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rpierce Inner circle New Hampshire - USA 1220 Posts |
Having just returned from Anthony Jacquin's Headhacking in NYC, I am anxious to get out there and practice. You can read my review here;
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......rum=22#0 I would like to organize a group to go out to the streets of Boston and practice our craft. Groups build confidence and we can actually feed each other subjects. I know many of you were just like me, spending too much time thinking about it but not doing it. This is your chance. You know you need to do this. |
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rpierce Inner circle New Hampshire - USA 1220 Posts |
If you're in the Boston area and you read this, please PM me and tell me why you would or would not like to participate in this?
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mahucharn Elite user 418 Posts |
If only this were in California, I would totally come meet with you! I feel like I am also in your situation. I know lots of the techniques involved and taught in the Trilby Connection, but I haven't been confident enough to go out and try it on anyone.
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Owen Mc Ginty Special user not a stupid user, a special user. 533 Posts |
I´ve got a practice group going in the mean time, but I have to say that my original approach has proved to be more useful to me. Here´s what I did: (I was lucky enough to have a volunteer who I hypnotized)
Go to a bar with volunteers (friends of friends work better than friends, or just have someone fake it if you can´t get a proper volunteer). Sit AT THE BAR (not in a corner) and get some banter going with the bar staff. Do a card trick, coin trick, mentalism "effect" or anything else that might help arouse the interest of the bar staff. Then go into the hypnosis (or faking it) with your volunteer(s). Afterwards explain to the bar staff that you´re a hypnotist, and if anyone else in the bar would like to have a go you´ll happily oblige. You don´t have to go for full blown hypnosis, you can just do some suggestability tests and stop at that. On my first visit to the bar the bar staff were scared silly, but they were fascinated. On my second visit they got me a volunteer. On my third visit on saturday night they had a volunteer waiting for me as soon as I walked in the door. Later that night I had people queing up to be hypnotized. It might take a few visits, and maybe I got lucky with my selection of bar. My point is, don´t let not having a practice group hold you back. Pros of a practice group - you can learn from each other, and it´s good to bounce ideas around. Cons - I had to invest time in finding a bar I thought would be good to do this in, and "working the bar" to get to the stage it´s at now. I will invest more time in working other bars, then prospecting for gigs. If you´re getting into performance hypnosis then it might not be in your best interests to bring your competition into bars and have them hypnotizing people. Another con is that I imagine it´ll get rather boring hypnotizing the same limited number of people in your practice group all the time. I´d rather have fresh volunteers so that I can tweak my approach/induction/patter etc etc and have a "clean run" rather regularly. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
If you never fail, you're not trying hard enough.
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
What exactly are you "practicing" by doing this?
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
I believe there are rules about who can and can not perform at Faneuil Hall. I would tred carefully. I am not saying don't do it, I am not saying anything but to check into it.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Owen Mc Ginty Special user not a stupid user, a special user. 533 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-05-05 08:50, Dannydoyle wrote: In the practice group we see who responds to what, who is capable of manifesting what phenomenon, what induction techniques we can get to work, test different styles (maternal, paternal) and practice whatever we can really. We experiment. In the bar with the public what I´m practicing is how to progress, normally once a light or moderate trance state has been induced. I do suggestability tests and then see how to escalate phenomenon starting with ideomotor response. I´d like to establish a nice reliable structure for a stage show that I can follow so that I don´t end up dismissing subjects because I simply pushed them too hard. I suppose you could say I´m practicing how to structure an entertaining show?
If you never fail, you're not trying hard enough.
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rpierce Inner circle New Hampshire - USA 1220 Posts |
The goal is to practice the art of hypnosis, all aspiring hypnotists know what I'm talking about. At Anthonys Headhacking in NY we went out to Union Square to practice on the public. One of the issues hypnotists have is approaching people cold. A group gives you confidence, you can practice on one another just to get attention, a crowd quickly forms, then we can feed people to each other. The only way to become proficient is to do this over and over.
I know there are aspiring hypnotist out there in the Boston area, who know exactly what I'm talking about, nervous about it, always looking for the opportunity but never quite getting there. You guys know who I'm talking about and you know you need to do this. Step up, we'll all take the chance together. Owen - I've thought about the bar too, I just performed at a comedy club and I'm going to approach them about doing walk-around. |
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
I just don't understand this fascination with going up to strangers in public to attempt hypnosis. I know Anthony seems to be the biggest proponent of this under the guise of gaining confidence, but I must say I totally disagree for several reasons.
