Fake Cigarettes, Prop Cigars & Stage Vapes for Theatre and Film
If the script calls for smoking, you need a prop that reads as a real cigarette from row Z and on a 4K close-up, without lighting anything. ePuffer makes rechargeable fake cigarettes, prop cigars and electronic pipes built for exactly that job. They produce visible vapour on cue, leave no ash, no burn risk and no smell in the wings, and they comply with venue smoking bans because nothing is burning.
We have been supplying production houses, theatres, film and television since 2007.
Recommended by the Actors' Equity Association. ePuffer is the brand the union has named for on-stage smoking effects.
Safety-certified by Ramboll, the international engineering and safety consultancy, so your production manager and venue have documentation to work from.
Already on stage. Our devices are in use in professional theatre, film and television worldwide, including world-class musicals where a smoking beat has to land cleanly eight shows a week.
Yes - they produce visible smoke
This is the question every stage manager asks first. Our devices produce a dense white vapour cloud that photographs and reads from the stalls exactly like cigarette smoke. It is water-based vapour rather than combustion smoke, so it disperses in seconds instead of hanging in the lighting rig, and it will not set off most venue smoke detectors - though you should always test in your own space before opening night.
Three Props, Three Kinds of Role
Fake Cigarettes
The SNAPS® rechargeable cigalike is the same length and diameter as a real cigarette, with a glowing tip and a realistic draw. The most-used prop in our range.
Contemporary drama, period pieces, anything where a character lights up.
See the cigalike rangeProp Cigars
The Robusto rechargeable e-cigar has an aircraft-grade aluminium body and a genuine cigar ring gauge, so it holds and reads like a real Havana in the hand.
Power, wealth, period gangsters, boardrooms, Churchill.
See the prop cigar rangeProp Pipes
Our electronic pipes are wooden-bodied and shaped like a traditional briar, with the same slow draw and vapour plume a real pipe produces. The one giveaway on close inspection is the clear tank window - production houses commonly sleeve or tape it so the pipe reads as fully period.
Period drama, detective and noir roles, musicals, character work.
See the e-pipe rangeWhy Not Real Cigarettes, Herbal Cigarettes, or Powder?
Productions have worked around stage smoking for decades. Each of the old approaches has a cost.
- Real cigarettes - banned in most UK venues, an obvious fire risk near flats and drapes, and they expose the cast and crew to smoke night after night.
- Herbal cigarettes - still combustion, still smoke, still an open flame, and the smell carries into the auditorium.
- Talcum powder or cornstarch - reads as nothing at all beyond the first few rows, and is useless on camera.
- Mimed smoking - fine in stylised work, breaks realism in naturalistic staging.
- Electronic props - visible vapour on cue, no flame, no ash, no smell, repeatable take after take, and rechargeable across a full run.
Kitting Out a Production
Most productions take more than one unit - a performance prop, a rehearsal prop, and a spare in the wings. Because every device is rechargeable, one set covers an entire run rather than being consumed nightly. The only recurring cost is pods, cartridges or e-liquid.
Nicotine-free across the whole range
For stage work this is usually the right choice, and it is available on all three props:
- Fake cigarettes - SNAPS cartridges available nicotine-free
- Prop cigars - Robusto takes blank refillable pods, or prefilled pods in nicotine-free
- Prop pipes - fill with any nicotine-free e-liquid
A non-smoking performer can play a smoker through rehearsals and a full run without nicotine exposure. Tell us when you order and we will configure it that way.
Tell Us About Your Production
Send us the period, the role and how many units you need, and we will tell you which prop fits and what it costs. We ship from UK stock in Leicester, with most orders arriving the next working day.
Contact Us About a Production Or call 0207 490 5064, Mon-Fri 9am-6pm GMTStage & Film Smoking Props - FAQ
They produce vapour, which on stage and on camera reads as cigarette smoke. It is dense, white and visible from the back of the house. Unlike combustion smoke it disperses within seconds and does not build up in the lighting rig or the auditorium over a run.
Water-based vapour does not trigger most optical or ionisation detectors the way combustion smoke does, which is the main reason venues permit these devices where they ban cigarettes. Detector sensitivity varies by installation, so always test in your own space during a technical rehearsal rather than assuming.
Yes, on all three props. SNAPS cartridges come in nicotine-free, the Robusto e-cigar takes blank refillable pods or prefilled pods in nicotine-free, and the e-pipes can be filled with any nicotine-free e-liquid. For stage work we would usually recommend it - a non-smoking performer can play a smoker for a whole run without nicotine exposure. Mention it when you order.
They are built to the dimensions of the real thing - a cigalike matches a standard cigarette in length and diameter with a glowing tip, and the Robusto matches a real cigar's ring gauge. They hold and handle correctly, which is usually what gives a prop away in close-up rather than the smoke itself.
Most productions take one prop for performance, one for rehearsal and at least one spare. Devices are rechargeable and last a full run, so you are buying hardware once rather than consuming props nightly. Pods and cartridges are the only recurring cost.
Yes. UK smoking bans cover combustible tobacco. Vapour devices are not caught by them, which is why they are the standard workaround for on-stage smoking. Individual venues set their own policies, so confirm with the venue as part of your risk assessment. Devices are sold to adults 18 and over.
Yes. ePuffer devices are in use in professional theatre, film and television worldwide, including world-class musicals. Long-running musical theatre is a common use case: the smoking beat has to read identically eight shows a week, with no flame anywhere near the set and no smoke building up in the rig across a run.
