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Slight update:

I've been getting a bit of work around the local university doing pickpocketing, and the hypnosis is gradually creeping into it. The first time I put somebody under (and I have done it now, a few times, using the handshake break), I bricked it and brought them out of it straight away - however, enough people saw this (and didn't realize that magnetic fingers/hands were the "run up") to think I could just get people to look at some magic spot on their hand and bosh them under. Which meant that with some people, half the work was done already.

I've not done a great deal with it, to be honest - I don't think it'll ever supercede pickpocketing as my go-to "bit" but it's useful to have it as an extra bit. And the great thing about it is that nobody's really sure how I do what I do now - if I give somebody their tie back (using the wonderful Brownian subtlety of pretending to undo the knot as I give it back, implying I took it over the top of their head), I've had people asking their mates if they were hypnotized.

One thing I'm working on is a two-person pickpocketing routine where spec 1 pickpockets spec 2 without anybody noticing, with hypnosis as the cover. It started as a watch-swap (spec 1 and spec 2 mirror eachother's actions for a few moments, they look down, they're wearing eachother's watches) and grew to the point where one person ends up with pockets full of the other person's stuff without either of them knowing it. It's in a trial phase at the moment, but as soon as I can get a video of it, I'll put it up on here.

madvillainy wrote:One thing I'm working on is a two-person pickpocketing routine where spec 1 pickpockets spec 2 without anybody noticing, with hypnosis as the cover. It started as a watch-swap (spec 1 and spec 2 mirror eachother's actions for a few moments, they look down, they're wearing eachother's watches) and grew to the point where one person ends up with pockets full of the other person's stuff without either of them knowing it. It's in a trial phase at the moment, but as soon as I can get a video of it, I'll put it up on here.

That sounds really, really cool!

Best of luck with it, I look forward to seeing the video.

Glad to hear you are finding your own way with the hypnosis. Your pickpocketing ideas are fantastic.

Anthony

Got some more done on it this evening, with two new people who don't know that my background is pickpocketing, but were aware I did hypnotism. It's approaching a level I'm happy with, and the look on somebody's face when they think they've practically emptied somebody's jacket by just shaking their hand - without the victim, or themselves, noticing - is a great reminder of why I got into magic. I had been losing interest in cards and the usual stuff, but mixing this with pickpocketing has given me some dynamite material that feels fresh to perform every time. I'm never going to be a full-on hypnotist, I enjoy the Fagin schtick too much, but it makes everything feel brand new every time I do it.

The watch transfer was actually your idea, Ant - on disc 3 when you mentioned making people's arms numb and just nicking the watch out in the open, I thought "that could work for putting a watch on as well". And it did. After doing that once, I just started stealing everything and putting it in other people's pockets/hands etc. Removes an element of guilt from what I used to do as well, which is nice.

Jacquin wrote:Remember Professor Graham Wagstaff made the same illogical leap after being hypnotized by Kreskin. He has psent the last 25 years trying to prove he was faking

Anthony

Neither does The Amazing Kreskin. He began a stage career as a magician and hypnotist when he was 11. Now 59, he still treads the boards in the US, but insists: "Nobody on stage has ever been hypnotised in the history of the world."

So certain is he of this he has offered a $100,000 reward to anyone who can prove that hypnosis exists.

Mr Kreskin now devotes his act to debunking hypnotism.

"I have shown that everything that we associate with hypnotism can be done without any voodoo-like induction," he says.

"If people are persuaded and motivated they will do any of these things."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/hypnotism-does-not-exist-say-the-experts-1389968.html

He's probably right. It's a bit of a grey area, but the weight of the evidence certainly seems to rest with compliance.

Not that I particularly care. If someone swears blind they couldn't see me, whether they actually could is immaterial to me. It's the same as somebody telling a crowded bar that I never touched them when I'm holding their watch. In that scenario - which has happened to me before - there's a rather more obvious gap between what happened and what is believed to have happened, but it's pretty similar in terms of what is passed on to other spectators (which, with an act that centres entirely on what the subject believes, is kind of all that matters). If that's what he believes, whether what he's saying is strictly true or not is kind of missing the point of doing hypnosis as an act, or using it as cover for extensive thievery.

