Bartending 101: Bar Tricks

For many bar goers, the desire to impress one's companions is a frustrating enterprise that can often lead to awkward conversation or gross humiliation. A few simple bar tricks can solve these age-old frustrations and elevate your rank in the social hierarchy.

Performing bar magic and bar tricks is an ageless profession that relies not on the wit and skill of the performer, but more on the resources at hand. Using everyday bartending tools, even the simplest minded patron can become a master of illusion. A successful bar trick is clever without being particularly messy and obnoxious. Here are some basic tricks to add to your repertoire.

The first trick involves some of the most accessible props at any bar: quarters and dollar bills. Place the center of a crisp dollar bill on top of an empty beer bottle. Then stack three or four quarters on the mouth of the bottle with the dollar bill between the quarters and the mouth. Challenge your companions to remove the dollar bill without letting the quarters fall. Their tugging and yanking methods will always fail, so when everyone has given up, take your index and middle finger and viciously slap one end of the dollar bill. This will create enough force to remove the bill, and the quarters will continue to rest on the mouth of the bottle.

If a friend wants to impress someone by appearing particularly brainy, choose this friend as an accomplice, and let them in on this next trick. Arrange a large number of straws in a random formation, and ask the crowd to spot the geometrical pattern that you have set up, which should correspond to a number. Discreetly place several fingers on the table corresponding to a number of your choosing. Your accomplice should look thoroughly puzzled for a spell before gleefully proclaiming the number of fingers you have put down. You then affirm his answer and praise him for being a mathematical genius. Continue this for as long as it takes to achieve the desired effect. If you want to make someone feel incredibly daft, bring multiple accomplices in on the secret and watch the odd man out squirm and sweat.

There are also simple bar tricks that one can perform that usually involve a wager. Try placing a coaster over a friend's drink and betting them a dollar you can drink it without removing the coaster. When the friend accepts, remove the coaster and down the drink. Follow this up with "I lost," or something equally obnoxious. Make sure this friend is not easily riled before attempting this bit of treachery.

Bar magic is a simple craft that can vault the average patron into the spotlight. Try these simple tricks the next time awkward conversation strikes, and transform yourself from wallflower to life of the party.