Tuesday 20 March 2007

Bouncer News!!!

Trial of bouncer continues..

...Chiswick Bouncer kills punter with one punch at his first day at work!
The 6ft 2in bouncer Kevin Griffth aged 30 punched Nicholas Padget aged 27 in 'anger and frustration' after being called a "jobsworth" at a pub in West London at 1am on June 30th.
The story continues as Griffth denies one count of manslaughter.

Thursday 15 March 2007

The 'alternative Backhander'

The information from 'Tony' regarding bouncers backhanding to make a little bit of extra money on the side as corrupt as it sounds isn't surprising. During any of my nights out how ever late it has been i have to say i have never been asked or charged an extra fee for entrance. However i have come across and been approached with what i call the 'alternative backhander'. This is something that i am sure other fellow female clubbers have been approached with to at some point. This is where the bouncers instead of asking for a tenner on the side ask and make more of a suggestive request...

...This happened a couple of weeks ago when me and my girl friend hit the West End on a Friday night. After being rejected from 'Camouflage' for being under 21 we were approached by a promoter for 'Cafe De Paris'. 'Cafe De Paris' is one of the best clubs in the West End and has been visited by many famous celebrities from both the UK and US. However this is also a 21 and overs club though, so we told the promoter we knew we wouldn't get as we aren't even 20 yet. He reassured that everything would be fine and to just say that we were 21. We decided to take a shot and went with him to the doors. Once we arrived their the bouncers automatically asked us our age and for ID. Obviously as they looked at our driving licences they worked out that we were only in fact 19 and told us no. Wanting to go in there in we were like, "come on we won't say anything, nobody will know." At this one of the bouncers began to flirt. He then approached me and said, "If you come into that corner over there with me and make me a happy man, i will make you two happy and let you in." Both me and my friend dismissed this as a joke and laughed at it and were like, "yeah right, don't think so." Then the second bouncer say's, "No seriously." and points round the corner. Clearly the bouncer world has a seedy side.

The bouncer code continued

My bouncer friend 'Tony' also let me in on the corrupt illegal business that bouncers run behind mangements back.....Backhanders. This where a bouncer accepts a minimum of £20 and can ask for up to £50 from a person who really wants to get in the club. This normally occurs after the doors are closed and the venue is full. However, this also used when they remove an individual from the club and allow him back in for a this small fee. The money is pocketed by the bouncer and kept quiet from management.

As i explained in my previous post the bouncer from 'Sound' Club charged my dodgy mate for entrance in the last time we went there.

Tuesday 6 March 2007

The bouncer code

At the start of the week i managed to interview my bouncer friend "Tony". He works part-time as a bouncer and he gave an insight of the bouncer world. During this interview i found out several interesting facts. A primary job of a bouncer is to stop drug dealing happening in the club. But according to "Tony" you will never be able to stop drug dealing from happening because people can hide drugs in loads of places. So what bouncer's do is make friends with one drug dealer and turn a blind eye to what he does in the club. In exchange the dealer rats out other dealer's trying to deal on his patch.

During one of my nights out i bumped into a mate who happens to have links to the drug world. It was at about 2:15 am when i saw him standing on Oxford Street alone waiting for his friends. When i asked him what happened he replied, "I got kicked out of a club." I continued to question him further on what he had done but he just smiled and assured me it wasn't because he had gotten into a fight...

...A week later, me and this mate went to Sound club Leicester Square. I arrived there before him and got in no problem but literally half an hour later he arrived and had problems getting in. He called me saying they weren't letting him in. I went outside and it was this one bouncer in particular that for some reason was adamant he come in. My mate told me to go upstairs and that he would be up shortly. And sure enough five minutes later he walks up to me with a big grin on his face. When i asked him what had happened he replied, "He knew about my business." When i asked how he managed to persuade him for entrance he told me, "I told him i aint got nothing and sorted him out."

Later he told me he slipped the bouncer a £20 note.