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[[caption-width-right:350:"Watch in wonder as I pass this hoop completely around her!"]]

In showbiz, you have the male performer and his lovely assistant.

A LovelyAssistant is just that, an attractive girl or woman who assists the performer or primary host. This can be by fetching things, being the object of whatever the performer is to do, giving out prizes, handling the lottery equipment, or doing minor performances herself.

But primarily, her job is to [[MsFanservice look good, strike attractive]] poses, and give the performer room to do his thing. The clothing can vary from modest but sexy to outright {{Stripperiffic}}.

A variation appears in a StageMagician's show, where there are practical reasons for small, female assistants in tight-fitting clothes. Some physical-displacement type tricks (moving boxes, sawing a person in half) require the person to be quite small in order to fit into the device (most magic equipment is designed for an assistant who's 5′2″ tall). The same is true of quick-change acts, where the model must be small enough to wear many layers of trick clothing without appearing bulky. In these cases the "assistant" is an integral part of the act who requires skill and training, but plays off the audience expectations that she is nothing but eye candy in order to set up the trick and make the magician look impressive.

Some common roles of the Lovely Assistant are as co-host of a game show, a StageMagician's assistant or object for tricks, or the target of a KnifeThrowingAct.

Compare BridgeBunnies and {{Foil}}. See also DistractedByTheSexy, which is one of their main roles. Almost AlwaysFemale (even if the magician is female herself).

