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David is...

organising for operation edinburgh

Thought of the Dave

Shadow Puppetry

I recently received a book in the post entitled "Shadow Puppetry - 25 Shapes you can make with your Hands". I now intend to become proficient in the art of shadow dexterity and constantly amaze my friend (and a few enemies), by fooling them into thinking things are there that blatantly aren't. Imagine how useful it would be for example, if you were accosted in a dark alley and could fool the accostee into thinking he's surrounded by the entire cast of the ITV drama Cracker. Let's face it, no one would dream of messing with a life-size shadowy recreation of Robbie Coltrane.

The book tells you mostly how to recreate the silhouettes of animals- which begs the question that if you got a group of animals together and shined a light on them, whether their shadow would look like a pair of hands. Or whether animals spend their spare time making shadow puppets of people. It's a mystery. A mystery that goes back in history. While gargling Listerine (which doesn't rhyme with either history or mystery but is good for your breath)…