I just got a note from David Knight, Master Hypnotist, about his next big comedy hypnosis show. It's on Yorkshire Day (1st August, and we have nothing on that evening so shall go). Appropriately enough it's right here in Yorkshire, at Northallertion. We've heard that their Forum Theatre is a lovely venue so am looking forward to seeing that for the first time.
Stage Hypnosis has long been a favourite form of entertainment of mine and my wife. Some stage hypnotists we have seen perform dozens of times, but the amazing thing is, that although they often run the same routine, getting their subjects to perform the same tricks, every performance is unique. Every hypnosis subject reacts differently and it is THEY who are the real stars of the show.
Years ago when I worked in cabaret we often worked with the same act for a week's engagement. A week's work in most clubs was Sunday to Saturday, though some mega stars at the big clubs like Batley would be just for two or three nights. The usual acts that I worked with over many years would be people like the Barron Knights, the Grumbleweeds, Showaddywaddy, Jimmy James & the Vagabonds, the Flirtations, Brotherhood of Man, Clodagh Rodgers and so on. These are all excellent performers, who had several hits, but who had honed their skills over many years playing the club circuits. If you're doing your act several hundred times a year, you get pretty proficient! No matter how good any act is, you only really want to see them a few times, and normally by the end of Tuesday I had seen most acts quite enough, so would wander off, usually to another club, while they did their set - there are many times I've been caught out by them shortening their set, and have not been back at the stage in time.
 |
| Paul McKenna |
One kind of act I always watched all the way through however were the Stage Hypnotists. There were about a dozen really good ones back in the 1970s - Edwin Heath, Billy Raveen, Bob Cassidy, Jimmy Grippo, Barry Sinclair, Lord Payne, Robert Halpern and then much later, my former Radio Caroline shipmate Paul McKenna. His tours played to up to 6,000 people at one show, and he hosted several successful TV shows in the USA and the UK.
The one thing all hypnotists have in common is that their stage shows
depend on the audience. How the subjects react to the hypnotist's
suggestions makes all the difference to how successful the show will
be.
Cabaret Clubs have almost disappeared now. Theatres have taken the
place of the old club, where you could see a show, get a decent meal,
waitress service of drinks to your table and then a dance later on. A
complete night out. Its such a shame that cabaret isn't available
anywhere near so widely now as it was a generation ago. The artists and
the public are all much poorer for it, and not to mention the poor club
owners too! Although I doubt they will get little sympathy - club owners
were probably the best paid businessmen of my generation.
 |
| Master Hypnotist David Knight |
Stage Hypnotists are still in firm demand however, as usually their standards of entertainment are so good. Its nice to see that this is a stage craft that is still being taught. One of the businesses' most respected and experienced hypnotists is DAVID KNIGHT. He has been one of the UK's leading hypnotists for over 25 years now and in that time has performed in over 5000 stage shows and hypnotised over 50,000
volunteers.
His training course has all you need to become a stage
hypnotist and perform your very own hypnotic stage show. The course is
complete and even includes stage hypnosis music. It also includes four
stage hypnotist training DVDs. David’s package offers all you need to
become a professional Stage Hypnotist.he is offering courses in becoming a fully licensed Stage Hypnotist.
If you would like to find out more, check out THIS PAGE. And please, if you do become a Stage
Hypnotist yourself, let me know and I guarantee that I shall come and see one of your shows!
If you want to see David Knight's Stage Hypnosis show on 1st August click this LINK for a special 50% discount on tickets pre-ordered by email. If there are any left "on the night' its £20 per head on the door, but it's likely to be a sell out.
