Picture this—it’s your first night, your first show and in just a few minutes you face a five hundred-seat venue. You’re a topsy-turvy mixture of nervous excitement and anxious energy waiting to perform… hopeful that all goes well.
Perhaps you’re even feeling a little sick, don’t worry this is nerves. Trust me—it will get worse before it gets better. And it will invariably vanish as you get into performing your show.
You’ve arrived at the venue. Everything has been double checked and re-checked. The clock’s ticking… 20 minutes to show time.
But wait.
One of the most important parts of the hypnosis show is before it starts. You can save yourself a lot of time and hassle by arriving at the venue the day before is it’s far out-of-town. You don’t want jet lag or tiredness to interfere. So, always factor in costs related to an early arrival. Some venues won’t pay fee plus expenses, others will. But always ask and quote accordingly.
If the venue is local, get there early in the day whenever possible. Check out the stage, the location of power outlets, get a feel for the space. This will cause you later on to feel comfortable and familiar with the venue, even if it’s your first time there.
Now, if it’s a place you’ve performed in before then I urge you to arrive no more no and no less than 30 minutes before the show starts.
And for every venue, it’s helpful to get there early in the day and do a sound check and locate the back or side entrance for the talent (you!), the back-stage restroom and/or place to change into your performance clothes. (You mustn’t come in the front door and walk through the crowd in uniform, so to speak because you want your entrance to be first and foremost on stage.
Once there and early the day of the show, test your sound and music playing equipment out with the place’s the sound system. Get up on and walk the stage, get a feel for it, and imagine yourself performing in front of all the people as you complete the sound check. And most of all imagine that today, tonight, in this place as you familiarize yourself with it, you are going to have a winning, successful show! Imagine it—expect it and you will experience it!
Working with the DJ / Sound Person
Great! Now you’re at the venue talking to the sound or DJ guy. Your equipment checks out fine. All is well. Now comes the moment when you’ve got to engage that person to do your sound. And by sound I mean cueing your music and playing it at the right time, on your cue.
Now, what I do is I have my routines typed out in LARGE, BOLD PRINT so that it’s easy to see at a glance under poor lighting conditions. I recommend that you put your ‘routine / cue sheet’ in a plastic sleeve (front to back) like you find in office supplies stores so that the inevitable spilt drink doesn’t destroy your papers. My cue sheet is on two pieces of paper, in just such a plastic sleeve, so that the sound person can easily read and handle it, on both sides.
Go over your routines, especially the first three and agree upon a signal from you to whomever, when to fire off the music and when to cut or stop it. I use a direct look at them and a quick nod of my head as my signal to play the music. I also tell them what I typically say when I’m about to end a musically aided routine—such as: ‘all right… good… STOP…’ or the equivalent.
Chairs for the Volunteers
I always ask for at least 10 and as many as 25, but don’t always get, ARMLESS, straight-back chairs. NO FOLDING or PLASTIC LAWN-TYPE CHAIRS, depending on the venue, which is why I strive to check out the place every time, even if I’ve been there before because things change, places are remodelled.
I prefer to set the chairs up on stage myself early in the day when I’m the only act. Or arrange them at the ready back stage, behind the curtain, if possible so there aren’t any troubling surprises.
An Alex Duvall Key Success Factor
Set the row(s) of chairs on the stage in a slight curve AND separate them by at least the width of your hand (if space is tight) or (better still) the width of your legs standing between each chair (again, if space permits). The reason behind this, in my experience, is that you don’t want the movements of the people you’ll ask to leave after the induction and/or during the first, critical to success routines, to bother or disturb the remaining volunteers. So, chair type and placement on stage are both important and can help or hinder the hypnotisability, albeit in a small way, of the volunteers and the unfolding show.
A Short and True Side Story
One time I was performing my stage show in a forgettable place, and I had asked for volunteers to come up on stage. To my surprise for this place I got more than enough people to hypnotize. However, in that group I also got two village-idiot types. Now, I didn’t know they where card-carrying village idiots because it was not stamped on their heads either, but I was sure ready to stamp it on their heads forcefully after the show.
Here’s what happened. Most of the volunteers went quickly (as is my style and technique) into hypnosis and they where all leaning on each others’ shoulders in their chairs… very relaxed, very comfortable. So far, so good… or so I thought. Until all of a sudden one of the both of the village idiots who were in cahoots, jumped up and out of their chairs and shouted loudly together to all present, “Ha! I knew you could not hypnotist me!”
