Smoking, without really smoking :D finally!

lewisurwin

lewisurwin

Member
Thought I should post this as this is a great way to have the effect of smoke without the actor having to put their health at risk, the audience complaining or breaking smoking laws

Gamucci is an electronic cigarette that contains no tobacco, no tar, or carcinogenic chemicals and (with the use of zero nicotine cartridges) no nicotine

They are available in the UK from websites such as I Want One Of Those (i think they deliver reasonably cheaply to the usa aswell)

These work by atomising, so it is not real smoke, but look exactly like it

These break no smoking laws because the smoking law states that it has to be lit or contain tobacco or any substance that can be smoked and as these are not lit and do not contain tobacco and are not smoked they are fully legal for use inside.

And the best bit is that as it is vaporised air the smell does not spread and does not seep into everything within the theatre (eg. drapes etc)

The only down side is that they are around £50 (approx $100) so may be a little out of certain peoples budgets, but these can be used again and again, as the replacement nicotine cartridges are actually the mouth pieces so there is less contamination issues.
 
I seem to remember these being suggested as a solution before. I'll definitely suggest these to our props folks, as we always use those darn herbal cigarettes that smell really bad. since it can be used over and over again, it looks like a great solution that could easily be equivalent to the price of all of the cigarettes used in the run of a show. Now of course you'd have to buy a backup as well, so maybe it'd take 2 shows before it was worth it, but still. Make sure you have a good props master, because this looks like something that could go missing otherwise.
 
Yes, and the cartridges are about a fifth of the price of the equivalent amount of cigarettes so added bonus!

And yes would have to keep this thing under lock and key!
 
Oh sure ! Where was this link prior to our production of Streetcar??
Still only one big problem, all those "Ok I want stanley to throw his cigarette down and crush it on the sidewalk area.... is that ok ?" to which I alway want to say, " No, it's not ok. It's painted scenery, which will have to be touched up daily and we don't have it in the budget!"
 
Well im sure there must be some clever way to do it like surround the entire unit in layers of paper/foam/cushioning, that way nothing will be damaged :D
 
And there are other makes of this product around (e-cigarette) that actually look more like a conventional cigarette but are mostly ebay type products so not sure if id want to use them...
 
there is a great costume shop that sells cigars and cigarettes they use some type of baby powder that looks incredibly real. plus side? $2 EACH...
 
This company is only $60 and they have a video of what it looks like. VERY impressive. I'm going to have to try to talk someone into buying some of those.
 
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uhh... you guys... these e-cigarettes all contain nicotine. that's the whole point of them, you know?
they're made for people who need their fix but due to cancer concerns / by-laws can't technically smoke. they're not meant to be props. you could use them as props, but if your actor isn't already a smoker, it's not something they should be doing every night on stage.
 
Actually that is incorrect. If you go to the link gafftaper provided, go to the section of the website labeled "Cartridges". There, you will see that you can purchase High, Medium, Low, and most importantly ZERO strength level cartridges. Ours recently came in and I've been testing out the Zero Strength cartridge all week.

As for my review:

It takes a bit of practice to get used to. The smoke itself is lighter than normal cigarette smoke so it takes a "lighter" exhale to get a believable puff.

So far (perhaps a few more battery cycles may solve this as the atomizer gets broken in), the cig is only good for about 5-10 good puffs before you notice a significant drop off in the exhaled smoke. After that, it's time to switch out the battery. Luckily, they do give you two batteries in the starter kit.
 
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