SOUND ADVICE

In these technological times, professional theatre productions are incorporating live stage telepresence, 3D digital projection, laser effects and the like, to produce holographic genies and beanstalks that grow... before your very eyes (thank you, Big-hearted!). It’s all geek to me!

‘Cinderella’ is generally regarded as the most popular pantomime. In the professional theatre they can do justice to the transformation scene, with lots of effects. The coach can have real ponies, and be part of a massive production number with the stage full of singers and dancers, perhaps with snow falling or whatever. Likewise, the ballroom scene can be very impressive with a wide staircase at the back, ideal for the slipper business. In other words, these productions major on effect, to create what is described in the pre-show publicity as ‘the true magic of pantomime’. 

Amateurs can’t get close to this with a cut-out, wobbly, painted hardboard coach which, if they are lucky, two dancers pretending to be horses, may actually manage to get in motion for a few feet before the thing collapses or a wheel drops off. As for the ballroom scene… well, some silver slash and a column or two will probably have to suffice. How can the small potatoes panto groups compete with that? The simple answer is… they can’t, at least not directly.  

One way round that is… think small. If you've got a pint-sized playhouse you may lose out on grandeur, but you gain on intimacy... that is, having your audience closer to the stage... and this means that one area where you can go to town is sound effects, some of which can probably be done live, and still be heard by all the audience.

The slide whistle or Swanee whistle (see left) produces a rising or falling tone, which is heard in an animated cartoon when one of the characters falls over a cliff. When, after landing, he sits reeling, cross-eyed, we see birds flying in a tight circle around his head, to the accompaniment of a bird warbler (see right). This a small plastic device, similar to an enclosed smoker’s pipe. It usually has the shape of a bird on top. The reservoir is filled with water, and when one blows down the tube, the device produces a ‘bubbly’ warbling sound. They are available from novelty and joke shops.

We can’t possibly match the visual tricks that the animator has up his sleeve, but we can quite easily use ‘silly sound effects’ to enhance the action on stage.

A plastic duck call (see left) can be used to 'punch' corny jokes, or silly bits of business. The website - sciencebob.com/make-a-simple-duck-call/ - has instructions on how to create a home-made version from a plastic straw. It takes a little bit of practice to get the right sound, but it's fun trying, and you'll be chuffed to conkers if you manage to master it.

A simple tin whistle (see right), also called the penny whistle, English flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, tin flageolet, Irish whistle, Belfast Hornpipe, feadóg stáin, or simply feadóg... gosh... could also be used to enhance miscellaneous moments in a pantomime. I have one in the key of D. If you blow an F followed by a D this imitates a cuckoo, and the sound can be used in a similar way to the duck call.

Long or short blasts from the bog-standard bike horn (see left) can add humorous punctuation to comic dialogue or action. Multiple blasts could be used in certain circumstances... e.g. geese flying overhead (I've gotta work that into a script!).

A xylophone (see right) can be be used for magic appearances, and when a fairy waves her wand. Best to use a small 'toy' version, with metal 'keys' as illustrated, because the operator can quickly and easily run the hammer along the scale to produce a very 'zingy' sound, which has a magical resonance.

Plastic siren whistles (see left), when blown, produce a sound that enhances the 'magical' disapperance of people or objects.

The good old-fashioned football rattle (see right) can be turned slowly to provide a wonderful sound for creaking joints, which are, as we all know, often experienced by the pantomime Dame. It also serves to create a noise for some most likely malfunctioning gizmo or piece of machinery.

You don't need to wait for Christmas for the 'jingle bells' as the percussion instrument  illustrated left can be used at any time perhaps for magical effects, including the appearance of a supernatural being. You could also give it a few shakes when someone such as the 'Silly Billy' character clears his head after some 'traumatic' experience'.


Illustrated right is a device known, in polite circles, as a 'razz whistle'. The word 'razz' being a shortened and altered variant of the word raspberry'.  Blowing a 'raspberry', or making a 'Bronx cheer', is to produce a noise that may signify derision. It is made by placing the tongue between the lips and blowing to produce a sound similar to flatulence.

Blowing a raspberry comes from the Cockney rhyming sland, "raspberry tart" ('nuff said) The term "Bronx cheer" is ironic because it is not a cheer. It is used to show disapproval. The term most likely originates from crowd behaviour at the stadium of the New York Yankees' baseball team located in the Bronx NY. Gosh, I'm a mineshaft of information! Don't use the razz whistle for the obvious, but it could punctuate corny jokes as an alternative to a duck call, or cuckoo sound.

 When I was a children's entertainer doing comedy magic I bought a groan tube (see left) and painted it black with white ends to look like a magic wand. When presening it to a helper from the audience I turned it over to make the noise. It was very popular. There must be opportunities to use it in lots of scripts.


The moo box (see right) produces a similar sound to the groan tube, and it could be used after a corny joke.

Obviously most of these devices will have to be amplified to get the best effect, but you should have some sort of P.A. sustem and a willing bod to take on the job. 

Sound effects could be a really novel feature of your productions, enhancing the experience for the punters by adding to the fun. Give it a go… “Don’t be fright!”*

*The catchphrase of Sirdani, (Sidney Daniels 1900-1982) a comedy magician, who actually presented magic on the radio, describing tricks to the listeners and encouraging them to try it for themselves. I kid you not!