Whats the best way to build 'prop' snowballs that can be thrown into the audience - without incurring assault charges!

sedg@zoom.co.uk

I seem to remember, from a previous life time, we crunched up newspaper balls and wet them with a water and put a layer of cotton wool on them. I can't remember if the water was spiked with size (wallpaper glue as a mild solutin to hold the paper & the cotton wool - but I know it was effective & they psrt in the air when thrown or became a missle as it had very little wieght depending upon how tight you scrunched the paper - That's my five penithsworth. Experiment worth a try!
Joe

hylas@iinet.net.au

what about polystyrene or childs foam balls dipped in white paint?

info@findmeanother.co.uk

..or florists white polystyrene balls as used for dried flowers. You can usually get them at the local floristry supply. Look on www.yell.com for florist's supplies in your area.

Robin

Our local "New Look" store has fabulous snowballs in their window displays! Maybe some kind hearted shop assistant will let you nick a few?

No, please don't use polystyrene balls as they go against fire regulations as they can't be fireproofed. Anything else but that! Try buckets of cut-up tisue paper and pretend to the audience it's snow.

Just an update -

Ran out of time - went down Boots and bought two bags of cotton wool balls -
had stage hands throwing them on from the wings at the appropriate time
whilst the cast said "Oh look! It's snowing!"

Got a laugh for the corniness - they could be thrown about - and best of all
we swept them up and used them again at the next performance!

Just for the record although the opportunity has passed on this occassion, if you paint and seal polystyrene with bog standard matt emulsion paint it makes them virtually fireproof. Just try holding a light to an 'emulsion' painted ceiling tile.

Once the emulsion is dry, you could then spray with fireproofer if you wanted to be doubly sure. I suspect that cotton wool balls would ignite quicker although would not give off the toxic fumes.

There is a lot of inaccurate 'noise' on the use of polystyrene and the fire risk. I can't find the reference now, but I sure I read somewhere of a survey that showed more people had been killed (sadly mainly children) by inhaling bits of broken polystyrene than as a result of fire. The scare came out of the 60's fad to put up ceiling tiles. If these were painted they were fairly safe. Unpainted, they melted almost immediately in a fire, dripping onto the source of the fire and igniting giving off a highly toxic gas. Firemen hated them as they had to walk into a burning room with this burning slime dripping on the ceiling continually feeding and spreading the fire. Also, if it dripped onto skin, it caused serious burns. However, even then, most deaths were caused by toxic fumes, not burns.

Any fire officer will tell you not to use them as a knee jerk reaction. Point out to them that both the flash point and toxicity is less than mylar, they'll opt for the former. For reference flash points are:
Expanded polystyrene 420 - 480 C
Mylar 254 C
Cotton about 250 C
Painted polystyrene; better than 700 C - with fireproofer ???

Hope this helps. I'm not saying for one minute that you should go mad with it, but it does have it's uses and can be safely used - albeit, with respect!.

Best wishes ..... Robin

Forget about little snow balls..

Boring..

A BIG BEACH BALL made up to look like a snall ball is MUCH more fun and the Aud can pass it around and around over their heads..

George
Am A Drama Queen
www.AmaDrama.co.uk

Before anyone says anything.. i meant SNOW BALL, not SNALL ball..

Robin is right (ish) on polystyrene not to use it is a rule of thumb. If you were to fireproof it then the retardant should be mixed in with the paint. However since the substrate (polystyrene) in non absorbent then should the paint be abraded or material broken revealing the substrate then it's no longer fire proof

You're right about cotton wool balls though, they'll go up like a shot without retardant!

Sorry George but a beach ball?? think about it, please!!!

We're not really interested in the flashpoint side of things as even with retardant all materials will burn - we're just trying to prevent the initial ignition or slow down the onset of fire.

I keep banging on about fireproofing but it is important (as is all safety in the theatre) because accidents do not distinguish between the amateur and professional. Also it is just Bl**dy irresponsible not to take precautions when it's lives you are dealing with!!

Hey, I have to say I REALLY like the beach ball idea. Sounds a bit "Return to the Forbidden Planet" ish doesn't it? And that's always one of the highlights of that show!

We've used sponge balls covered in cotton wool (the sheet-type stuff) and then just tied round with white cotton, in a cross fashion. We tried glue, but the cotton wool didn't hold and it got all messy.

Louise.

Beach Ball - Disguised as a snowball...

*thinking*

GREAT IDEA!!!!! *wink*

As Anne-Marie said.. Worked in Forbidden Planet a TREAT!!!

Audience Interaction..

I saw and XXX Panto before Xmas where they had a 7 foot, blow up, male member, and that got passed round the audience.... HYSTERICAL!!!!

Hey, George - I REALLY think we all need to know how to get hold of the aforementioned prop.......well, I need to know anyway!

Ohhhh Beach balls are easy to get Anne-Marie... *wink*

Just paint it white or cover in a sheet... har har har

oh, har har har to you too Mister!!