Review | Hypnolarious
February 21st 2010 01:03
:
Review | Hypnolarious
Hypnolarious
CAOS CAFE 188 Hindley Street, ADELAIDE
When Matt Lucas of of Little Brittan created Kenny Craig the hypnotist he may have been thinking of a Timothy Pratt show. Once upon a time the whole art and showmanship of hypnosis on a stage was very popular.
On his website, Adam Night, a UK based hypnotist offers some insight into the history of the stage hypnotist & hypnosis shows.
People often imagine mysterious hypnotist figures popularised in films, books and on TV. A strange man with an even stranger goatee beard swings his pocket watch backwards and forwards, guiding his victims into a sleepy, zombie like state. Once hypnotised, the subject are forced to obey his every command, no matter how strange or immoral the things he suggests. Muttering Yes, master, the subject then does the stage hypnotists evil bidding. This is often known as the Svengali effect (after the character depicted in the 'George Du Maurier' novel 'Trilby').
This popular characterisation has little resemblance to actual hypnotism or stage hypnotism, of course. In truth, present day knowledge of hypnosis opposes this on several important points. Hypnotised volunteers are not slaves to their 'master' - they do have complete free will (and are able to refuse ANY suggestions they choose). Plus they are not actually in a semisleep like state, they are actually hyper-attentive.
It is thought that Hypnosis was first being used before history records can show. There are drawings, pictures and reports of people in lands such as Egypt, Africa, India and Australia using rhythmical chants, strained fixation and monotonous drum beats to gain entrance into a form of 'trance state'. This would happen frequently during things like a 'religious ceremony' or a 'healing ceremony'. Even though it appears that a form of 'hypnotic state' was used back in those times, it wasn't given the name of 'hypnosis' until 1842, when a Scottish surgeon called James Braid (1775-1860) took the Greek word hypno with means to sleep and coined the term hypnosis.
Timothy Pratt is brave, he does all he can to draw his live audience in and come along on a journey that may or may not work. Not everyone is susceptible to hypnosis, but a certain amount of people are.
On a Friday night at the end of a hot and busy week working in the Caos Cafe on Hindley Street, trying to figure out which members of the audience have gone into a trance and fallen under Pratt's spell compared with those who are simply bushed and dosing off because of the subdued lights and ethereal music is only part of his challenge.
It is a very fascinating thing to watch, and may be a little taxing in terms of calling it entertainment depending on the delivery and the mood. Pratt works fast and furiously, keeping his show friendly with a few jokes that sound a little stale but do not offend. The subjects who do go into a trance and enact silly activities are fun to observe and everything runs relatively smoothly.
I would not say it is strictly a brilliantly entertaining show as such, he does do some good magic at the start, but essentially it is a process of getting people under, keeping them under and demonstrating that they are under. Having said that, it really is fun, but you do need to be someone willing to watch and wait, rather than expect a laugh a minute.
If you want a laugh a minute and are an impatient audience maybe Hypnolarious is not for you, but there are other shows in this great venue to select from.
A great deal must depend on the attending audience, but it certainly was impressive and engaging at times and would be a fine night out for the family.
David Jobling
CAOS CAFE 188 Hindley Street, ADELAIDE
When Matt Lucas of of Little Brittan created Kenny Craig the hypnotist he may have been thinking of a Timothy Pratt show. Once upon a time the whole art and showmanship of hypnosis on a stage was very popular.
On his website, Adam Night, a UK based hypnotist offers some insight into the history of the stage hypnotist & hypnosis shows.
People often imagine mysterious hypnotist figures popularised in films, books and on TV. A strange man with an even stranger goatee beard swings his pocket watch backwards and forwards, guiding his victims into a sleepy, zombie like state. Once hypnotised, the subject are forced to obey his every command, no matter how strange or immoral the things he suggests. Muttering Yes, master, the subject then does the stage hypnotists evil bidding. This is often known as the Svengali effect (after the character depicted in the 'George Du Maurier' novel 'Trilby').
This popular characterisation has little resemblance to actual hypnotism or stage hypnotism, of course. In truth, present day knowledge of hypnosis opposes this on several important points. Hypnotised volunteers are not slaves to their 'master' - they do have complete free will (and are able to refuse ANY suggestions they choose). Plus they are not actually in a semisleep like state, they are actually hyper-attentive.
It is thought that Hypnosis was first being used before history records can show. There are drawings, pictures and reports of people in lands such as Egypt, Africa, India and Australia using rhythmical chants, strained fixation and monotonous drum beats to gain entrance into a form of 'trance state'. This would happen frequently during things like a 'religious ceremony' or a 'healing ceremony'. Even though it appears that a form of 'hypnotic state' was used back in those times, it wasn't given the name of 'hypnosis' until 1842, when a Scottish surgeon called James Braid (1775-1860) took the Greek word hypno with means to sleep and coined the term hypnosis.
Timothy Pratt is brave, he does all he can to draw his live audience in and come along on a journey that may or may not work. Not everyone is susceptible to hypnosis, but a certain amount of people are.
On a Friday night at the end of a hot and busy week working in the Caos Cafe on Hindley Street, trying to figure out which members of the audience have gone into a trance and fallen under Pratt's spell compared with those who are simply bushed and dosing off because of the subdued lights and ethereal music is only part of his challenge.
It is a very fascinating thing to watch, and may be a little taxing in terms of calling it entertainment depending on the delivery and the mood. Pratt works fast and furiously, keeping his show friendly with a few jokes that sound a little stale but do not offend. The subjects who do go into a trance and enact silly activities are fun to observe and everything runs relatively smoothly.
If you want a laugh a minute and are an impatient audience maybe Hypnolarious is not for you, but there are other shows in this great venue to select from.
A great deal must depend on the attending audience, but it certainly was impressive and engaging at times and would be a fine night out for the family.
David Jobling
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