History of Fire Props: Weapons, Rituals and Performance

Rope darts were Chinese military secrets. Staffs were banned-weapons workarounds. Devil sticks hitchhiked to Europe from China via Japan. And the hoop? Doctors in 1400s England thought it was killing people. A quick tour through the surprisingly violent, occasionally ceremonial, and always chaotic history of the props we now set on fire.

Read time: 4 min