This post is getting a bit Browningish in length so I'll cut to the point - it probably is a mixture of compliance and pressure, but as long as I still get people telling everyone they know that I turned them into an expert pickpocket using the power of hypnosis - even when I'm not around, and I know they do, because greatly exaggerated stories of my own exploits have gotten back to me and have informed my later work - I'll still use it. Even if they definitively prove that it's rubbish - which they may well do, possibly within our lifetime - it has such a cultural weight behind it that it will most likely continue to work for many years afterwards. And to dismiss it on the basis of what the spectator objectively experiences would be like dismissing an ACR because the card never really goes in the middle.

The Manchurian Approach DVD - my review

If you've been interested in hypnosis as part of your magic act, you've likely heard of "Reality is Plastic" book and e-book by Anthony Jacquin. It's an in depth guide to "impromptu hypnosis" or street hypnosis, which is different than stage or therapeutic hypnosis and can be done at your local bar, pub, restaurant, Starbucks or just standing randomly on the sidewalk.

A couple of YouTube videos to get the general idea:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkHw_UmS1Ko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiWIe2DGJl4

And the subsequent review links for that e-book:

http://www.hypnosisproductreviews.com/r ... review.htm

http://www.nlpconnections.com/reviews/5 ... aquin.html

http://darrylslibrary.wordpress.com/200 ... y-jacquin/

And finally Anthony's homepage for more info:

http://www.anthonyjacquin.com/

And from this explosion of interest in impromptu hypnosis and Anthony's style erupts a 4-DVD set by Alakazam, showing how and demonstrating with various victims they meet on the street or in bars. Seriously, if you've ever been tickled when watching stage hypnosis and always wanted to perform it yourself for random audiences, prepare yourself for one of the coolest mentalism DVD's you'll watch this year.

Enter The Manchurian Approach DVD...

Demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4SYMubNGA4


What you get:

- A four DVD set in folded plastic casing


The DVDs:

As to be expected with any Alakazam release, the DVD packaging, production, menus and overall quality are top notch. The case contains contents listing of what's inside on the back, along with a nice outer sleeve. The music is eerie along with modern, flashy transitions and titles between chapters. The sounds quality is fantastic, voices are easily heard and understood and the images are crisp and easy to watch.


DVD 1:

Titles (2 mins)

This is the demo available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4SYMubNGA4

Introduction and Structure (2 mins)

The Opener (15 mins)

Anthony reviews how to approach people and introduce yourself without freaking them out (hint: "Yo homes, wanna be's hypnotizedz?!" doesn't work). Interestingly enough, he borrowed several ideas from the Pickup Artist community in formulating his master plan on how to get into the topic without scaring people off. Anthony also discusses the various reactions you receive when bringing up hypnosis to a crowd, and how to use these to your advantage.

He also tells you what hypnosis is, and is not. For example, you won't magically become The Pusher from X-Files Season 3, or convince some hot chick to visit the club bathroom with you.

The Set-Up (16 mins)

Here you prep the group for who can be hypnotized (or will allow themselves to be) and who cannot, and why. You give these guys various instructions on what to do, then search for distinct clues on which will be good candidates. He does emphasize not to lurch at the first great spectator that you believe can be your hypno-victim, but instead to scan as a group for more than one. Very detailed wording and body language strategies are utilized for maximum effect.

The Set-Piece (9 mins)

You instruct people to perform an easy hand exercise (as seen on the demo) and again scan the room for real participants vs guys that are just screwing with you. Anthony has some real insight on exactly what you're looking for.

Magnetic ________ (20 mins)

The final waving hands exercise your audience performs before receiving the hypno-grenades. He covers every subtlety you can possibly imagine, including what to do with weirdos who aren't cooperating, how to proceed if nobody is doing it correctly (hint: card trick!), and worst of all, what happens if your magical hypno dealio just ain't going well.

