My first "real" show of the season is still a couple of weeks away. This past weekend a few of us set up a 1.4g finale after a distributor's demo. A simple 5 minute finale served as a good reminder to respect the product, keep your audience at a proper distance, and use safe equipment. I've seen products fail before, so this was nothing new. A 9-shot cake fell apart after the first shot and a shell blew in a mortar, sending a few guns and pieces of the rack flying. I am proud to say that nobody was hurt and none of the other racks were affected.

After this, I will probably start barricading cakes for personal shows. I always stake them so they cannot tip towards the audience, but that is not enough insurance if the cake decides to self-destruct. So if you are lighting 1 shell at a time or 1000, don't forget that malfunctions occur. Plan for the worst and go home when you're done.