1973: Glasgow's BOUNCER SCHOOL | Nationwide | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive

"If the age of the gentle bouncer has dawned, then these men are its pioneers."
Bernard Falk reports from a Glasgow pub, where Cherokee, Dirty Harry, Big Willy, Little Willy and the gang are attending a training school for bouncers, to learn the tricks of the bouncing trade from the 'Professor of Bouncing', Brian Foss.
Originally broadcast 30 April 1973.
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[@jakehands]

This feels almost like a Monty python sketch.

[@SuperDougie89]

I just said the same thing haha

[@FACELOWNER]

Spot on, it would have been perfect if they all did a silly walk coming out of the pub at the end..🤣😂🤣😂

[@colinmccrone4990]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣good one.

[@judithevans4787]

You mean it's not ?

[@ranjitverdi5702]

It is

[@stevemorris3710]

I staggered drunk past a bar in Great Yarmouth late one evening, two Bouncers ran out and threw me in!

[@philhudson...5017]

🙈🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍.. funny.... 🇳🇿

[@dad_jokes_4ever226]

😅😅😅 nice one !

[@Conor-B]

Big up the Yarrrmouth muuhhsive! Ohhh arrrrr

[@OoohAaah6603]

I use to work on the longbar

[@altt-check1-2]

Brilliant 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

“A professor of bouncing” is the highest title a human may hold

[@myfaveyoutube]

Maybe in the parts you're from haha 😝

[@kit2770]

Lol. Yeah, i had a good laugh at that bit.

[@neverwise]

I love how they've sent in an English explorer to explain the anthropology of the Glasgow Bounce who sounds as lyrical and unironically fascinated as David Attenborough in the Galapagos. This is absolute gold, every time I watch it I see something funny I hadn't noticed before. Check out the DJ and his righteous hip wiggle... I want this played on repeat at my death bed.

[@TheGodParticle]

Lmao!! David Attenborough comment is gold!! Cheers

[@ikeazor]

Hahahahahaha... Golden comment

[@ajs41]

Bernard Falk was actually a Brummie I think, and you can hear his accent on many of his other reports, but he was toning it down on this one for some reason.

[@kippersmcgee4272]

Everyone's hair has been freshly combed with a saucepan.

[@lellytalks4296]

Outstanding comment 👌

[@santouchesantouche2873]

Hahahahahahaha

[@mgsalmon79]

😂

[@APH91]

I’m in Manchester and just tripped over Tommys comb over. Like a scottish rapunzel.

[@fanatamon]

Scotty's have the biggest combovers.

[@Highland_Moo]

I grew up in the 80s in Scotland and never got to see such combovers. Funnily enough though, loads of younger blokes are now rocking mullets…..it’s still not a good look on a fat, spotty youth!

[@daviddavid5880]

Suffering martyrs. I was drinking my morning coffee. I'll need a new shirt.... "Scottish Rapunzel" lol.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

I'm sure these men were necessary but this is hilarious. The valiant men of Rent a Bounce going off bouncing into the night. Wonderful film.

[@johnsmith-rs2vk]

Boing boing boing !

[@Stellar73b]

Were? Still is today, I can promise that you as a bouncer.

[@PMC_-wj8gr]

This is the roadhouse we all want to see

[@daviddavid5880]

Man, that combover is epic.

[@colmcgillveray1010]

Some great Scottish old school faces here! Bad diets and childhood cortisol FTW!! And the hairs styles! That comb over!

[@ladylamb2001]

Which one? 🤣 some more successful at combing over than others. Some needed more of that Harmony hairspray there!

[@colmcgillveray1010]

@@ladylamb2001 Big Ian! Ha! Its YOU!

[@tonybarrett8543]

I don't think some of them were actual comb overs, I think that was the style😅😅😅

[@gothgirl66673]

"If the age of the gentle bouncer has dawned, then these men are its pioneers." Went to a lot of bars and clubs in Glasgow in the late 80s and early 90s, can confirm that this did not catch on at all!

