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Tom Talmon Studio Inc. is the company behind some of Lady Gaga's props. They create miniatures, mechanical props, costume lighting and effects for film, television, theme parks, Broadway musicals and many other entertainment events.

Custom[]

Disco Stick, 2008[]

The Disco Stick is silver chrome pole with a point on the bottom side of it and crushed acrylic plastic in a dome like shape on the top. It was conceived at the same time as the matching Crystal "Fame" glasses also seen on the cover of The Fame (2008).

Throughout the years, the Disco Stick was used between 2008-2010 until it was replaced by a Disco Torch for The Monster Ball 2.0 (2010–2011). Then, a Disco Scepter for The Born This Way Ball (April 27–May 3, 2012) and a Disco Star for the Super Bowl 51 (2017) and later the Joanne World Tour (2017–2018) under Jet Sets Studios. Jet Set Studios created a Disco Stick that was meant for the Enigma Residency shows that resembles the Disco Torch and the original Disco Stick, but was ultimately unused.

Inspiration[]

The term "Disco Stick" was first coined by Gaga as a catch phrase in early 2008:

I was in a bar in New York and I said to this guy I was hitting on 'I wanna take a ride on your disco stick' and he just started laughing.

She further explained the story behind it during an interview with Rolling Stone in 2009:

It's another of my very thoughtful metaphors for a cock. I was at a nightclub, and I had quite a sexual crush on somebody, and I said to them, 'I wanna ride on your disco stick'. The next day, I was in the studio, and I wrote the song in about four minutes. When I play the song live, I have an actual stick — it looks like a giant rock-candy pleasuring tool — that lights up.

The catch phrase became part of the line "Let's have some fun this beat is sick / I wanna take a ride on your disco stick" from "LoveGame", a song written in January of 2008 with producer RedOne.

Creation[]

While brainstorming for her upcoming live shows of 2008, Gaga wanted to create an actual "Disco Stick" to have onstage while performing the song "LoveGame". She wanted something that was both feminine and masculine that everyone can celebrate. Creative director Matthew Williams presented a picture of a white lamp in a dark room and said to her "This is your inspiration. You don't have any light show. You have to be your own light show." In the Book of Gaga (2009), Gaga wrote a summary of their creative process: "So, I became the light show. + no matter how dark it was in the club. my fans could see me."

They used frozen acrylic that they crushed with a hammer to make crystals. Matthew then requested the expertise of Tom Talmon Studio for the illumination and beam of the "Disco Stick". Inside of the "crystals" are 18 small LEDs which let off the adjustable bright blue-ish white-ish light. They are powered by batteries hidden inside the chrome pole, which can which can be accessed by unscrewing the bottom part of the prop. To turn the light on, there is a small back button by the bulb area. They also created a thick long black tube to emulate the sheath of a sword, which also has crushed frozen acrylic at the top of it mimicking a sheath of a penis.

Timeline[]

The prop was used during performances of "LoveGame" from May of 2008 to February 24, 2010 before being replaced with a Disco Torch. However, it made an appearance in "An Inaugural Message from Tween Gaga" where it emits a light blue light as a reference to Twitter's color.

The Disco Stick's first appearance was in May, 2008, when Gaga first launched her career in the club scene. Since 2008, Lady Gaga has used the prop (including it's sheath) when performing "LoveGame" and the bridge of "Just Dance". During The Fame Ball and later performances in 2009, Gaga performs LoveGame and Just Dance excluding the sheath. In The Monster Ball it's only used during LoveGame. There are two episodes in Transmission Gagavision where the Disco Stick appears - one where she's putting the batteries in it and another where she calls her engineers to fix the Disco Stick because it had technical problems. In an exclusive interview by E! Gaga explains that the stick's brightness levels and color of the light can be adjusted. After February 24, 2010, the prop was replaced by it's successor "The Disco Torch", a larger and transparent stick that heavily resembles a Torch inspired by the Statue of Liberty.

Reference in popular culture[]

In a skit on Saturday Night Live, Gaga and Madonna get into a staged cat-fight, over who is more popular and attractive. During the struggle, Madonna yells: "What the hell is a Disco Stick?", referencing the prop's concept.

In February of 2017, when using the hashtag #TheFame on Twitter, a disco stick emoji would appear at the end of the hashtag. It was done for a promotion leading up to the Super Bowl performance.

In the Super Bowl, the Little Monsters present on the stage are carrying light sticks that resemble the Disco Stick.

