20% is definitely standard in most US metropolitan areas I've been and for people who eat out often. Especially for real servers, not high school food-runners at a chain restaurant.

I learned this as part of corporate training at TGI-FRIDAYS. We typically employed it with a "table touch." Just placing two or three fingers on the table which gives the feeling of intimacy but isn't as potentially off putting as touching a person.

Ask a server what they like or recommend. A green server will say the most expensive thing on the menu. An experienced server will say the third most expensive thing on the menu, then the second.

Also, don't expect something to be taken off your bill. The goal of a server is to get your bill as high as possible while trying to get you as a regular. So instead of taking something off your bill you're more likely to get something for "free" like a dessert or drink.

When I posted the Drunk Squirrel Video on my blog, hosted at Youtube, I got a lot of calls from various media outlets to license it for use.

Who used it the most? Fox. Who never called and asked? Fox.

They just let their legal dept handle it. There isn't much you can do...they'll throw a couple hundred bucks your way after the fact. The chance they get caught is pretty slim.