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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* ''Anime/YuGiOh'': StageMagician Arkana was in love with his Lovely Assistant, Catherine, and they were engaged--before his disfiguring accident. Although Catherine still loved him, Arkana pushed her away. He later regretted his choice and fell in with Marik when he promised he could restore Catherine to him.
* In the original ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' series, Misty/Kasumi gets roped once into become this. The [[WomanInWhite white outfit]] she wore is now featured as one of the pictures for GettingCrapPastTheRadar... [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/misty_may_001.jpg well, see the reason why]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comedy]]
* From Creator/RowanAtkinson's bit "The Amazing Jesus":
-->And there came unto him a woman called Mary who had seen the Lord and believed, and Jesus said unto her, "Put on a tutu and lie down in this box." And then took he forth a saw and cleft her in twain, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But Jesus said, "O ye of little faith," and he threw open the box and lo, Mary was whole. And the crowd went absolutely bananas. And Jesus and Mary took a big bow, and he said unto her, "From now on you shall be known as Sharon, for that is a good name for an assistant."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Olivia in ''Film/ThePrestige'' is this to both of the stage magicians involved (and has affairs with both of them). Angier's wife was also this. MichaelCaine's character specifically mentions their importance as an on-stage distraction.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Game Shows (Fictional and Nonfictional):]]
* Vanna White of ''Series/WheelOfFortune'', and the former TropeNamer. She wasn't the first letter-turner on the show (Susan Stafford was), but her iconic nature in the wake of ''Wheel''[='s=] 1980s success has made her a quintessential example of this trope.
* Similarly, the late Adriana Xenides, "co-host" of the Australian ''Wheel'' from the first episode in July 1981 until November 1996, when due to severe illness, she had to leave; and from July 1997 until June 1999 after recovering. When she left, Adriana was the longest-serving female co-host of a game show; now Vanna holds that record.
* In a variation, ''Series/{{Jeopardy}}'' has the Clue Crew, a team of assistants who present pre-recorded visuals on some clues.
* Some shows had male Vannas, such as Joe Alaskey on ''CouchPotatoes'' and Dan the Centurian on ''CaesarsChallenge''.
* ''Series/{{Lingo}}'' tried to subvert this by having main host Chuck Woolery act TheFool and set up beautiful co-host Shandi Finnessey as [[TheSmartGuy the smart one]]. It...[[DumbBlonde didn't really work]].
* Barker's Beauties in ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' (after Drew Carey took Bob Barker's place, they started simply being referred to by name).
** In late 2012 the show broke its AlwaysFemale mold by hiring their first male model -- although they had been having male celebrities as "guest" models for some time prior (including a contestant who [[BrickJoke joked about being one on his shirt]])
* Carol Vorderman from ''{{Countdown}}'' was picked for her ability to solve the Numbers Game in her head practically every time as much as for her ability to stand around pinning letters to boards.
** In the British comedy PanelShow ''WouldILieToYou'', Carol stated that she played games for most of the 30 seconds of the Numbers Round because [[GoodWithNumbers she'd already solved it]].
** Since Carol left the show, her (younger, taller, blonder and cheaper) replacement Rachel Riley has taken the role.
* Subverted in ''[[{{Temptation 2007}} Temptation: The New Sale Of The Century]]'', where many of the models are ''male''.
* Parodied by Creator/DavidLetterman's ShowWithinAShow "Will It Float?", with the hula-hoop girl and that chick wearing [[FetishFuel a steel bustier and a working metal grinder]].
* Predating Vanna White in the United States was Carol Merrill, the sole model on the original ''LetsMakeADeal''. The new version of ''Deal'' with Wayne Brady originally had Alison Fiori as the assistant, then Tiffany Coyne.
* Roxanne on the original CBS version of ''BeatTheClock''.
* MTV's ''Series/RemoteControl'' had a new one for just about every season.
* First JennyMcCarthy and then Carmen Electra on MTV's dating game show ''Singled Out''.
* The original ''{{Concentration}}'' had Paola Diva as its prize model, and ''Classic Concentration'' had Diana Taylor and Marjorie Goodson-Cutt.
* In a ''MarriedWithChildren'' episode, where Al and Peggy compete in a game show:
-->'''Host:''' Hello there, and welcome to [[Literature/SonnetsFromThePortuguese ''How Do I Love Thee?'']]! The game show that dares to ask; [[CaptainObvious "How do I love thee?"]]. For those of you who're [[SmallNameBigEgo totally ignorant of today's superstars]], I'm Bink Winkleman. ''[one person applauds]'' Thank you! And here's our own little piece of fluff that the network thrust upon me, The Lovely Zelda. ''[great applause]''
* The American version of ''Series/{{Duel}}'' had "chip girls" whose only job was to walk to the players' podium after each question to collect chips spent on incorrect answers.
* A rare male example: Richard Osman on ''{{Pointless}}''.
* ''WinTuition'' subverted this with a short, bald male assistant named "Gorgeous George", who acted as if he would rather be anywhere else whenever he hauled in props for a question.
* ''DealOrNoDeal'' featured ''[[UpToEleven twenty-six]]'' models (down to two in syndication).
* Subverted by ''AvantiUnAltro'' for RuleOfFunny; a random person is selected from the audience each episode to be the assistant.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Nynaeve gets this job at Valan Luca's circus in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''.
