It usually is. In the right situation, with the right skilled hypnotist, on the right subject, in the right performance dynamics perhaps, but none of these elements were in place here.

"Does anyone know much about the guy? Does he do regular shows?"

He's relatively new trying to break into the college scene here from what I know. He's from Chicago. I recently (a few months ago) heard him on the radio during an interview and could immediately tell he was lost. He's a magician that has "added hypnosis" believing doing so would allow him to earn greater rates and a place in the college market. The radio interview came across as a magician, not a hypnotist, and we was just as cocky and ego-based as in his first AGT appearance.

Magic + street (ambush) hypnosis doesn't = stage hypnotist, regardless of whoever told/trained him to believe otherwise.

To me, this is a perfect example of what is wrong with hypnosis today, the way the art is approached and today's beliefs from young guys (the youtube generation) towards the art.

The very fist lesson I was ever taught by Ormond was not to become full of yourself, believe you have special powers and to stay away from the "God-like syndrome." This guy is exactly why.

Getting back to Doug's really good question, it really doesn't matter if an instant induction can be done. In every single performance example that I have ever seen throughout my entire life, it always screams "fake" or "unbelievable" or "unrealistic" to almost all of the audience. In my experience and opinion, this is because the audience must see and experience "the process" of hypnosis. This is what sells it, makes it understandable and believable. It is for this reason even if you have mastered a rapid induction, why on earth would you ever use it in a live performance situation? It really only impresses the hypnotist themselves, when in reality instead of gaining believability and credibility (which is most important and essential to a hypnotist), these guys lose believability and credibility. The only ones that ever disagree are other hypnotists that have convinced themselves otherwise. I will not even use it in my training of hypnosis students for just this sole reason.

At best it only leads to more questions, which most hypnotists, especially magicians turned "hypnotists" almost always respond my some psycho-babble and some cockamamie pseudo explanation of it all (which of course is not true and can often cause more damage to the art itself).

Somewhere along the way, about 5-10 years ago when the "let's market hypnosis to DJs and magicians" movement began (coincidentally with the street hypnosis aftermath) it somehow because falsely offered by these marketers and therefore believed by young students that a shorter, faster, quicker (rapid) induction was somehow cooler, and that a full progressive induction was all of a sudden "too long", "old school" "passe" and "not needed or required." This cut or eliminated the process and to many the entire credibility and believability was lost and absent from this whole new generation of so-called hypnotist bandwagon jumpers. We know where this influence came from. You'll soon be able to tell by those with ruffled feathers.

Good answer. Myself? I'm a magician, ventriloquist... but I don't even forsee any minuscule possibility that I will ever take the plunge someday into hypnotism. I just don't forsee that coming.

Still, I find it absorbing to read and learn about. Which brings me here.

Even though I could see that secret diva *** side of him as he was walking off, I feel sorry for the guy, that must have been painfully awkward. That being said, when I was young, stupid, and new to hypnosis like him I wanted to audition for AGT so I find this hilarious. Thankfully, the auditions were too far a drive because if they weren't, you guys would be talking about me bombing.

Mindpro is the wisest person I have read on this board. Rapid inductions are absolutely sold to young beginner hypnotists as being cool and modern and unfortunately I totally fell for it. It took me so long to realize how many lies I believed. I remember when I saw "Black Ops Hypnosis" from Keith Barry (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_KUNXbkGmM). It was one of the things that first got me into hypnosis because I thought that it was real and unedited. It fascinated me that the mind could have on and off switches like that and I never once considered that they were placed stooges that were previously worked on.

In truth, if you want to be a stage hypnotist, learn full group inductions and do those because that's what people want to see. If you just want cool, quick "street hypnosis" tricks to show off to your friends, then hypnosis isn't right for you. You can't make people do things they don't want to do, especially not in 90 seconds. Conversational hypnosis and NLP are real but they only work subtly, they aren't performance pieces. If hypnosis was that easy, it would probably be illegal.

I think it's funny that for a craft that relies greatly on how you present yourself, we are constantly represented inaccurately.

As I read your post, I see scores of paralells between straight magic and hypnosis.

I'm sure magic and hypnosis share many traits, hence why they are so often lumped together. If only there was a Tarbell for hypnosis. A lot of the signature works of hypnosis are written by doctorates so they're very difficult reads.

Last year Keith Barry, a good mentalist who is big over here, went on television and hypnotised half a dozen people instantly, making them go through a variety of routines. And everyone screamed fake. The truth was he had worked with the audience before the show began. Had he honestly told the audience that he had done a pre-show induction, everyone would have been satisfied. But the instant inductions, without a context or set-up, looked fake.

The only way to do a guaranteed instant induction with no set-up that works all the time is to have a bulb of chloroform up your sleeve and zap them chemically.

There really is no such thing as an instant induction. Its more of a "pre-induction". There is no real depth or quality of hypnosis without conditioning. So to that extent it is fake. I never understood why a lot of newbies or street urchins got all excited at the site of someone slumping over or falling to the ground limp. That's not a full induction its just the start.

