Favorite bit of trickery?

Davoid · Post by **Davoid** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:27 am

I'd love to hear about everyone's encounters with good trickery, something I usually don't have the fortitude to pull off without laughing.

The first time my GF and I encountered the "SM lady with gas mask tied up inside the metal ball" (my apologies to the artist for lack of proper title), which was on the esplanade around...7:00? 8:00? there was a very non-SM guy standing there with his hand on her neck. We were a bit aghast at the display, had a few questions: Wait, she was real? Yep. His story, when pressed: this was his partner, he had spent some time rigging this perfect suspension up for her, and had slowly rolled her out to this position. How long was she in there? About two hours, though she could usually go for five. Maybe only four this time, since she'd had lots of fluids. There was a small tape recorder-type thing wedged under her arm, what was that? Well, it emits a vibrating tone that she can feel in her arm; it's something that she can focus on to keep herself centered.

Being at BRC, at night, and relatively ignorant of the SM lifestyle, we ate it hook, line, and sinker. It helped that he would shoo away other people who got too close to touching her ("Dude. C'mon. Why would you do that?"), and it may be that we were a little less than fully in control of our senses. But, damn, we probably circled around in awe for several minutes while he kept the act going. He even invited us back to his camp to check out other stuff the next day (wish I'd gone!).

Later in the week, of course, we saw it again, sans trickster, and sussed out the truth quickly. He had been covering a not-so-realistic tuft of hair with his hand (in the guise of comforting/controlling presence), and, no doubt, the thing that looked like a tape recorder was, and recorded all the dopey questions everyone asked him, especially mine!

I just hope that the guy wasn't the original artist, and instead merely capitalized on the opportunity and added his own twist. Either way, when I realized I'd been duped, I got an awesome rush; an artwork made better by creative manipulation. Hats off to you, whoever you are!

b00m3rang · Post by **b00m3rang** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 1:21 am

One of my newbie campmates told me that someone said Michael Jackson got shot in the face by one of his previous employees during the event. I immediately smelled BS (Burner Shenanegans), but my friend was almost sure it was true when he heard a second person talking about it at the burn.

Gotta love those rumors.

Fat SAM · Post by **Fat SAM** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 6:25 am

We heard that one too, on Sunday, and we were talking about it as we were packing up camp that day.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:19 am

The Ladies of the elite Interrogation Squad turned me and many visitors to Camp Apokiliptika into docile lap dogs after the information was so easily extracted. That kind of trickery is just plain evil. Maybe spitting vodka in her face was a bad choice.

Back for more in '06.

Emane · Post by **Emane** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:29 pm

i heard that paul oakenfold, tiesto and van dyck were spinning at the event. anybody know if it was that for real?

zoeypants · Post by **zoeypants** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 3:55 pm

[quote] heard that paul oakenfold, tiesto and van dyck were spinning at the event. anybody know if it was that for real?[/quote]

I can attest to oakenfold and tiesto. Don't know about van dyck. Those shows kicked ASS!!!!

bdeywoo · Post by **bdeywoo** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 4:29 pm

Zoey you said it both were at 2 and espilande Friday 1-3 am for oakey and burn night 3-6 or so for testo. Both tore it up though they had their slips. Any one know if it was recorded?

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:27 pm

Best trickery?

Dicky in the box - an escape route underneath for him to get out.

Tay · Post by **Tay** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 7:45 pm

I had quite a few virgins believing there was going to be a vote on Thursday afternoon, at First Camp for next year's theme. I don't know if anyone showed up, but you know, when the Rangers tell you to pass along some information, you just have to do it.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:22 pm

Offtopic /stupid question: Where is First Camp? Is it located right there at the Keyhole on the Esplanade and on the West side? (Not that I went looking for it, I'm simply curious)

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:39 pm

Kinetic IV wrote:Offtopic /stupid question: Where is First Camp? Is it located right there at the Keyhole on the Esplanade and on the West side? (Not that I went looking for it, I'm simply curious)

yep

Emane · Post by **Emane** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 1:00 pm