Well, because the stage CHAIRS WERE TOO CLOSE together the other people were GOT BUMPED AND KNOCKED and STARTLED. And there idiocy caused a domino effect, such that one volunteer after the next, woke up, stood up and said, ‘It’s not working…..”
The reasons why I lost most of the volunteers that night are 1) the chairs were too close to each other, and 2) each got jostled and could hear the village idiot pals scream, “I am not hypnotized.”
An Alex Duvall Key Success Factor
As you learn to recognize the village idiots amongst your volunteers, get rid of them early. Even if your gut gives you the feeling that someone is going to be a problem, get rid of them before you do the induction.
However, if you don’t catch them straightaway then get everybody on stage to close their eyes and then grab hold of the person’s hand whom you want off stage and pull them towards you so they stand up, and quickly whisper in their ear ‘thanks for coming up but your not hypnotized’ and, still holding their wrist or hand, lead them off the stage. Remember, you’re the boss, you’re in charge, YOU are the professional stage hypnotist.
Another way to go it to get the best volunteers identified and seated. And all the people that you are going to weed out of the show have them stand up. I tell them that you I’m also going to hypnotize them and that I just want them to stand up during the induction. And then, as I proceed with my rapid, sure-fire induction, I’ll tap most if not all on the shoulder and say, ‘leave, please, thank you’. (More on this later, so keep reading!)
Hitting the Boards
Hitting the boards is an old vaudeville term for walking on stage. Now, following your marvelous, crowd arousing introduction (more about this later) the instant, the very moment that you walk on stage the audience (and venue personnel) are sizing you up, judging you, rolling over in their collective minds whether or not you seem to fit their pre-conceived notion of a hypnotist… so, regardless, bound lively onto the stage, big smile… and speak slowly, confidently and have fun!
KSF Reminder
Avoid coffee, stay away from the bar before the show (don’t hang around the bar waiting to go on because people will think you’re a lush), don’t drink alcohol before the show, don’t smoke cigarettes—not a one before the show, and don’t eat foods with strong, smelly flavors like garlic that can and will affect your breath… and the volunteers’ perception of and responsiveness to you—the master stage hypnotist. Being a pro starts with acting like a pro.
Another Side ‘Bar’ Story
A friend and fellow stage hypnotist, BLAZE, told me that many years ago he saw the famous and younger comic, Rodney Dangerfield, live at his own club “Dangerfield’s” in New York City, New York, USA.
The club’s stage was small and close to the bar. A few warm-up comics readied the audience for Rodney, the bug-eyed comic, best known for his self-mocking line, “I don’t get no respect,” was scheduled to entertain at midnight. Well, as the bewitching hour arrived, from where my friend sat, in primo seats with an unobstructed view of the stage and the bar area, he and his “blonde squeeze” at that time, watched in surprise as the bartender pours and Rodney slam back liquid courage and downed several bar glasses full of straight hard liquor—one right after the next—bang, bang, bang—as the house announcer was introducing Dangerfield.
The affects of that alcohol became apparent as Rodney did his memorable and outrageous stand-up ADULT comedy act. He became raunchier, wittier, and looser but he slurred his words.
Now, neither you nor I am in Dangerfield’s league. And neither of us wants or needs a drinking problem, either. Right?
Ok, so now it’s your time, the moment you have been waiting for—your first show. You’ve practiced and rehearsed everything down cold. You’re ready and anxious to get on stage and get it over with.
So, too, is your audience waiting anxiously for you—the stage hypnotist. They have been discussing your show and perhaps your appearance over beers, meals at restaurants around the venue, with friends. And, they have been debating whether they can be hypnotized or not, and if they are going to volunteer.
Key Success Factor—Practice
No one needs to know that this is your first show. NEVER tell anyone that it’s your first time on stage because perception is reality. Tell no one associated with the venue that fact. You might think they’ll appreciate your honesty, but you’ll damage their perception of you as an entertainer.
Accept the fact that no people don’t want to see and especially pay to see an amateur. People want a professional entertainer. Professionals practice so that they don’t make amateurish mistakes. The way I look at it is this, because you’ve practiced and rehearsed, rehearsed and practiced, regardless of doing it alone or for family or friends, you’ve actually performed your show from opening to close so many times before this event, and that you’ve gone over and over everything you’ll say and do, each suggestion… and so on, this public show ought to feel familiar to you like you’ve done it before, which, in essence you have… so neither think of this public show as your first show, nor tell anyone that it is your first public show.
great info. thanks for sharing.