[@crewtc1987]

😂😂😂😂

[@OoohAaah6603]

Bonkers

[@charlie91757]

I worked with an old bloke ex skinhead bouncer who trained me for security work and he always talked of the good old times , weighted gloves , brass knuckles , free gear and ladies 😅

[@urgumskurgum7570]

I wouldn't want Big Willy OR little Willy throwing me out the pub. I'd feel like a right silly Billy.

[@bitTorrenter]

😂😂

[@paulfitzpatrick8507]

You don't want Big Willy or Little Willy throwing you out Willy Nilly!

[@fuckbankers]

Big Ben isn't much fun either.

[@alexisbuchanan2028]

You could always get Medium Willie to contact some dead relatives.

[@marine4lyfe85]

Little Willie won't go home.

[@jamesoneill-db5ib]

1984 I remember my interview as a bouncer it went like this, boss, your big enough can you handle yourself? Me, I've not started many but I've stopped plenty. Boss, okay start tonight 8pm.

[@tedparkinson2033]

My man describes the bouncers like the A-Team.

[@bougeac]

“Most embarrassing moment? Having to throw a woman out for using foul language”. Oh how the times have changed…

[@xr6lad]

Now she’ll often have more tattoos than the bouncer.

[@sman14GTA]

@@xr6lad and weigh more

[@jmgrahit26]

@@sman14GTA that's uncalled for

[@stringologymchugh4245]

Happens like clockwork every 30 seconds on any god-given night🤷‍♂️

[@shaylawatson1244]

No like seriously...

[@mattfranks4335]

Tommy Prior has a mean comb over ...gold class.

[@colmcgillveray1010]

That is prober old school...You don't see the likes of that these days!

[@mattfranks4335]

@@colmcgillveray1010 ahhh a fellow comb over enthusiast.

[@tablettwentytwo1750]

A true hair hat had that Tommy....

[@RaphaelDawkinsCombatRadio]

The whole show was comb over heaven.

[@Seminal_Ideas]

Amazing hairdos. If a pub fight did break out, the first casualty would be their bouffant constructions

[@wesmatron]

2:27 When the stage magician realises he is in the wrong line-up

[@diggerpete9334]

Lol

[@Stiffd1]

‘Wee Willy Glass Jacker’ manages to get back in nearly every scene : D

[@miami-xv8cq]

02:01 Big Willie has the young girls at heart and little Willie took a bashing. 😄🤣😂

[@johngilmore697]

"Identifies with the young at-heart"

[@DuboisDel]

"Young girls"???

[@DemonetisedZone]

"Hey gonny geez a drink here boss!" Truly a Glaswegian

[@MrModelworx]

3:10 the two lads at the bar looking, their face says it all 😂

[@mistofoles]

I'd have dared anyone in the bar to ask Little Willy why he was called that !

[@carlosbrambila5950]

That office. Oh my word. They moved in 5 minutes before the filming started.

[@mrdynamic8678]

The paint on the name on the door still fresh

[@themelted4614]

Nice to hear the stones in ther pomp covering blues little red rooster..

[@DuboisDel]

After only 20 seconds, every sentence spoken is hilarious: "gentleman requests"..."trouble on the odd occasion"😅...gold!!!

[@gabespiro8902]

Why don’t we have shows like this now? Documentaries on every day life.

[@thatssomething1]

Little Willy? I would be demanding a different nickname 😆

[@alexisbuchanan2028]

Brilliant...those barnets.😀 I thought this was a shooting stars sketch at first

[@garryleeks4848]

A few comb overs there 😂

[@oooCoffeeboyooo]

This is unironically exceptional!

[@Alan_Connor]

Acker Bilk getting frog-marched out of the pub.

[@lookandlisten5740]

Luckily he didn't have his clarinet... He would have given them an earful before they chucked him out.

[@BenDover-tj8vf]

I love Glasgow and all its people , god bless them all .

[@badmattam]

Training in gyms since I was in my early 20's, I knew ( or knew of) many guys who worked the doors...mostly nightclubs in my town ( Fife Scotland) back in the early 80's/90's. Most of them were top blokes, others, not so much. Juiced up on roids itching for a scrap. Many a nightclub punch-up I either witnessed or, to my shame, took part in was sometimes instigated by an errant doorman...who would take an instant dislike to you or one of your company....lots of talking and not enough listening later..punches thrown, noses flattened, shouting, rolling on the floor, heads opening fire escapes, blood and snotters, casualty and/or cells then court. I'd say 'happy days' however now in my 60's and looking back...I'm not so sure. Don't drink on an empty head!