I also believe this can backfire. These guys go out with their chest out and attempt this. I don't care what you say, people approached are apprehensive, possible scared and definitely awkward - all which work against hypnosis success. Then when the demonstration fails instead but building confidence, the new hypnotist has embarassment, self-doubt, and failure in public. In my opinion this sets one up for failure. This greatly discredits the ability of the hypnotist and hypnosis itself. Not to mention my greatest cause for concern. Something that all of these younger newcomers will not understand. For years now, and I mean decades, generations, we have been fighting for credibility, respect and the proper understanding of hypnosis. Using this ambush street approach completely undoes and works against all credibility than has been established and fought for for years. It reduces hypnosis to "a cool trick" or "some kind of neat oddity" that you would experience from an old carnival barker or scammer on the midway. Doing this in a bar also only reduces the perception of this to a "bar trick". I have to believe if you want to attempt this style of hypnosis there are other ways to do this and gain the desired experience and confidence. Also where does this approach to street hypnosis lead to? Is the goal to become a stage hypnotist or just become competent at walking up to strangers and doing this? Is it just to add something else to your magic performance and abilities? If the desire of this to to become a stage performer and make a decent living performing hypnosis, there are many better ways to accomplish this. I was recently at a college campus where I witnessed and assisted a young newcomer take this and made it lead to a paid performance. Taking my advice quickly made $400.00 and is positioned to repeat this making the same or more each time. Now granted $400.00 isn't a lot of money compared to what a real stage hypnotist can make, but I'm pretty sure it's more than 95% of most street hypnosis performers make. It's also pretty good for a newbie college kid. I must say I am surprised in rpierce as in following his recent performances and his seemingly taking the professional high road, why are you resorting to this? This seems to be a step in the wrong direction and perhaps even backwards to the path you were taking. Especially knowing who and what you know. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-05-05 09:18, rpierce wrote: I don't think "aspiring hypnotists" should have anything to do with the practice. I think you can learn almost nothing about a stage show from this. But that is just me.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Owen Mc Ginty Special user not a stupid user, a special user. 533 Posts |
Hello Mindpro,
I liked your post and I agree with you on several points. This may be a step in the wrong direction for someone who is already accustomed to performing on stage. However, as I have no previous stage experience, I think maybe I should clarify a few points. I have no fascination with going up to strangers in public to hypnotize them, I merely want to improve my technique and acquire experience before progressing to paid gigs. you said: "people approached are apprehensive, possible scared and definitely awkward - all which work against hypnosis success." In my experience, if not 100% true, this is the truth in well over 90% of the cases I have encountered. This is exactly the reason I have gone for the strategy of trying to gain something of a reputation in a limited number of bars for being a hypnotist. At present it seems to build response potential, and has achieved my aim of having people approach me instead of asking random strangers if they´d like to be hypnotized. The biggest obstacle I found (after overcoming the fear of failure) was finding subjects to practice with. The learning curve has something of a double edged sword - your progress will be very slow unless you try new things. You will almost certainly have some failures when you try new things. For the moment I prefer to have a failure in a bar infront of a limited number of people instead of a failure on stage infront of several hundred. With any luck it will not be long before I´m performing paid gigs infront of several hundred people. I´m actively seeking gigs whilst gaining experience. I plan to use one bar as a kind of practice ground, and will only do a brief demo in any of the bars I visit looking for gigs. I´d love to hear about what helped your newcomer apprentice turn the gig into a $400 event, but I´ll understand if you don´t want to share the info. I have contemplated taking live training such as Anthonys or that offered by Jonathan Chase. As soon as I´m earning money with hypnosis I fully intend upon taking live training, but I´ve already invested money in books, DVD´s, and hiring a mentor. For me what it boils down to is wanting to become proficient before getting up on stage. I believe that if I get up on stage and am unprepared, it may well show and that this would do more harm to any possible professional future I might have (and to people like yourself who are seasoned pros). As enjoyable as I find the bar sessions, street hypnosis is not what I want to do. I´d love to fill theatres, concert halls etc with a stage hypnosis routine and have the cash pouring in. If anyone has any suggestions on how to go about doing this, then I´d absolutely love to hear them. I could be incorrect, but I think that Mr. Pierce also has a desire to grow his confidence. He´s even had live training with Anthony but wants to get out there and road test things a bit more before taking it to the stage. Are we barking up the wrong tree by wanting experience before we do this infront of large audiences? What are the "many better ways to accomplish this"? - I´ll settle for hearing just a few! I´m willing to try any decent suggestions and promise I´ll quit practicing in the bar if the suggestions are viable - afterall, if this turns into something I can earn money with, I´m not going to do it for free to entertain people at the drop of a hat.
