Question to those of you who are bouncers/doormen at clubs/stripclubs

**TBrah** · 07-25-2011, 10:58 PM

How do you go about getting into that sort of job or is it just something that you just ended up doing? What are your stats I'm guessing you have to be pretty big if you want to be taken seriously and get hired.

**Nooomoto** · 07-25-2011, 11:04 PM

I only do it once in a while for my rugby team. One of our members owns a company that has contracts all over Miami. Usually during wmc when he is stressed for numbers he does this thing where we all work events and he pays our wage to the rugby team. Being friends we get the best posts like the vip areas

**stack_it** · 07-25-2011, 11:09 PM

Go to a bar and ask if they are looking for bouncers/doormen. If they are then apply. Some guys have gotten started by being approached while at a club just hanging out and offered a job but that's not always how it works. Others know guys that bounce and get into it that way but in the end it's a job and can almost always be applied for like any other job out there.

Being huge isn't a requirement either. It def helps but not always needed. I worked the door a fairly large club several times at 6' 185lbs which is by no means huge.

**terraj** · 07-25-2011, 11:20 PM

I worked for a company for around 5 years in the 90s, clubs, doors and CP work.....I was the shortest in the company at 5'7"....but I was always demand. Either be big or have hand skills...or some guys get by on just verbal skills, but they are limited to where they can work.

Crap job today, to many weapons and legal risks.

**Gaspari1255** · 07-25-2011, 11:40 PM

My freshman year of college I was out at real shit hole bar and the owner approached me for a job. As stated above, size is a minimal factor, at my biggest I was 6'2" 265lbs, but right now I am a much better bouncer at 6'2" 240lbs. Nothing beats experience. After four years of doing this shit, I've seen it all by now. I've also made some stupid choices by fvcking a lot of people up in bars and clubs, and having to go to court a few times. My best advice, don't even get into it. Everyone thinks it's great--surrounded by girls, work a few hours, fast cash. It's fun for a few months then it's annoying and depressing. Most of the girls you are gonna meet are gutter trash, and now a days, even if you look at someone the wrong way, it's a simple assault charge. I look at it like this: If someone has to get hurt, it's either the customer or the bouncer, and its NOT gonna be me. My attitude has it's pro's and con's. 1.) I have NEVER been injured or hurt, and I've worked some very violent places. But as stated above, I have had quite a few court appearances under my belt.

**wmaousley** · 07-25-2011, 11:48 PM

Hell I submitted my resume & DD214 to Lavela and Spinnaker and was hired by both @ a whopping 180lbs, Size doesn't matter, until you get jumped on! I have also worked @ Coyote Ugly.

Had these jobs just to put money in my pocket before redeploying to the Middle East! Also got free booze and a ton of spring breaker women!

**Dr Pepper** · 07-25-2011, 11:53 PM

I owned a club in melbourne with my brother and to keep costs down at the start i was the bouncer. We sold last year but i still work as a bouncer in a friends club at the moment. In Australia you need to get your security liscence before you can work as a bouncer. I'm 5'9" at 180 and haven't trained for 6 months because of an injury. So no were near huge. Size is great for intimating people but as long as you can handle yourself and know how to communicate with people well then I don't really think size is that important...

**Gaspari1255** · 07-25-2011, 11:58 PM

Originally Posted by terraj

I worked for a company for around 5 years in the 90s, clubs, doors and CP work.....I was the shortest in the company at 5'7"....but I was always demand. Either be big or have hand skills...or some guys get by on just verbal skills, but they are limited to where they can work.

Crap job today, to many weapons and legal risks.

That's always the best option to try first, but when push comes to shove, you need to forget all about talking the guy down and clean house.

**Gaspari1255** · 07-26-2011, 12:05 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5ythSvNUQ

^Thats a video of one on my boy I used to bounce with..he used to fvcking KILL people. Total idiot, but very entertaining. I have a slight cameo in this vid too, not pointing myself out though. It was shot at the Aztec club in Seaside Heights.