[quote="bdeywoo"]Zoey you said it both were at 2 and espilande Friday 1-3 am for oakey and burn night 3-6 or so for testo. Both tore it up though they had their slips. Any one know if it was recorded?[/quote]

i would also love to know if either or both were recorded. anybody know?

akatom · Post by **akatom** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:15 pm

Thursday afternoon I drove to Reno for a late night pickup at the airport. One the way to the gate, I drove through a properly marked and barricaded construction zone. Hard-hatted and emergency-vested Flag Man informed me that sewer work had closed off Ego, and I would have to detour out. In reflexive obedience, I explained my situation and took the detour.

It was awesome how completely I swallowed situation for the 20 seconds the encounter lasted. I am the most gulible person in the world. Believe me.

WebGraphics · Post by **WebGraphics** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 1:31 am

I can't remember the camp name but it was on 3:00. It was an empty building with two rooms and two separate TV screens, each with a recorder. Basically you could see them, and they could see you.

What I started to do was dance around and make manacing gestures at the people in the other room. They would then look stupidly into the monitor and think it was some kind of recording.

Finally when they saw me they would look either embarassed or very amused, either way it was pretty fun.

frogbeater · Post by **frogbeater** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 5:19 am

Hi,

I'm that guy with the ball.

It was my piece. I did the rope work on the "girl" and did much of the welding work on the ball.

I am thrilled by my batting average that night...100%

No one walked away from the ball that night thinking she was a fake. I've had many people write me to tell me about their experience. I feel that the possibility that someone could have been in the ball is the real point of the work, and that possibility was there for everyone. Many people did come by the next day and I loved seeing their expressions when I would flippantly point to the ball (girl still inside) and say "Her? Oh she's a fake."

Burning beliefs. Pulling the rug out from under people. That is the core of Burning Man for me. I am so glad you could be a part of it.

I did eventually put a girl into the ball. You'd never believe how many women asked to be put in that ball!

It was fairly time consuming to get one out and the other in , so it only happened once, as opposed to our original concept of a different girl every day.

BTW- I'm not into S/M, I'm into B/D.

Google "Nawa Shibari" for more on my styles upon styles.

My favorite bit of trickery:

Announcing that Kraftwerk was playing at 3:00 and esplande...it turned out to be a guy with an accordian doing Kraftwerk covers...too funny.[i][/i]

Cabanasprings · Post by **Cabanasprings** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 1:34 pm

bdeywoo wrote:Zoey you said it both were at 2 and espilande Friday 1-3 am for oakey and burn night 3-6 or so for testo. Both tore it up though they had their slips. Any one know if it was recorded?

My tech guys recorded the Friday night show. I have had a few personal setbacks since then but plan to have it on the internet in the next week or so.

EvilDustBooger · Post by **EvilDustBooger** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:01 pm

I answered that phone on the Esplanade and was talking to "God" before I knew it. We were having quite a discussion, and then he said he`d better let his "assistant" talk to me about one of my statements....
...so I did, and a moment later a gentleman came up to me and my girlfriend and started chatting with us about our talks with "god", as we were leaving, it occured to me that it was that guy "god" that came up and talked to us....
....I guess he does appear like a thief in the night...huh?

heh heh

nice gig

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:01 pm

akatom wrote:...One the way to the gate, I drove through a properly marked and barricaded construction zone. Hard-hatted and emergency-vested Flag Man informed me that sewer work had closed off Ego, and I would have to detour out....

This was my favorite performance piece also...complete with shovel holders and a whistle dude. Just like a county road project. I snapped a photo of it, but it doesn't do it justice....

