When most people think about hypnosis the image that they have in mind is of Stage Hypnosis. Stage Hypnosis is done like a magic act, where the hypnotist stands on stage and chooses people from the audience to be hypnotized. Once he has chosen some volunteers he hypnotizes them on stage in front of the audience and while they are under hypnosis he makes them do silly parlour tricks such as cluck like a chicken, or bark like a dog when someone says a particular word.

He might make them act in other silly or inappropriate ways and then he will snap his fingers or count to three and they will come out of the hypnosis with no memory of what they did while they were under hypnosis. He might even plant a few “post-hypnotic suggestions” so that they will continue to do the activity even after they are no longer hypnotized.

But stage hypnosis is exactly that – staged. Stage hypnosis uses a combination of many different factors and strategies in order to make it appear that the people on stage are being hypnotized but in reality, that’s an illusion and they are never actually hypnotized at all. Just like magicians stage hypnotists use a lot of subtle manipulation techniques, sleight of hand, trickery and some good old-fashioned luck in order to sell the idea that people are really being hypnotized.

There are a variety of psychological factors that come into play in a situation where stage hypnosis is used. Just being in a group with a lot of other people will make people more compliant. They will unconsciously seek the approval of the group. People with certain types of personalities are also more likely to seek the spotlight making it very likely they will volunteer to be hypnotized. Once they are selected and get up on stage they will be very susceptible to the wiles of the hypnotist out of a desire to please him and the group and the desire to get the attention of the group.

Stage hypnotists scope out their audiences very carefully. Have you wondered what makes a stage hypnotist or a magician choose the people that he or she chooses to participate when the part of the show geared towards audience participation comes around? Those selections are made to appear random but in actuality, they’re anything but. Those performers are very well trained in the art of reading people and they are looking for particular kinds of people to use in their act.

The real art of the magician’s or hypnotist’s show isn’t the tricks that the audience sees; it’s the tricks that they don’t see.  Stage magicians and hypnotists use three main strategies when they plan their show, select audience members, and perform their show in order to make sure that each show goes smoothly and convinces the audience that their tricks and the hypnosis are real.