**terraj** · 07-26-2011, 12:12 AM

Originally Posted by Bronzer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5ythSvNUQ

^Thats a video of one on my boy I used to bounce with..he used to fvcking KILL people. Total idiot, but very entertaining. I have a slight cameo in this vid too, not pointing myself out though. It was shot at the Aztec club in Seaside Heights.

The uploader has not made this video available in your country.

thanks

**Times Roman** · 07-26-2011, 12:55 AM

Originally Posted by terraj

I worked for a company for around 5 years in the 90s, clubs, doors and CP work.....I was the shortest in the company at 5'7"....but I was always demand. Either be big or have hand skills...or some guys get by on just verbal skills, but they are limited to where they can work.

Crap job today, to many weapons and legal risks.

agree. I've seen little guys that fought explosively, and big guys that have always bluffed, without any real skills.

pound for pound, little guys usually fight much better...

**terraj** · 07-26-2011, 02:00 AM

Originally Posted by Times Roman

agree. I've seen little guys that fought explosively, and big guys that have always bluffed, without any real skills.

pound for pound, little guys usually fight much better...

True, we had a combat class at that time which was all bouncers and CP guys, very physical stuff.....the big guys would normally have their arses handed to them.

But as for door work, been big when you are throwing drunks around helps.

**Nooomoto** · 07-26-2011, 02:13 AM

Being big helps a lot when dealing with large amounts of people at an access control point, but there's a lot of places where being big isn't required. As far as fighting, I try to avoid it as much as possible. I did get into it once but it wasn't a big deal, I'm pretty big so most people respect my authoritay. Plus watching people get tased by the cops is much more fun than fighting with drunks.

Just remember if you do get into this line of work that being cool gets you farther than being an asshole will. It's not always necessary to be a dick and don't let the position get to your head.

**gixxerboy1** · 07-26-2011, 07:47 AM

go in and apply. I'm telling you now though you need to know how to socialize. Customers are going to talk to you. Ask you things. You may have to help the girls with things. Also management is looking for people that can talk and calm down a situation.

I'm 5'6 185 and i've bounced and large clubs in big cities and ran security for strip clubs. I've seen big guys that were giant pvssy's and useless when it got down to it.

**Schmidty** · 07-26-2011, 09:07 AM

i have done it off and on the past fewyears at a few diffferent places, they have all kind of just fell into my lap... im 23, 5'9 220lbs pretty low body fat so a lil on the larger side

**Hoggage_54** · 07-26-2011, 09:59 AM

I want to be a bouncer at a strip club

**gixxerboy1** · 07-26-2011, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by Hoggage_54

I want to be a bouncer at a strip club

i want to be the pole at a strip bar

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by gixxerboy1

i want to be the pole at a strip bar

changing nationality, are we? lol

**TBrah** · 07-26-2011, 10:32 AM

I know you guys say size doesn't matter too much but you have to think I'm an 18 yr old with a ged and some social issues. Size would be how I would stand out in that sort of job market I guess but I have to do a more cycles unless I got lucky and get hired the way I am now. I just saw an ad on craigslist and they said have to be at least 6' and 200lbs. I at least meet the weight part not by much. I don't actually have a way to go around to places and ask in person otherwise I'd be down south today. I don't have a job anymore and things got kind of bad financially at home and nobody else is gonna be able to help. Nobody wants to hire me at a mainstream kind of place plus a job like that would be justification for what I've been doing

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 10:33 AM

ive done a good few nightclubs and presently do a lap dance club. nightclubs are easier to get into, for the lap club the owner specifically said 'no skinny runts' to the contract provider lol. although i disagree with his theory, ive worked with afew guys quite a bit lighter than me and they'd kick lumps outa me.