[@jixuscrixus]

badmattam sounds like every weekend at Jackie O’s....

[@iMertin]

Fife ain’t a town

[@badmattam]

​@@iMertin clever clogs!

[@bsdetector6908]

​@@jixuscrixusnever seen any trouble on a Saturday night in Jackie o's.. Lourenzoes in Dunfermline had a little. It was Hollywood Boulevard (the ballroom) that was filled with the scum, both punters and bouncers

[@bsdetector6908]

​​@@jixuscrixusI miss those days in Lourenzoes and Jack's. The women were something else 😂 Lourenzoes now is a pale shadow of what it used to be in the 80s and 90s

[@pinkustink]

Is it just me? The “drunk” looks like Bill Bailey 😂

[@philt8800]

the hair styles are just amazing.

[@scottsinclair1986]

Part of me feels like this is needed now. Where an established bouncer that is recognised as part of a union or group can instil the order that is needed on a night out. Like if you saw this person you would know that this place was monitored and looked after.

[@sheepkillindog]

Lol. The background music is “This Guy’s in Love With You”.

[@thecookreporting]

''A professor of bouncing at this acedemy of Glasgow heavies'' 🤣

[@tarnpirlane6792]

Ahhh back in the day when the BBC was worth watching.

[@e.smiles450]

Notice the fluid frog March technique and the final inevitable bounce itself 😂

[@RaphaelDawkinsCombatRadio]

The comb overs were epic ☺️

[@melvert33]

Tom Pryor was fooling no one with his combover!

[@selecterjd9785]

This was brilliant!!!

[@mokujinsan9946]

All those hairstyles where more violent than the bouncers.

[@catcoffee7958]

🤣🤣🤣

[@oscarbear1043]

Oh the hair, the hair it was more dangerous than their fists.

[@myfaveyoutube]

You fookin hair shaming

[@vanessahawarden9028]

Wonderful comb-overs

[@enochroot9438]

Not a single Glasgow Kiss was thrown this day...

[@cossicowens5233]

His most embarrassing moment was having to throw a woman out of the club. I can't even imagine how he would feel on the Door's these days hahaha 😅

[@alastairgreen2077]

doors.

[@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat]

That’s an odd thing to be embarrassed by considering it was your job to do so

[@DuboisDel]

​@UCannotDefeatMyShmeat No, it is not - it is though, an endorsement of the higher standards of society and (especially) women on the whole...women who didn't play catch-up with men in trying to ape their behaviour and drinking practices; I mean, even those (women) who aren't turning the air blue because you took their parking space or the self-entitled professionally-offended whose miscreant child you scolded because little Timmy thought it O.K. to use your garden fence as a goal - the more genteel of females - are still putting Facebook posts up of them drinking copious Cava quantities entitled: "It's Cava O'Clock ladies" like it's something to be proud of (I might add that most are single and have cats)...that is the average female behaviour today, or at least it's accented from those like that. So when you judge this guy's statement, you should understand that women in general less commonly behaved like this👆🏽and so men, when confronted by it, would indeed be embarrassed to have to throw one out when they were probably raised by and alongside and to respect, females that were more dignified

[@clarsach29]

For anyone not from Scotland, take note at 4:30 - Scotsmen are not traditionally known for their stature and tall Scotsmen used to be (and to an extent still are) somewhat rare. It's not that the trainer and the bouncer on the right are giants, it's that the rest of them are all below 5'8"....but don't let that fool you, these guys are tough as nails in a fight.

[@stewrmo]

Pish. I'm 6ft 3 and all ma pall's are over 6ft. Your talking back in the day, with the general Improvement in diet we have our share of big guys now.

[@stewrmo]

Ah forgot, even William Wallace was 6ft 7 or something like that.

[@DuboisDel]

Yes, you're right there, this traditionally has been the case

[@DuboisDel]

​@@stewrmoWas he bollox! Clearly, you are confusing the actor with Wallace the man (although we'll never know for sure)

[@GF-pf6xh]

Tommy's hair is fantastic!!

