I'm doing a single illusion for school(part of a charity drive) and have asked many (beautiful) girls at my school. After a lot of asking, a outgoing girl said she would do the trick with me! At first I was skeptical because she and I usually don't hang out a lot but she came today asking what she needs to do. I'm training her how to to the tip truck 20 minutes before I actually need to perform the illusion. If she does well I'm debating if I should ask her If she wanted to be my fulltime assistant. Whats your answer? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Bottom line, get a girl with theatre and dance experience. She will make you look so darn good, guaranteed.

I'm 14 she's 14 we are in the eighth grade! She likes the mall and is cute, I like magic and snore in bed! Wait a couple years!

Go for it Lee!
What illusion are you using??

My huge tip-over trunk for a Lion to girl. The lion is the smallest in the world.!! LoL

Ha ha ha- magicleland had me laughing. Wow... anywho-

Full time assistant, eh? Hopefully you have some steady gigs to consider a 'full time' thing. Not just an every so often flinger mer bobber. Girls don't like one time flings. Well... anyway. I'm guessing you're still young? Take some years off- go solo. Enjoy the single life- while you can!

Eddiekap brings up a good point. You don't want an assistant who's just gonna stand there and take stuff off stage for you. You need someone who will be engaged in the act/routine. Someone with yes, a dance background and a firm foot in theatre.

Also- if she's your full time assistant; she's gonna take some of your money! Gotta consider that too. Unless you're married- then that's just different, but being that you're in school still; unless you have that kind of family- marriage I'm sure will come a few years down the road for you.

Best regards,
Matt Tomasko

Tomasko, Did I forget to tell you she's cute!

Go to the "assistants" area of the forum. There are several threads there about the perils of dating/marrying your assistant. Some can do it (The Blackstones, The Bundys, etc), and some can't (Ayala for example).

You forgot to mention---> TomaskoMagic with the Blackstones, The Bundys...

geesh... every hear of giving credit where credit is due???? *sobs*

But I will have to check out that forum. I'm sure I'd get a few chuckles from there. Magicleland- what would you do if you had a (to be politically correct and forum appropriate) unattractive- not up to par on looks- magical assistant?? One would hope that the person in the spotlight with you would look relatively 'decent.'

...
As always: Best Regards,
Matt Tomasko

While cute is certainly a desirable trait in an assistant, it must be lower on the list of qualifications. If she is adorable but walks like a stick, is clumsy, has no sense of timing, or is in any way awkward, she will be more of a liability than an asset.

Remember, your audience comes first.... even to your libido.

Ha what a great thread. However Forever Plaid put it very well. Especially as you go into highschool, there are always groups of dancers that are very talented and would love to participate.

-Jared

Ha- oh wow. This is getting funnier. I don't know why I'm laughing at everything tonight or finding amusement in this post more than others. But alas...

Forever Plaid- you gave me this mental image of some thin (sticklike assistant) tripping all over the place. Very entertaining mental image there. And I'm going to act like I'm in middle school again and go out on a limb and say this,

"Tee hee you said libido!"

Yeah, if you're still in high school: the freshmen girls 'dig' the magic guy. Just tell them you're a senior and you bought your car with your magical skill earnings. They'll be all over you. You'll see girls fighting over who gets to be in the sub trunk with you and everything. I'd even go as far to say that you'll have girls fighting over who gets to strap you into the straightjacket- ya know how it has that one strap at the bottom? Yup- I can see the wheels in you're head turning now. Geesh. Cat fights galore. Speaking of cat fights- our high school had some awesome ones!

best regards,
Matt Tomasko

I agree, enjoy the single life while you can.

I would say DON'T DO IT!!!

If she finds someone with a Zig Zag or an Interlude, she's likely to move on and then you will end up paying alimony and child support in the end. Who wants to only visit with their Tip Over every other weekend???

Why in the world are you training her twenty minutes before you do the illusion? Have you considered what she's going to wear and how it may behave while she's in the trunk? Or how she and the world's smallest lion are going to interact? Or what she's going to when she comes out?

My suggestion is to get a video camera and rehearse this thing 'way before the show and study the tapes.

Good luck!

George Ledo- she's going to fall out of the trunk, trip, then stand up and wave her hands in the air and exclaim, "tah dah!" Meanwhile Mushu the lion is going to find freedom.

Maybe he's going to also have the new assistant perform a costume change while in the trunk too. Or maybe that's just overkill and too much.

With all seriousness- I wouldn't rush into going bonkers and buying all these illusions; just for ONE show. The glory only lasts until the credit slip with a: - symbol before the 'total ammount due'- arrives at the end of the month.

You could always do what I believe Denny Haney did. He placed an ad in the classified section. Ha- low and behold; someone answered. Bibity bobbity boo; a touring show was born. At least I think it was Denny. Someone told me this. Can't recall if it was him or another person that told me. Alas I'm sure it's happened once before.

Best always,
Matt Tomasko

None of the last three post made any sense! For goodness sakes, I've trained a audience member 2 minutes before the show many times.

Lee if your serious about your show, take lots of time to work through a serious routine. Practice together until you guys become one. Sounds weird, but you have to know if something is going wrong or not with the illusion, also plan a way out if does. see you the 1st.

We practiced it today in my studio and went very well. She was skeptical at first but I convinced her that I would not hurt her. She now is in love with my props and loves magic. I think she will do well on the day. I'll let you know how it went.

AHHH, THE FORCE IS STRONG IN YOU MY SON.