herbal cigarettes lighting on fire

[whosaprettygirl]

We are using herbal cigarettes in our show and recently they have been bursting into flame at the tip when the actors hold the lighter to them. The actors have to blow the flame out and it's very distracting. I have used the same type of herbal cigarette in previous shows and have never had the same issue. Has anyone ever experienced this before? Should I get different herbal cigarettes or is there something I can tell the actors to do differently to prevent this?

 

[Van]

Most likely it's due to the filler material falling out. if there is not enough tobaco in the end cigarettes will flame up like that. If someone is "packing" the packs, hitting the top of the lid against their hand or a table to pack the tobaco, this will cause the end to be mostly paper which will cause the flame up. Solutions:
Make them stop packing, this may not be an option as it IS a great peice of actor business.
keep the cigarettes in a humidor. Making sure the moisture content is high enough will cut down on flame outs. It's also a very helpful work-around in todays anti-smoking on stage culture. If you over humidify your stash < let's say a character is rolling a joint on stage> then the stuff will light and make smoke for about one puff then it will self extinguish. One big puff on stage is enough to convince an audience but the item goes out fast enough the it doesn't annoy them.

 

[shiben]

Most likely it's due to the filler material falling out. if there is not enough tobaco in the end cigarettes will flame up like that. If someone is "packing" the packs, hitting the top of the lid against their hand or a table to pack the tobaco, this will cause the end to be mostly paper which will cause the flame up. Solutions:
Make them stop packing, this may not be an option as it IS a great peice of actor business.
keep the cigarettes in a humidor. Making sure the moisture content is high enough will cut down on flame outs. It's also a very helpful work-around in todays anti-smoking on stage culture. If you over humidify your stash < let's say a character is rolling a joint on stage> then the stuff will light and make smoke for about one puff then it will self extinguish. One big puff on stage is enough to convince an audience but the item goes out fast enough the it doesn't annoy them.

I agree, someone is probably packing. Alternatively, the herbals are dry and the person lighting is drawing hard and holding the light for too long. Also possible the product in the end could be very loose, making for a more agressive flame. This happens commonly enough with real cigarettes that a little flick or a quick puff to blow it out is not abnormal. I think Van made a lot of good sugestions based on how to avoid it.