Who can be Hypnotised?
Posted on 11. Nov, 2010 by Jason Gold in Hypnosis
Ask any credible hypnotist and they’ll tell you that Stage Hypnosis is a ‘numbers’ game. Generally speaking anyone can be hypnotized, providing they concentrate and follow the hypnotists instructions, allowing them-selves to relax and let go. Although in a stage situation the circumstances are dramatically different. This can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. For example, in a public situation, the person volunteering is aware that many people are watching and can become self conscious. They may also be up to challenge the hypnotist in which case it simply isn’t going to happen. Some of the advantages include the fact that with an audience watching, they may feel disorientated. They may also think of you as ‘up on a pedestal’ with special powers, commanding the audience, therefore their belief and expectancy kicks in and voila, they realise their situation and give in to resistance. There are many variables, all of which will be covered throughout.
Hypnosis is about cooperation – not confrontation
Somnambulism is defined as the habit of people walking around in their sleep. In hypnosis there are many definitions of this term. One of the things that confused me when I began learning; was that one person would say ‘somnambulism is too deep for an effective show’, and someone else would say ‘somnambulism is the perfect state’. Do you know what I think? It really doesn’t make a difference what it’s called. The difference that makes the difference is your ability to induce the state of hypnosis and have the sensory acuity (ability to read people) to notice how they are reacting and to respond accordingly. For the purposes of this book, let us assume that somnambulism is indeed the perfect state required for hypnosis, which we will discuss in a moment. Many studies have stated that only a certain number of people can be hypnotized to somnambulistic levels, I believe this to be false.
There is no such thing as a bad client, only an inflexible hypnotist – Milton H Erickson
Whilst anyone can be placed in hypnosis there are many variables that affect the situation. For example, not everyone can be hypnotized in a stage situation, this is why I began by stating that Stage Hypnosis was a numbers game. There are several keys to performing a successful stage show, one of which is by appealing for the largest amount of people possible to volunteer. Your job whilst performing is to carry out the hypnotic process in an entertaining manner, making sure your audience don’t get bored, and making sure that the desired outcome actually happens. Only a certain amount of people will be hypnotized in your show. It is up to you to develop a way to dismiss them from the stage so it looks proper to the rest of the audience.
