My first attempt in Hypnosis

[Tobelli]

Hello my name is Tobelli!

On Sunday I am finally attempting my first Hypnosis!

So I finally found a subject that is willing to let me hypnotize him.
He is one of my closest friends and is highly impressed by my skills: I performed lots of magic to him. Hence he is absolutely willing to go into hypnosis.
I told him that I am going to improve his confidence and concentration skills. That is why he agreed.


So I am going to outline what my program is and beg you to criticize it and answer my questions, so without further ado, her it is:

1. I am going to perform a card trick: choses any card and I am then, thanks to my "psychich abilities" going to reveal it to him"..this trick is in my opinion stronger and cleaner than Kolossal Killer

2. Now I start to talk about Hypnosis.
I beg him to switch his phone off
I fire up his expecatations and imagination
I ask him a few questions to which he continuosly has to answer with "yes"
I explain to him that I am just a guide that brings him to hypnosis in order to reach the goals HE wishes to achieve

3. I start with a few setpieces, saying that they are merely exercises and that I am not YET going to hypnotize him.

- Magnetic Fingers
- Magnetic Hands
- Cataleptic Arm
- Cataleptic legs (i block his legs with a physical trickery like in magnetic fingers)
- Eyelock (RIP Additional Booklet 1 Page 11; I believe this could be really convincing)

I congratulate him on his phantasy and explain that he is very suggestible to hypnosis.

4. Induction
I ask whether he has any health issues
I ask for permission to hypnotize him and if he really is sure!

- Handshake Induction

Then I am going to proceed with deepening the status and using the suggestions to help him becoming more confident.


How does this sound to you?
Do you think I will be all right?
Any subleties I could add?

I am very confident and I am THE HYPNOTIST, but still I think that perhaps I could use a Dave Elman Induction, a very slow induction instead of using a rapid one? Would I be more successful?

Thank you!

[Don]

Hi, Tobelli, and welcome to our site. Although we are more oriented toward hypnotherapy rather than stage hypnosis, I'd like to respond to your proposed performance.

Preface: Working with friends when you are starting can be difficult because they know you as a friend, not as a hypnotist. Stage hypnosis is a numbers game. The more people you have to work with the more likely you are to have success with some of them. Starting off with one in the way you describe may be challenging, so whatever the result, don't give up!

1) There is no reason to begin with a magic trick. Besides, in my opinion KK (and similar effects) are much better as outs than as effects by themselves. In this case, it can also give a false "I'm in power and have special abilities" impression, cause fear, and result in a more challenging experience on your part.

2) Firing him with anticipation is great for stage hypnosis, especially when you have a large audience and you need to encourage that type of energy. There's not much of a need to do it here--he already knows and agrees that you're going to hypnotize him. Instead, briefly overcome any misunderstandings he may have about hypnosis and ask if he's ready for fun. Forget the "I'm just a guide" stuff.

3) These are what we refer to as "tests," not set pieces. The set pieces are more the stunts that are done after a person is hypnotized as part of stage hypnosis. One or two is all you need in this situation.

4) Are you SURE you know how to do a handshake induction? I mean 100% positive? If not, you begin with a fail and that can have negative impact on your future development as a hypnotist.

The problem with rapid inductions for entertainment hypnosis is that they result in light trances and require deepening almost instantly. Do you know how to do deepening? You say that the Elman induction is "very slow," but in reality, it should take no longer to achieve a deep trance for stage work using the Elman than it does to use a Handshake induction followed by deepening.

You say you want to give suggestions for confidence. That's great. However, I have no idea what your suggestions will be. Not only that, but if you don't know what his needs are, it's possible that suggesting confidence in certain ways will actually result in him questioning his own confidence and having the opposite result.

Possessing the attitude of being THE HYPNOTIST as Anthony described in RIP is a great idea and can enhance success.

After the induction is when you should do some set pieces such as forgetting a number, having a different name, etc.

Oh, and you forgot one thing in your post: you need to bring him OUT of hypnosis too!