"I never understood why a lot of newbies or street urchins got all excited at the site of someone slumping over or falling to the ground limp. "

Not being a hypnotist, but only a casual third party observer, I can oniy make a wild guess as to the answer to why: Maybe they like the ostensible feeling of power over another human being? I mean what could be more powerful than the ability to cause another person to crumple and fall at your whim? (Notice , if you will, that I was careful to use the word ostensible, as it's probably not real).

I think that's true on a subconscious level in the beginning. Not necessarily for evil purposes (although anybody that's ever been to a beginner hypnosis seminar has met some creepy people). It might stem from a lack of control within their own environment such as what can be the cause of self-harm.

To become proficient in hypnosis, though, it has to morph into something else. No form of hypnosis satisfies a lust for power. I think this is why we are beginning to see a rise in the popularity of hypnotherapy. The choices are either help people or entertain people and the entertainment market for hypnosis is dwindling due to a lack of originality. Speaking of which, that's a huge opportunity to come up with new material and make a killing. Whoever reinvents the new generation of stage hypnosis will be a millionaire because I don't know of anybody that's even attempting that.

I was bummed at Chris Jones's bad attitude when he lost.

First off, he thought Michael Bublé was a hockey player. When Chris chose Michael to come on stage he commented "I will not embarrase you...I love hockey." Now I'm not a hypnotist, but if I were and was going to choose Michael to be onstage, I think I would want to at least know something about him. He's a singer...sometimes actor. Not a hockey player.

Then once the act fell apart he dismisses Michael by saying "I actually don't like hockey at all." Really? Totally uncool and unnecessary.

Wasn't very impressed with this guy and it had nothing to do with his failed act at all. Just his failed attitude.

Right on!

that's because it can't be done. Hypnosis needs a period of rest which will now never happen in order to regenerate. There have been lots of attempts over the years to come up with something "new". All of them have failed. That's because hypnosis as entertainment is boiled down to a few things. 1) The mystery, the anticipation that it might be you or a friend that's picked, astonishment that it actually works, the unexpected comedy that comes from ordinary people who have had their inhibitions reduced and their imaginations amplified. The problem is hypnosis has lost its mystery its "specialness" and just about everything else by being over exposed. It used to be cyclic in that it would re-emerge every 10 years or so and be popular. However the constant over exposure and selling of courses has killed that off. its been reduced to an almost everyday run-off-the-mill occurrence nothing special.

Man, that is so sad!! I hope that doesn't happen to magic (clears throat) er, um, maybe it already has?

I don't think it has happened (completely at least) with magic because there are so many people that do it for a living and therefore have to push the craft to pay their bills. Plus, there is just so much material to work with in that realm so it will be awhile until it seems that every idea has been taken. I honestly believe that if somebody doesn't come up with some new material and soon, though, stage hypnosis is going to completely die out because every show follows near the same format so once you've seen one show, you've seen them all. Group induction, eliminate the least responsive and highlight the most responsive, your seat is on fire/made out of spikes, do something embarrassing like acting like an animal or dancing awkwardly, reveal embarrassing information like a deep secret or your orgasm sound (a recent popular option because sex still sells), everybody goes home. Never mind the fact that it centers around almost mocking your participants, it's already losing popularity rapidly due to the unoriginal content and it needs a refreshing change. The current state of hypnosis is equal to magic still being nothing more than the rubber pencil, pick a card, and pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

I stand corrected. But man, I FEEL for you guys!

You seem really interested in hypnosis. Why don't you pick up a few books or start a course and try it out for yourself?

I have indeed checked into it in the past, done a lot of Google style research, but after reading this thread, I'm really wondering if it's even worth it. If it's a dying art, as has been established here, what would the benefit be for me to learn it? Are there a lot of pros to outweigh the cons? I remain open minded.

I think I'd like to learn SELF hypnosis to make changes in myself as far as self improvement goes. Reprogramming my brain to think the sucess thoughts I would want it to think.

Stage hypnosis is dying out because it's the same old thing. That doesn't mean there isn't any room for expansion, it would just require a lot of work and creativity. If you want to help people and make changes in yourself, hypnotherapy is thriving nowadays compared to where it used to be and can definitely be a full-time career. It's by no means glamorous, though, it is therapy after all. Or you could just learn NLP and what's called conversational hypnosis. These have practitioner potential but they are most helpful when interacting with others in your daily life. That's the type of stuff that sales people eat up even though it might not be that effective for them. They aren't practical when attacking people while doing these radical "street hypnosis" demonstrations but you can do powerful things with a simple handshake pattern interrupt provided you understand the limits of hypnosis and, ya know, how to overload the critical factor and embed commands naturally according to their suggestibility type/level.

Stage hypnosis is dying out? No.

The wheat is being separated from the chaff is all that is happening.

Ummm. All hypnosis is self hypnosis.