the greatest article of all time

i kid you not. it is an article about "flair" bartending and flair bartenders in arlington. i won't spoil the essence of it all, but allow me to quote an excerpt:

So what is flair bartending?

FREDDY B.: A lot of people don’t know what it is. They think we’re just bottle flippers. There’s a bar here called Front Page, and they have a channel with extreme sports—snowboarding and a couple of other sports. And I think flair actually falls into the same category. You can get hurt really badly. Like I was practicing at home and a bottle fell down on this bone [points to ankle] and I went straight to the floor. I stopped practicing for at least 30 minutes. But flair is a passion. Once you get in it, it’s very addictive.

HARRIS: Magic. That’s what I call flair.

as they say: read the whole thing. there are some real gems in there.

Comments

[the g]

you can get hurt.... by the magic of it all.

it's official: i'm in love.

[Jake]

HARRIS: Flair is an attitude. In addition to the bottle flipping, we practice pointing and winking.

[torrentprime]

Our local bartenders do this more now too. It used to be "that one guy" did it; now 1/2 the bar workers juggle, breathe fire, do mass pours. Sometimes it's even synchronized stuff, with more than one doing something together. It's fun to watch and adds to the atmosphere.

[Al Iar]

My favorite:

But I hate when people say, “Hey, you’re like Tom Cruise!” I’m nothing like Tom Cruise. That movie has probably done more damage for flair bartenders than anything else. People get this misconception that we’re spilling a lot, because he spills a lot. And the flair he does is actually horrible

[Jackmormon]

This weekend, while I was playing frisbee, I noticed another couple out on the lawn practicing flipping a bottle around. The guy seemed pretty good, but the woman he was teaching: no. And I seriously hope she's not going to try out any of those moves with a real bottle in a crowded bar any time soon.

[Kriston]

If someone flipped my Budweiser around, I would stab him.

[Scott Ferguson]

Beer and Circuses?