HALL OF FAME – The Ken Hall Interview

Why do you Flair now?I love it, plain and simple.

Tell us how you came about working at the Voodoo Lounge in Las Vegas and your thoughts going into it? Todd Connell actually got that ball rolling.  He was out here on vacation when he a met a bartender at the Rio, and Todd told him that he was a Flair bartender back in Florida.  The bartender told Todd about the concept they were working on for the roof of the Rio and introduced him to Bryan O’Shields, the Director of Food and Beverage for the Rio at the time.  The two stayed in contact and Todd came out to Vegas and did a demo for their executives, and they liked what they saw, so they offered him a job.  Todd, in turn told the Rio about a few others, including myself, back in Florida.  In January of 1997, Alan Mays and I came out here, interviewed and did some demonstrations for the big dogs of the casino and they offered us the jobs.

How has the Vegas Flair scene changed since your days at The Voodoo Lounge with Alan Mays? When Alan, Todd, Steve Bushur and myself came to Vegas there might have been one other guy out here that did any sort of Flair, but that was it.  Now there are about 100 Flair bartenders here.  I think that is tremendous, to see it grow that way. 

Who do you look up to in this Sport?  There are several people that I look at with tremendous respect in our sport.  The few that stand out are: Alan Mays, for the things he did for our sport back in the years when we were growing this sport to what it has become, and for the things he taught me about Flair and competing. Christian Delpech, for the things he has achieved in such a short time.  It is dedication like his that we need in order to take our sport to the next level. Jim Allison, for the things he does with the FBA everyday for virtually no money.  If we are truly going to take this sport to the next level, Jim’s role is of vital importance. Toby Ellis, for the countless hours he put in, day in and day out getting the FBA started and getting pretty much nothing out of it, except some good bashing from quite a few.  Todd Connell, for his years of dedication for what each year turns out to be virtually nothing.  Nobody has put in as much time and hard work to running events for so little in return.  If you want to talk about a guy that does it for the love, that’s Todd. Dean Serneels and Mike McLean, for all of their hard work and dedication in the development of the greatest thing ever invented, the Flair bottle.  And the new portable Flairco Bars, they are awesome. JD Spradlin, for the hours and hours he puts in on the microphone to keep events rolling smoothly and for his creativity at these many events to give them the show aspect that most of us Flair Bartenders would never see. Chico Garcia, for what he does for the Flair scene in Las Vegas.  If there is an event in Las Vegas that is Flair oriented, you can bet that he is involved.

And finally two guys that without them the Flair world would probably be a lot smaller than it is today. John Niekrash of Skyy Vodka, and Bill Hinkebein of Finest Call Premium Mixes.  They support everything we do and we all owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. 

There are others that should probably be on this list, but those are the few that stand out.

What are the biggest differences in organizing a major Flair competition rather then competing in one? Well they are completely different.  It is kind of like comparing apples and oranges.  You still have pressure with both, but it is an entirely different kind of pressure.  I would say that organizing has many mores challenges and blind turns than competing does.  Competing is pretty black and white?

Which do you prefer and Why? I don’t know, that is tough.  I love to be on that stage performing, but there isn’t much better than seeing an event that you put together be a success.  There are things about each that I really enjoy.  I don’t think I would want to give either up.  Of course ask me that again in about a month when all the pressures of the Quest are right there in front of me and I will probably give you a different answer.

You just won 1st place at the FBA Triple Challenge Working Flair Round, Tell us about your experience there? 3C was a fun event.  I liked the way the comp was set up, where as you could compete in the rounds that you wanted to.  Of course, I did all the rounds.  I think I have as much fun doing the speed and pour rounds as much as the Flair.  I actually won the same thing you did at Legends, the BEVINCO pour-off.  That was pretty cool.  Overall, I was very happy with my performance down there.  I only practiced for about two weeks for that comp, so I can’t complain about my placing’s.

How often do you practice? Almost never nowadays.  I practice once in awhile at work to try to keep up with the Jones’ (or I guess in our world it would be the Delpech’s), but that is about it.  Even for the King of the Ring, I practiced less than a week.  I will never do that again.  For the caliber of Flair that was at that event, there was no way I was going to be ready in that short of a time.  I would like to compete more, but unless I feel like I will be able to be ready, I probably won’t.  Having my jobs, running High Spirits, and spending time with my wife and my two daughters takes up a good portion of my life, so finding time to practice in there is quite the task.

