I had to go make myself a PB&AJ sandwich after reading this topic.

To top it off, I am allergic to peanuts; But I just juice up on meds and Im fine.

Cashews can kill me though, even something that contacts them can make it extremely hard to breath.

Does it give you excessive bat speed when you do that? Maybe you could hit some home runs too!

Ted

I don't see a problem if you handle the sandwich (take it out of the baggy) and use a wip after handleing the sandwich. I have heard that some people are highly alergic and can have problems just from the smell, so I was thinking lastnight that you could use a cake iceing that is the same color and no one would be the wiser.

I have ran into this problem many times. Kid's seem to be allergic to almost everything. Just because nobody has died from the peanut butter in a magic show doesnt mean that the precautions shouldn't be taken seriously.

I performed about 50 shows at a school summer camp this past summer. There were several kids that were allergic to peanut butter. I thought of several different things I could do to rid the problem. I first tried to make a fake Pb&J. Didn't work too well... I finally just bought soy peanut butter. It doesn't actually contain any of the oils or peanuts that kids are allergic to. It looks just like regular peanut butter... just tastes different.
I think this is the best route to go.

Last year sometime, I was performing a show for a girl scout troup. In the middle of my show a nurse came running onto stage and pushed me out of the way of the microphone and told the kids to all go and wash their hands. Then she told me that she needed to have the sandwhich and make sure it was all contained because there were kids that had several allergies. I was absolutely amazed at how rude and how crazy this nurse overeacted. So while all the kids were washing their hands, I stopped the show and packed up, got paid, and left. If the nurse would have just asked me if the peanut butter was real, there would have never been a problem. But she came charging the stage like superwoman ready to save the day. some people are too ignorant to function in society anymore....

this whole topic makes me wonder why anyone would still do this part of the effect.

Those people that are saying its ok to use the real peanut butter know nothing about allergies and really need to do their research before talking. I have spent way to many nights in the hospital with loved ones that have allergies including one evening the person in question almost died.

Yes people can be effected by the smell or cross contamination (the allergen touches something then the individual comes in contact with that item.)

As for the story about the nurse, she was right to stop the show. In her mind the magician brought something that could potentially kill one of the children. Even if you use soy or pea butter you are still going to have people thinking its peanut butter unless from the very start of the routine you tell them what it is.

Next time I see a magician saw a lady in half I am going to call the police and have them arrested for murder.

If you fuss over peanut better, Id be careful with soy too.
Since lots of kids are allergic to Soy as well.
Im allergic to soy. Keeps me from having to eat tofu and its horrific fake products.

Most people just dont know anything about food allergies.
Me being a chef and having food allergies I know more about it than most- out of need.

Although soy allergy occurs most often in infants and children, it can appear at any age and can be caused by foods that had been previously eaten without any problems. Many infants can lose their allergy by the age of 5.

Soybeans are legumes. Other foods in the legume family include peanut, navy beans, kidney beans, lima beans, string beans, pinto beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lentils, peas, black-eyed peas, and licorice. Some people with soy allergy may have a reaction after eating other legumes. If you have soy allergy, you should talk with your doctor about what other legumes you might need to avoid


Soy, a product of soybeans, is one of the common foods that can cause allergies in children. In many cases soy allergy starts with a reaction to a soy-based infant formula. Although most children outgrow soy allergy by age 3, soy allergy may persist and is becoming more common in adults.

Wow you think way to highly of yourself and not enough about your clients. So since this event occurred with the nurse have you been blaming her for caring about the health and safety of the children (which is her job by the way). Maybe you should look in the mirror and see how do you prevent the misunderstanding from occurring again. By the way a lot of people have soy allergies too so soy butter may not be the best bet.

I don't see how looking in the mirror is going to help solve the problem of food allergies.... but i guess i could give it a try.

There are always going to be potential risks involved within ANYTHING. It is absolutely impossible to make something 100% safe.
So, as a public performer, I have done my best to guarantee the safety of the majority. Not everything is going to satisfy 100% of the population a 100% of the time.

Did I knowingly neglect the fact that people have allergies to peanut butter?
No, I didn't. I knew this and tried to resolve the manner to the best of my knowledge.

It still in no way gives the nurse the right to act in the manner of which she did. To act like I have done something wrong when I perform the peanut butter & jelly illusion at the beginning of my show ... it took her about 30 minutes after that to come up to the stage.... she didn't even know if it really was peanut butter.... just assumed.... and then rudely stops my show and orders everyone out like there is some toxic gas flowing through the ventilation.
If there were kids that were going to have an allergic reaction to the soy butter.... they would have swelled up way before she even made it to the stage....
If there was such a bad problem with allergies, i think some responsibility should be taken in notifying the entertainment of such issues....

But you know what... lets just take their side for a moment. Say that they didn't think that a magician would bring some type of peanut butter with them... After all, it is quite an odd item a magician would bring.
But how about a balloon. That's not too odd for a magician. I've met quite a few people with a latex allergy as apposed to a peanut allergy. So the magician begins to blow up the balloon on stage and it pops. Should the nurse throw her body over the audience to shield them from the latex shrapnel?

It's quite ridiculous that you think in some manner that I am being self-centered when I think things could have been handeled differently.
Theres always risks with every activity that humans can do, watch, hear, smell, taste, and touch. I did my best with trying to keep the risks with the Peanut Butter & Jelly illusion minimal. Gather information first to reduce the casualties in a situation. Going into a situation ignorantly can make yourself look like an a**.