* Referenced in ''Discworld/EqualRites'', which says that members of the Guild of Conjurers are accompanied by "sad thin women in spangly tights" (as in The Amazing Bunko and Doris).
* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in ''Lovely Assistant'' by Geoph Essex: Jenny is both a magician's lovely assistant ''and'' the main protagonist. Even in the magic act, Jenny is more than just a pretty thing to look at. (She's also [[spoiler: one of Calvin's most effective props]], and does some tricks herself.) As the plot develops, this trope [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zags]]: [[spoiler:as a GrimReaper, Jenny "assists" death by sending the recently departed off to their next journey; but she's still not just eye candy, as the Angels of Death don't seem to have any defined employer and are a pretty mixed lot]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In Creator/MontyPython, The Amazing Mystico and Janet put up housing blocks by hypnosis. (Janet is the Lovely Assistant.)
* Parodied in ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' ("False Positive"), when news anchor Robin suffers a crisis of confidence and auditions to be the "coin-flip bimbo" (or "currency rotation specialist") on ''Million-Dollar Heads Or Tails''.
* ''The Late Show with David Letterman'': The recurring segments "Will it Float?" and "Is this anything?" have 2-4 lovely assistants: "Float" has two Vanna types who drop an item in a tank of water to see whether it will float or not. Both "Float" and "anything" have the Grinder Girl (a woman who holds a metal grinder to a piece of metal on her costume's thorax) and the Hula Hoop Girl (a woman who hulas a lot of hoops) doing their thing to either side during the segment. Both GG and HHG were originally "discovered" on previous installments of "Is this anything?"
* ''TheBradyBunch'': Peter has magic as a Fleeting Passionate Hobby and does the Disappearing Girl trick with Jan as his lovely assistant, which freaks Cindy out. Even when they try to explain the trick to her she is still terrified. Then on the day of the Talent Show Jan twists her ankle and can't perform with Peter, so Cindy steps up and takes her place. Once she's been in the cabinet and sees how it's done she gets very enthusiastic, even wanting to do the trick again.
* ''BeakmansWorld'' had three lovely assistants (Josie, Liza and Phoebe, depending on season), and one not-so-lovely assistant (Lester). He even used Phoebe as the LovelyAssistant for the magic trick displayed in the page image.
* ''Tool Time'', the ShowWithinAShow on ''HomeImprovement'', had [[PamelaAnderson Lisa]] and her replacement Heidi, the latter becoming an AscendedExtra.
* On ''BrainiacScienceAbuse'' we get Professor Myang Li, who determines "Does this fruit float?" You do doubt her academic credentials given her {{Stripperiffic}} outfit.
* One sketch written by [[TheTwoRonnies Ronnie Barker]] revolves around a stage magician having an affair with his Lovely Assistant, and trying to hide the evidence from his suspicious wife by passing it off as conjuring tricks he was practising.
* Quite common in Brazilian TV. The TropeCodifier was [[http://i0.statig.com.br/bancodeimagens/4c/8m/bv/4c8mbv3tqua9hstnwz8ymenid.jpg Chacrinha and his "chacretes"]] (pun on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedette_(entertainer) vedette]]), to the point the suffix -ete is quite common: Hzetes, Panicats... the lightest version were kids TV host Xuxa and her [[http://i0.statig.com.br/bancodeimagens/a5/gz/an/a5gzan701h7bhwhm7x3036ulp.jpg Paquitas]], which even had [[MrFanservice male]] [[http://i0.statig.com.br/bancodeimagens/90/mk/2d/90mk2dmcc9ubvt5mc7lnqas8e.jpg versions]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stage Magicians]]
* Debbie [=McGee=], Lovely Assistant (and wife) of UK magician Paul Daniels. A good example of "also a skilled magician", she went on to have a solo career.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''NoMoreHeroes'' has Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii, an assassin magician. His two silent, lovely "asseestahnts!" are under his loyal command, until Travis blinds him and they provide the wheel saw for his execution.
* Parodied in ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' with Chuck Quizmo's assistant, a Toad named [[PunnyName Vanna T]].
* In ''DeadRising2'', [[TwinThreesomeFantasy sexy twin sisters]] Crystal and Amber Bailey serve as the assistants of the zombie-killing game show ''Terror is Reality''. [[spoiler:They also serve as {{the Dragon}}s to the BigBad, ''TIR'' host Tyrone "TK" King.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Chloe from ''Webcomic/EerieCuties'' [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/My%20lovely%20assistant knows well]] what you need for a magic trick.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Let's Take a Quiz!" While Phineas plays game show host, the role of the Lovely Assistant is taken by Ferb, who appears in several glamorous women's outfits.
* Gypsy Moth from ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' is this to her praying mantis husband, Manny.
* Esmeralda from ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' is this to Clopin.
* In the ''YogisTreasureHunt'' episode "Goodbye, Mr. Chump", Penelope Pitstop was a lovely assistant to Hokey Wolf.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaucers}}'' Sarah is a willing assistant for her friends' magic show. Later on, Quackpot puts on his own show with the good guys captive, except for Sarah, who he [[HypnotizeThePrincess hypnotizes to be his assistant]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein", a Vega Rabbit had lovely assistants.
[[/folder]]

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