I have been juggling invisible knives (I get nervous and drop them when I can see the blade) with good response. I pop a balloon in my left hand with the point of the "knife" in my right hand to prove how sharp they are.

I have an idea for a knife throwing act using the same knives. I want to pop a balloon held at arms length by a volunteer.

Does anyone have any ideas about how I can pop a balloon from a distance?

Boobu

you need to get a blow gun, and find the smallest darts possible, hide the blow gun in your trunk, hooked up to an air compressor with a remote control, set your PSI on the compressor to about 5000 PSI, that should make your dart move fast enough to not be visible to the naked eye.. Aim the gun, so that it'll hit the balloon and then go into the cieling and noone will ever know the difference, when you have said child holding the balloon, and you're ready, act like you stab the balloon, and secretly hit the remote control button, thus triggering the air compressor to release a burst of air sending the dart flying down the tube of the blow gun, and out through the air, popping the balloon, and landing safely embedded into the ceiling.

yes.. that should work fine.

oh, and you might want to stuff pillows around the compresser, and blow gun, to silence the blow, you don't want to give away the secret you know..

While I would definitely build Knute's prop (cause I'm not entirely right), I don't suggest it.

Good luck on this one. I've built tons of props/stunts and I can't think of an entirely safe way to do with without a "trained" or "planted" volunteer.

For invisable Knife throwing I think you could get the volunteer to throw the knife while you hold the balloon. You could attach balloons to a backdrop rigged with a hidden trigger (clear tape & fishing line) so that when you move a body part to avoid being hit it pops a balloon. This way you could add to the act by pretending to be scared and by giving silly instructuons like " a little lower and to the top" or "this time aim six feet higher and to the left of my right foot."

Just some ideas, have fun.

I think most of the gimmick methods you can come up with will be too easy to spot or too hard to use reliably.

The suggestion from Sir Popsalot is better, I think. Have the volunteer throw the knife. Use your normal popping method. Ham it up.

-Patrick

You could place the balloon in a holder. This would look like a stick or such with clip or holder on the end. The erstwhile reason for this is that you throw a 'knife' or two at the balloon and you have to go and pull it out of the board from right next to the persons ear, therefore you want a little extra space between them and the balloon. Then you trick out the holder with your favourite remote control balloon popping device. If you have several holders then they can have one in each hand and hold one between the knees or in the teeth.

you need to get a blow gun, and find the smallest darts possible, hide the blow gun in your trunk, hooked up to an air compressor with a remote control, set your PSI on the compressor to about 5000 PSI, that should make your dart move fast enough to not be visible to the naked eye.. Aim the gun, so that it'll hit the balloon and then go into the cieling and noone will ever know the difference, when you have said child holding the balloon, and you're ready, act like you stab the balloon, and secretly hit the remote control button, thus triggering the air compressor to release a burst of air sending the dart flying down the tube of the blow gun, and out through the air, popping the balloon, and landing safely embedded into the ceiling.

yes.. that should work fine.

how do you know all of that