Hypnotism I am a believer now

stocktake · 4th March 2017, 19:18

Thought we were going for a bit of light entertainment last night at Leeds City Varieties.
Hypnotist called Andrew Newton, now I always took it all with a pinch of salt and I am always looking for the "plants" in the audience. Took my son (27) and his fiancée along as a treat for them.

We convinced my son to get up on stage and blow me down, Within 5 mins he is taking his shoe off thinking it is an oxygen mask on an airplane and he needs to breathe into it, then he needed to share the persons air supply next to him as his had run out

!!! Lost count of the stupid things they did but one of the funniest was to get them back to the stage after the interval they played some James bond music and they all became secret agents had had to get back to the stage without being seen. Talking to him normally one minute having a beer, music starts, beer placed on ground and he began to crawl on his hands and knees out of the box and through the theatre.
Not laughed so much in ages, my son has no recollection of the show from around the time he got on stage to the end around 2 hours later. Good job they get free tickets for the next show.

Tourist · 4th March 2017, 21:34

Just the same as you, I was highly sceptical (as I am about all 'supernatural' type things) but had to change my mind.

At University I worked part time at the Students' union on the Entertainments team - a wonderful job which involved messing around with sound and lighting systems, meeting bands and comedians etc, but also helping out if needed on stage on occasion.

One day a hypnotist was booked, so we set the stage up for him and he asked a few of the Entertainments Crew if we'd be happy to join him on stage as catchers.

The method he used to hypnotise people was pretty straight forward, basically getting the crowd of about 400 people to concentrate on his voice for 5 minutes or so and then try and get their index fingers stuck together.

Long story short, about 15 people were susceptible to being hypnotised and were invited on stage. The thing that changed my mind about the whole thing was one of my fellow Entertainments crew - another person who doubted the veracity of this type of thing. He was among the 15 people who stepped up.

By the end of the night, he'd been convinced every time someone shook his hand something, erm, intimate and embarrassing happened and the effect was to last until he made it outside the Student's union building. Of course, we as, his friends made absolutely sure that a) we shook his hand as often as possible in front of as many of his friends as possible, and b) didn't let him out of the building!

There was absolutely no way that he was a plant, and what he was doing every time his hand was shaken was far too embarrassing to be an act. I've been a believer in the power of hypnosis ever since.

The purpose of the catchers, by the way, was part of the act involved lining up five of the hypnotised blokes on the stage with a catcher behind them and then telling them that a part of their body had been stretched from the stage to the opposite end of the room... And then let go. Cue a brief hiatus, during which the catchers all relaxed, thinking nothing was going to happen, but also during which the five unfortunate males all visualised their equally unfortunate body parts flying back towards them, before all five men jumped bodily up and backwards about four feet, and into the arms of their catchers.

Highly amusing!

4th March 2017, 19:18	#1
stocktake Vis Whiz Rover 75 2.5 auto Saloon Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: LEEDS Posts: 20,587 Thanks: 2,057 Thanked 3,056 Times in 1,621 Posts	Hypnotism I am a believer now Thought we were going for a bit of light entertainment last night at Leeds City Varieties. Hypnotist called Andrew Newton, now I always took it all with a pinch of salt and I am always looking for the "plants" in the audience. Took my son (27) and his fiancée along as a treat for them. We convinced my son to get up on stage and blow me down, Within 5 mins he is taking his shoe off thinking it is an oxygen mask on an airplane and he needs to breathe into it, then he needed to share the persons air supply next to him as his had run out !!! Lost count of the stupid things they did but one of the funniest was to get them back to the stage after the interval they played some James bond music and they all became secret agents had had to get back to the stage without being seen. Talking to him normally one minute having a beer, music starts, beer placed on ground and he began to crawl on his hands and knees out of the box and through the theatre. Not laughed so much in ages, my son has no recollection of the show from around the time he got on stage to the end around 2 hours later. Good job they get free tickets for the next show. __________________ Dave... Lost a few stones and a Gall Bladder and part of a bile duct and all of my dignity in the suppository incident

4th March 2017, 21:34	#2
Tourist Loves to post 2004 Rover 75 Tourer CDTi Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Fulbourn, Cambridge Posts: 455 Thanks: 105 Thanked 123 Times in 101 Posts	Just the same as you, I was highly sceptical (as I am about all 'supernatural' type things) but had to change my mind. At University I worked part time at the Students' union on the Entertainments team - a wonderful job which involved messing around with sound and lighting systems, meeting bands and comedians etc, but also helping out if needed on stage on occasion. One day a hypnotist was booked, so we set the stage up for him and he asked a few of the Entertainments Crew if we'd be happy to join him on stage as catchers. The method he used to hypnotise people was pretty straight forward, basically getting the crowd of about 400 people to concentrate on his voice for 5 minutes or so and then try and get their index fingers stuck together. Long story short, about 15 people were susceptible to being hypnotised and were invited on stage. The thing that changed my mind about the whole thing was one of my fellow Entertainments crew - another person who doubted the veracity of this type of thing. He was among the 15 people who stepped up. By the end of the night, he'd been convinced every time someone shook his hand something, erm, intimate and embarrassing happened and the effect was to last until he made it outside the Student's union building. Of course, we as, his friends made absolutely sure that a) we shook his hand as often as possible in front of as many of his friends as possible, and b) didn't let him out of the building! There was absolutely no way that he was a plant, and what he was doing every time his hand was shaken was far too embarrassing to be an act. I've been a believer in the power of hypnosis ever since. The purpose of the catchers, by the way, was part of the act involved lining up five of the hypnotised blokes on the stage with a catcher behind them and then telling them that a part of their body had been stretched from the stage to the opposite end of the room... And then let go. Cue a brief hiatus, during which the catchers all relaxed, thinking nothing was going to happen, but also during which the five unfortunate males all visualised their equally unfortunate body parts flying back towards them, before all five men jumped bodily up and backwards about four feet, and into the arms of their catchers. Highly amusing!