Can you name a single major named Magician/Illusionist/Mentalist who hasn't done so?
Using stooges is very, very common, especially when it comes to publicity stunts or trying to get one over on another mage. I know one guy who's wife stooged for another Mentalist 20 years ago just to baffle him and get him flustered. . . she didn't let him know until a couple of years ago, what really happened.
There's at least a few dozen Telephone routines (tricks over the phone) that use a confederate on the other end of the line, my ex and I did a full 20-minute act doing exactly this; I'd force a phone number that "belonged to a randomly chosen psychic in the phone book" which gave them her and voila! Instant act...
THE CATCH IS. . . don't over do it! Don't use too many confederates in any one show and don't use too many people in the role of confederate (secrecy is your friend!)