Pinoy bartender to represent Asia in world tilt
MANILA, Philippines - After being proclaimed the best in Asia, Filipino bartender Gen Rev "The Revolution" Bacasno will fly to the United States later this month to perform a routine, four months in the making.
TGIFriday's customers may be missing Bacasno, 25, during the past months as he has been dedicating his time to training for eight to 12 hours daily for the World Barchamps.
"Yung gagawin ko sa World, mas kakaiba sa mga ibang nagawa ko," Bacasno told Philstar.com. "Kada segundo may nangyayari, may kakaibang nangyayari, kapag kumurap yung manonood sa'kin, may mami-miss siya."
WATCH: TGI Fridays' 'The Revolution' shows moves for world tilt
Bacasno recently bested Japan, Australia, India, South Korea and other Asian bartending competitors last year at the TGIFriday's Asia-Pacific tilt and has won every other championship in the country prior to the regional match.
"Naka-focus lang ako sa laro."
Bacasno said that for the world championship, he will apply technical and practical lessons that he picked up from the Asian tilt.
"Natutunan ko naman sa sarili ko na kapag mas na-eenjoy ko yung performance ko, mas maganda yung kalalabasan,"he said. Bacasno also picked up some techniques from his last match. "Natutunan ko doon na ... hindi dapat na yung isang kamay walang ginagawa."
Known for his flawless flair, precision, speed and charms behind the bar, Bacasno said he is in the process of perfecting some previous weaknesses and vulnerabilities such as communicating and connecting with customer-judges during the performance.
"Hindi ako magaling mag-English kaya kumukuha akong ideas sa mga movies na pinapanood ko. Ang mali kasi ng ibang bartender kapag nagku-compete sila sa ganito, scripted yung ginagawa nila," Bacasno said.
Making the 'unbelievable' possible
To bring home the title and the $10,00 prize, Bacasno knows he not only has to deliver an impressive routine but to make the incredible possible.
To do this, he will spice up his performance with illusion stunts, great conversation, perfectly concocted drinks, magical moves and application of technology.
"Ang gagawin ko [ay] mas unbelievable, mas unexpected. May mga bagay na lumalabas bigla sa iPad," he said, giving a teaser of his much awaited presentation.
"Nilagyan ko ng parang connecting dots. Dire-diretso. At saka kailangan mabilis, hindi lang na-memorize," he added.
With only a couple of weeks left to train, Bacasno hopes to become the next great Filipino bartender after Erik Martinez's win in 2006.
"Actually excited po ako. Syempre may kaba, pero 'pag hindi daw ako kinakabahan, delikado daw yun e. Pero excited talaga ako na ipakita sa inyo yung kakaiba. Kasi it's been a while na hindi nananalo mga Pilipino saw world," he said.
Photos by AJ Bolando, Philstar.com
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Help Gen Rev win by voting on www.worldbtc.com/finalists.
