Stage & Street Hypnosis Training

Stage hypnosis, sometimes known as comedy hypnosis, involves putting on an entertainment show with hypnotised volunteers. During a stage hypnosis show, a stage hypnotist will select and hypnotise volunteers from the audience, before having them engage in comedy hypnosis routines. Common stage hypnosis routines include; playing in an imaginary band, driving rally cars, racing horses, dancing competitions, x-ray glasses (to see the audience naked or in their underwear), reacting outrageously to imaginary scenarios, and many, many more.

Stage hypnosis shows are a popular form of entertainment, and you will often see stage hypnotists performing in theatres and on cruise ships, as well as at private events, weddings, parties and in bars, clubs and pubs! If you’d like to become a stage hypnotist and want to learn more before joining our stage and street hypnosis training course, check out Rory’s popular ‘Stage and Street Hypnosis Handbook‘ available in both paperback and Kindle on Amazon.

Stage hypnosis really does work. In fact, many techniques used by stage hypnotists (such as the ‘hypnotic induction’, for example) are the same as those used within hypnotherapy sessions. As you may already know, the state of hypnosis has been proven to exist, and can be measured using the right equipment (such as an EEG machine). Once hypnotised, people are then able to accept varying degrees of hypnotic suggestion.

With stage hypnosis, the stage hypnotist uses special methods known as ‘suggestibility tests’ to pick the most suggestible and hypnotisable volunteers for the show. It’s estimated that around 30% of all people in the world are highly hypnotisable and suggestible. With that in mind, not everyone is a good candidate for participating in a hypnosis show. This is why you will often see a stage hypnotist dismissing some volunteers from the stage before the show begins, and even during the show itself. So, does stage hypnosis work for everyone? No, but when highly suggestible participants are chosen, it works great!

If you’d like to learn a bit more about the hypnotic suggestibility testing methods a stage hypnotist uses, check out our blog on the topic before signing up to our stage and street hypnosis training course here.

Stage hypnosis is not fake, and as mentioned in the FAQ above, stage hypnosis really does work – many stage hypnotists would be looking for new jobs if it didn’t! 

The reason that some people think stage hypnosis is fake, is due to the fact that ‘it didn’t work on them‘. Unfortunately, not everyone is equally hypnotisable and suggestible. When someone does not respond well to hypnotic suggestions, they are unlikely to be chosen to participate in a stage hypnosis show. If this happens, and they are turned away by the stage hypnotist, they may then assume that those participants remaining on stage had the same experience as them, but they’re just ‘faking it’. However, nothing could be further from the truth. During a hypnosis show, hypnotised volunteers, those who are highly-responsive hypnotic subjects, experience profound changes in their perception of reality. When hypnotised on stage, people believe that the suggestions they have been given are true and real, and will respond accordingly. That’s one of the reasons that stage hypnosis is a hugely popular form of entertainment, because with different volunteers having reactions at every show, the outcome is always unique (and usually hilarious)!

If a volunteer on stage is not particularly suggestible, they will either be dismissed by the stage hypnotist, or, as occasionally happens, they may just remain on stage and ‘play along’. This is often the case where someone isn’t responding to the hypnosis, but they don’t want to cause offence or ‘make a scene’ by opening their eyes and saying they’re not hypnotised. As you can imagine, this person may then go and tell their friends that they weren’t hypnotised, and were just playing along, thereby contributing to the myth that stage hypnosis is fake. Luckily, with a well-trained stage hypnotist, such situations happen rarely, and the vast majority of people you see on stage at hypnosis shows definitely are hypnotised, and are usually having a fantastic time!

If you’d like to experience stage hypnosis for yourself, come along to our stage and street hypnosis course, where you’ll learn whether you’re a super suggestible hypnotic subject, as well as hypnotising lots of people yourself!

A ‘stooge’, or ‘plant’, in the field of stage hypnosis, refers to somebody pretending to be in hypnosis, in order to make a stage hypnosis show look good. However, any good stage hypnotist has no need for stooges, and in fact, use of stooges is dishonest, and could even have a negative impact on the audience! As most stage hypnosis shows happen at private events, such as weddings and corporate events, if a stage hypnotist brought a bunch of stooges up on stage, the audience wouldn’t recognise anyone they knew – which is half the fun of watching a stage hypnosis show, because it’s your friends, family and colleagues who are getting hypnotised! As a stage hypnotist, using stooges would be a pretty bad idea, because the audience would realise, they’d get pissed off and disengage, and the show would be a flop. So, from an entertainment perspective, as well as from a business perspective, stooges are a big NO for any professional stage hypnotist!

To learn how stage hypnotists get people doing the fun stuff without having any need for stooges, check out Rory’s book, ‘The Stage and Street Hypnosis Handbook‘ on Amazon now, or join us at an upcoming stage hypnosis course.