If you never fail, you're not trying hard enough.
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rpierce Inner circle New Hampshire - USA 1220 Posts |
I for one, was not good at approaching strangers to practice with, I have no desire to pursue street hypnosis for its own sake.
I see hypnosis as a means to take my mentalism to the next level. I do not even like traditional stage hypnosis, its not for me. But blending mentalism with hypnotism seems to have unlimited potential, its the closest thing I have seen to my original inspiration of Derren Brown. If I was still in college, I would have ample subjects to work with. Now at 54, out in the professional world, I find it oddly inappropriate to introduce this with colleagues. The only way to become proficient at this is to practice, alot. I have very few opportunities to practice, very few. And as much as I dislike approaching strangers, I do not see many other good alternatives. That said, the methods taught by Anthony do not result in failure, maybe a reduced effect but the subjects have no idea where its going anyway and they do get some kind of experience, so its all a win. And I have the ultimate out by performing a mentalism effect. To conquer my own insecurities about approaching strangers I am pursuing the group approach. We can feed people to each other without having to approach them cold. Practice on each other to draw a crowd, and it does, I've seen it. I know there are critics out there of Street Hypnosis, I know ultimately it is not for me, I am just hungry for experience and I do not see many other alternatives that would not potentially tarnish my life in the professional world. I am very open to suggestions, please, bring them on, I need all the help I can get |
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Owen Mc Ginty Special user not a stupid user, a special user. 533 Posts |
I should have written "As soon as I´m earning money with hypnosis I fully intend upon taking MORE live training".
If you never fail, you're not trying hard enough.
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mindpunisher Inner circle 6132 Posts |
>>>That said, the methods taught by Anthony do not result in failure, maybe a reduced effect but the subjects have no idea where its going anyway and they do get some kind of experience, so its all a win. And I have the ultimate out by performing a mentalism effect.<<<
What exactly do you class as success? I would read mindpro's post again I think he makes some good points. I can't see the fascination with approaching strangers or any real benefit for a professional performer. It doesn't look or come over professional and the results are pretty naff. Its playing at being "the hypnotist". |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-05-05 11:40, Owen Mc Ginty wrote: I can not speak for Mindrpo, would never try, but I think much of what many of us are thinking can be summed up in "BEFORE you start making money wity hypnosis is when you will need live training". I wonder what gives people the right to go out and just ambush unsuspecting people and try to hypnotise them? What do you fellas plan to do if someone is injured while one of your test subjects? It WILL happen. It is only a matter of time. Then what? Anyone ever think of this? Just curious.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Pakar Ilusi Inner circle 5777 Posts |
I say, better go do a Strolling Show...
In the guise of Mentalism or whatnot... Then, they PAY you to do it. And you'll even have the proper "Authority".
"Dreams aren't a matter of Chance but a matter of Choice." -DC-
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Owen Mc Ginty Special user not a stupid user, a special user. 533 Posts |
I´ve had live training.
Maybe the problem is my limiting belief that one set of live training sessions is not everything that´s needed to go out and start doing stage shows? Like I said, I´ve studied books, I´ve watched DVD´s, I´ve had live training, and I´m practicing as much as I can. I´m think I´m rather careful with regards to health and safety. If I´d done none of that and gone out and started doing street hypnosis, I think criticism would be bucketing down on me from most of the experienced guys here on the forum. I´m not ambushing anyone, I´m getting volunteers approaching me. I get the impression that people think this approach for gaining experience is irresponsible and dangerous. I´m not challenging anybody in their views, I´m just asking what alternative they propose. And please don´t say "live training" (I´m of the opinion that live training is the best way to learn) unless of course you have experience of one of these courses and fully believe that the course alone is all you need before pulling off a full blown stage act.
If you never fail, you're not trying hard enough.
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
A mentor.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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rpierce Inner circle New Hampshire - USA 1220 Posts |
I've read many books, viewed at least 50 dvds all on hypnosis, just had live training and successfully hypnotised subjects under guidance. Does this make me a professional hypnotist, absolutely not. It does give me a foundation to go out and learn thru practice.
