CANNONBALL COLIN, aka. THE BALISTIC BUDGIE.
This was a very popular little act I sold to quite a few performers mainly from countries behind the Iron Curtain. Over in the Ukraine audiences loved performing bird acts, they were under the impression that the same birds performed in every act. The birds could have done but that wouldn't put food on my table. Unfortunately you can only sell so many dancing chickens.
SO HERE IT IS..
Imagine the scene Colin is about to be shot from a cannon into a net held by a volunteer standing in the front row of the audience.
The net is a mini Basketball type. With a paper backboard. The performer explains that, never having done this trick before, he's not sure how much explosive to use. He takes several spoonfuls from a large tin marked "Gunpowder" & a skull & crossbones, & pours them down the barrel. Colin is loaded into the cannon, the performer makes a big play of adjusting the trejectory, moving the volunteer about etc. He taps his pockets, till it dawns on him he's forgotten the matches. He apologises profusely & hurries off stage. Que, "bad person music," an evil character tip toes on stage & adds more powder to the cannon. He winks slyly & scurries off stage. The performer returns, apologising profusely ignoring any warnings from the audience. He asks the volunteer if he's ready, & asks the audience to count down. "1, 2, 3, fire." & lights the fuse, sticking his fingers in his ears & shutting his eyes tightly. There is a loud bang & from the barrel of the cannon shoots a cloud of dust feathers & red bits that are best left to the imagination. The performer calls for the volunteer to produce Colin safe & sound but he is frantically pointing at the large hole that has appeared in the backboard of the net. The audience will be busy looking about for Colin. A sudden shout of, "I've got him." comes from the back of the hall, everyone turns as a member of the audience runs down to the stage & hands over Colin. The performer shows the audience that no harm has come to Colin. The presenter apologises to the audience that he may have used a little too much gunpowder. He takes a bow & gets a round of applause for. 'Cannonball Colin aka.The Balistic Budgie. If you would like to workout just how this is done, take a time out before you read the HOW TO. You never know, your solution may be even better than mine.
You will need for, THE AMATEUR PERFORMER
For a small one man show. One bird & a cannon, dispense with the catcher,the villain, the net & net man. Build a cannon as described below but use a Party Popper for the explosive. While your audience is looking up, take Colin from his hidding place & rush to the back where you pretend to catch him.
THE PROFESSIONAL SHOWMAN.
Would need two identical birds. A crew of two. One to hold & operate the net, & another to act the baddie & the catcher. The Cannon. The basic model is a tube fixed onto the top of a small box. Colin is slipped into the back end of the tube & into the box, he goes down into a cage via a hole in the table top, where he tucks into his favourite treat. The cannon barrel is either a length of metal tube fired with a small firework type explosion.
The net,
Make a mini basketball type on a 6ft, stick.The backboard is a wire frame covered with tissue paper. To make the hole appear in it, sticky tape a fishing line to the centre of the tissue paper & pull the line quickly, a hole appears creating the illusion Colin
passed through it.The rescuer takes a second Colin from his hiding place at the back of the hall & returns him none the worst for his mishap to the performer on stage.......
OK......B.J.
