I assume you are the star of your show. Who, then, is the co-star? The answer is, usually, either a spectator from the audience, or no one. I want to talk about the first possibility. If you invite a spectator up onstage as part of your show, that line may be the most important one in your act.
I should be clear that I am not claiming to have some incredible insight on this subject. What I claim is that the subject is of great importance. I’m not telling you how to handle it, I’m telling you to handle it. I have some suggestions, but the biggest one is that you spend time on this specific line. Most magicians don’t.
Help Me
Today we are focusing on what you say when you ask a spectator to help. What I see most often is this: The performer picks a likely looking spectator and says, “Would you help me with this next trick?”
There is nothing wrong with this, but there is nothing particularly right with it either. One of the challenges in asking for a volunteer is the stereotype many people have that the spectator will be made to look like a fool, or may have confusing instructions to follow, which if they get wrong, will ruin the trick. “Would you help me” does nothing to address any of that, which is why so many experienced performers follow up with, “I promise I won’t make fun of you, it’ll be easy,” etc. They do it because spectators have long memories of hack magicians.