending that is really cool.”

GF: “Do you still have the same level of passion you did?”
B: “I do, but I don’t have the physical need to get up and practice like the younger guys. However, my true passion for flair is definitely still there. It’s what gets me up in the morning or should I say late afternoon?”

GF: “You’ve been at this a long time, you know all the tricks, the one-liners and you’ve looked behind the proverbial ‘curtain.’ Do you ever get tired of it? I mean, is bartending ever going to wear you out? In other words, are you doing it just for the money at this point?”
B: “Bartending is not a career for me, I do a lot of other things in my life people don’t know about. I love photography, rock climbing, cave exploration and I’m looking into going back to school to study Geology. I can always fall back on bartending if I need to. I’ve thought about starting up a travel website, but I don’t know. I’m just exploring and I haven’t really committed to anything new. I’m content with everything I’m doing right now…it’s probably why I’m single because I’m so busy with all of it!”

“Ultimately, I love bartending; I’ve been doing it for 22 years now. Mostly, I enjoy how flair allows me to interact and bond more quickly with customers…which means everyone has a great time and as a result, I make a good living.”

Flair Bartending & Major Media Appearances
GF: “You’ve been on A&E, Food Network & Travel Channel specials for flair bartending as well as the MTV’s Real World. As a sport we’re gaining even more momentum and exposure with two new reality shows in the works, FlairLive TV’s new site and a larger European scene than ever before. What kind of future do you see for flair?”
B: “We need something to happen. It’s there, but it’s still underground for the industry. Like poker, nobody really knew poker until the World Series of Poker became a big name. We’ve had specials, and now one reality show that’s been piloted. I still have no idea when that’s going to come out. But, hopefully something like that will allow us to really launch flair in a big way.”

“I’m also starting to see a new trend with some competitors who don’t want to compete as much anymore like Vache Manoukian and Justin Keane. They still have that mindset for being on stage, so I think more entertainment pieces will be surfacing…like flair bartending performances.”

GF: “We were just in Vegas last summer and witnessed quite a few Kahunaville stage performances, or “structured competitions.”
B: “They’re constant and Kahunaville is one of the most competitive flair bars in the world. Nobody does it as much as we do. There are three shows a night and every bartender who works there has to be a flair bartender. The crowds love it.”

GF: “It feels like there’s this ground swell. You’re right, FlairLive TV is huge and will do a lot for helping the sport to explode.”
B: “Yes, the interest is there, but it’s still underground…we’re worldwide, but in reality, it’s still in the beverage industry even though we’ve had a lot of major media exposure.”

GF: “Generation Flair is all about educating people outside of our industry about what flair bartending is and why we’re working so hard to make it an alternative sport with full-time media coverage. What information can you give fans or people interested in learning more about flair and how to contribute in boosting its popularity?”
B: “Flair bartending is something you have to want…it’s a passion. For those who are interested, the first thing you need to do is go to some competitions…the small and big ones. It’s where you’ll really get to feel the excitement of what we do. In the meantime, visit the websites, watch FlairLive TV, buy flair videos and support these different businesses with your patronage and comments.”

Outlook for 2010: Growing Flair Bartending Worldwide

Not to get too sentimental on everyone, but we felt it was appropriate to start 2010 with a post on gratitude, friendship and love.

Gratitude for how far we’ve come in such a short amount of time with this blog and its goal to advocate flair bartending to the masses. We’ve been blessed with a wide network of amazing friendship that continues to grow, going as far to say that some people are so close to us now that we consider them family. Thank you for being you and for helping us promote and write about our passion for this sport. And lastly, recognize that flair bartending isn’t just a hobby to us. We absolutely love everything it has to offer our life: a well-paying job for Dan, traveling to excellent destinations, and an outlet Kacy uses for creativity and inspiring others to promote and enjoy flair as much as we do.

Generation Flair began because two people realized how unique and important this sport could be for fans everywhere. We saw the benefits flair bartending gave to professional bartenders, businesses, bar owners and the media. Using our marketing (Kacy) and bartending (Dan) backgrounds, we began connecting the dots.

Dan adds expertise, creativity (he named the blog after all) and support. Kacy’s writing, passion for growth and business acumen allow us to provide accurate content (hopefully free of spelling errors). And, together our skills in forming key relationships across organizations and businesses give you the most well-rounded content possible. With this recipe, we hopefully are giving you something you’ve never had before – a professional blog that connects the flair bartending scene directly to your reality through the convenience of your computer and/or mobile phone.

