As a variation on a slipping knot: I had to remotely
release a rolled up “banner” in the middle of the
stage. I used a heavy duty “pin” to hold the rope that kept the banner rolled up (accordion-rolled actually). I think I got the idea from a
stage craft
book by Ionazzi.
I mounted the pin and guide assembly on a board (1x4x18) that was then attached to a pipe. The pin was about 3-4 inches long with an eyelet at one end and slid horizontally into two heavy duty eyelets (the guides) spaced about 1 inch apart. The pin also passed through a steel ring with the load of the banner, and the ring is between the eyelets. The weight of the banner bearing down on the pin via the steel ring provided the friction force to keep the pin in place. (This was a relatively light weight, not more than 10 lb.)
A heavy nylon
cord was tied to the end of the pin, then was supported along the pipe every 4 to 6 feet with loosely attached cable ties. At the end of the pipe, in the
wing, was a pulley, and then at the end of the
cord was a handle. The handle (a short piece of wood dowel) was light enough to keep the
cord where I wanted it, provide tension to keep the
cord from drooping, but not so heavy as to pull the pin by its own weight. The handle was up out of the way about 7 feet above the floor. In addition, I attached a fishing bob to the
cord about 1
foot from the end of the pin to keep the pin from slipping down to the floor after the
release. A smaller eyelet was located at the end of the board; the
cord passed through this two, and then the bob was attached.
At the
cue, I reached up, quickly pulled the handle, pulling the pin through the eyelets, which dropped the steel ring. The banner unfurled, the rope and steel ring hanging behind the banner, out of sight. When I slowly released the handle, the pin and
cord were prevented from falling by the fishing bob and small eyelet, and handle kept the tension on the
cord to keep it from drooping.
In your case, you may be able to attach something like this behind a
teaser.
Joe