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by TBrah

I know you guys say size doesn't matter too much but you have to think I'm an 18 yr old with a ged and some social issues. Size would be how I would stand out in that sort of job market I guess but I have to do a more cycles unless I got lucky and get hired the way I am now. I just saw an ad on craigslist and they said have to be at least 6' and 200lbs. I at least meet the weight part not by much. I don't actually have a way to go around to places and ask in person otherwise I'd be down south today. I don't have a job anymore and things got kind of bad financially at home and nobody else is gonna be able to help. Nobody wants to hire me at a mainstream kind of place plus a job like that would be justification for what I've been doing

im not meaning this badly, but its not for you then mate, seriously.

**TBrah** · 07-26-2011, 10:36 AM

Originally Posted by dec11

im not meaning this badly, but its not for you then mate, seriously.

I remember gixxer said I should get a job where I have to talk to people

**gixxerboy1** · 07-26-2011, 10:41 AM

Originally Posted by TBrah

I know you guys say size doesn't matter too much but you have to think I'm an 18 yr old with a ged and some social issues. Size would be how I would stand out in that sort of job market I guess but I have to do a more cycles unless I got lucky and get hired the way I am now. I just saw an ad on craigslist and they said have to be at least 6' and 200lbs. I at least meet the weight part not by much. I don't actually have a way to go around to places and ask in person otherwise I'd be down south today. I don't have a job anymore and things got kind of bad financially at home and nobody else is gonna be able to help. Nobody wants to hire me at a mainstream kind of place plus a job like that would be justification for what I've been doing

at 18 its going to be hard. Alot of bars don't want people under 21 if they serve alcohol. You are going to have to go to places. Your going to have to go fill out and application and probably another time for an interview.

Social skills are more important then size IMO. 90% of the time you talk to the customers to calm the situation or to get them to walk out on their own. You are going to have to socialize even if you are at the door. Also how are you going to handle talking to the girls if they come to you for something?

What happened to your other job? It will be easier for you to get a job at a mainstream place then bouncing at a bar unless you know someone who can get you in.

**gixxerboy1** · 07-26-2011, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by TBrah

I remember gixxer said I should get a job where I have to talk to people

I still feel that way. But with security its alot more talking and sometimes under more stressful situations. You have to know what to say and how to say it or things can get bad fast.

**TBrah** · 07-26-2011, 10:53 AM

well with my other job the only reason I even got it was because I knew someone who had a lot of reputation around the place. It's hard for me to compete with somebody who's been doing that job for 15+ years so I wasn't very fast and the boss basically said that it wasn't working out and they didn't have anything else for me to do there maybe if something else opens up I can go back but people tell me during summer it's very hard to get a job.

How did you start out doing security are you supposed to know naturally what kind of stuff to say in a certain situation or did you just learn it as you worked?

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 11:04 AM

Originally Posted by dec11

im not meaning this badly, but its not for you then mate, seriously.

yeah but do you want to be talking to a group of 4-5 guys surrounding you and threatening you? known gangsters smart assing you? its a stressful number, even the easy situations like some nerd giving off to you becomes a serious mental drain when they are still there 2hrs later going over the same 'i know my rights' shit. i'll go into any situation but i can tell you my ring piece has been the size of a tunnel, with nerves, going into some of them. if your socially backward this isnt the job for you, esp not strip venues, they attract all the trash of the day

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 11:16 AM

Originally Posted by TBrah

well with my other job the only reason I even got it was because I knew someone who had a lot of reputation around the place. It's hard for me to compete with somebody who's been doing that job for 15+ years so I wasn't very fast and the boss basically said that it wasn't working out and they didn't have anything else for me to do there maybe if something else opens up I can go back but people tell me during summer it's very hard to get a job.

