Bill Carson - Show No Fear: A bouncers diary

SHOW NO FEAR

By Bill Carson.

Copyright Bill Carson 2012

All rights reserved
www.billcarsonbooks.com

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form
by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means,
including information storage and retrieval systems,
without permission in writing from the copyright owner of this book.

I would like to dedicate this book to my Father, and also to my friends Andy Barker and
Jim Parsons.

Preface.

I had no real desire to write a book; in fact it was something that I had never really thought about. I worked as a night-club bouncer for just over four years and in that time I had been involved in numerous altercations, sometimes there were amusing situations but most were not. I began by making a record of the more unusual and violent incidents that occurred and put them into a diary. After four years I had accumulated quite a lot of material. So I decided to put it all together, the result is what you read here.
I would not recommend this type of work to anyone, it was downright dangerous at times and your efforts go unnoticed and unappreciated most of the time. Throughout this book I make reference to ways in which I employed specific techniques in certain situations. I am not suggesting that this is the way you should conduct yourself if you are employed in a similar role. That was my way of dealing with (situations) right or wrong I just did what I thought was necessary at the time either through fear, frustration or sometimes in anger. It is an honest account with a no holds barred approach and no punches are pulled. This book should not be used as guide, it was not intended to be one; it is just an account of what happened while I was working in this dangerous occupation. However having said that you may find something of what I have written helpful to you when youre standing alone out there against the bad guys.
Contents.

Chapter 1. Into the Unknown.
Chapter 2. Fighting Fit.
Chapter 3. The Peacemakers.
Chapter 4. Zero Tolerance.
Chapter 5. My Manor.
Glossary Rhyming slang.

CHAPTER ONE

Into The Unknown

September 1993 Pete and I had been working together for a number of years.

He like me was into Martial arts and keeping fit, both of us used to work the night shift one-week out of every two, which threw your usual training routine out of sync. One night we decided to set up a make shift gym in one of the disused garages which was part of the building complex we worked in. We would train at around two in the morning for about three-quarters of an hour during one of our extended breaks. Much to the annoyance of some of the old gits, who were trying to get their heads down in the building next door.

Our wages at that time was less than two hundred a week. After one of our early morning training sessions we began to discuss ways in which we might be able to supplement our income, and after thinking about it for a couple of days we had decided to put our physical prowess, charm and boyish good looks to some use.

What we eventually decided upon was putting ourselves up for hire as Security for private parties and functions. It was now full steam ahead into our new career move. The word went around and after a while we were hired.

And so our very first night on the door, it was a favour really for some guy who we worked with, he was arranging an eighteenth birthday party for his daughter and was concerned about things possibly being ruined by gatecrashers. The venue was a local cricket club. It was to run from eight until twelve and was by invitation only, which makes life a bit easier for us. He paid us up front; I think it was thirty quid each, so far so good. We didnt really know what to expect this being our first night but we had worked on a few things just in case it all went pear shaped. Our philosophy was that we would treat people the way we would like to be treated ourselves and anyone who gave us any attitude problems would get zero tolerance. The important thing to remember is that no matter what, we were going home in one piece. We put a great deal of thought and energy into finding the best ways in which we could eject troublemakers quickly and with as little fuss as possible. Not an easy thing to achieve. I had studied a lot of restraining techniques from the Karate and Judo manuals that I have accumulated over the years. My search through the numerous books led me to find a manual that I had completely forgotten about, it was called All in fighting in fact it was a Second World War unarmed combat instruction booklet, which had some very interesting techniques inside. Research on the subject led us to discover a total immobilization strangle and choke hold. It was a really dangerous technique and must be used with caution, what I mean is if you were to lock the hold on for too long or with too much pressure on the persons neck it would without doubt cause a serious injury. The beauty of it was though was once you had performed it correctly there is virtually no way out of it; giving you complete control over the transgressor. Also with a minor adjustment it is possible to dislocate the neck, thats why it has to be practiced over and over in order for it to be used effectively without causing injury. I consider myself to be very proficient with this particular method of restraint and over the years used it dozens of times [when necessary] without any problems.
The only problem with continuously practicing these strangle holds was the wear and tear on the neck and throat area, we both had sore necks for a month. The only way to find out how effective your strangle holds and arm locks are is to execute them on your training partner and vice versa. That way you get to know how much force is required to get the desired effect, i.e. compliance.

I picked Pete up at half seven, he jumped into the motor and we headed west into unknown territory. We arrived at the venue at about ten to eight; it was a beautiful summer evening. As we pulled into the car park a cool summer breeze greeted us. We made our way along the narrow straight path, which led us up to the cricket pavilion and once inside a short fat bar man called us over to the bar.
Are you two looking after the door for us tonight then?
With that he produced two bottles of lager from the cold shelf, we thanked him for the beers and had a walk around the place. It was a rectangular shaped sports hall and at one end people were busying themselves setting up the bar and at the other end the D J was plugging in his speakers and testing the microphone, Testing, Testing, one, two, three, screeeeeeeeeeeech!
Pete was savouring the last drops of his beer with a broad grin; I have heard that he likes the occasional drink. We take up our positions either side of the door, black suit white shirt very smart. The family has just arrived and after a brief introduction the rest of the guests start to file past, each producing an invitation.
There must be about a hundred or so in now. One woman, who was of rapidly advancing years shall we say, kept looking over in Petes direction, she approaches him and whispers in his ear.
Youre a big boy, are you big all over?
I turn to Pete as she walks away and say,
You cant half pick them mate.
She looked like Vera Duckworth on a bad night.
I spoke too soon she came over to me next. At the same time this other old trout was dancing provocatively in front of Pete, she was gyrating her very large backside in his direction, every now and then she would lift up the front of her dress exposing her enormous thighs, she was like a young elephant jumping about. Once around her would be twice around the gas works. Everyone was having a really good time as the party got into full swing; we had no trouble of any serious nature to deal with. The only problem we had was trying to hide ourselves from the over amorous attentions of the two old grannies. I dont think they had a full set of teeth between them. When are you two going to take us out for a drink then? One of them asks winking at me with one of her mascara encrusted eyes. I whisper to Pete