Presto's Blog

What percentage of flesh coverage for an assistant provides the optimum distraction for the audience?

The answer varies, depending on who your audience is. If you’re playing to a room full of drunks, it’s not going to matter because they’ll see what they want to see. If it’s a late-night Vegas show, then your assistant is going to have to be pretty darned close to naked to make any impression at all, since the audience is all set for serious nudity. But at a kid’s birthday party, even a flash of leg is out of the question, unless you’re trying to distract the kids’ parents while you secretly load your suit jacket with their valuables.

Your selection of assistant will also have an impact on the answer to this question. It is considered far more acceptable to have a gorgeous young woman show some cleavage than it is to have a big, hairy old man run around in his undershorts. Particularly if it’s a dinner show.

I have been a professional illusionist for more than 20 years, and am lucky enough to be married to a wonderful young woman who is not only my third wife but also my third assistant. My problem is that about two months ago one of our neighbors, a friendly young man in his early 20s, has taken an interest in magic. He says that he would like to be a stage illusionist, even though he already has a successful career as a personal trainer.Normally, I would say, “good for you.” The problem is that when I said I didn’t have time to train him in the art, my wife offered to give him lessons. Now, she knows almost as much about this subject as I do, but it bothered me that she stepped in without asking me first.

Anyway, the guy now practices quite a bit, and my wife is there the whole time acting as his assistant. I’m not quite sure what routines they are working on, but she spends three or four hours over there a night and it’s cutting into our rehearsal time. Do you think this may impact my performance?

Presto guesses that if your performance was all it could be, your assistant wouldn’t be spending so much time with a younger magician. I suggest that you think about whether your routine has become “too routine” and try adding a little spice to your act, or you might end up doing nothing but slight of hand.