Touch me; touch me not?

From Young reader: I perform in front of friends and family. They love "Scotty". One of the problems that I am having is that they all go up to him and touch him - they want to see how he works. Any suggestions?
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From Mr. D: Here's the deal - when you give a performance anywhere - even for family and friends - you want to be at your best. And you have every right to let the audience, large or small, know that you expect them to act like an audience. Only when they do so can you perform at your best.

When I performed for family and friends, even in a living room setting, I always made sure everyone had a seat. If some had to sit on the floor, fine. (If some stood in the back of the room, that was okay.) But not until everyone was in place, ready for a "show" did I bring out my buddy. At that point it was my responsibility to do my very best for my "audience". That meant I had prepared for such an event. I had favorite gags memorized and bits ready to perform. Usually in such an informal setting I would allow questions, comments and small talk following my "show". And on very rare occasions I allowed limited touching of the figure, but if there was any of that, it was only on my terms. Ideally I would put the figure away before "dismissing" my admirers.

Audience control will pretty much be your responsibility unless some adult agrees to handle that for you, which would be ideal, but not always available.