Pacing and Leading (11 mins)

Your leadership, confidence, strength and conviction all play into your hypno fun.

Eye to Hand Fixation (21 mins)

Here's where you lay down the whammy and either amaze yourself with your super hypno abilities, or epic fail and quickly exit through the back door. According to Anthony, there are five trillion different inductions available for knockout delivery but he only really uses two. It's not a card force after all, two should be sufficient.


Along with your fancy DVD, you receive three PDF files to read on your computer...

PDF files:

The first two files are examples of hypnosis using Anthony's method, and are 20'ish pages each:

Reality is Plastic - Proper Mental01.pdf (122k, 22 pages)

The Set Up: Creating a context for hypnosis
The Set Piece: Using Mentalism
Induction: The Eyelock
Technique: The Perception Peek
Effect: 9 Bar Perception
References

Reality is Plastic - Proper Mental02.pdf (114k, 21 pages)

The Set Up: Pre-show Hypnosis
The Set Piece: Freddy Jacquin Finger Lock
Induction: Invisible Induction
Effect: Reverse Mind Reading
References

The third file is first few chapters of Anthony's Reality is Plastic e-book:

RealityIsPlastic-Extract.pdf (572k, 34 pages)

1.0 What is impromptu hypnosis
2.0 Hypnosis: No introduction necessary
2.1 Being the hypnotist
2.2 Setting things up
2.3 How to tell if someone is hypnotized
2.4 Hypnotic phenomena


DVD 2:

The Handshake Induction (15 mins)

This is taught differently than the actual video performances, but whatever. Anthony's second favorite induction method. No, you don't yank them to the ground and yell SLEEP, it's actually very gentle and soothing. Again, you can select your own personal favorite, just get on the web and dig up a new one. The basic idea is to interrupt.

The Set-Piece as the induction (4 mins)

Sometimes you get lucky, and the guy's really sleepy to begin with. Maybe he was watching the news too late last night, or is all excited about having a whammy slapped on him, who knows. Amit Badiani uses this extensively with the college kids at their local pub, and about half fall into induction using immediately, which is cool.

Deepening, Fractionation & The Wake Up (30 mins)

Now that your spectator's head fell over, and you're able to move their arm around like a Gumby, what's next? Anthony details techniques for deepening the trance, bringing positive messages into the interaction, and proper wake-up methods.

Performance 1

Anthony works with two students at a local pub's outdoor patio. About halfway through, he starts to sweat profusely and removes his jacket, then someone yells at him that his microphone is attached so put it back on. The college student with a sweater wrapped around his neck (circa 1980 movies) gets the whammy, although both guys looked really sleepy. Good performance, since it shows from start to finish what to do.

Performance 2

On the same patio, Anthony switches his attention to sweater guy's Asian friend Dave, who gets the whammy next.

Performance 3

Amit Badiani (who was Anthony's student? I got confused) grabs a big chunk of college kids from the inside of a pub, and lets loose his hypno abilities. This is my favorite performance, because it demos:

a) The entire process, front to back
b) What to do with people who just aren't feeling it
c) What to do with fakers
d) How to handle a large group at one time, instead of one or two individuals

The spectators include a hot blonde and the spectator from Alakazam's LOOCH DVD set (you remember the dude with the greased short hair? "That couldn't have been a magic trick .. wow"). The guy at 0:58 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R1G9SAgW0c or either his twin brother. Am I the only one who notices these things?

Anyhoo, Amit tosses money on the ground and dares them to fetch it. But of course they can't, cause they're hypno-glued to the floor. Take that, BAM!

Performance 4

Anthony hypnotizes a big guy, and makes him play with his phone, along with a lot of other commands. This only shows the process from after the whammy is in place.


