Do any of you ladies work with beautiful assistants? And if so, are they beautiful women or beautiful men? Thoughts on pluses and minuses for both? I have a chance to do a stage act with an assistant. Not sure what direction I want to go. At the moment, I don't need a tiny assistant to fit into a sword box or the like. Just someone on stage to help out.

I don't think this is a question of male vs female. It's more a question of what role and character the assistant is filling. Some roles will better suit a man, some a woman and some will make no difference. And you might find a role that is in general is better filled by a man might be better filled by a specific woman (and vice versa) who happens to bring something extra to their part.

Looking back at all the great movies staring woman, like Marilyn Monroe she always had mail dancers in her movies. I think it punctuated her presence, and showed she was the main character.

As a magician, I believe you should try you being in the box, and the male assistants put the swords in. Then you, through your magic, were not harmed. This makes you the magician creating the magic.

I think it all has more to do with how you look at the roll of a magician, and how the magician causes the magic to happen.

Looking at the women magicians on Worlds Greatest, those that had female assistants, got lost in the movements of all the presentations. The magician should stand out, and be served by the assistants.

I don't believe the female magician should be dancing or moving around like the assistants, the female magician should project and carry a different demeanor and how she projects and presents herself, to make her stand out as the center of attention.

Interesting perspective Bill, but personally I don't see anything wrong with a dancing female magician. There are countless ways to ensure an audience knows who the star is, and done well, dancing with the assistants might be very cool. But this is coming from the perspective of someone with a dance background, and enjoys watching dancing.

In my act with my husband the goal is always partnership. We do mentalism and sometimes in double mentalism acts it's the woman who has the ability and the man is the assistant, but that wasn't how we wanted to play things. But for the record, he is beautiful. Lol.

I think you're right. It's about contrast, and having a couple hunky men as the assistants provides that contrast in spades. Also, perhaps, a little misdirection.



Not a chance. Not until Hell freezes over, anyway. This is for a different thread, but I have bristled at women in the sword box, et al., since I was working for Harry Blackstone, Jr. and watched Gay Blackstone doing all the work while Harry basically stood on stage and got all the glory. I also have feminist issues with the way women have historically been used and abused on stage in magic. There will never be anything in my show that puts a woman in a submissive or vulnerable position, or where a man is in a "one up" position over me or any other woman. Pet peeve! Lol!



For better or worse, I have no problem standing out and making myself the center of attention. Lol!

I don't think Bill meant that the women should be in the box, I think he was saying that the magician should be in the box because they are the one supposedly possessing magic powers. The power to withstand a sword being stabbed into you is far more impressive than the ability to stab someone and fail to do any harm.

Dancing or not, Bill's point is spot-on. The magician, the star, should stand out. The assistants can be entertaining, amusing, eye candy, or just useful, but the star of the show should never look like "just one of the troupe." I'm thinking from the perspective of an audience member, here. The assistant can be a great enhancement to the show, but I don't want to wonder who on the stage is supposed to be the star.

-Patrick

Dancing assistants- all the dancers should be in sink- when they're not, it looks sooo sloppy and is not a good distraction, as the audience will look away to where they're not supposed to look. Just my opinion.. Ralph

Sorry - should be 'in sync' got you attention - though - L-O-L

Either, male or female. I've used both.

The main issue is - the magician must be the Principal.

I often reflect on a woman's act I saw on a demo reel. She "hid" the Other Guy in a tall cabinet when the Main Guy returned to the stage (almost discovering her with the Other Guy). Main Guy pointed jealousy at the cabinet ... and she slid swords through, proving there was no one there. Cute idea, but missing the boat on presenting the magician in the principal role. I don't disagree with the idea of the magician being "girly" or "bimbo", as long as she is the one directing the magic. In this case, I would have preferred to see Main Guy points jealousy at cabinet - magician snaps her fingers - Guy goes into trance and drives swords through cabinet - while magician, presumably, stands downstage, filing her nails. Hahaha. The Power of the "Girly" girl magician.

For myself, a dynamic character, plus good attention control, we're mainstays in my presentations.

As for women in sword boxes, etc., I do understand some women's objections to such illusions. It has never bothered me. But I do think that a female magician needs to give thought before getting into a cabinet because of common public perception. Traditionally, the assistant has been in cabinets. To put the magician in the cabinet, a woman would want to consider this established perception, and find ways to mitigate it.

Dancing? It has its place. I've seen men and women do it. Sometimes it's silly, sometimes effective.