If African scorpion is kept in a dense incense box before performance, it will be stunned and not sting any of your sitters. Guaranteed to get a gasp in the candle light.

Actually I used a scorpion in my strolling shows for a long time.'

If you take the time and handle them on a regular basis they train easily.
I would hang him just under my lapel and produce him from a silk in the palm of my hand.
I used the emperor breed.

Do these come WITHOUT STINGERS?

No lol

What was in the incense box before you put the scorpio in? Opium?

No offense taken, I have been handling snakes and tarantula, I am not a fright chick, but whenever I think about scorpios the story of the scorpio and the turtle comes to my mind: they both were dead in the end.

April's Fools!

Too late, I lost three audience members last night.

Heh-heh!

There is no reason to smoke your scorpion. The Black African Scorpion is an Emperor, the largest of the commercially available scorpions. They generally don't sting, if they do, their poison is about the same as a bee sting. I have never even seen mine attempt to sting, no matter how annoyed it was. Emperors use their claws which are massive and powerful enough to sever the head off of a mouse. They aren't even particularly fond of using those unless you are a food item.
I have been pinched once. After that, I learned how to handle the little beasties.
If you are dumping it out onto the table to run around, you are being irresponsible. It is dangerous to the specs and to the scorpion. Smoking it is basically abuse. A scorpions respritory system is delicate- A series of tubes called sphiricles (Sp?) that channel air directly to the major organs from the thorax. They have no diaphragm to physically force air in and out of these tubes. You fill those tubes with smoke (Especially acidic smoke like inscense) and it could take hours to expell it. Imagine you have a lungfull of acrid smoke in your lungs and can't exhale. Smoking bees is different- The smell of Woodsmoke in a non enclosed container where some air is still getting to them sets off an instinct in bees to eat lots of honey. They gorge themselves and become placid. A scorpion in the position you are putting it in is just being suffocated.
It is unnecessary and cruel.
I am not against using scorpions, tarantulas and snakes in shows. They can be remarkably effective. However, if you cannot take the effort to learn how to handle them properly, perhaps you should consider a different, less hostile animal. Hissing cockroaches are really good for shock value without any inherent risks and even a mouse produced under the right circumstances can evoke some screams.
If you still want to produce a scorpion, I can tell you how to present it and get those screams without damaging the scorpion or getting an audience member pinched.
Just pick it up out of the drawer and place it in your hand. You grab it by the last segment of the tail before the stinger and lift it out of the drawer. It will squirm like crazy, thrashing about in the air until you slide your other hand under it from behind. Then it will calm down, and you are no longer in danger of being pinched or stung. You have become the ground to it, so it has no reason to sting. It will crawl on your hands calmly unless you poke at it. Then drop it gently into an oversized brandy snifter. It can stay there on display for the specs to see safely, yet you had the spasm of motion from the initial production.
If you cannot bring yourself to handle the scorpion, to be able to keep it physically in your control without half killing it, you shouldn't be using it in your act.
PM me if you need any help in the handling.

I know...This seems like a lot of concern over what is basically an overglorified bug. To me, it is human responsibility. If you own an animal captured from its natural environment, you need to take on the proper care of the animal. It didn't ask to be there and would be perfectly happy crawling through the jungle leaves without you.
In captivity, it can't hunt, so you feed it. It can't look for water, so you give it a bowl. In nature, it would run from smoke. You are putting it in a situation where it can't.
It's not right.
Gwyd, getting off the soapbox
(BTW-The cockroaches...Imagine opening a drawer and having 30 2" long actively hissing roaches spill out onto the table. You want to make the specs jump and run? This is actually much more effective than a lone scorpion. Just something to think about...)

Sure...You post april fools while I am typing a long long rant so it comes after the joke is revealed.
Kind of a weak joke though. I have used scorpions (And snakes and lizards and other terrible things) in acts, so no reason not to take it seriously.
Gwyd

@gsidhe: Don't be cross with wikitwizard, I knew it was April's Fool joke but your information about the African Black Scorpio was pretty interesting and well worth the typing.

I do love the little creatures so...And I worry.
Nothing more relaxing than watching a full grown Emperor Scorpion marching around it's tank in the moonlight.
Gwyd

Except for watching it marching around in it's tank while under a blacklight - that is even cooler!

I'm on Gwyd's side here. Compassion for our fellow creatures is never out of place, and someone might well have tried smoking a scorpion before the joke was revealed. Some might still try it. If more magicians and other performers had compassion for the animals they use (or exploit!) in their acts, the world would be a better place. Historically, magicians have a very poor record regarding their treatment of animals -- just consider the vanishing bird cage, for example. At one time the bird was usually crushed to death, or if not killed, maimed and crippled. The use of elastic material is a step in the right direction, but it is not enough. How many magicians, even today, pick up rabbits by the ears, an act causing great pain and damage to the rabbit. Even an "overglorified bug" merits compassion and consideration. Causing any creature pain and discomfort is never justified, especially when it can be so easily avoided.

Bill

@Gwyd and Bill,
I can second you (and that is one of the reasons why I am opposing "using" real animals for show purpose and end up using a rubber spider). My comment about opium was just a joke (I hope no-one tried it out), I would never ever harm an animal (I have 2 cats BTW and I am active in animal protection).

Producing a (rubber) scorpion as a final load in the cups and balls and then carefully and quickly picking him up by the tail and putting him in a little box with air holes was one of the great ideas in Shane's "Pentalogy".

Andre

I agree. Unfortunately, the only rubber scorpion I can find is a bit too big for my cups. I can kind of roll it up to fit, but then I can't get it to come out easily.

Bill

Shrodinger's scorpion

Ya know, if Schroedinger used a rubber cat, he could always tell if it was alive or dead! See, them scientist fellers ain't all that smart!

Bill