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 2:55 pm

In 04' a Ranger working the Burn, (Disco, I believe) heard someone comment on how hot the fire was. The Ranger informed him the Org uses depleted uranium to make the Man burn hotter and it would also help melt the metal structure. This year, July or August, the BM office recieved a letter asking them to refrain from using depleted uranium in the burn as it is bad for the environment. This year it was reported on the BM radio that they would be using less DU in the burn. True Story......

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:32 pm

Fat SAM wrote:We heard that one too, on Sunday, and we were talking about it as we were packing up camp that day.

Yeah, I got told that at Boomtown as we were leaving...

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:41 pm

The DU comment did make it onto BMIR...I'm trying to remember the time I heard the spot. I'm wanting to say it was Wednesday morning around 9 or so....and it definitely surprised me.

Dustdevil · Post by **Dustdevil** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 3:49 pm

BMIR may have repeated the report, but the original broadcast was Tuesday evening, around 6:30.

The CO · Post by **The CO** » Thu Sep 29, 2005 7:49 pm

I told several people saturday that the org was so inspired by The Machine they had decided to take the man down and use him again next year. We've run our security checkpoint for several years now and never failed to entertain oursleves and at least 1/2 our victims.

Davoid · Post by **Davoid** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 4:08 pm

frogbeater- nicely done, nicely done. So much for my theory of a renegade leeching onto your piece. Ah well- I'm glad the whole thing was more complex than it first seemed, like much of the art at BRC.

(pause for smacking my head re: b/d vs s/m. shoulda caught that m'self)

Anyway, the site was veddy intriguing. It's always nice to see someone who enjoys their work!

Perhaps I'll see you at the LA decom in 2 weeks. And I'm looking for info on some burner-organized welding instruction for an art piece of my own, if you know of anyone who's willing. No pulling of rugs involved for this one, but I may get diabolical for 2007.

Oh, and did any of the audio that you recorded work out for you?

More trickery:
On the night of the burn, My SO and I were just starting a tour of the esplanade when we heard a guy ahead of us screaming for help. He was all alone, hunched over, in pain it seemed, and no one had stopped. When I immediately ran over and asked what was wrong, after a couple more "help me"s, he exposed a button in his belt area and asked me to push it, push it! I smirked, duped again, but of course obliged him. He instantly snapped to happy attention, thanked me, and bounced away jauntily into the night. And so did we.

retropsycho · Post by **retropsycho** » Thu Oct 06, 2005 3:19 pm

Dustdevil wrote:BMIR may have repeated the report, but the original broadcast was Tuesday evening, around 6:30.

Jack Rabbit handed out DU exposure monitoring badges to all the agency reps at a pre-event meeting. My went through the laundy and looks like I was exposed.

madmatt · Post by **madmatt** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 5:36 pm

My brother and his wife and I were walking back to camp just before dawn on burn night in 2003. In a side street, a guy in a fur teddy bear suit jumped up from the lawn chair in front of his camp and ran up to us. He held up a little box with a button and said here, "push this."

So I did, and a large model rocket took off from ground right behind him! Shocking, delightful, illegal, unexpected.

Gizmo · Post by **Gizmo** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 6:50 pm

My first year at Burning Man was 2002. I camped with Big Puffy Yellow Camp. They had a big helium baloon that had hallogen lights inside.
From a distance it looked exactly like the full moon. After Burning Man ,
I read a couple of stories on the website where the authors commented on seeing a beautiful full moon over Black Rock City. There was no full moon that year. Guess you have to question even the most obvious things at Burning Man.

The Bass · Post by **The Bass** » Sun Oct 09, 2005 1:31 pm

these are great!

anyone fall prey to the "decapitated bicyclist" stunt this year?

i didn't, but campmates did, and said it was perfectly executed...

regionalchaos · Post by **regionalchaos** » Mon Oct 10, 2005 7:46 pm

I just posted my good trickery story in the one-time thread.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri Jan 05, 2007 12:02 am

Any more stories out there?

Favorite bit of trickery?

Favorite bit of trickery?

Not S/M enough for ya?

Depleted Uranium

rocket

Full Moon