My cousin is visiting me in Copenhagen from Barcelona. We came back home from drinks. And, as you probably guessed, my cousin was far better at the banter thing than I was at the bar, even though I spend more time at the gym, lifting, etc -- given his physique, I doubt he's ever seen the interior of a gymnasium in his life.

I'm 5' 4, this guy scarcely breaks 5 feet. I'm not ranting, just wondering how to get better at banter such that I know what to say when. So, any suggestions?

The second part of the story is that, although the bar was loud, I was able to hear his every word and make it out clearly, but he asked me to repeat myself, leaned his ear to listen -- I actually had to almost scream into his ear. As you can imagine, one can yell only so long before getting tired of it.

On the other hand, he has a seemingly limitless energy. He's at another bar now and I'm home tired. He's also 3 years older than me.

How can I address these issues? Thanks in advance...