Anyone seen any of the recent Robert Temple stage hypnosis shows? Reviews have been somewhat mixed that I could find. Quite a few venues either got cancelled at short notice (due to poor ticket sales) or the shows themselves were abandoned when either he couldn't hypnotise people, or people didn't return to the stage after the interval. I was due to see him at a couple of shows in the midlands (friday and saturday nights at two different venues) but they both got cancelled last minute. Apparently, when he does manage to do a show with suitable volunteers reviews have been very good but other than "I never laughed so much" or "had tears running down my cheeks with laughter" type comments nobody has said what his shows are like. I did see him a few years ago in Newcastle but he didn't have much in the way of material and seemed to pad out the show with repeated inductions. That was a family show though I gather the current tour is adults only. Anyone heard any reports? I do try to see stage hypnosis shows whenever I can but mainly it's Peter Powers at the Pavilion in Glasgow as it's so hard to track down shows in theatres anywhere else.

Hey Hypnofande!

A friend just told me about this post, so I figured I'd pop over and personally say 'Hello!'.

Yeah, we did have a couple of hard nights on the tour this time around, but have learned a lot of valuable lessons from them. This was my first major UK tour (and the biggest project we've ever done), so there were likely to be some teething problems.

(Any hypnotist who says they haven't ever cancelled a show or had a rough night with the volunteers simply hasn't done enough shows... or is lying, lol).

The reviews on my FB page are overwhelmingly positive, if you were to look there (Avg of 4.6 stars out of 5).

Honestly, I'm incredibly proud of the show that Kennedy and I have put together here, although I can't expect everyone to like it (that's life, ey?!).

We had a couple of complaints or bad reviews about swearing and the adult nature of the material - so they clearly hadn't read the advertising... so I don't consider those to be valid ;-).

Oddly the only cancellations we had were in the midlands - it's almost as though there just isn't an audience for hypnosis shows there!

With all of that said, we're back out in the Autumn with a slightly bigger tour and I'm looking forward to it and dates for 2019 are already being scheduled too, for a new show.

Happy to answer any questions

Thanks,
Robert

PS. Sorry you found the Newcastle show to be lacking in material. As I recall there weren't any 'repeated inductions', though. I do my See-Saw at the beginning and nothing else (other than popping people back to sleep between routines). I take ALL feedback on-board though!

I have a lot of respect for Robert. I know how difficult it is to set up shows. And its true everybody has off nights. I'm impressed he is going for it. I hope he kills it in his next tour.

Robert I know nothing of you or of your show. But GOOD on you for getting out and getting it done. Few know the trials and tribulations of getting something like this done and I respect anyone out there doing it.

ANY hypnotist who says he does not have off nights (And one shows up here from time to time.) either has a casual relationship with the truth or a bad memory or laughing ears. Bad nights HAPPEN TO EVERYONE. I do hundreds of shows a year, yes hundreds. And even if I hit 95% of them that is 10 a year that just go BADLY. Once a month about. WOW. So there are considerable numbers of people who have seen me have an off night.

Ticket selling can be a NIGHTMARE.

Maybe the show is great, maybe not so much. I have no clue. But I respect ya doing it.

Hi Robert, good luck with the rest of your tour. I know it's a different style of show from the one I saw you do in Newcastle a number of years ago. To be honest, there wasn't much in the way of material at that show and you did pad it out with a lot of deepeners in the first half. I've seen a few UKhypnotists and they do seem to make the induction the main part of the show. I saw Chris Caress a few years ago and he did 3 very long inductions that took up the full length of the show. I also saw Andrew Newton who also uses very long inductions that take up the bulk of show time (despite boasting he's the master of the rapid induction in his publicity material).

The only UK hypnotists I've seen so far who do a reasonably short induction flowed by an actual show with material have been Peter Powers and Ken Webster. Nearly every other UK hypnotist I've tried to see have cancelled their shows at short notice. Even Keith Barry from You're Back In The Room cancelled his UK tour. Twice.

Anyway, I know reviews have been positive when you actually do a show so I'll try to catch you in the Autumn.

Thanks guys Appreciate the kind words.