The prop was also created two years after the invention of the character light stick pioneered by South Korean pop idol G-Dragon, who invented the light stick for his group "BIG BANG".

iPod LCD glasses, 2008[]

The iPod LCD Glasses were the first video device used in a live performance by Lady Gaga. These glasses consist of two LCD screens, made from two iPod Classic screens. The glasses work by connecting an iPod to a composite cord in the glasses which then sends to the LCD screen 'lenses' whatever the source iPod is playing. Usually, the video sunglasses were used to display the line "Pop Music Will Never Be Low Brow" along with clips from "Just Dance".

It debuted live on So You Think You Can Dance on july 15, 2008. It was also featured in "The Fame: Part One" released on August 15, 2008 and most notably, the "Poker Face" music video. It was used in live performances from the Just Dance Promo Tour in the summer of 2008 up to The Fame Ball that ended in September of 2009. They inspired the Grey Label by Haus of Gaga's GL20 Camera Glasses which was unveiled in 2011 and never released.

LED shirts, 2008[]

The LED shirts are a collection of black t-shirts and a tank top with a square shaped 14 x 14 LED screens fixed underneath it. They were worn by Gaga's four dancers for the New Kids on the Block: Live tour: Asiel Hardison, Ian McKenzie, Michael Silas and Anthony Lofendo. The LED shirts were worn for the last 12 shows of the tour starting on December 11 and ending on December 31 of 2008. During the show, the shirts LED would light up using pre-programmed patterns that included a heart and colored squares.

Disco Gloves, 2008[]

The Disco Gloves are a pair of gloves created by the Haus of Gaga. A second version of the gloves were created shortly after the first. The gloves come in two versions, and are somewhat of a reminiscence of Lady Gaga's Disco Stick. They consisting of a black plastic colored base for Gaga to put her hand in, and a clip space which holds the mic, which connects to the end of it allowing Gaga to hold on to the glove. Also, there are smaller gems which change colors.
The 2nd "Final" version has on top, small LED bulbs which were stacked into metal tubes with holes in them, those holes then are covered by the same crystal, as seen on the Disco Stick. The gloves have a built in computer chip which allows programmable LED patterns on the glove.

They were used for many performances at small clubs and press events in 2008 and early 2009.

Encrusted Mirror Plates, 2009[]

Tom Talmon created 6 plates with incrusted mirror pieces to be used on the opening number, "Paparazzi" during The Fame Ball in 2009. Each plate had mirror pieces on them and was hold by a dancer. As the song progress, Gaga emerged from the "wall" with her three dancers each moving 2 plates. In the Book of Gaga (2009), Gaga referred to this section of the show as the ART/POP installation "Spider/Paparazzi Shutter Dress". The dress was made by Muto-Little Costumes based on an idea by the Haus.

Fire Bra, 2009[]

The Fire (or Pyro) Bra is a custom made metal bra that can shoot sparks using a remote control. Lady Gaga has said that the fire bra represents how the female body can be used as a weapon. The inspiration for the bra came while Lady Gaga was in vacation. “I called him from Hawaii (in early June of 2009) and I was like, Matty, we need to make my tits blow up!” said Lady Gaga. Matthew replied that it wasn't possible to put her tits on fire without a permit but she wanted him to figure out a way to do it and hung up on him. He called later with a technique to make it possible and the bra was made by Tom Talmon Studio.

Matthew described the bra design as “It’s really just sparklers—the old sparklers on the tits trick.” However, the effect is in reality created using two high-speed miniature 20,000 RPM DC motors outfitted with special carbide grinding wheels. When Ferrocerium rods are pushed into the wheels the sparks are produced. Tom Talmon Studio created the bra and the remote control (radio control transmitter and receiver) for the spark system. It is also powered by lithium polymer batteries.

Lady Gaga first debuted the accessory during the ending of the "Poker Face" performance at the MuchMusic Video Awards in 2009. The bra was worn on top of a heavily studded leather bodysuit and gloves by Muto-Little Costumes with Pink Cobra customized Ellie Shoes boots. It was also used on some festival dates of the Fame Ball during "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)". It was later featured in the music video for "Bad Romance". The accessory was later used in the reloaded version of the Monster Ball tour during "Paparazzi". During the performance, Gaga usually had the remote in her hands as to control when to start the rods.

Using a different model, Andy Richter tried a flame-shooting bra on his installment of Andy'll Try It! on Conan's Tonight Show on July 16, 2009.

The concept of the Fire Bra inspired a yellow military jacket worn by legendary South Korean entertainer and rapper PSY for his cover of EXID's "Up & Down" during his year end concert in 2015. Like the Fire Bra, PSY’s military jacket has cubist shaped breasts that shoot sparks hidden inside the jacket.