I have yet to hear any good alternatives for gaining experience. One of the principals of performing hypnosis is absolute confidence, you cannot present yourself as a student needing practice, you have to be The Hypnotist. We need willing subjects, it cannot be a practice session, it always has to be the real deal. To those critics out there, how would you propose gaining experience, certainly not a stage show before you're ready? We need people from somewhere? where would you suggest? To answer the question above about what constitutes an experience..........magnetic fingers works for 95% of the public and to most, that is an experience, something most do not expect, I know mentalists that do that as part of their show as a prelude to an effect. |
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Mindpro Eternal Order 10587 Posts |
Okay let me first address Owen's above post as promised, then some of the others that followed since I'm being asked. This may be long but you asked for it.
[quote]On 2011-05-05 11:08, Owen Mc Ginty wrote: "I have no previous stage experience, I think maybe I should clarify a few points. I have no fascination with going up to strangers in public to hypnotize them, I merely want to improve my technique and acquire experience before progressing to paid gigs." Then why do it? If street hypnosis is not where you're ultimately heading why bother? Why learn bad techniques and habits that you will more than likely have to change when actually starting to do stage hypnosis? This has, in reality, very few similarities and very little experience as related to stage hypnosis. I can understand wanting to work on your technique and gain live experience but there are other, better and more true to what is stage hypnosis is ways of doing this. (I know you're asking what - more on that in a moment) "This is exactly the reason I have gone for the strategy of trying to gain something of a reputation in a limited number of bars for being a hypnotist. At present it seems to build response potential, and has achieved my aim of having people approach me instead of asking random strangers if they´d like to be hypnotized. The biggest obstacle I found (after overcoming the fear of failure) was finding subjects to practice with." While I understand what you are saying as I said there are more direct related means of getting what you are trying to achieve but in the proper vein. You are still doing an informal, unstructured impromptu performance in a bar. And I'm sure with failure, which can ultimately be more damaging to your perception, image and reputation as a hypnotic performer than by utilizing other means more specific to what you are trying to achieve. "I´d love to hear about what helped your newcomer apprentice turn the gig into a $400 event, but I´ll understand if you don´t want to share the info." You are correct I prefer not to share this on an open forum. I teach it as part of my coaching and consulting and choose to keep for those using my services. What I will say as to how to gain the experience, is to change you way of thinking in your approach to doing this. Ask yourself "what am I ultimately trying to achieve?" Things like - safely and properly hypnotizing a group on willing volunteers, getting them to the desired levels for the ultimate response to what I'm trying to achieve, selecting good, responsive and animated subjects that will respond as you desire, people that will be good, serious subjects willing to experience hypnosis, creating a pretalk that establishes you, builds trust and positions yourself as you desire, possible testing, and induction that is BOTH effective to what you're trying to achieve AND entertaining to the audience, showcasing the process (I feel very an important element for any great performance - it must be entertaining and fascinating to the audience), a performance set of progressive routines (also called skits by some), possible deepening, your stage personna and presence, the overall flow of your show, what/who is you desired target audience and subjects, etc. I could go on and on. But it all starts with your ability to hypnotize one person first. This is the initial foundation to anything else that follows. After you've hypnotized several people confidently and consistently, then proceed on to a more group dynamic. (the proper live training can help you here) Once you identified these things then stop and think of a situation that you can create where you can include these elements. Not in a bar, not on the street, this is how magicians do it, not stage hypnotists. You want to control and maintain as many of these elements as possible (leaving room for Mr. Murphy and his laws). The elements in a bar or the streets are ultimately working against you. I have in the past offered at least three ideas and methods for doing exactly what I am talking about. Newbies should also do their own research learn how to use the search function here as many great ideas such as these have been discussed by myself and many other experienced, working stage hypnotists. "With any luck it will not be long before I´m performing paid gigs infront of several hundred people. I´m actively seeking gigs whilst gaining experience. I plan to use one bar as a kind of practice ground, and will only do a brief demo in any of the bars I visit looking for gigs." It has nothing to do with luck. Don't fool yourself, this type of bar stuff rarely if ever leads to a paying gig at the venue. They will perceive you as the guy who just does cool stuff for free or for a few free drinks. This thinking is that of a magician. Again, this discredits you more than anything else. Think for a moment if you were a patron at a bar who wanted to hire a stage hypnotist for your teen graduates graduation party or your company holiday party. Would you want to hire this guy that seems to only have moderate