Stage hypnosis

Stage hypnosis is hypnosis, or a show purporting to be hypnosis, performed in front of an audience. While the debate still continues over whether hypnosis is an altered form of consciousness or not, the art of Stage Hypnosis is fairly well understood. Some may not even consider it a valid form of hypnosis.

The hypnotist

Due to the stage hypnotist's showmanship and their perpetuating the illusion of possessing mysterious abilities, the appearance of a trance state is often seen as caused by the hypnotist's power. The real power of stage hypnosis comes from the trust the "hypnotist" can instil in his subjects. They have to willingly grant him the ability to take over their critical thinking [ [ cite book | last = Yapko | first = Michael | title=Trancework: An introduction to the practice of Clinical Hypnosis | location=NY, New York | publisher=Brunner/Mazel | year=1990 | pages=28] ] and direct their bodies. Some people are very trusting, or even looking for an excuse to abdicate their responsibilities and are apparently able to be hypnotized within seconds, while others take more time to counter their fears.

The subject

In a stage hypnosis situation the "hypnotist" chooses his participants carefully. First he gives the entire audience a few exercises to perform and plants ideas in their minds, such as:
*only intelligent people can be hypnotized
*only those wanting to have fun will play along. These suggestions are designed to overcome the natural fear of trusting a stranger with the greater fear of becoming an object of ridicule as one who is unintelligent, unsociable, and joyless. Out of the crowd the hypnotist will spot people who appear trusting, extroverted and willing to put on a show. Often these people are looking for an excuse to do something they otherwise would not do sober. The hypnotist starts them off by having them imagine ordinary situations that they have likely encountered, like being cold or hot, hungry or thirsty then gradually builds to giving them a suggestion that is totally out of character, such as sing like Elvis. The desire to be the center of attention, having an excuse to violate their own inner fear suppressors and the pressure to please, plus the expectation of the audience wanting them to provide some entertainment is usually enough to persuade an extrovert to do almost anything. In other words the participants are persuaded to 'play along'. This gives the impression that the "hypnotist" has total control over them.Wagstaff, Graham F. (1981) Hypnosis, Compliance and Belief St. Martin's Press, New York, ISBN 0312401574]