Razor-blade Glasses, 2009[]

The Razor-Blade Sunglasses are a pair of sunglasses designed by Tom Talmon Studio after an idea by the Haus of Gaga. So far, the glasses have only been used in the 2009 music video for "Bad Romance" shot on October 16-17, 2009.

Lady Gaga told MTV, she wanted “to design a pair for some of the toughest chicks and some of my girlfriends — don’t do this at home! — they used to keep razor blades in the side of their mouths”. What she wanted to project is “that tough female spirit. It’s meant to be 'this is my shield, this is my weapon, this is my inner sense of fame. This is my monster'”.

To promote "Bad Romance", a photo of the glasses to print at home was posted on Lady Gaga's website in 2009.

Ecto-skeleton Headpiece, 2009[]

Tom Talmon Studio collaborated with designer Gary Card on an ecto-skeleton headpiece and top for the Monster Ball 1.0 in 2009. However, the ecto-skeleton top was only used once for the American Music Awards. The Tom Talmon Studio added lights inside the bones, which were later used to make a hat and a top. During the Theater version of the Monster Ball, Gaga used the same hat but added tulle inside of it.

Green Laser Grid Masks, 2009[]

The Laser Grid Masks were first created for Michael Jackson's This Is It Tour but were scrapped after the death of Jackson in 2009. It was later offered to the Haus who included it on The Monster Ball 1.0 starting on December 9, 2009 until the end of the tour. It returned to The Monster Ball 2.0 on three dancers. Both times, the masks were worn by the dancers during "Dance In The Dark".

Disco Torch, 2010[]

The Disco Torch is a new disco stick model much larger than the original Disco Stick, a yellow light is given off when the torch is turned on. The crystal disco stick was made by Glenn Hetrick in collaboration with Tom Talmon Studio who did the illumination and programming. This new model also include a hand handle. It emits a yellow light from the helicopter light inserted inside of it. The Disco Torch have two "on" mode with one being simply being turned on and the other is a strobe feature.

It debuted on February 26th 2010 during the performance of "LoveGame" at The Monster Ball 2.0. Prior to that, the original Disco Stick was used on the tour. Lady Gaga used it as a flashlight (or "Torch"), before "Boys Boys Boys" to "get a good look" at the audience and see what they're wearing.

A new version, Disco Scepter replaced the Disco Torch in 2012 to 2013 during The Born This Way Ball Tour.

Pyro-Underwear, 2010[]

The Pyro-Underwear is a metal underwear that can shoot sparks downward and is controlled by the same remote control as the Pyro Bra created earlier.

During the Monster Ball 2.0 shows, Gaga was attacked by a giant, mechanical Angler fish during "Paparazzi". In the final chorus of the song Gaga returns onstage and kills the monster with the sparks from the bra and panty. When posted on Twitter (Feb 19, 2010), Gaga named the scene as "Battling a Paparazzo". She also wore the Pyro-Underwear for a photoshoot with Marco Grob for the cover of TIME's Top 100 Most Influential People issue where she was ranked as number 4 in 2010.

Lipstick Gun, 2011[]

The Lipstick Gun is a airsoft desert Eagle modified by Tom Talmon Studio to be used in the "Judas" music video. In the video, the gun was used by Gaga to smear lipstick on Judas' face. Its a nod to the Kiss of Judas. The gun was rigged to twist M·A·C Cosmetics Retro Matte lipstick color "Ruby Woo" out of the barrel and gold plated it. As of now, the gun was only used once during the filming of the music video on April 2 to 4 of 2011.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Norman Reedus, who portrayed Judas in the video, discussed the creation of the gun:

That was actually a real last minute thing, I was going in for the kiss and then Jesus and I looked at each other like, "Are we going to make out? What's going to happen?" But then she runs over in that outfit and she goes, "I got an idea! I'm going to pull out this gold gun, one that shoots lipstick out of it, and then I'm going to put it on you!" and then gave me a look like, "Is that cool with you?" and I just said, "Rad!" So she said, "Great!" It was totally last minute.

—Norman Reedus[1]

On May 4, 2011, Gaga tweeted: "Feeling so much MonsterLove, Americano Tears. Lets make an outlaw trade: trend #JudasVideoTomorrow and I will release a new still from it. X"[2]. She tweeted 25 minutes later: "THE JUDAS KISS: a betrayal of a prophecy fulfilled? Thank you for trending, I'm so honored. #JUDASTOMORROW http://twitpic.com/4te5p1"[3]

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