If you have heard about stage hypnosis or begin to learn stage hypnosis, you might think is stage hypnosis dangerous, especially after you watch many stage hypnosis shows. Ok, but I will tell here that stage hypnosis in itself is not dangerous. People hypnotized on a stage are not doing anything that is not already built into their own mental mechanisms. Stage hypnotists do not create anything new-we’re only building from what the volunteers already know and do. I have heard many rumors on certain dangers of hypnosis, but after further investigation, they turn out to be false or overly exaggerated.

The most frequent one that I have heard is the volunteer’s inability to come out of trance. This is simply not true. A person can come out of trance at any time he or she wants. It might be, though, that the person just is so relaxed or having so much fun or is liking the change of reality that he or she just doesn’t want to come out of trance. Read the rest of this entry »

Stage hypnosis is also known as covert mass hypnosis for entertainment; many willing participants are brought on stage and given specific instructions and commands which trigger the minds natural hypnotic response.

As far as I know, there are no full time schools for learning just stage hypnosis. Most stage hypnotist’s probably learned their skills from watching or working with another stage hypnotists along with reading various books. But I suggest that anyone wanting to learn stage hypnosis take classes and training in the basics of hypnosis including history, conscious vs. subconscious mind, trance levels, pre-induction, induction, suggestion, and hypnotic phenomena. Doing so will improve your knowledge and skills in hypnosis in general which will add more depth to your show. But keep in mind that a stage hypnotist is not necessarily skilled in hypnotherapy. (The other way around can also be true.) It behooves the stage hypnotist to stay away from hypnotherapy unless properly trained in the field. Read the rest of this entry »

A stage hypnotist is well aware of the fact that all people are susceptible to hypnotic suggestions and he bases his hypnotic activities upon this vivid understanding. He also possesses a successfully crafted advantage, even before he asks for the volunteers who are to be hypnotized.

For many people, their only contact with hypnosis is the stage performance, where the use of hypnotism is used to entertain and delight an audience. Stage performance can either be on tour, traveling throughout the country, or be on television shows, or both. Read the rest of this entry »

People have tried to understand hypnotism since the 1700’s, and even at this time stage hypnosis was sometimes used to entertain at parties. However, the reputation of hypnotism was eventually compromised by numerous fakes employing crude routines and paid stooges.

Early in the last century interest was revived with the success of an American stage hypnotist, Ormond McGill. As well as pioneering hypnosis as TV entertainment, McGill wrote what is now known as ‘The Bible’ of stage hypnosis, his 1947 book The Encyclopedia of Genuine Stage Hypnotism. Read the rest of this entry »