I was reading another thread and someone mentioned using masking tape on the floor so the kids would know where to sit......it reminded me of a story.

I used to use 2 different types of gaff tape, one was really good, the other one was cheap and had hardly any stick.
Anyway, I was about to do a school show in a hall and so I marked a front line for the kids with the 'cheap' gaff.
However, when the kids had all gone and I pulled up the gaff, I realised that I had accidentally used the 'good' gaff and consequently it just about pulled the floor boards up with it!!! There was now a PERMANENT line on the floor where the woodstain and varnish etc used to be. Hmmm, tricky situation.

Anyone else got any kind of disaster stories at all?

Doesn't have to have anything to do with tape, just any disaster at all.

There's a guy in my area who's a walking disaster. He once did the (distasteful) bit where he pretends to staple a card to the kid's forehead with a staple gun, really leaving it there with tape. But, two things happened: 1) he used a real, ungimmicked stape gun, and 2) his wife apparently used it during the week.

He popped two small holes in the birthday boys forehead.

If it were my kid, he wouldn't have done another show ... ever!

The same guy told Jeffrey Dahmer jokes during his show. For those of you who don't know, Dahmer was a serial killer/cannibal who lived in my town.

I once covered a clients carpet with red paint flakes from my roll on!
Ooops
Matt

I was booked to do an after dinner show at a posh restaurant/banquet hall. The front entrance had a nice tile floor and was dimly lit. I had never performed at this venue before and at the time was doing a "suitcase" type of stand-up magic show. I didn't want to walk around with my suitcase and table to find the party I was supposed to entertain at, so I found a spot along the wall to put them down and then headed off to find my contact. I wasn't more than a second or two away when I heard a horrific crash. A waiter with a gigantic tray of empty glasses on his shoulder had tripped over my suitcase breaking about 100 glasses on the floor. I turned to see him muttering and going off, I assume to get a broom or something to sweep up the mess. I retrieved my stuff and found the room I was supposed to be in, did the show and got the heck outta there as fast as I could.

Rob

I had a similar disaster with tape, I used the low tac stuff, but the hall floor was quite old, I didn't just pull up the varnish, I actually pulled up big slinters from the floor.

A lot of halls round here have now banned the use of tape because it marks the floors, in some of them when you set up you can see 4-5 dfferent lines in the polish.

I have used tape before but I just have never had much luck with it. It just always seemed to be something the children wanted to play with and try to peal up during the performance. It gave them a distraction from the show.

Over the years, I have just gotten rid of it all together. I find that my opening dialogue with the kids and how I teach them how I select my helpers, really helps keep them well under control through the performance. I have never had any problems since with that. I set up the ground rules in a fun way and they remember them.

If the group gets a bit roudy or start creeping, I just let them remember how we select good assistants and it settles them right back down again.

Kyle

Show disasters??? There's a guy in this town that set the family's pet on fire.

Oh man. I bet he got asked back for the family barb-b-que huh? Wow how do you set a pet on fire. Besides, why would you do fire indoors at a b-day party any ways? Just too ricky if you ask me but that is a totally different topic.

Kyle

PS: Michael I love the tophat. Very cool. Is it a jugglers style top hat? You can do some great moves with it if it is.

Perhaps the routine involved setting fire to the family pet and then reaching into the flames to produce a selected card....

...or maybe not...

Hehehe now THAT is one trick I would have to see. I wonder if Tannens carries that. hehe

Kyle

Kyle,

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, it is a jugglers' style hat.

Flash paper tossed with error landed on the wandering pooch. Yikes! I actually don't know if it was indoors or out.

Heard tales of another guy who overfueled his dove pan and produced a flying fireball. 'Tis true, they'll just build a better idiot.

It is truely amazing what some people think they can get away with in a performance. Oh wells. More idiots out there, the better for the rest of us who actually strive to be good at what we do. hehe

Kyle

Track record and scoreboard, right?

LOL. I don't know who carries it, but do be careful, apparently there's a 'rip off' version which involves a smoldering Hamster.

Oh that must be the new trick "Hades Hamsters" I have heard so many good things about it. It comes with oven mits as well. Nicely made and constructed and can be done surrounded. =)

Kyle

Actually, the Hamster bit was a ripoff of Gerbil Inferno, and it came with your choice of Copper, Brass, or Stainless Steel Skewers. I think they also sold a Tie-dyed gerbil version for the kid shows.

Hi,

I've enjoyed reading this forum. If you guys want to see more the General Magic section under - What Happened Was This - titled Worst Performance Stories has over 80 posters and already over 5,000 hits. The stories will make you laugh no doubt. Hope you check it out!

Chrystal

The problem with the hamster trick in general was that many people calim to have developed the moves for it. Dai Vernon was stated as having done the first double gerble lift to perfection. Blackstone fist started out doing the floating gerbil, but stopped doing it as the cost got to high. Even Lance Burotn wanted to do split gerbils in his act but it did not go with his color combination so out the door that went.

Kyle

Yeah, I've seen that poor shivering gerbil begging for food outside his palace. How could he do that to a gerbil? The cad!

Gerbil holding a sign that reads: "Will work for a nibble on a toilet roll tube". Just the other day I saw one on Vegas Strip with a sign reading... "Hey I just want to run in a gerbil wheel again.. is that so wrong!!???"

Poor gerbils!!!