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I know that actors are allowed to smoke on stage even in an enclosed area but I was just wondering what the law is exactly when performing in bars or clubs if a performance space is provided?

bars and clubs.. I suspect that you will find that Its going to be a big no-no, unless you can justify why you need to smoke as part of your presentation.

If I were going to do a cigarette routine on stage it would have to be the David Berglas cigarette routine. They do not have to be lighted and in fact if they were you would burn yourself.
It is the routine that made David famous. That was way before he bored everyone to death with mentalism. I always far preferred his magic to his mentalism.
I even did it for kids once even though cigarettes are a no-no for them. The truth is that I was desperate for material at a venue I worked week after week for the same kids.
I was astonished to see the fantastic reaction from them.

It's a thing of beauty.. it must be on line somewhere

do it with chocolate cigarettes and then you can do a few switches between real and choc ones, eating some as you go....

Jean Eugene Roberts wrote:I know that actors are allowed to smoke on stage even in an enclosed area but I was just wondering what the law is exactly when performing in bars or clubs if a performance space is provided?

The Smoke-free (Exemptions and Vehicles) Regulations 2007 wrote:6. Where the artistic integrity of a performance makes it appropriate for a person who is taking part in that performance to smoke, the part of the premises in which that person performs is not smoke-free in relation to that person during his performance.

So, if you are doing cigarette magic, I would have thought it would be legal. This only applies to England and Wales, the scottish and northern irish law is probably different.

I would say that if you're in a bar or pub that smoking is a no no. Your performance area is going to be joined to the main public area so I would think that the law would still apply. I wouldn't bother risking it, just stay clear of smoking magic.

why not use an electronic cigarette?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwFbUSU7 ... re=related


legal to use indoors and you can look as cool as him

either that or make a roll up using colts foot or some other legal herb


No rolling a phat chronic blunt and blazing it though!

Could you do like the cast of Mad Men on TV?

Since the actors cannot, by California law, smoke tobacco cigarettes in their workplace, they instead smoke herbal cigarettes.

Herbal cigarettes are cigarettes that do not contain any tobacco or nicotine. There are several popular brands of such cigarettes, usually containing a mixture of different herbs and/or other plant material. Like herbal smokeless tobacco, they are often used as a substitute for standard tobacco products (primarily cigarettes), and many times as a tobacco cessation aid. They are also used in acting scenes by non-smokers.

greedoniz wrote:why not use an electronic cigarette?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwFbUSU7 ... re=related


legal to use indoors and you can look as cool as him

either that or make a roll up using colts foot or some other legal herb


No rolling a phat chronic blunt and blazing it though!

Safer than tobacco!

This did remind me of something though.. ages ago there was a thread about young chavs in a shop asking for a 'deck of cigarettes'
Much to my dissapointment I have been informed it is an actual colloqualism by someone who used the term to me
Now the roles are quite reversed.. 'pick a cigarette any cigarette...'

I should probably mention that I won't be doing any cigarette magic, I would be smoking for comic purposes. My actual reason is that I always miss the acts before and after me cause I'm outside smoking. So I was hoping to exploit a loophole likethese guys did.

So I know that even if the law is on my side I would have to get the owners permission and most likely theyd say no, but I just wanted to know what the law specifically said regarding smoking during a performance, so that if possible I could explain to the owner that they wouldn't be risking their licence if they let me.

If it doesn't work out I might just go for the e-cig.

It might be legal, I don't know, but remember it's not just the owner you have to ask - it's the other people in the bar. A number of people hate smoking, and forcing it on them for apparently no good reason by finding a loophole won't make you their best friend

Good point.

Jean Eugene: You could always use those, very firmly made,fake cigarettes, which you puff on and a fine powder comes out! They even have an imitation burning end!

Mark L : For the kids you could have said they were slim sticks of chalk!
And yes..The Berglas Cig routine was a great classic.
I first saw him perform this in an alcove in a Birmingham Hotel. It was at the Abra Coronation Jamboree in April 1953. Doc Tarbell was the star lecturer.
David signed my autograph book with his own name and the one he proposed to use when he turned pro.--'Dallas'. Good job he changed his mind!

Allen Tipton