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I've been asked to devise a routine around alcohol/smoking & I'm not sure where to begin as the piece needs to involve a magicians assistant.

My magic is all mimed/silent however, on this occasion, the assistant can give the patter if needed. Also, it's on a stage and isn't close-up. Oh and if it helps, the assistant is a Drag Queen...

Any ideas, inspiration will be much appreciated!!

Can you give a bit more information smoking/alcohol could be for a wide variety of situations. Who are the audience etc.

the classic silent drunk smokey routine wold be cardini. i believe clips are on web . i post from a mobile phone so i cannot post links but if you search youtube and google video you are sure to find. i hope this can offer some inspiration.the esscense of his character was to be a bit tipsy and confused at the seamingly strange magical events that occur. he was a manipulator but the character can be applied to anything.
also fearsons floating cig would be a great trick to do with the cardini character..

Sorry; it's going to take place in 'Art pub', has a stage & lighting, etc etc. Crowd are more likely to be the types that like to see something different & a mixture of the LGBT crowd. They are used to weird (avant garde) stuff so I literally can do most things...

Well if you are trying to send a message about the hazards of drinking and smoking then do a Drunk act as mentioned above, (Cardini) with a lot of cigarette manipulation, each time you take a puff, or a sip, cough! at the end just keel over and die, or pretend to die, I'm not suggesting you actually die. It is called acting. In the back ground you can have, on screen pictures of people with throat and lung cancer.

People know smoking is dangerous. It becomes incredibly patronising to lecture people on it, let alone through the medium of magic! Whilst on this subject, some people even smoke because they want to... but anyway...

I did create a mentalism routine based around vodka shots. I'll PM you the details