[@doug4383]

Loving the comb over😂

[@jedfra9172]

I remember these 2 at 1:21 Brian "sideburns" Mcguire and Tommy "The Toupee" Prior. I used to just call them Burns and Toups. Great guys, great times

[@rahuldahoob]

Are they alive still??

[@tomhill4003]

the ironic front comb-over had me in stitches... ROTFL 🤣🤣

[@muckey7800]

A valuable trade indeed. I've been on both sides of this situation. 😂

[@mactastico1818]

Combovers are epic

[@funksoulbrother3620]

"even their haircuts are violent"

[@ulfnowotny01]

Hilarious! Thanks for sharing!

[@MarvinMonroe]

Beautiful

[@benji.B-side]

The rest of the bouncers were all called Medium Willy.

[@GuessMyName234]

😂😂

[@marconeill9510]

That’s the Waterloo bar I think 🤔

[@dazzledarren1271]

Love little Willy but love big Willy a whole lot more.

[@anthonyofarrell]

Seen an add for a bouncer in my local paper, No communication skills necessary 😅

[@SushiTime1981]

The hair styles are fabulous

[@jboyle4832]

What a comb over 😮

[@therealisation5500]

Tommys comb over 😂😂😂

[@magnusericsson7812]

"Rent a Bounce" 😂

[@NeverStopRolling]

It looks like a Jim Davidson lookalike training academy

[@ChrisM541]

"Professor of Bouncing" - now there's a job title for you!

[@paulwaterman4420]

Great names there with the jocks

[@FieldsAboveBT23]

This is like a Monty Python sketch 😂

[@captainleisuresuit]

My favorite form of entertainment is when I'm unsure if it's satire or sincere ❤

[@tanyamccann9478]

Brilliant

[@necrophagus9]

Woooo! Dat combover doe 😂

[@JMoruzzi]

Surprised there was still B&W filming for the BBC as late as 1973.

[@lookandlisten5740]

Could you imagine how much worse that would have been in Colour !!

[@chasknight2489]

Possibly filmed in colour, however in 1973 Glasgow was still black and white

[@Dan23_7]

You wouldn’t want any of those willys on you 😂😂

[@garryleeks4848]

Especially big Willy 😅

[@alba..8479]

Every one onthere best behavior when the cameras are watching 😂😂😂😂😂

[@sovereigncitizen8963]

Worked for a while as a doorman. Most of the guys I worked with were decent to the punters but when required would sort out a drunk with minimum fuss. A few were martial art types who lived to fight... Even the smaller guys were lethal. Oh and the women loved them... Worst I saw was a guy run down the back stairs and fired through the doors... Ouch.

[@hoofie2002]

Being polite in the 70s chucking someone out of a pub wouldn't be much good when he pulls a chib out or his team come back later and give you a Glasgow smile. Most of the pub and club doors were minded by the Godfather Big Arthur Thompson.

[@quack437]

or so you were lead to believe Thompson was a powerful force in Glasgow no doubt about it but his position in Glasgow has been very much. boosted by hear say and nostalgia.... Thompson had a few people he stayed clear of and he didn't step on their toes.... John freil for example ran all sorts and Thompson stayed well clear of him in fact Thompson stayed clear of the irish in general ,... Except the UVF of course he was helping them out ...

[@jixuscrixus]

His son minded a pub (I’ve forgotten them name) I think it was on Renfield St, his Mk1 RS was always right outside the pub.

[@causethatshow]

@@quack437 shut up mate, Thomson owned half the bars and all he had to do was put his name on the door of the other half as it was protected by him. If you don't know then don't guess.

[@quack437]

@@causethatshow i do know thats the difference i dont just rely on the newspapers for my information .... Its a very well known fact that Thompson stayed clear of john friel and he had very good reason too .... If you know you know if you dont well theres probably a reason

[@DuboisDel]

​@@causethatshowI suggest 𝘺𝘰𝘶 "shut up" and take heed: Thompson was indeed a tough, ruthless man with clout but he wasn't at the Zenith of crime in Glasgow nor was he unassailable (he had competition) as several dead members of his family and scars from regular attempts on his life will testify; he was a big fish swimming with other big fish in a small pond

[@duffymoony]

03:28, Tommy's seat belt comb over. Caaaahnt!

