This post is an excerpt from my book "Hiding In The Shadows: Black Art For The Stage".

When you start to plan out your use of the color black to hide things on stage, one of the first decisions you’re going to have to make is what material to use. While you could just pick up any old cheap fabric at the store and do just fine with good lighting, I’d like to take you through some of the other options you have available to you.

That said, before I get into it, I want to be super clear:  The lighting setup you use is more important than the material.  I've helped magicians and productions make everything from people, to a massive Cinderella coach appear with Black Art.  You'd be surprised how far a knowledgeable effects person can get with cheap black fabric, duct tape and a couple lights on the floor.

And before a nervous magician emails me.....no, you don't have to tape the doors and exit signs.  I've seen entire cars and sets appear in theatres with the house lights on!

Painted Hard Surfaces Look Like Painted Hard Surfaces

One thing to be careful with is solid materials which have been painted. A prop painted black works fine as long as you know that it’s not going to appear to be perfectly flat black under the lights. Painted wood always looks like painted wood and your black is actually more of a grey, especially up against the dead black backdrop. This is fine for the underside of a table that isn't facing the audience, but a piece of painted plywood won’t hide anything. Go with fabric.

I actually worked on a theatre production years ago where the set team had painted the top of one extra tall section of the wall black in hopes that it would disappear against the backdrop. What they ended up with was one theatre flat with a grey top, which looked very out of place.

Better Black Art Material Choices

The first thing you need to consider is what the black area will be up against. If it’s meant to blend in with the backdrop in a theatre, then the best course of action is to use the same material. Don’t waste time looking for the blackest material on the market when it really should match what it’s up against. Typically, theatres use a heavy velvet drape called Triple Velvet. You can get your hands on it from any theatrical supply company or lighter versions at your local fabric shop so long as it’s not too reflective. Another good tactic is to look around for theatres getting rid of old drapery. I recently picked up a full-size scrim for free for a set because it was just sitting around in a theatres storage with holes in it. Ask around, check the local giveaway websites and see if you can score yourself some used theatre drapery that you can modify to your liking.

Generally speaking, how "black" the material is matters more the larger that thing is.  It's easy to hide something small, since there is less surface area to catch the light.

If the black area is located on a prop and is not meant to look like the backdrop (like the underside of a table or the inside of a box), you’ve got many good options available to you. Black auto carpet is very among illusion builders because it's easy to apply and can take a good beating.  Black felt also works well although I would not put it on a surface that’s meant to be stood on as it can wear down quite quickly under those circumstances. It is, however, great for sitting in those little shadow areas like the gap between two objects. A faux black fur can also be used and does a nice job of hiding seams in trap doors as the hairs in the fur cover everything.

In a future post, I'll touch on some lighting concepts for Black Art.  It's an extremely useful skill to have.  Any time you need to make something appear, vanish or change, Black Art can be an incredibly useful technique.

This post was an excerpt from my book "Hiding In The Shadows: Black Art For The Stage".