A Portrait of Bouncers
Daniel, Celeste (Vienna)

Celeste in Vienna is a more alternative club with a garden. Daniel has been working as a doorman there and at other venues for over 15 years.

By Sascha Ehlert

Sascha Ehlert: What made you become a bouncer? 

Daniel: I’d just finished school and had nothing better to do when I was offered this job. I’d just started studying but was looking for a part-time job anyway. Working as a bouncer fits in well around that. So it just kind of happened. But I was lucky to have one important qualification: that I’ve always been quite good at resolving conflicts in a non-violent way.

What is your strategy for managing disagreements and resolving conflicts in nightclubs?

Well, my maximum use of physical force is to push someone a bit. This is my basic principle, so in general I handle confrontational guests differently. I usually try to stop the confrontation even before it starts. After 15 years in the business, I’ve realised that if you don’t do that, you soon end up in a spiral and things escalate. In actual fact though, these sorts of incidents rarely happen to me in the clubs where I work.

Since COVID, the club scene has changed quite radically. For example, an increasing number of clubs are appointing anti-harassment teams to ensure that everyone in the club can have a good time without having to be afraid of male guests, for example. How has your work practice changed in the past few years? 

I have worked in the same club for ten years. It’s been in existence for 30 years, and was a restaurant before that. Ten years ago, the owner’s son took over and turned it into a club. I’d actually stopped working as a doorman by then. I’d finished my studies – but then the partner of the guy who opened this new place asked me if I wanted to work on the door. He called me because on one occasion I’d kicked him out of another club. He was apparently impressed by the way I handled him. 

In any case, since I’ve been working there, we’ve always followed the same philosophy. The most important thing of all is to respond immediately if someone feels uncomfortable – and immediately throw out people who is causing trouble. Basically, though, we have a pretty easy-going clientele. The kind of people who come here know what to expect. They come here specifically, they’re not passing trade. Of course, you have to be tactful as a bouncer, but it’s pretty easy here if you’re good at communicating.

You’ve been doing your job for a relatively long time now. Do you ever ask yourself what makes you stay? Is it about wanting to work there as long as you’re satisfied and happy with your job? Does the job itself give you that good feeling, or is it the whole situation, the fact that you’re part of the nightlife?

There are many different reasons. I’m not someone who goes out privately. But what this job with its flexible working hours has brought me is a fixed income and also social security in the Austrian system. It has enabled me to develop in several directions simultaneously. I can also take care of my two grandmothers, for example. I have enough time to spend 20 hours a week with them, which of course wouldn’t be possible in a “normal” job.

I’m also really passionate about making things. I like restoring things like bikes, gramophones and instruments, which I then re-sell. Working on the door also has a social dimension. You go out for the evening, as it were, and get paid for it. I just have to be myself when I’m there; for me the job is not especially stressful. There’s probably nothing I can’t handle during my shifts on the doors.

You come into contact with an incredible number of people in your job. Have you ever had an encounter that was particularly memorable for you, or which changed your way of thinking in some way? Have you ever met someone on the doors who you’ve become close friends with since?

Yes, my social life has developed to some extent around the club. Many of my friends are from school days, so they are longer friendships. But my work has naturally influenced my personal development and how I handle people. Every social interaction I have on the door is always a bit of an experiment for me. How am I going to deal with a certain situation today? How do I start a conversation to decide who to let in and who not? Should I be nice? How are my interactions affected if I’m in a bad mood or tired or whatever? To what extent does a person’s reaction depend on my choice of words? It’s super interesting.

I’m usually pretty calm – but sometimes that can be the wrong approach, too. If you’re too calm with the wrong person, a situation can backfire. I think as a bouncer, you learn a lot about the effect you have on others and how other peoples’ responses change when you change or adapt your own behaviour.