With my show, we always try to keep the time from me walking on-stage to the first comedy routine down to 25 minutes, but about 6 minutes of that is my pre-talk introduction at the beginning and 4 minutes is getting the volunteers, so the actual induction/deepener is around 15 minutes, which I think is okay. The public actually find it interesting to watch, if you do it right.

That leaves us a good 30 minutes for routines/suggestions in the first half to take it to 55 minutes and then a full 55-minute second half (including 10 mins to re-awaken and end the show).

For me, that's my favourite 'balance' for the show. It means they are actually seeing a total of 1 hr 20 of comedy routines + the interval shenanigans.

We hit that almost every night of the tour, give or take... there were a few nights where getting volunteers took a bit longer.

But I honestly take all feedback on-board and see how I can improve the show, even after 13 years of doing it!

The show takes what it takes.

The UK is a tough market. I'm not surprised many top hypnotists cancel some shows. Its a miracle they are still going. Hypnosis shows seem to work in only a few places in the UK. They aren't anywhere near as popular as they used to be.

It’s all about 6 facts.
You only have to see Rob Temple working for 2 mins to know that he can do this stuff. So we can put that to bed. It’s a fact.
Next we’re left with the UK market. It’s ****. That’s our second fact.
I’ll happily accept that Danny has a niche and is as successful
as he claims. Third fact.
Here in the UK it IS true that Powers and Webster are the only two names that come to mind that make decent bucks. Fourth fact.
However IF Rob Temple had a marketing group that sold him well he’d be just fine. I do believe that is the final fact. BUT hypnosis shows, because most hypnotists have been trained to be ****.... are ****. And THAT is the Fifth Fact..
Here in the UK hypnotists sold out hypnosis. 6th and final fact.

I agree with most of what Bob says. However the last fact isn't true. Over exposure too many killed hypnosis. But that was a generation or two ago. A whole generation have not seen hypnosis shows. There are other factors in play. For one young people don't go to traditional pubs as much as they used to. In fact most have been shut down or changed into trendy eating places. So there has been a huge culture change.I hated pub shows but that was a place to go see a hypnotist for a lot of people and it was an easy and usually free venue to set up.In fact I started doing pubs with function halls And could charge £600 back then was a lot of money. Late 80s early 90s. Nearing the end of the era the "circuit" was crawling with hypnotists who would work for as little as £60. And were pretty bad. Working men's clubs have also disappeared which was a big source of gigs for hypnotists and well paid. That leaves student unions that still employ hypnotists as far as I am aware. That leaves the bigger venues which are huge risks and expensive to promote. Also many big venues don't have the autonomy to make decisions about shows they put on and have to answer to a central office that charge through the nose for everything. Back in the golden age many managers of venues could make independent decisions and would support shows and help nurture them. I believe these are the main reasons. Hypnosis was always popular in a certain few types of venues. It was never part of the comedy club circuit over here. And would be even less popular with the liberal left PC comedians that play at these types of venues today.
Because people don't change that much.This generation would enjoy hypnosis shows if the conditions were right. Both Powers and Webster make all their dosh mainly at one venue. Which kinda supports what I am saying. Both tried touring since the end of the "golden era" and both didn't do too well. Venue is really important. Not taking anything away from both Powers and Webster who are top class hypnotists and deserve their ongoing success.

Well Bobser - I appreciate your kind words. It's genuinely humbling to hear that sort of thing.

(ALTHOUGH I pop myself into the category earning 'decent-enough bucks' from hypnosis shows, in the UK. ;-p)

With all of that said...

This theatre project came about because I genuinely believe the right hypnotist can start filling theatres again, when it's done right.

It's a long process and certainly a 3 year project to get it 'right'.

I do a lot of Universities, where I'm on-stage in front of 500-800 x 18-22 year olds and I can tell you that the vast majority have never seen a hypnosis show - and don't realise just how good it will be until they have seen it.

It's my job to educate people on just what a good night I can give them, and why they should spend £20 to get out and enjoy it.

So let's see where we stand after 2020's tour ;-).

Everything is cyclic Robert. Maybe your timing is right... lets see!