[@red00eye]

Bernard Cribbins @2:27 in an early role of doorman who will later be 'chibbed' a belter by mental Deek of the Young Posso Fleeto.

[@kevinotoole885]

Today bouncers are just there to chat up slags and just think they’d re hard. I’m a martial artist and did the doors on a club in Birmingham as a favour for a mate who had a bouncer business. I did it for about a month and then my instructor found out and I got bounced all over the dojo because he wasn’t best pleased let’s say. That was the end of my bouncing days 🤣

[@biegebythesea6775]

You're really disgusting calling women that. It's like you haven't learned anything in the past 10 years.

[@StevenMaxwell-uz4eo]

Gold🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💪🏻😁my dad bounced at Methill Hill Club in Fife... which was his dads... in the 80s-90s before it burnt down in s tragic accident😉😏😂

[@colmcgillveray1010]

That was that good I almost considered paying my licence fee.

[@lookandlisten5740]

... B&W license fee

[@colmcgillveray1010]

@@lookandlisten5740 Bargain!

[@LightBranches]

Cool bouncers, but what about the plaid turntables?

[@daviddavid5880]

What in interesting post. Thanks for putting it up. Puts me in mind of a joint in Baltimore called "Hammerjacks" (80s). No bruisers, but there were a lot of the buggers with radios and they were all exMPs, or judo guys. They could certainly give you the posterior velocite. I don't think we had rent-a-bouncer back then, but we did have yearly "Best Bouncer" votes. I remember this one guy who was noted for tossing patrons so hard that they'd pop the plexiglass out of the door frame. (Yes a closed door. Baltimore was not a garden spot. Still isn't) Let me tell you, kids, any old fart who pines for the "Good Old Days" grew up in a bubble. I was there. It was dirty, nasty, dangerous and incredibly violent. (I'm sure those days were idyllic if you were bullying nerds out in the suburbs) The beer was horrid too. Ye gods.

[@barryjames544]

Yeah, same thing here in OZ in the early 80s. Once saw a bloke get thrown straight through a glass door into a passing car where his head went straight through the closed drivers side window.

[@daviddavid5880]

@@barryjames544 Holy crap. Intense.

[@jarraandyftm]

Imagine spending many years bouncing around the city. Must be knackered.

[@ArpanGuhaTBG]

Professor of bouncing... 🤣 My sides are about to burst!

[@colmcgillveray1010]

Thats DR bouncer to you! Or your not getting in!

[@ahassen1236]

I don't think you need a bouncer in Glasgow. The strong Glaswegian accent is enough to get you to walk!

[@teambridgebsc691]

Entertained and educated.

[@briansmith1055]

Big willie and wee willie 😂😂😂

[@emmanuelwolf6568]

I thought this was a monty python sketch lol

[@christopherwinrow3878]

Brilliant video mate respect YNWA brother

[@rogerjamesmoore4652]

"Little Willy" got bashed ..😂

[@simonwinn387]

Professor of Bouncing cracked me up

[@davem9445]

2.02....does Big Willy have a spitting image look of Robbie Coltrane.

[@jboyle4832]

What a comb over on his bounce 😢😢😢😢😢

[@biegebythesea6775]

Little Willy is giving off an air of Kenneth Williams

[@lozinja]

Little Willy to rowdy drunk prop forward in a bar: "Oooooh Maaatron!!! I say, do leave you little toe rag before someone does themselves a mischief!"

[@user-bh5zg2bn9p]

Rent a bounce. CLASSIC.

[@Xero141]

There must have been a barbers strike or something.

[@JohnCashin]

I'm surprised there was ANY training at all back then, because this was way before the industry was regulated by the SIA 😮

[@liverpoolscottish6430]

The only thing missing here were the Monty Python team! lol :)

[@Rr0gu3_5uture]

The first time I visited a Glasgow pub, my mate drank too much and projectile vomited over two old dears. The bouncer ejected him in such a comical and violent manner, that it resembled a scene from the Blues Brothers.