Accomplishments in 2009
We’re very proud of our beginnings and wanted to take a moment to highlight what we’ve accomplished for flair fans everywhere in 2009 so we can continue to create growth for flair bartending:

• Generation Flair had its first post May 6, 2009. Since then, we’ve posted 20 articles giving you the best education, coverage and behind-the-scenes look into the world of flair bartending.
• We launched a fan page on Facebook that has attracted nearly 1,000 loyal fans.
• We learned a new form of social media and joined the Twitter craze. Although small, our 115 followers have given us invaluable feedback and ideas for new posts and conversations around flair.
• We both created profile pages (Kacy’s & Dan’s) on Cocktail Shows, a unique flair bartending social networking site.
• We worked hard to create strong alliances with popular organizations like the Flair Bartending Association (FBA) and the World Flair Association (WFA) to make sure our content was accurate and you were getting the broadest perspective of flair bartenders and competitions.
• Our post Meeting Oscar Perez: FlairLive TV’s Entrepreneur allowed us to form a new friendship with a unique communication channel for flair fans everywhere. FlairLive TV is the first website of its kind in the U.S. to feature live, streaming coverage of flair bartending competitions for free. Thank you Oscar, Christian, Rodrigo and the entire staff of employees and volunteers at FlairLive TV for all you do for the sport of flair bartending! We look forward to watching more great content in 2010!
• Kacy was asked to be a co-host at Quest 2009 (November) with Christian Delpech and Paul Nguyen on FlairLive TV’s coverage of the big event. We learned the event was viewed in 21 different countries and on over 1,600 unique computers…an estimated 3-15 people were watching from each computer. Because Generation Flair was mentioned throughout the broadcast, blog traffic spiked that evening and we gained even more fans as a result. View the recording HERE.
• We realized flair began taking new avenues to grow in 2009. After our latest blog post and interview with Hayden “Woody” Wood, we saw an even larger potential flair bartending has for generating fans young and old.

Goals for 2010
We embrace many organizations, media outlets and individuals as long as they do their part to support and grow flair bartending in a professional manner. We understand that we can’t be the only ones creating a movement and it takes MANY people to bring about an awareness of flair bartending. That’s why we’ve developed the following goals for 2010 and beyond:

1. Increase our overall fan base from the thousands to the tens of thousands through new promotions, media coverage and strategic alliances.
2. Develop more posts on flair around the world. We want to give you more information and involvement in the flair bartending scene across Europe, Asia and South America where we know flair is growing at a rapid pace. This includes a certain amount of posts dedicated to features on flair bartenders, competitions and sponsors outside of the U.S.
3. Create stronger alliances with international organizations like the Hellenic Barmen Association (HBA), International Bartender Associaion (IBA) and others. This will help us grow a broader fan base and hopefully expand our efforts into new countries with the help of a larger group of experts and flair competition organizers.
4. Develop a specific look and brand for Generation Flair. We have a logo, but we can’t stop there. We invite any and all graphic designers, advertising specialists or brand experts to help us create a new look for the blog that you’ll be proud to represent. This will be created with your help and feedback.

Thanks to All Flair Bartending Fans Everywhere
Your enthusiasm, passion and interest in this sport have given us even more motivation to keep bringing you the best of flair bartending in 2010. Without you, flair bartending wouldn’t be as exciting and popular as it is today. Help us continue our mission and achieve the above goals by participating on the social networks here and here, adding comments to the blog posts and e-mailing us with your suggestions.

So let’s raise our glasses and toast: Here’s to a bright future for flair bartending and all it has to offer you, its loyal friends, family and fans…cheers to a great 2010!

An Interview with Hayden “Woody” Wood: On Tour with Guy Fieri

At Generation Flair, we focus primarily on the competitive side of flair bartending. After all, our main goal is to help attract a mainstream network, like ESPN, to this growing sport. However, a new concept has started to emerge that works well for increasing exposure for flair bartending in the U.S. After scoring some free tickets (thanks Jason!) to the Guy Fieri Roadshow at the Midland Theatre, we had the opportunity to sit down with Hayden Wood (a.k.a. “Woody”) after the show to better understand what his flair skills were all about.