Stage hypnosis is perfectly safe, when performed correctly. As with any profession, an unqualified or irresponsible comedy stage hypnotist performing shows could be dangerous, just as an unqualified or irresponsible hypnotherapist, doctor, builder, or taxi driver could be dangerous. We have heard of a few stage hypnotists who are not particularly safety-conscious. Interestingly, those stage hypnotists don’t tend to have very long careers. 

At the Rory Z Hypnosis Academy, our aim is to teach people how to become professional stage hypnotists. We teach our students to respect all of their volunteers, as well as being aware of the safety of the environment in which they are using hypnosis. It is also vitally important that a stage hypnotist learns how to create safe and effective comedy hypnosis suggestions. It’s very easy, if you don’t know what you’re doing, to give a hypnotic suggestion that could cause harm or distress. So, when learning stage hypnosis, ensure that as well as learning to hypnotise, you also learn how to safely create and deliver your comedy skits and routines. A good stage hypnosis trainer will let you know where anything you’re doing is unsafe or questionable.

For some great examples of safe and fun stage hypnosis routines, check out Rory’s stage hypnosis book. Packed full of scripts and routines, it is a great resource for anyone looking to join our stage hypnosis training course.

Stage hypnosis is done by following a very simple structure. Any stage hypnosis show will likely follow this exact format:

• Introduction (stage hypnotist)
• Deliver a ‘pre-talk’ (explaining how stage hypnosis works)
• Perform suggestibility tests (to prime the audience and test hypnotic suggestibility)
• Invite volunteers to stage and select volunteers
• Hypnotise volunteers (using a hypnotic induction)
• Deepen the state of hypnosis
• Deliver comedy hypnosis suggestions (the main part of the show)
• Set up any ‘post-hypnotic suggestions’ (routines to end the show with)
• Awaken the volunteers
• End the show

To learn more about all of these steps, what they mean and how they work, check out Rory’s ‘Stage and Street Hypnosis Handbook‘ or join us at our next live stage hypnosis training event!

Stage hypnotists come in all shapes and sizes, and so do the ‘hypnotic induction’ methods used by stage hypnotists. To hypnotise someone on stage, during a stage hypnosis show, some hypnotists will use rapid inductions, to quickly hypnotise each volunteer one-at-a-time. This is a common approach taken by high school and college stage hypnotists in the US. However, in the UK, stage hypnotists will more commonly use progressive hypnotic inductions with some ‘rapid elements’, gradually talking their volunteers into a state of hypnosis, before proceeding with the show itself. Unlike some hypnotherapists, who use very long progressive inductions to hypnotise their clients, a stage hypnotist’s progressive induction will usually just take a couple of minutes. This is because a stage hypnosis show is supposed to be entertaining all the way through, so spending ages on a long induction would be boring for the audience, and doesn’t make for great entertainment!

“Watch the watch… You are getting very sleepy… Your eyes are becoming heavy…” – these are not words you will often hear at a stage hypnosis show, as stage hypnotists very rarely use the old-fashioned ‘pocket watch induction’ to hypnotise their volunteers. The pocket watch induction is quite simply just a type of ‘eye fixation induction’, which uses an external point of focus, and suggestions for eye fatigue. So, though pocket watches are not really used any more, some stage hypnotists do use eye fixation inductions, instead having volunteers look up at a light.

To learn all about the different kinds of hypnotic inductions before joining our stage and street hypnosis course, check out Rory’s ‘Instant Hypnosis and Rapid Inductions Guidebook‘, available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle.

Many people who’ve never been hypnotised before wonder what stage hypnosis feels like, and for the majority of people, stage hypnosis feels amazing. Stage hypnotists will often inform the audience, at the start of the show, that the people in the audience will have a great time, but those who volunteer will feel great during and after the show! Many people awaken at the end of a stage hypnosis show feeling like they’ve had a nice, long sleep, and report feeling very rested and relaxed. Being in hypnosis lets people ‘turn off’ or ‘quieten down’ their conscious minds. This means, they are able to relax without being distracted by thoughts of the stresses of daily life. In fact, some volunteers want to stay in hypnosis, because it feels that good!

If you’ve never been hypnotised before and you’d like to experience what hypnosis feels like, we have a free hypnosis experience that you can watch right now. Check it out here.

Stage hypnosis is definitely not the same as hypnotherapy, although there is some crossover in the ‘hypnosis’ techniques used. When it comes down to hypnotising someone, stage hypnotists and hypnotherapists can (and often do) use very similar techniques. For example, both use progressive hypnotic inductions in order to hypnotise clients and volunteers. Where stage hypnosis and hypnotherapy differ, is the focus of the outcome. A hypnotherapist’s aim is to help their clients to overcome problems and reach their goals. Whereas, a stage hypnotist’s aim is purely to entertain the audience.

