Putting Out the Fire with Gasoline
Or
The Night Jeff McBride and Tina Turner Were on Fire…Almost!
It was the mid-1980s and I was performing at Caesar’s Boardwalk Regency in Atlantic City. I was the opening act for Tina Turner, and as you can see from my make-up, it was in a phase of my career that I fondly call my “Alice Cooper meets Marcel Marceau at a Kiss concert.” Anyway, it was really working, and I was the opening act for many rock acts of the time including Cheap Trick, Asia, and Tina Turner. I have lots of wild stories about this era of my life!
The Following Story is One of the Wildest Shows of My Life!
My act took place in front of the curtain while the entire band was set up behind it waiting for their cue. The timing of the show was carefully rehearsed. I would finish my act, take a bow, and throw kabuki streamers out into the audience. The moment the streamers were thrown, there would be a blackout. The band would count it off, five, six, seven, eight. The curtain would open, the lights would come up, and the band would burst into David Bowie’s song Putting Out the Fire With Gasoline as the opening song.
That Was the Plan…Until…
When I threw the kabuki streamers into the audience, I did not know that every table in the room had small tea lights burning on them. Tiny candles were placed across the tables every few feet. The paper streamers fell across the audience and landed directly in the candles. Immediately the thin rice paper began to catch fire and the long strands started burning like little fuses. For a moment it looked like the entire room might go up in flames!
Fortunately, kabuki streamers are made from very thin rice paper and they burn quickly. The flames ran through the paper and went out before they could ignite the tablecloths or the napkins on the tables. It was a close call and certainly gave everyone a scare, and I learned a powerful lesson: always do a complete run through before the show with props, especially if there’s fire involved!
These are the kind of lessons I’ve learned the hard way. I share these cautionary tales with students and remind them that I’ve made these mistakes so they don’t have to! One of the advantages of having a magic teacher is they’ve made so many mistakes and learnt from them, and they can save you years of trials, pitfalls and perils along your path.
When I see you next, remind me to tell you why I never have wheels on my table on stage…but that’s another story for another time.
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Q: How do you set your audience’s mind on fire?
A: MENTAL TOWERS! A total mind-melting mystery!
It is guaranteed to get 100% audience participation. There are only a few units left. This is one of the most powerful audience participation routines that I’ve ever encountered! I’ve worked on it for many years and now I’m sharing this amazing act with students who are members of our Mystery School and those who read our newsletter. That’s you, my friends!
This Act Starts with My Confession
Speaking of fire, in the next few days Abigail and I will be getting ready to go out to the Nevada desert for our 26th annual MayFire gathering. We gather with our friends each year in the desert to share magic, music, poetry, art and yes, light a beautiful fire. Here is a photo of us from many, many years ago playing music! We’ve been sharing these magical events with our community for over 30 years!