success in an unprofessional or informal setting? Whatever price you set for yourself, others will not see your value if they've been seeing it informally for free. They'll trust their event to a perceived professional performer. It is for this exact reason that if anyone before or following a show asks me to hypnotize them or if I'm doing a mentalism or memory show, to "do one quick thing for me, my answer is always an immediate NO! I am a stage performer, come to the show, or come to the show and volunteer if you're truly interested. "For me what it boils down to is wanting to become proficient before getting up on stage. I believe that if I get up on stage and am unprepared, it may well show and that this would do more harm to any possible professional future I might have (and to people like yourself who are seasoned pros)." You are correct that's exactly why you need to gain real stage-related experience with the elements that will be part of your stage show. If you're interest was in becoming a world-class specialist in detailing cars, you wouldn't begin by being a maid or cleaning someone's home or office would you? Yes, on the most basic of surfaces they are both "cleaning" related, but in reality cleaning homes or office and practically nothing to do with detailing cars, so why waste your time? Put you time and efforts into the thing or direction you are trying to obtain. The same is true if you are desiring to be a clinical hypnotherapist. Yes it's hypnosis, and some of the basics are the same, but other than that they are completely different. The vast majority of CHT's that attempt to do a stage show are TERRIBLE! My office hears about this on a daily basis. I can't tell you how many clients rued to hire a CHT last year for their event to be terribly disappointed, only to this year be willing to spend the money on a real stage hypnotist. Yes, they may know hypnosis, but that in no way qualifies then to be a entertaining stage hypnotist. "As enjoyable as I find the bar sessions, street hypnosis is not what I want to do. I´d love to fill theatres, concert halls etc with a stage hypnosis routine and have the cash pouring in. If anyone has any suggestions on how to go about doing this, then I´d absolutely love to hear them. If stage is your goal then pursue stage hypnosis. Don't be confused or misled that street hypnosis is some version of stage hypnosis, it's not. One method that I will offer is to intern, shadow and get involved with a performing stage hypnotist. Trust me you will learn more by doing this than any other means. Get a mentor as Danny and others (including myself) have said before. Once they feel you are ready (and don't rush it) they may be willing to incorporate you into their show by doing a segment of the induction or a performance segment or two. This offers the best of both worlds, gaining fantastic hands-on experience on stage before a real audience with real subjects. Ultimately it will probably lead you to paid bookings from the stage hypnotist or at the least introduce you to contacts that you can utilize when ready. Remember there is sooooo much more to a good stage hypnotist and stage hypnosis show than meets they eye. Once you're in the thick of it, you realize how you're street hypnosis experience has little or nothing to do with it. Now to address some of the other posts... Owen said "I´ve had live training. Maybe the problem is my limiting belief that one set of live training sessions is not everything that´s needed to go out and start doing stage shows? Like I said, I´ve studied books, I´ve watched DVD´s, I´ve had live training, and I´m practicing as much as I can." Has your training been STAGE HYPNOSIS training? So many of the questions asked here are so easily answered if you've taken actual stage hypnosis training. Perhaps your live training was not that good of a program? Is it the proper training for what you're trying to achieve? Don't cut corners on your training as it is the foundation for all of your success (or failures!) It seems that many here are saying they're really not interested in street hypnosis but do it for some kind of training and experience. This is something I've always suspected, but I'll add even more to this. I think many are attracted to this because it's a quick way of gaining what "appears" to be hypnosis and it is a cheap alternative to the actual training you're ultimately seeking. It's also very similar to the way magicians learn and do things. I've said it hundreds of times but since many are new here, hypnosis is not a trick or an effect. You must not approach hypnosis as you would magic or mentalism or from a magicians mentality or you are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment. My advice is to focus your mindset, thoughts and concentration (hypnosis!) and efforts into the things that are stage hypnosis related, but ONLY AFTER you have the foundation to hypnosis down and mastered. Take a clinical hypnosis training first to learn hypnosis. Then take the stage hypnosis training to take the skills, knowledge and experience you have gained to learn how to combine them to create a stage hypnosis show. By doing this you can also have what you need to sell BOR later as part of your show (If you don't know what BOR is don't ask - search and research). You see if you want to be a stage hypnotist you must approach things and think like a stage hypnotist. You can't achieve what you can't conceive. It's crazy to think that you can just study stage hypnosis quickly and expect to be on stage doing paid gigs. It's a process. A process that requires commitment, patience, education, application and a learning process, which is why most that are seeking a quick fix drop out quickly to never be heard of again. Doing magnetic fingers to a group of passerbys is not hypnosis. |
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