Don't get Matthew Southern started on the 1988 movie "Cocktail" starring Tom Cruise.

"When I'm doing my bartending flair, someone will always say, 'Hey, you look like Tom Cruise in that movie,'." he says. "Well, Tom Cruise sucks. We do things like that, but we do it for real, and in real working conditions."

Southern, a bartender at Landsharks, is part of the growing movement of flair bartending, defined as anything from juggling bottles and glasses to performing any other stylish extras.

Flipping one of his practice 750.ml flair bottles in the air, Southern catches it behind his back before bringing the bottle back around to the front of Landshark's long bar. There, 10 shot glasses in a row balance on the edges of 10 larger glasses. Southern juggles the bottle again, and, this time, after catching it, he taps the bottle against the first shot glass making it fall into the larger glass below and causing a domino-effect for the rest of the shot glasses to do the same.

Southern says flair bartending moves, such as the one he demonstrated, are becoming more popular as bars look for new ways to entertain customers. In addition, unlike "Cocktail," he says, the tricks are becoming more impressive.

"This is just something that can set you apart from other bartenders and will make your customers remember you and come back to you," he says.

Terrance Rice, an instructor at the Midwest Bartenders School in Indianapolis, teaches a class specifically on flair. He says having these extra skills can make bartenders more marketable and it enables them to rake in more tips.

Because of this, Rice says big-city tourist destinations, such as Las Vegas, are hotbeds for flair. And while only a few places in the Midwest specialize in it, a growing number of local bartenders are picking up new tricks and bringing them to bars throughout Indianapolis.

Rice says it's hard to name specific bars that feature flair, because it depends on who is bartending where on a given night. The reason that flair bartending hasn't reached mainstream status, Rice says, is because many bar owners are skeptical that flair will earn them more money. If not executed properly, it can result is serve customers. That's why Rice says it's important for bartenders to really devote the time to practice their moves and never to perform anything at work that they haven't already mastered.

"Always, the most important part of flair bartending, is just the bartending," he says. "If your fundamentals aren't sound, not matter how good you are at flair, you're not going to be a good bartender."

There's even a "sport" aspect to flair bartending. National and international competitions pit the best flair artists against each other, and the Flair Bartenders' Association also runs the FBA Pro Tour to track the top flair bartenders in the world.

Southern, who has competed in several national tournaments, says these events test bartenders across multiple disciplines from unbelievable flair tricks to drink-pouring accuracy.

"It really is a workout for the people that take it seriously," Southern says. "Some of the top guys spend eight hours a day practicing and months training for the competitions."

But while the competition side is fun, Southern says working flair doesn't have to be as elaborate, and even a little razzle-dazzle can go along way.

"The whole goal is make the drink, but we just get there with (a) little extra style," he says. "When customers get involved, they have a good time, and it just makes a good product and a good atmosphere -- and that is what people spend their money for."

By Trevor Brown