I have been working on my version of the butterfly blizzard routine for over a year and I am going to present it for the first time next week!

I spent several months over a year ago just trying to get the right paper. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the paper butterflies that come with Jeff McBride's Butterfly Blizzard. They are good, but I thought not good enough. In the DVD, Jeff McBride uses a fan that is about two or three times the size of the one I am now using, and he seems to have to fan pretty hard to accomplish the effect. I wanted something softer and I wanted to do the entire routine without the special gimmick that he uses. This required even better paper to make the butterflies. I finally ended up purchasing paper making equipment and making my own paper. After much experimentation, I came up with a paper that is UNBELIEVABLE! With a tiny fan, and the lightest of fanning, the butterfly soars, flutters, and stays in the air, seemingly almost on it's own.

I will likely refine this routine over time as next week is my first presentation to an audience of around 40 seniors.

I am staying within the ancient tradition of this art by presenting it a demonstration of life, but I am presenting it in a Christmas show for a senior center, so there is going to be a spiritual component to the routine. Oddly enough, I am going to use a Tenyo product, the Magic Butterfly to make a butterfly appear from a cocoon. The butterfly will then fly around the room. I have gotten to where I can control the flying butterfly very well without using the certain gimmick that McBride discusses. This came after many months of practice with my six year old daughter. It's not often that I can practice something for hours on end with her where she is enjoying it more than I am!. These are memories that I'm sure she will treasure the rest of her life. By the way, she will be in the show. She is going to take the Tenyo magic butterfly box around to the 40 or so audience members and show them the magic of the appearing butterfly. The routine ends with a flurry of 16 tiny butterflies, but they will be attached to a certain gimmick so I don't leave a mess.

I am thinking of making this the closing routine. I normally close a Holiday Season show by turning water into snow and tossing the snow into a group of kids sitting in front of the adults. That is a much more humorous routine, but it seems to me that a senior audience might enjoy a flurry of butterflies more than the water to snow routine as the humor comes from the tension of them thinking they are going to get drenched in water. I don't want to have that stress with seniors, and there aren't going to be any kids there that I'm aware of.

I would love to hear your comments, or if you have any suggestions as this will be my first performance of this routine and I'm sure it will evolve over time.

KJ

The show is in three days, and the show must go on.

I am going to use a see through force bag, Tenyo Magic Butterfly, the flying butterfly routine (similar to McBride's Butterfly Blizzard, but without any gimmicks), and ending with a blizzard of butterflies.

This is going to be my closing effect.

KJ

KJ, how did it go?

I would imagine it did not go well, after reading his original post. He can chalk it up to learning. I seen in his description many flaws in his chosen method and thinking. He did not want to use the time tested original setup, and methods. All the practice in world, will not improve different performing settings. You cannot control air flow, as every setting will be vastly different.