Feb 20, 2014

Yes! There is 1 thing most "comedy" stage hypnotists don't want you to know. But I'm gonna tell ya anyway. Ready? Here it is: The hypnotizing parts is easy! Relatively, at least. Most people can learn, with some practice, to hypnotize (and unhypnotize) a willing human being. It's not rocket surgery.

But here's the thing that most "comedy" stage hypnotists don't themselves know: It's the "comedy" part that's hard. And, personally, I don't believe it can be taught... or learned. I believe you're either born with it or you're not.

So what happens is you hire someone for your event that calls him or herself a "comedy" hypnotist and you're surprised to find out they don't have a funny bone in their body. How'd this person come to believe that they're funny? Most likely they started out as a magician, maybe a "comedy" magician, mouthing the "funny" patter that came with the trick. Maybe if the supplied lines were funny enough, they got a few laughs and thought they were comedians.

Then they saw an ad in the back of a magicians' magazine or maybe on the web that read something like, "Be a Stage Hypnotist and Skyrocket Your Income" and they spent a couple thousand dollars to learn to be a "comedy" Stage Hypnotist. Then they get a fancy website, put up some quotes from their mom and dad, bought the rights to say they wrote a book about hypnosis (from the same person they took the course from), and they book a show or two. 

Well, the shows, depending on the participants, may be funny in parts. But are the hypnotists funny? Probably not. Are they engaging? Probably not. Are they going to get rebooked? Probably not. (Although the author of one stage hypnotist marketing course starts out the course by quoting a customer asking, "If we hire you next year will you do something funny?" So apparently his marketing works better than his show.)

If you're considering hiring a hypnotist for your event, do yourself a favor. Ask for a demo of an entire show. Start to finish. Performing for a group similar to yours. (High schools and colleges are much different than adult company events.) See for yourself if the hypnotist is engaging, professional and funny. If they're not all those things, keep looking. Find a "comedy" hypnotist with a real comedy background. (There are a few.) Compare them to the hypnotists who are selling a book about hypnosis that they didn't write. (They bought the rights from the above mentioned author of the marketing course.)  Then... go with your instincts. But be sure your instincts aren't deceived by cookie-cutter marketing from a cookie-cutter course taking hypnotist. 

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