Gunge and Custard Pies

Materials used in messy scenes are invariably water-based. This makes cleaning easier and is less likely to prove objectionable to performers. The main problems arise from the use of colouring matters and dyes which in most cases are designed for their permanence.

Some of the most useful substances for gungey mixtures are the thickening agents used by the food industry. They bulk out most water-based concoctions and are generally harmless to people and props. Other materials can be used to thicken water, but these rely on their ability to soak it up, so adding bulk. Sawdust, flour and Fuller’s Earth can be used for this purpose.

Oil and tar

A passable imitation of these can be made up from an intense black dye manufactured by some chemical companies. It is water-soluble and when bulked with a mixture of sawdust and alginate can resemble heavy bitumen. It is useful in that it has a low staining quality. It has been used to simulate oil-pipeline blow-outs.

Custard pies

Recipes for these are closely guarded by the circus fraternity, who regard them as trade secrets.

A quick and easy solution is to use aerosol shaving soap. This works quite well and has a good clinging factor.

Flour and water mixtures are also used, particularly where the ‘custard’ has to look stringy, but they are heavy and don’t always stick to human flesh.

Small quantities of glycerin may be added to whipped-up soapy mixtures to sustain them and to retard drying. Machine-whipped white-of-egg (bought in quantity as albumen) produces a very light frothy mixture.

Soup

Large urns of soup may be made up from water, alginate and cocoa power with floating ingredients (carrots, etc.) cut from wine corks, but for messy eating scenes conventional tinned products, spaghetti, beans, etc. are invariably used. Porridge oats soaked in water make a nice messy substance.

Spillages

Where gunge in the form of burnt or spilled food is required latex may be poured over saucepans, tables, ovens, etc. and allowed to dry. It can then be painted to suit and peeled off when finished with.

GUNGE AND CUSTARD PIES

Milk slopped from a saucepan or paint spilled over furniture? No problems here. A puddle of latex is poured onto a sheet of hardboard and left to dry. (The board absorbs some of the moisture and speeds up drying time.) When fully cured the puddle is sprayed with an appropriate coloured enamel paint, pulled from the board and placed wherever required. Latex can also be poured directly over non-absorbent props and stripped off after use.