Artistic bartender takes on world with flair

We all fell in love with Tom Cruise in the movie Cocktail all those years ago, but what you probably didn't know is since the late 1990s, flair bartending has extended beyond the local bar into an elite competitive sport.

Six years ago former Karratha resident Ravi Camadoo stumbled on the secret world of bar flair.

However, it wasn't until the London-born bartender moved to Sydney in 2011 that his flair career really kicked off.

"I was standing behind the bar on my first shift at work and picked up a cocktail shaker," he said.

"I started spinning it round in my hand, just mucking around to pass by the time.

"My boss saw me and I thought I was in trouble, so I put the shaker down and got back to work.

"He walked over, looked me dead in the eye and said: 'It's called flairing'.

"After work I went home and searched flair videos on Youtube.

"What I saw blew me away and from that moment I was hooked."

Ravi said the turning point in his career came two years ago when he was selected to represent Australia in his first World Flair Association Competition.

"At my first competition I was so nervous; I hadn't been flairing for long but for some reason all the "big boys" took me under their wing and told me I had a lot of potential," he said.

"Since then I've done 10 international competitions and I've been one of the only people to represent the country in the international flair scene."

Ravi said since representing Australia on an international stage, he had found a whole other level of passion for the "sport."

"Hands down today flair is a sport, just like tennis and basketball, although sadly there's no NBA money involved in flair," he said.

"I try and behave like an athlete in that sense.

"I look at this as my sport which I need to train for regularly.

"Even after a long double shift behind the bar I'll force myself to practice.

"When it comes to my flair bartending, I keep it separate from my bartending at work and save the theatrics for shows and competitions.

"I really want to shake off the mind set that flair is just a little hobby behind the bar."

For Ravi, there's a lot more to his passion than the theatrics associated with bar flair.

"If you look up flair in the dictionary it is defined as a natural ability or talent at performing a task well, so whenever people talk to me about my job I've always got that in mind," he said.

"To me flair isn't just throwing bottles around, it's everything is behind the bar; it's the way you interact with guests, it can be just the way you shake your cocktail, the way your drink tastes, flair is all about style.

"When I put a piece of flair choreography together, I think about the music I'm going to use and literally put it together like a dance routine.

"Flair isn't just a sport, it's an art."

Since moving to Karratha last year, Ravi has become passionate about growing the sport, which is relatively new in Australia.

"Back when I was living in Sydney I would travel to Hyde Park to practice my sport and people would come to watch me on their lunch break," he said.

"Without even realising it, I was building a community.

"When I moved to Karratha, I wanted to take it one step further and create my own Youtube channel called Flair Lifestyle, an info show promoting flair videos from around the world.

"I'm trying to do my bit to grow flair in Australia.

"I guess the market I'm targeting is the general public, people who have never seen flair outside of a bar.

"My passion for flair comes from the artistic side of things. I guess I want the world to fall in love with what I can see when I watch flair."

Earlier this month, Ravi finished up his time in Karratha to travel back home to re-join his family in the UK.

"Coming here has given me so much and there have been some key people who supported me along the way," he said.

"I have no idea what the future has for me but am so proud at what I have achieved in the last few years … I came from a small bar in London with nothing and now have an international reputation as a flair artist and my own Youtube channel.

"I've made flair my life and now I want to share that with my friends and family back home and show the European scene what I have to offer and continue to represent my friends across Australia."

Ravi is currently ranked number 27 on the World Flair Bartenders Association leader board.