After an incredible comedy hypnosis show in Las Vegas, I headed to what I thought would be the busy Las Vegas airport, but turned out to be the Twilight Zone. The taxi zipped directly in front of my airlines check-in gate, and I was surprised as I walked straight to the counter to check my bag and sound equipment. There was 
nobody else in line! At 8:00 in the morning in Las Vegas, I have seen security backed up for an hour. Today, it took 3 minutes to get through the checkpoint. As I entered the train to my gate, the doors shut with only me and two other people in the car, and that is when I realized how odd it really was. The airport was like a ghost town in the Twilight Zone.
For many people hypnosis is a Twilight Zone. They really are not sure what to think about it. In some circles, religions have railed against hypnosis mistaking it for competition with the Almighty or even more absurd, a companion to the Dark Side.
On one hand, schools use hypnotic techniques to create calm, direct attention and help students visualize better futures. Have you ever seen a Kindergarten teacher single handedly put a room of 30 to sleep at nap time? Pure hypnosis. Have you ever seen a high school teacher keep a room full of teenagers focused on their subject, despite prom, or the big football game being just hours away? But, almost no school counselor, teacher or administrator would ever admit these were actually hypnotic techniques.
In sports, coaches try to unlock the creative potential of athletes to help them move beyond limitations, and to train the mental side of athletics by helping athletes identify “the zone” for peak performance. Again, these are all hypnotics strategies, but even coaches using these techniques often do not understand the foundation of every one of them is hypnosis. Again, hypnosis finds itself in a No Man’s Land, or the Twilight Zone.
Hypnosis is not the Twilight Zone: It is a natural resource state
Perhaps it is Hollywood’s fault Hypnosis is so misunderstood. After all, when Trilby was written in the late 1800’s, one of Hollywood’s first movies was about Svengali, the evil hypnotist, who controlled Trilby. Bella Lugosi of course used hypnosis as Dracula with the famous, “look deep into my eye” command. And even recent movies like Office Space show hypnosis as either absurd, evil or omnipotently powerful.
And of course, as a comedy hypnotist, I wish these Hollywood portrayals were more accurate. Imagine how much money I could have, or how many Kingdoms I could rule, or at least how many really attractive dates I could have, if hypnosis were any of these things. But alas, it is not.
What then is hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a completely natural resource state.
Life is full of trances. We have our “happy” trance, our “creative trance,” our “I need to focus and drive trance”, and even “love trances”. What I mean by this is our brains are always doing something – and it is either doing it quickly, (anxiety, focused attention, multi-tasking) or doing it slowly (relax and sleeping).
In simple language, hypnosis is about identifying and using the naturally occurring creative resource state people experience. A clinical hypnotist doing academic performance hypnosis, might do this by helping a student shift from an anxiety trance to a state of calm or confidence. This is all really hypnosis is.
In self-hypnosis a person learns to get out of negative or self-defeating stuck states (trance) and improve their life. In clinical hypnosis, a hypnotherapist might help a person breakthrough the trances that are holding them back (fear, resentment, low self-esteem) and adapt new trance state that are resourceful like security, living in the moment, and self-acceptance.
In a comedy hypnosis stage hypnosis show, everything you see is normal human experience. Nothing is extra-ordinary or supernatural. As a skilled comedy stage hypnotist, Mariana Matthews knows how to start with a relaxation trance (slow levels of brainwave activity, just like a short nap) and direct participants through various levels of fun by harnessing the inner creativity of show volunteers. And the results are remarkable!
At the end of a comedy stage hypnosis show, the audience is amazed, but the participants are exuberant. They got to have the best seat in the house, let loose and have fun in a safe environment, and learn about how they have their own ability to shift awareness. Many people leave a comedy stage hypnosis show, not only having fun, but recognizing that hypnosis is not part of the Twilight Zone, but rather a real resource they can use in almost every area of life.
When you are planning your next event, party, or show, bring Mariana “That Lady Hypnotist” Matthews and create an experience everyone will remember. The shows are always entertaining, and because participants are different in every show, no show is ever repeated. You can bring her back year after year, and find a whole new show, and discover new potentials in everyday life.
Send me an email and ask any questions! Or call (425) 248-7676 and book your event!