What is the Guy Fieri Roadshow?
The Guy Fieri Roadshow recipe is simple. Take an Australian flair bartender, known for his mixology and wine books, add Celebrity Chef Guy Fieri, mix in a DJ with some badass rock and roll vinyl skills and blend. Take this mixture, and bring several thousand people to a boil for an hour and 45 minutes, add a dash of crazy stories, a few tour buses and you’re set up with a 30-day, 22 city cooking tour that’s sweeping the country. Guy Fieri, the star behind “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” bills this as “Food, rock n’ roll, and everything they won’t let me do on TV!”

November was the kick-off month for this very alternative idea in cooking demonstrations, backed by the Food Network and all its glory. Woody is the opening act for Fieri and gives the audience a simple and unique flair bartending show while creating several cocktails for a few lucky audience members to enjoy. We watched as he performed simple, but crowd pleasing flair moves such as waterfall pours, behind-the-back flips to a stall and a bottle-tin routine…all while running frantically back and forth across the stage attending to his VIP tables (who were on stage for a pricier ticket than we were allowed). Although this wasn’t our favorite type of flair, it did have a large appeal to those who attended, leaving most with a smile and likely a hangover the next morning.

This is where Woody’s Liquid Kitchen is making enormous headway for flair bartending. By connecting with the masses, he’s effectively giving a great show (albeit not the competitive side) to a wide variety of consumers who may or may not ever go to a bar or a flair bartending competition. He’s out there, promoting flair bartending in a way that a large group of people can connect with. For that, we are truly inspired and grateful for his contribution.

Who is Hayden Wood?
He insisted we call him Woody, as “Hayden” was only something he was called when in trouble. Our first impression of Woody was someone who was “on” all the time. He was constantly smiling, cracking jokes and interacting with his fans as he signed books and jumped in front of the camera for a photo…a natural entertainer.

Woody is the youngest of three boys and mixed his first drink when he was eight years old…at a New Year’s Eve party on his parents’ Australian farm. That was his first attempt at mixology. Although it was a negative experience to his taste buds, he continued to experiment with the fermentation process and flavors from foods like pumpkin, rice, potatoes, split peas, rhubarb and orange peels. We were interested in what spurred this curiosity at such a young age, and his response was his farm upbringing.

“You know, if you’re raised on a farm, you’re taught to do everything for yourself,” he said. “I read books, I practiced and eventually a 50-gallon drum and a cheese cloth produced a fairly decent 190 proof alcohol that could be mixed with gin, Southern Comfort and Orange Soda Stream.”

By the time he was 15, this concoction became known as his own private label called the “Eagle Rock Experience,” which he sold at parties for a nice profit. Shortly thereafter, New Zealand’s king of cocktail parties was born.

Finding Flair
About 20 years ago, Woody met Beagle Rogers, head bartender & manager of Rumors in London, the sister club to Studio 54. Rogers moved to Australia in the late ‘80s to recover from a “certain” addiction and opened a place called the Iron Pot Cafe. Woody told us he was inspired by Rogers’ flair skills, and constantly asked him for a job so he could learn. With Woody only being 16, Rogers brushed him off several times.

“I was inspired by him, after all he was an amazing flair bartender,” he said. “It was mostly one bottle, but it was tongs, ice, bouncing things off the walls, you know…this was like ’89. And he was taught by the Greeks to do entertainment bartending. He had true heritage sort of flair. Without a doubt, I thought it was an exciting thought to become someone like that.”

Woody was persistent in his quest to get closer to Rogers.

“I bought him cheese, and biscuits, and all kinds of things for about six months trying to gain his approval,” Woody said. “I guess he got sick of me asking, because finally he gave me an ultimatum: ‘If you can find three things wrong behind this bar you can have a job…’ I found four things wrong,” Woody said. Rogers responded with, “Alright smart ass, see ya later!” 

Rogers promptly walked out of the bar at that moment, and left the naive 16 year-old to run a high end cocktail bar for the night. Woody told us it wasn’t much fun. He had no idea how to make anything people were requesting. After all, the place had been written about in Time magazine only six months before so they weren’t your normal Jack & Coke requests.

“That first night was awful, but he kept me on for another 3-4 months, without pay,” Woody said. “I learned a lot.”

Bartending to Travel
A few years later, Woody left Australia for Europe to gain experience in any bar that would hire him. His first stop was the UK to work in the London/Manchester area. Then he landed a job in Turkey and continued working there for awhile.

“I taught a lot of the flair to myself, but after Europe and middle east, I met up with a guy in Manchester,” he said. “I lived in a 13-room flat with a bar downstairs and we all lived upstairs. You never left the building. It was absolute chaos, but that’s where I learned American style flair bartending.”

