Thoughts on Hypnotism, Hypnosis, etc., Stage or Otherwise
Oct 31, 2017 4:18:56 GMT
rateater and hardball like this
Post by Nalkarj on Oct 31, 2017 4:18:56 GMT
hi224 , mecano04 , MCDemuth , shannondegroot , Feologild Oakes, et al.
A few confessions up-front: I don't usually believe in stage hypnosis (which stage hypnotist and skeptic Kreskin referred to as "hypnotism"; I'll refer to it by the same term), instead believing it to be a combination of ordinary suggestion, peer pressure, and acting (whether by instant stooges [linking it with "ordinary suggestion," albeit probably whispered or at least spoken sotto voce] or plants). Just to make my own prejudices on this topic clear!
I recently attended a hypnotist show by a young magician, mentalist, and hypnotist named Chris Jones--and Mr. Jones's show, I am sorry to say, did nothing to alter my thoughts. With that said, there is a small bit (albeit not in the show I saw) that I cannot explain.
Jones's is a fairly ordinary hypnotism act to which I was looking forward; I've gone to all kinds of magicians, mentalists, fortune-tellers, psychics, etc., and enjoyed the acts even when I was skeptical of some rather silly claims. I arrived early with the hope of being chosen as a volunteer, and I was quickly chosen. (Jones also asked for suggestions for acts in the show, but unfortunately he didn't use any of the suggestions and stuck to his script.)
Well, when I got on-stage, I was asked to make my mind blank (and all the usual material); Jones uses a method in which the volunteers imagines a balloon raising his right hand and a brick weighing down his left hand, all while trying to sleep. I visualized both objects and let myself go into a meditative state, following his voice. His voice (which, I could hear, was both his actual speaking and his recorded voice emanating from the speakers) stated that each of us would forget his or her name when he snapped his fingers. He did so, and I opened my eyes and looked around to see my fellow volunteers coming out of their "trances."
He asked the first person; she mumbled, "Potato." Everybody laughed. The next volunteer, a man, just said, "Uhhh...," and looked glassy-eyed, like a voodoo zombie. Eventually, Jones arrived at me. I told him my name, and he said, "Uh, OK, well, it doesn't work on everyone." He went to the next person and asked her her name, and she responded accurately as well. Then he told both of us to step down, neither of us was needed in the show any more. Well.
I put my skepticism on hold for a while because it genuinely seemed that some of the volunteers (other than yours truly and the woman who had been sitting next to me, of course) were in a truly hypnotic state. If they were acting, instant stooge or not (I believed Jones's contention that none of them were plants--not even necessary, and he wouldn't have chosen me or that other volunteer), they were doing a remarkably convincing job. Then, about halfway through the show, I detected a lot of eye movement and laughing. The act became far sillier, asking the volunteers to do far more ridiculous things that even genuine clinical hypnosis could not command. I am completely convinced that all of them were acting at that moment.
To be frank, however, I don't know if Jones had at least some of them in some kind of "hypnotic trance" prior to that halfway point, though. I would think not, but the pre- and post-halfway point state seemed completely different; before that, they all acted as if in a genuine daze, and none did anything too wild.
The bit to which I referred before is not that, however, which can be explained away by stating that I was fooled, plain and simple (entirely possible). It's this act that Jones did on the television program America's Got Talent (which I do not watch, the reason I'd never before heard of Jones; I looked up this clip afterwards):
Howie Mandel, one of the hosts, suffers from clinically-diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder, complicated by severe germophobia; Jones hypnotized him into shaking hands. While I don't trust "reality competition shows" a priori, I don't believe that Mandel is "faking" the disorder or his psychological inability to shake hands, as such a hoax would have involved years of planning and coordination with Jones. It's something that I can't explain.
So--well, I know I've gone on too long, but the topic interests me... Your thoughts?
A few confessions up-front: I don't usually believe in stage hypnosis (which stage hypnotist and skeptic Kreskin referred to as "hypnotism"; I'll refer to it by the same term), instead believing it to be a combination of ordinary suggestion, peer pressure, and acting (whether by instant stooges [linking it with "ordinary suggestion," albeit probably whispered or at least spoken sotto voce] or plants). Just to make my own prejudices on this topic clear!
I recently attended a hypnotist show by a young magician, mentalist, and hypnotist named Chris Jones--and Mr. Jones's show, I am sorry to say, did nothing to alter my thoughts. With that said, there is a small bit (albeit not in the show I saw) that I cannot explain.
Jones's is a fairly ordinary hypnotism act to which I was looking forward; I've gone to all kinds of magicians, mentalists, fortune-tellers, psychics, etc., and enjoyed the acts even when I was skeptical of some rather silly claims. I arrived early with the hope of being chosen as a volunteer, and I was quickly chosen. (Jones also asked for suggestions for acts in the show, but unfortunately he didn't use any of the suggestions and stuck to his script.)
Well, when I got on-stage, I was asked to make my mind blank (and all the usual material); Jones uses a method in which the volunteers imagines a balloon raising his right hand and a brick weighing down his left hand, all while trying to sleep. I visualized both objects and let myself go into a meditative state, following his voice. His voice (which, I could hear, was both his actual speaking and his recorded voice emanating from the speakers) stated that each of us would forget his or her name when he snapped his fingers. He did so, and I opened my eyes and looked around to see my fellow volunteers coming out of their "trances."
He asked the first person; she mumbled, "Potato." Everybody laughed. The next volunteer, a man, just said, "Uhhh...," and looked glassy-eyed, like a voodoo zombie. Eventually, Jones arrived at me. I told him my name, and he said, "Uh, OK, well, it doesn't work on everyone." He went to the next person and asked her her name, and she responded accurately as well. Then he told both of us to step down, neither of us was needed in the show any more. Well.
I put my skepticism on hold for a while because it genuinely seemed that some of the volunteers (other than yours truly and the woman who had been sitting next to me, of course) were in a truly hypnotic state. If they were acting, instant stooge or not (I believed Jones's contention that none of them were plants--not even necessary, and he wouldn't have chosen me or that other volunteer), they were doing a remarkably convincing job. Then, about halfway through the show, I detected a lot of eye movement and laughing. The act became far sillier, asking the volunteers to do far more ridiculous things that even genuine clinical hypnosis could not command. I am completely convinced that all of them were acting at that moment.
To be frank, however, I don't know if Jones had at least some of them in some kind of "hypnotic trance" prior to that halfway point, though. I would think not, but the pre- and post-halfway point state seemed completely different; before that, they all acted as if in a genuine daze, and none did anything too wild.
The bit to which I referred before is not that, however, which can be explained away by stating that I was fooled, plain and simple (entirely possible). It's this act that Jones did on the television program America's Got Talent (which I do not watch, the reason I'd never before heard of Jones; I looked up this clip afterwards):
Howie Mandel, one of the hosts, suffers from clinically-diagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder, complicated by severe germophobia; Jones hypnotized him into shaking hands. While I don't trust "reality competition shows" a priori, I don't believe that Mandel is "faking" the disorder or his psychological inability to shake hands, as such a hoax would have involved years of planning and coordination with Jones. It's something that I can't explain.
So--well, I know I've gone on too long, but the topic interests me... Your thoughts?
