That Hypno Show - Gerard V - Stage Hypnotist New Zealand & Australia

This is one of my favourite gags, and this is the story of how I invented it.  In what follows you’ll find out about this really cool gag, and moreover, you’ll see how easy it is to invent really cool gags of your own.  If you saw the gag today, you’d think it quite polished, and might wonder how anyone could think of such a neat ensemble of suggestions.  It didn’t start out that way.

There’s this guy who has been haunting me all my life.  He has shared in my successes and failures, attended job interviews on my behalf, and taken credit for some of my achievements.  I have never met him.  His name is Gerald.

It is probably best that I have not met him, because if I did I might rant at him; yell and curse, possibly commit an act of violence at his intrusions into my life.

Now that I am promoting myself as Gerard V – Comedy Stage Hypnotist, he’s out there shamelessly promoting himself as Gerald V – Comedy Stage Hypnotist.  

I’d rather think that I have a rival, possibly a doppelganger, than to conclude that there are so many people in the world who cannot copy six letters accurately, and do not realize the mild affront when they think I don’t mind being called by someone else’s name.

The reason this grates on me especially is that my dad’s name is also Gerard.  But for most of my life, he called himself Gerald, and had his cards printed thus, because that was what most people called him.  He’d given up on being called by his correct name.  He’s 82 years old now, and I wonder if he has paid a price for putting his identity on a lower plane than the ignorance of so many people.

It seems, by the way, to be mostly a kiwi thing.  Perhaps in Europe Gerard Depardieu has paved the way to make my name more common.  The USA and Canada with their multitudes of immigrants and ethnic origins are more used to the need to stop and listen, or to ask, in order to understand and spell a name.  Similarly, I never have this problem in Australia, Guatemala, Mexico or Costa Rica.  Nor in any of the 14 African countries I have visited.

In New Zealand, our mostly British colonists have left a legacy of arrogance.  I think that is the right word.  I experience it when, rather than apologise for the gaff, people react as if my name were the problem, rather than their spelling or pronunciation of it.  It seems sometimes is as if I am inconveniencing them by having my own name, and not the one they would choose to give me.  

Why did I write this blog?  I have been reviewing the search terms used to find this website.  Of those that incorporate a name, as opposed to just a phrase like “corporate entertainment” or “sixteenth fastest hypnotist”, the seventh most common search is for “Gerald V Hypnotist”.

So to all those who know me as Gerard I give my heartfelt thanks.

I was asked the other day what a Master Hypnotist was, and whether such a hypnotist was better than a regular one. 

You’ll see these terms used on hypnosis related websites, but what do they mean, and are they significant?  Well, some are significant and some are not.

I’m at a bit of a loss about this one.  You see I write all the content for this site, with some help from my wife Lynley and occasionally from others, but it is all original to us.

I had hoped that people would be inspired by the information we present, and would use it in some way to enhance their lives, or if they are performers, to enhance their shows.  I don’t mind people using the ideas we have for gags, and trying them out themselves, though I expect to give and to get credit where it is due, and for people to add their own flavour to what they do.

Earlier today while browsing the web, I found a great looking site by another (possibly more well known) hypnotist.  He has a great FAQ page.  He has many questions and answers on it, and it gave me some ideas about things I should write for my site.  He has a question about whether he sells non-smoking CDs at his shows.  He has an answer that is a cut and paste of the material from my site, this site, with a few words changed, but not many.  Ironically, he even quotes my line about certain actions lacking integrity.

There are literally thousands of ideas for stage hypnosis gags, stunts or whatever you choose to call them, but what makes one gag better than another?

Part of the art and the joy of comedy hypnosis is that there are no hard and fast rules about what works and what does not, so you can read the ideas below as a set of guidelines, and be prepared to put them aside when the occasion demands.

In no particular order, these are the things that make gags works (IMHO)

I love to do snap inductions during my shows. Some candidates go into hypnosis very, very fast.  But how fast, really?

The claimants to being “world’s fastest” must have all finished first equal at the biannual Hypnotist Olympics.  I expect that’s why they can all claim to be the world’s fastest.   I wonder if any hypnotists were disqualified from the event, and who won the silver and bronze medals?

Is drug taking a problem in the Hypnosis Olympics as it is in weightlifting and swimming?  Although presumably they drug the candidates and not the hypnotist “athletes”.

Is it possible that these claims are just baseless hyperbole?  Are other unverified claims also acceptable?  How about:

•    Gerard V, the world’s sexiest hypnotist (IMHO, and also that of my wife)
•    Gerard V, the world’s funniest hypnotist (who’s to say?)
•    Gerard V, the world’s geekiest hypnotist (undoubtedly true)
•    Gerard V, the world’s most glamorous hypnotist (I’ll need sequins)
•    Gerard V, the world’s most muppety hypnotist (don’t ask)

After a great deal of thought I have decided that baseless claims are not my style, although I really like the sound of: Gerard V, the world’s sixteenth fastest hypnotist.