Some stage hypnotists have their own hypnotherapy practices, and do both. It is perfectly acceptable to be both a stage hypnotist and a hypnotherapist. In fact, hypnotherapists who learn stage hypnosis often find ways that stage hypnosis skills can be incorporated into their hypnotherapy sessions, and vice versa!

Check out this blog if you’d like to learn about the differences between hypnotherapy and stage hypnosis.

Street hypnosis is very similar to stage hypnosis, in that street hypnosis demonstrations are meant purely for entertainment purposes. However, the duration of the street hypnosis performance is a lot shorter than that of a stage hypnosis show. Street hypnotists will often hypnotise people using ‘rapid inductions‘ and then perform a couple of quick routines before waking up their hypnotised volunteer. Most street hypnosis demonstrations are ten minutes or less in duration – sometimes it can even be just a couple of minutes!

Aside from speed and induction methods, the skills of a street hypnotist are very much the same as those of the stage hypnotist. A street hypnotist will have a pre-talk, use suggestibility tests, inductions and deepeners, before giving entertaining hypnotic suggestions to their volunteers, just like in a stage hypnosis show.

Our definition of street hypnosis is, ‘stage hypnosis without the stage’. Street hypnotists will often hypnotise people anywhere at any time. You can perform street hypnosis in the streets, in parks, in houses, bars, clubs, even on boats and planes (so long as you’re not hypnotising someone that’s in charge of steering said vessels)! Street hypnosis skills are a fantastic way of demonstrating hypnosis to the public, and that’s why many hypnotherapists also benefit from learning street hypnosis. As a hypnotist of any kind, it’s always good to be able to show people what you do, and with street hypnosis skills, you can do just that! If you’d like to learn street hypnosis, join our up and coming stage and street hypnosis training course, or check out Rory’s book for a great way to get started right away!

Just like stage hypnosis, street hypnosis is 100% real. A street hypnotist will use suggestibility tests to ensure the people they’re speaking with are hypnotically suggestible before hypnotising them. Then, once hypnotised, people begin to respond more easily to hypnotic suggestion, and the hypnotist’s suggestions become their reality. As street hypnosis demonstrations are usually quick, street hypnotists tend to stick to using easy-to-achieve hypnotic phenomena, unless the person they are hypnotising is highly responsive from the outset. This is why many street hypnotists favour the use of catalepsy suggestions (such as sticking someone’s hand to a lamppost) and sensory and emotional suggestions (such as making someone think there’s a really bad smell nearby). To learn more about the different types of hypnotic phenomena that can be used when someone is hypnotised, check out this blog post on the topic.

Yes, anyone can become a stage hypnotist or street hypnotist. You can learn to perform stage hypnosis shows and street hypnosis demonstrations just like you can learn any skill. Once you’ve learned the theory and practical skills, then it just takes practice, practice, practice!

A good stage and street hypnosis course will give you everything you need to get started, including a lot of practice at the course itself. After the course is over, it’s integral to start practicing as soon as you can, and as often as you are able to! The old adage, ‘practice makes perfect’, is definitely true here. All of the best stage hypnotists practiced intensively whilst developing their skills and performances. In fact, stage and street hypnotists learn and adapt their performances all the way through their careers, whether big changes, like modifying skits and changing routines, through to making tiny changes to polished stage hypnosis pre-talks, every hypnosis show and demonstration that you perform will give you all important feedback on how you might be able to improve it even more!

Two personal qualities that can help you in your quest to become a stage hypnotist are; flexibility and a good sense of humour. Flexibility is important, because hypnotised people can be very spontaneous and random. So, quick reactions are definitely an asset for any stage hypnotist. A good sense of humour is also going to make your life easier as a stage hypnotist! Now, this doesn’t mean you need to be a professional comedian or anything like that, but you need to realise when things are funny, and when they fall short of the mark. Stage hypnosis shows are meant to be funny – that’s why they’re also known as comedy hypnosis shows! So, at the end of the day, if you’re going to be a comedy hypnotist, you need to be able to make people laugh, or, you need to be able to make people make an audience laugh. If humour isn’t your forté, then it’s something you can learn after taking your hypnosis training. There are many stand-up comedy books and courses out there, so if you’re not very funny right now, it’s definitely a skill that you can learn!

If you’re ready to start your stage and street hypnosis journey, join our next course and learn stage and street hypnosis with Rory Z. Otherwise, if you can’t make it, check out ‘The Stage and Street Hypnosis Handbook‘ – a practical guide to having fun with hypnosis!