Now that you’re a proud father, how does this effect your involvement with Flair? I think I talked a little about it earlier.  It definitely hinders my practice time, thus making it harder to compete as often as I would like.  It also makes me value my time a lot more than in the past.  Nap time for my daughter is now “get as much work done as possible for the short time she is a sleep” time for dad.  Believe me having a baby puts a lot into perspective.  You realize the things that were the most important things in your life, all of a sudden aren’t quite as important.  Believe me though, there is no award that I have ever won or earned in Flair bartending that can even come close to the feeling of being a Dad.  I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Tell us what High Spirits Enterprises is and what they do? Well they is actually me.  High Spirits is my company, that does pretty much anything Flair related.  I do Flair training, both corporate and personal, I sell Flair videos, both competition and training, I perform Flair exhibitions (in which I usually sub-out the help of other flair bartenders), and mostly I organize and run Flair bartending events. The biggest, of course, being the Legends of Bartending – World Bartender Championships.  This year, High Spirits is teaming up with the FBA to bring a few more Flair events.  Jim and I felt that teaming up on a lot of events would be most beneficial to all of us.  We both bring things to the table that the other doesn’t, and together we take some of the strain and stress off of each other, and hopefully bring bigger and better events.  If you want to see some of what High Spirits does, check my website. Jim is also my new webmaster and we are going to launch a new Legends site in the next month or so.  So be sure to check it out.

What prompted you to start The Legends of bartending and tell us how it came to be one of the Top Flair Bartending Competitions in the World? Well when Alan Mays and I came to Vegas and began working at the Rio we had talked about putting on this major event.  Alan’s vision with Legends was that it would eventually be an open invitation competition where all the Legends of our sport would be invited.  People like JB Bandy, Magic Mike from ShowTenders’s, Rick Fogel, Roger Keller and Billy Sudsiri.  You know the guys that were the champions back in the day.  You would have to be a champion to compete.  At first we didn’t set it up that way.  We had to build it up first.  Give it some credibility, some prestige.  First we put the rules together.  In fact, I remember putting the rules together on a plane ride that Alan and I were on.  Next we had to get people to come, so I personally sent out registration cards to as many Flair Bartenders I knew.  We had about 40 competitors that first year. That first year, was a nightmare.  If there is anyone reading this that was involved with that first Legends, you want to talk about long hours.  I think I slept one hour in three days, it was nuts.

After the third Legends I had so many people that wanted to do it, I had to put a cap on how many competitors I could have.  It was then I decided to try to really go after that vision Alan and I had talked about way back when, and try to make even more prestigious by making it an invitation only.  You would have to have placed well in a competition, or made a name for your self in Flair some where in order to get that invite.  I didn’t realize at first what a buzz it would create.  I remember Chico Garcia telling me how he was sweating out whether or not he was going to get an invite that first year.  I think it has been a great addition to the Legends comp and really helped to give it a little of its prestige. I think it has become one of the top competitions in the world because of the attention to detail I put into it.  I try to look at it from a competitors stand point.  I try to make it as fair as possible, by making the rules very explanatory, and the judging fair by having judges made up of a diverse panel.  I personally have only heard a few complaints about the results of any of the Legends comps.  I think things like that help make events great, and have helped Legends reach the status it has attained.

What are your predictions for Quest this Year? FUN!  That is Jim’s and my goal this year.  We are trying hard to bring back the event that got it all started.  Quest was always about fun, and it will be again this year.  As far as a winner and loser prediction, that is hard to say, I mean I am not competing and since, you know, I won four out of the last six Quests, and the two people that won those other two aren’t either, I guess it’s up in the air.  (ha,ha)  Maybe Hibbert, he was always Mr. Second.  Oh yeah, maybe that Delpech guy (notice I didn’t say which one, though I do know that the older one wants to win pretty badly).

What is your favorite drink? Any Skyy Vodka mixed with anything.