My question after watching the promo is, what makes you different from most of the other Hypnotists? I'm missing your own originality and personality. This is the kind of Hypnosis-Show I've seen a lot of before I started my way in Hypnosis about 20 years ago? Still, if College-Shows is the thing you're after, go on... But with Hypnosis (and you know already how it works on the technical side) you can do so much more. Shows of the kind you do, have been the reason stopping me performing it for a while, because all were the same. I don't know if you're also in magic, but it seems so because you've got magic friends. I started thinking about how to combine these two forms of art. Nowadays I combine Hypnosis with mental-magic. What a powerful tool. Name it, if you will, the Derren Brown style of show, but I already did it before I knew Derren at all. Just imagine, if you stop making fun (and embarras) your volunteers, but give them telepathic powers. Think about using a CEREBRO on a hypnotised person. In a normal mental act, the volunteer is used as an instant-stooge. In combination with Hypnosis it is normal that they forget everything that happened on stage and will never be able to talk about what they experienced. Wow, that's great! Volunteers never remebering that they were instant-stooges... By the way, the combination of mental effects and Hypnosis has an unbelivable impact on the audiance.

And to be honest:



Nick, is that it, what you really want? Using the same cheap principles of going for the primitve hebetude?

I mean, it's worth thinking about...

Greetz, Sven

Hi Guys,

As an update - I've changed the promo completely. I've taken out the x-ray glasses skit and put some more shots in it.

It's now about 3.5 minutes long

Thanks for your comments

You make very good point. I thought I had made it clear that there were likely differences between the ways University work was booked in the UK and the way it is booked in the USA. My comments were only intended to provide food for thought. If I created another impression, it was unintentional.

--Chris

Danny, I worked a "lifestyles" type event once. It was the worst show I have ever done. They expected cruder than I was ready to perform, and oddly the men didn't respond, but that is becasue it is a female dominated social structure and the men fear crossing lines in a way that is socially different than other groups. It was just an odd event. And people were seriously drunker than usual.

As for the video. I would shorten it, get rid of all sexual refrences, if you want to use it as a promovideo or anything but adult audiences, and highlight you. You don't need to show a full rountine in a promo video. They aren't going to understand it anyway without watching a whole show. Instead, but together three minutes that shows the following:

1.) You dress well
2.) You speak well
3.) You respect the audience
4.) You have fun
5.) The crowd laughs
6.) People get hypnotized. Showing clips of the induction and the response illustrates this. This was the best part of your video.

You want people to get a flavor for YOU and the crowd response, not nescesarily a demonstration of the skits you will be doing.... artfully vague is the key to a promo video.

~Richard

Just got a chance to see Simon's Hypnosis DVD and I can say that I really enjoyed it watching. For me it was the right thing for this audience, students like this sense of humour.

Some of the things may not be appropriate for business audiences but it's a matter of seconds to leave these bits in or take them out, depending on the circumstances. Generally I found that as long as you imply and not say out loudly what everybody is thinking, the audience is loving you. They know that you know that they know.

I had the impression that Simon's hypnotised helpers were treated with respect. I hate to see people eating lemons and doing impressions of animals and you won't find such bits in Simon's act. The dismissal of some people in the middle of the act was smooth and without calling attention to it.

Overall I enjoyed watching the act and think it had some very funny moments in it.

Harry

Well I've never gotten certification and carry insurance as a hypnotist. It is the carrier commonly referred to when people ask and they don't. I guess it just depends on who your going with.

Martin