How did you start out doing security are you supposed to know naturally what kind of stuff to say in a certain situation or did you just learn it as you worked?

i started because i PT'd a head doorman when i lived in northern ireland and he asked me for a help out now and again when he was short staffed. the venue was local town and not much hassel, ordinary ppl and no gangs when i moved to dublin i did my licence and have ended up in it full time due to lack of work in my other areas.
depends where you do it, there arent many morals or restraints in dublin (and prob any major city) when it comes to violence, its full of gangs and paramilitaries. small towns arent so bad, you'd prob get offered on to fight rather than a knife/bottle in the back of your head.
i learned pretty much on my feet and there have been alot of close calls, now i can read a situation before it even starts and try to diffuse it with minimal fuss (drunks are easily tricked). but you have to know that certain geezers are hardened criminals and its not easy to sort mate, i recently had a bad run in with a well known paramilitary head and tbh i still dont know what way it is going to pan out. sometimes i wonder what the fvck im doing, im well educated but there no openings atm and bills and rent need to paid, my advice is if you dont need to go into this game, then dont.

**scorpion62** · 07-26-2011, 04:09 PM

Agree with Dec if you dont have to do it dont its a sh1t job

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 04:12 PM

Originally Posted by scorpion62

Agree with Dec if you dont have to do it dont its a sh1t job

yeah, it def pretty quickly gave me a hardened outlook on life. i used to party like mad myself now i cant even bear to be near drunk ppl and avoid going to pubs like the plague, id end up wrecking someone.

**scorpion62** · 07-26-2011, 04:15 PM

Same mate drunks do my nut in wont to burst them

**Hoggage_54** · 07-26-2011, 04:17 PM

Originally Posted by scorpion62

Same mate drunks do my nut in wont to burst them

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by Hoggage_54

lol, say to yourself in a scottish accent, then ya'll get it

**brad1986** · 07-26-2011, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Bronzer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH5ythSvNUQ

^Thats a video of one on my boy I used to bounce with..he used to fvcking KILL people. Total idiot, but very entertaining. I have a slight cameo in this vid too, not pointing myself out though. It was shot at the Aztec club in Seaside Heights.

your boy seemed way outta line there. the dude was just yellin at sombody its not like he attacked him

**brad1986** · 07-26-2011, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by Hoggage_54

hahaha i was thinking the same thing... us damn yanks

**scorpion62** · 07-26-2011, 05:04 PM

Same mate drunks do my nut in wont to burst them

For all that cant understand Those drunks up set me and I would love to punch them in the face OR squeese the life out of them as I said knock ten bells of sh1t out of the tools

**Hoggage_54** · 07-26-2011, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by scorpion62

Same mate drunks do my nut in wont to burst them

For all that cant understand Those drunks up set me and I would love to punch them in the face OR squeese the life out of them as I said knock ten bells of sh1t out of the tools

**scorpion62** · 07-26-2011, 05:09 PM

LMAO its cool Hog,it takes time to understand us but once you get there you will have a laugh

**dec11** · 07-26-2011, 05:32 PM

Originally Posted by scorpion62

LMAO its cool Hog,it takes time to understand us but once you get there you will have a laugh

these dicks in dublin think im scottish by my accent (north east ireland), and i say 'no im northern irish, you twat' and when some call me a northern cvnt, i say no 'im scottish you twat' lol

**Bonaparte** · 07-26-2011, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by stack_it

Go to a bar and ask if they are looking for bouncers/doormen. If they are then apply. Some guys have gotten started by being approached while at a club just hanging out and offered a job but that's not always how it works. Others know guys that bounce and get into it that way but in the end it's a job and can almost always be applied for like any other job out there.

Being huge isn't a requirement either. It def helps but not always needed. I worked the door a fairly large club several times at 6' 185lbs which is by no means huge.

Exactly. A lot of it depends on your demeanor. If you look like a tough, ruthless mother ****er, you don't need to be huge.

**TBrah** · 07-26-2011, 08:37 PM

idk what to do I want to do it and what if I worked at a place like culture room? The majority of people there are skinny emokids/potheads. Realistically though I'm probably not gonna get hired like gixxer said places probably want 21+