I put this in the illusion area, but I didn't want any hypnotists missing it...

I would like to add an illusion to my hypnotist show. My first passion has been illusions, but I was never able to get to that level as a magician. As, a hypnotist I'm getting enough bookings, and can realistically include them in my show. I already have a chair suspension. Now it's time to add an opener or closer. I was thinking of an apperance or disappearance. This are my condidtions; It cant look like it just came from the magic factory; Priced up to $6000; can fit into a rather large van; and I don't need any on stage assistants.

For those questioning my motivations...1) It's a personal joy. 2) It's something to potentially upsell.

This is just a starting point to spawn a converstation. What would you include in such a show? Do you know of anyone doing this right now?

It seems that you want to add a "magical" illusion effect of some sort to your show, blending genres, which could be really cool - but if you're doing "hypnosis" shows, and that's what your audience expects, why not close with a postive or negative hypnotic hallucination, which is basically an illusion...

Such as (as mentioned in another thread) turning yourself invisible - or even making some of the participants invisible to other participants...

And of course there are literally hundreds other things you can do with these hallucinations, by making a subject believe things are there that are not, and/or making them think things are not there that are. Responses can be amazing, and quite entertaining.

Didn't someone once have an aligator walking over a girl on stage, and she didn't know it was there? (Not that I'd recommend this, but talk about the "WOW" factor...!!

You're creative and inventive - sketch out a total "WOW" scenario and put it in place as your finale. It'll save you $6k and not take up any space!

Just my 2 cents...

If you have to use it, open with it don't close. You want them to go away remembering the great hypnosis show, not the magic tricks. There is a hypnotist that opens with some mentalism to grab the audience and then goes into his pretalk and then the show. So open with it fine but don't overshadow the end of your hypnosis show as it is all the punch you really need to finish out your performance.

Martin

If I were closing with it I would send EVERYONE back, remove suggeston, and then do it as an encore. Giving them a "bonus". I am sure some hynopurists will say that injecting magic into a hypnosis act will make them suspect the hypnosis is fake, but if you have just hyptized all thier friends during the previsou show, this should be a non-issue. Then you have people who will always think you have stooges. Funny, even in Las Vegas you hear people leaving thinking the particiapnts were known to us. And so skeptics will always be there anyway. The real issue is you are being paid to entertain. Did you do that? Then I think if you want to do an illusion or not, go for it.
Hynoscripto hottie did save you about 6K and a lot of strained muscles though...

Check out the stuff at http://www.mentalismplus.com cerebro has some interesting hypnosis like applications.

Wow here is a dissenting opinion LOL.

Take this with a grain of salt, and know it is not intended in any way other than to express an opinion.

First of all to add something to your act for the "personal joy" reason is not a good motivation. If that is the #1 reason, well it is a bad one. Your audience is the deciding factor. THE ONLY ONE.

Personally I don't think it is a good idea and here is why. You spend the whole show basically convincing them what they are seeing is real, and you close with a trick? It is theatrically poor. It is tough enough to seporate our genra from the others, why do you want to put yourself into that same catagory.

If you do it at the beginning it again leads you to a problem as you have to go further to seporate yourself from the genra. It makes your job tougher. Although our job is to entertain and not convince, without a certain amount of conviction, there is little entertainment.

Can it be done? Of course it can.

Will people like it? Maybe, maybe not, but why in the world take the risk.

We are hypnotists, be confident in being a hypnotist and do an illusion show as well.

I have used some magic in my hypno show and it went well. Not big illusions---but I do use the professors nitemare in my pretalk as a demonstration or what you would experience if you were hypnotised. I also have a great single person skit that is original with me and it does use a bit of magic too(optional). while the group is sleeping, I have one person at the end "building a house of cards" the cards are imaginary. it is a running gag---every time I come near, the cards get toppled "accidentally". I bump the table, or lead the applause leting my hands pass thru the house of cards (oops!!!), I sneese and don't say a word---the expression of the volunteer is unreal as he sees the cards topple for the tenth time. as a climax, tha small table that he is working on has a real card castle built into it. as I close the skit I yell the audience that if they were hypnotised, that they too would see the house of cards and it would look like this---presto. this skit plays extreemely well. It is part of a book that I am writing about the use of magic in the hyp show.
Paul

I have used 'snow storms' and other magic to set-up skits in my show, skit that 3 snow men standing up and talking to one another while I make suggestions about the temperature increasing, etc.