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| FLASH BOMBS - instant
brilliant light effects and possible first degree burns mentioned many
times in the accompanying little stories. These consisted of a little pan where a
quantity of 'flash powder' (Recommended = 1 Teaspoon, Usually = a lot
more!) covered something that would ignite it. Initially we used
a piece of 3 amp fuse wire strung between 2 nails in a bit of wood and
rather bravely - I thought - passed 240 readily available volts and many
amps through it (possible origin of the saying "Many Amps Make Light
Work?"),
but after a few scares, we used an AG3B flash bulb (the kind you popped in to your
flash camera in those days) which used to ignite with 1.5 volts- but just
to be sure, we whacked 9 volts through it- to GUARANTEE it went off.
There were LOADS of accidents- some mentioned on
other pages, usually involving standing over or next to one
of these devices when it went off, or within range of the red hot
fragments that radiated briskly outwards - that you never saw coming
because you'd just been blinded! I vividly remember Dave K at Bogarts in
Birmingham, resplendent in his all black coat, black hat, black guitar and
black trousers
one second, and covered from head to foot in white ash the next, with all
the hairs singed off his arms! Instant 'Gandalf the White' effect!
There was only one company stupid enough to sell
us that sort of stuff to us then- they shall remain nameless.
Surprisingly, they are still trading - but under a different name. They
make lifts. |
| POWER - we 'ultimately' ran
everything of 1 x 240 volt 'multiplug' - you just 'set the pins' on the
one plug and ran everything else off extensions hanging off that plug. It
was OK until some inebriated soul legged over the one vital wire - or
something similar to what happened at The Target in Reading occurred. The
result was always instant relevant silence, occasionally preceded by some
pyrotechnics! |
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