Thread: Help needed with PROPS

Hi everyone,

I am finalising a routine and need help with 2 props:

I need a cigarette holder which has a realistic looking cigarette which gives off large amounts of smoke. Ideally I want to go for coloured smoke. This has been impossible to find... seriously!

I also need to have some blood bags. Have any of you experience making your own? Thanks!

X WoB

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I've had unhappy experiences with blood bags, for sure!
I've only ever used the proper ones, from Charles Fox, the theatrical make-up specialists. They do two types of blood - one is washable, the other not. The washable blood is a little thinner and not quite so dark.
There is a chemical in the 'blood' that over time 'eats' the plastic bag, so you have to order only as many as you need, and keep them in the fridge.
I didn't know any of this at the time!
I was working on an opera in Italy 10 years ago; it was called 'St. John the Baptist, but was really the story of Salome. In our production Herod was to - well, basically 'deflower' Salome with his fist (!); the bag was strapped to her thigh, he put his hand up inside her dress and was supposed to pull his fist back with some blood on it.
I came back to London for a few days, and was deputed to pick up the blood. I got it back to Italy alright, thanks to cool blocks in my case and lots of plastic wrapping, but because I hadn't pre-ordered, Foxs' only had a limited number in stock, and I had to get one bag that was twice the size of the others.
We had to use this one for the last performance; it looked as though the poor girl was having a haemorrage and two nuns in the front row fainted.

Probably not much help, unless the moral of the story is check out Foxs' website. Maybe things have moved on since then!

We did experiment with trying to make our own blood, and used it at the end when the severed head was brought in on a platter swimming with blood, and Herod poured the blood all over himself; ( I should add that the stage floor was a metal grille, so everything just dripped through the holes - something to consider if there are acts coming on after you!). We ended up with a mixture of red-coloured squash ( cherry or strawberry or something) darkened with some beetroot juice and thickened with a little arrowroot to make it not quite so runny. This worked, and did wash out, but we couldn't find a fail-safe way of making a blood-bag that didn't leak and pierced easily.

Anyway, good luck!

Viva