(This question is primarily for the more experienced hypnotists, but I welcome answers those currently in the newbie learning phase as well.)

Think back to the inital studying you did and training you received - from a mentor, from books, from videos, from watching other's shows and so forth --

After your first few shows (no matter the venue, and small-group practice does count), What did you discover that you had NOT learned from these initial sources, that you had to learn the hard way, through practical experience?

What didn't you learn TO do, or NOT to do - or how, when or why to do/not do it?

What do you know now, that you wish you'd known when you were starting out?

Or, even, what BAD training/advice did you get?

Its not so much what I didn't learn it was more of what I was able to implement.

You can be shown how to drive a car but being able to remember and do all the right things at the right time is something else.

This is a great question because I feel any good performer continues to learn and should objectively review and critique their own performances. The thing that I would have to say the most would be pertaining to crowd control and management. While you are never certain how each individual will respond or how animated they will be, you can direct and to a great degree control this with proper onstage management. This can also apply to audience management. Unfortunately this is hard to practice and I feel even harder to teach because it must be experienced first hand to be fully understand and then addressed.

Having seen over sixty stage hypnotists performances over the years the one thing I would say stands out to me that I've noticed about others, and especially in the last 5-10 years with some of the quick-learn methods that have become popular, is that the majority of newer hypnotists become so consumed and enthralled with the hypnosis itself, that little and in most cases no effort is learned pertaining to being an entertainer. To them it's all about can I hypnotize these people and then what routines I'll have then do (and most of these are copied standard routines. No uniqueness, creativity or personalization).

The ellements of being a true entertainer and being a writer or creator of their own material is greatly missing and very misunderstood. To a great degree you can tell what hypnotist took whose weekend or home study course simply be watching the routines they perform.

Too many of the stage hypnotists today are not true entertainers. I always believed a true test of a good entertainer is if they could go on stage, be confortable and entertain the audience for the full hour or 90 minutes WITHOUT the use of the hypnosis. When working once with the great George Burns, he told me "an entertainer sould be able to do 90 minutes anytime, anywhere under any conditions. Hell, I'll do 90 minutes when I open the refrigerator door and the light comes on".

Just my opinion and observations.

Excellent question. There were a great many things that were never explained to me when I was first trained as a stage hypnotist. For starters, there was no discussion of what an easier venue versus a more difficult venue was all about.

A great many of my early shows involved me working at county fairs, quite possibly one of the most difficult environments to working, stages that are over 100F° hot, drunk people coming up on stage, the sun beating into the eyes of those who volunteered to be hypnotized, and don't get me started about flying and biting insects in an outdoor environment.

Then there are levels of noise one must contend with an outdoor show. At county fairs nearby your stage or platform, there are rides blasting music, announcers/Barker's roaring, whistles being blown, PA announcements, children yelling off in the distance, and a great many other distracting details.

Although it was discussed, pyramiding of suggestions should have been taught better, for example if working outdoors in the heat, it needs to be hot room first and cold room second. This done the other way, they will break into a sweat, and the perspiration will sting their eyes, and they will come out of hypnosis.

Also back at the time, most of the students in the class were simply told a local contact a school, a PTA, and tell them that you will do a show for them. As anyone performing knows, is a lot more to getting book than simply calling someplace and having them instantly say yes. A lot of my earlier shows were free of charge.

And then also there's the question of experience, most people who want to hire you and are willing to pay you, want to know a long list of places where you've worked, which is really impossible if you haven't worked anywhere and are not a liar. They also want liability insurance.

Then there are questions about stage safety. Much of that seems to be self evident, but I have seen other people perform shows under dangerous conditions.

I would also postulate here, that if you're serious about learning to be one of the best stage hypnotists in the world, you should have some clinical background first. I know that's liable to start a riotous discussion on this board by saying that, but I do believe it to be personally true, especially with the possibility of abreactions lurking in the shadows.

Any really decent performer teaching stage hypnosis will include a great deal of the more challenging situations as a series of personal anecdotes so that the students can learn from the challenges the teacher has undergone. Simply laying out a short list of fundamentals, is hardly a replacement for the challenges that can arise when hosting a show.

I personally hosted two shows this past weekend shaking off the tail end of a really bad cold or perhaps a touch of the flu. The first was in outdoor fund raising event which required about three times the amount of energy and indoor show would take, not to mention a series of fire engines and police cars blasting their sirens during the middle of my induction.

I then came home and had a two hour break, which included getting changed after showering and getting into my car again and driving to do an indoor show even though a few hours earlier I felt like I had punched into the chest, from the energy it took me to perform the previous show outdoors. Both shows were hints, and one thing I rarely hear mentioned, is the high we get from performing well.

I think I was well instructed. However internalizing the skill and putting everything to work means a learning curve which no teachingcan truly prepare you for. And there occasionaly is surprises that you have to deal with.

I agree clinical hypnosis should be studied. I think if you are a "hypnotist" you should have a thorough grounding in the subject as a whole. If you perform you will be also be asked awkward questions and its much more credible to have the answers.

As a naturist I am very used to extreme weather change (I also sell autographed photographs by the way).