One day he found himself on a refugee boat from Odessa to Israel. He then decided to work in Israel for a year to save some money. Since that wasn’t enough traveling for Woody’s tastes, he quickly found himself using his engineering background to build hot houses in Egypt and all the way to Sudan.

“There’s only so much city you can take before you realize you need a complete contrast,” he said. “I wanted to know how the rest of the world lived.”

Woody continued to fascinate us as we talked through the rest of the evening. We asked him if it was really hard to be on tour since he’s away from his wife and 2-year old son. He responded quite passionately with a statement we think all of us should take to heart.

“Of course I miss my family, but being on tour is easy. On tour, you’re treated like a demigod. There is nothing hard about this. You lie down in a bus and you go to sleep, or you watch a movie, or you eat food or you drink water. If you’re in this capacity you’re one of the top 1% wealthy people in the world. If you are in a slum, and you do not have any money and you can’t find food…you have something to complain about. So I find people who complain about things particularly hard to deal with,” he said.

We asked Woody what his goal was for Liquid Kitchen and the Guy Fieri Roadshow. He responded, “You go on this kind of journey for a number of reasons…for some people, it’s for the money, but mostly it’s for the exposure.”

We couldn’t agree more. This tour will be able to give Woody the exposure in the U.S. he’s been desiring. From a business standpoint, he’ll be able to create a passive income stream that will hopefully continue long after his tour has ended.

Most bartenders have to go to work in order to earn money. Woody can earn money in his sleep by selling books and tickets online. It’s all about diversification. Guy Fieri is no different – most chefs start and own a restaurant or two. But with this business model, Fieri is creating a branded empire of book sales, a TV series on the Food Network, ticket sales and his new, custom-designed kitchen utensils. The list is endless, but it all centers around his passion for cooking and food.

“The popular chefs now are coming into our homes on these TV shows…I’m trying to do the same in the bartender role,” Woody said.

“It’s a means to project a form of entertainment for something I’m particularly passionate about. It’s the same message as Guy has…we both agree that in America, people have lost their sense of cooking…the function of the kitchen. When convenience food came around, along with the microwave, cooking became boring and unnatural.”

Woody’s World Today
Although he’s a household name in Australia, known for his mixology books and teaching people how to mix their own drinks and distill their own liqueur, Woody has a unique situation. “I’ve alienated myself from the traditional bar scene. I’m more passionate about teaching people to mix drinks in their own kitchen…that’s more rewarding for me,” he said.

And he’s true to his passion, with eight books available for sale, Woody continues to polish his skills as an author, mixology educator and overall entertainer. His hard work is starting to pay off. One of his books claims to be the largest selling mixed drinks/wine book in Australia with eight reprints to its name. But Woody is still humble about his growing success.

“We’re just under 100,000 units, and it’s great…but that’s six years of printing books and working to sell them, while Guy Fieri did 400,000 on his first print,” he said. “But it’s my personal achievement and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished so far.”

If you’re in need of a good holiday or birthday gift, you can’t go wrong with one of these beautiful books. They’re functional with recipes and how-to’s, but they’re beautifully designed as well, so they work great as coffee table books. Woody says he has his wife, Esmeralda Wood, to thank for that. She’s the photographer and graphic designer behind his brand.

Books:
“Behind Three Feet of Bar”
“Woody’s Liquid Kitchen”
“Good Wine, Bad Language, Great Vineyards: Wine Characters of Australia”
“Good Wine, Bad Language, Great Vineyards: Wine Characters of New Zealand”
“The Liquid Kitchen: Groovy Drinks”
“The Liquid Kitchen: Party Drinks”
“Beer Nuts: Beer Characters of Australia”
“Cafe Republic of Australia: Sights, Stories and Flavours of Cafe Culture”

What’s Next?
After the July sale of his 12-year old consulting company, Mondo Bartenders, Woody has a new outlook on his career. And, true to his entertainer personality, he mentioned he’ll begin filming a new series (only available in Australia) this February.

“We have a TV series starting to film in February called “Put Me Behind Bars,” the beverage version of ‘Hell’s Kitchen’…covering coffee, tea, wine, beer, cocktails, front of house service, bar design, etc. It’s all fairly intense and planning to be a fun show. I’ll be the Nazi at the end, calling the shots for bar owners,” he said.

We wish Woody good luck, and look forward to seeing more of this up and coming flair bartender, author and all around nice guy.