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Hello!  my school is doing a production of The Pajama Game and we could use some help with special effects ideas.  There is a scene where we need to make it look like knives are being thrown at a board and sticking into the board...but without actually throwing the knives.  I also need something that can create a puff of smoke (smoke bomb?).  Any ideas would be appreciated!

With the board you could use blocking and a spring loaded knife cut into the board to make it so that the knife looks like it was thrown from upstage and the have the actor turn to show the now showing knives. 

For the knives, order real throwing knives and spring load them backwards behind the spot where they are to land. A technician makes them pop out when they would hit. A nice sound accompanies this so it looks and sounds very real. For the puff of smoke use a tube loaded with powder and have a technician blow on it, puff!