DVD 3:

Overview (27 mins)

Here's where our magical element to the whammy takes place. Not only can you hypnotize people and make them dance like a chicken, you can also force them to forget you jammed a specific card into their wallet, or bent a coin, or even had sex with their sister in the back seat of their Mustang. For Disc 3, we're joined by Amit, Anthony, Chris Harding (who gets repeatedly picked on), and Bev. Together they form a mini hypnotice Justice League, and give us the skinny in incorporating magic effects into inductions, or how to back completely out of an induction when it goes horribly wrong and replace with a cheesey card trick.

Hypno Force (27 mins)

You are going to pick the three of hearts. Because I said so. Turns out you can force a wide variety of things, from bill serial numbers to words, to even cards. Anthony demonstrates this on Chris, who magically knows the combination to a lock in Anthony's pocket and chooses a random card which happens to be already inserted into his wallet without his knowledge.

Hypno Peeks (14 mins)

You basically peek at an object, memorize it then the spectator is amazed when you know their full name, credit card number, or whatever.

Hypno Peeks Performance (2 mins)

Amit whammies Simon (who you'll see many times again) into giving him his credit card. Amit then memorizes the digits, forgets them, hypnotizes Simon once more, re-memorizes them, un-hypnotizes Simon, then reads off the numbers. You'll see the last part of this in the demo. Simon dancing like John Travolta was funnier, but whatever.

Reverse Mindreading (18 mins)

Planting a thought into their heads, then asking about it later.

Hallucination (16 mins)

Become invisible, dude! Anthony demo's this on Chris Harding. You also see it used by Amit on Disc 4 with Simon.

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMdgK3SITPM

Covert Wake-Up (6 mins)

If you're running a magic routine, and you've implanted a post-hypnotic suggestion about what card you want this spectator to choose, the wake up procecure should be more covert. Otherwise the audience is less than impressed. Anthony covers the details on how to accomplish this, along with wake up procedures in general.


DVD 4 (41 mins):

Final Thoughts (5 mins)

Health and Safety (7 mins)

You obviously don't want your spectator jumping into a glass table, running into other people or otherwise injuring himself.

Additional Performances

Performance 1

A student that Anthony liked named Harry Guinness performs his version of a coin bend and card prediction on poor Simon. In fact, most of DVD 4 contains Simon jumping around, laughing, barking, bestiality (just kidding) or other strange tasks these guys request. Simon's three friends stand there and observe this event, and I found it interesting that they all crossed their arms and put their other hand on their face as he went into trance. I believe they were concerned for his safety or something along those lines, because they genuinely looked worried. Or maybe they were just weirded out, who knows.

Performance 2

Amit Badiani performs a reverse mind reading trick on a cute blonde named Beth at the same bar they whammied up all those college students on Disc 2. She seems genuinely surprised when Amit guesses her thought of word. Afterwards Amit interviews Beth about hypnosis in general, and how she felt when going under, etc.

Performance 3

Amit Badiani does some post-hypnotic suggestion work with the same college students from Disc 2, making their hands stick on the table, and also interviewing them a bit about their experiences.

Performance 4

Amit Badiani works more with Simon, making him laugh uncontrollably, his arm float, hands stuck together, feet stuck on the street, etc. Again they perform this in the middle of a busy street, and many bystanders stop to watch.

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwy2TOpH4xU

Performance 5

Amit Badiani works more with Simon, giving him 11 fingers, tossing money on the ground but he can't get it because his feet are stuck to the ground, then he forgets his name, and finally Amit turns himself invisible.

Here's a video of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMdgK3SITPM

Credits


Difficulty:

Let's be realistic, you're gonna epic fail this on the first dozen tries. They recommend you find an isolated place where you don't know anybody then practice on real people after enough script rehearsal and mirror time. The key to mastering this is face time with spectators. MY recommendation, and anyone that knows me can see this coming: Flea Markets. Plenty of people walking around, bored.

But decide on a venue and go out. Personally after reading Reality is Plastic, I had no issues after a couple days and probably 25+ trials with small groups. Friends were a huge pain, however cause they always wanted to screw with me.


Conclusion:

You guys are always begging for impromptu, powerful effects. Well here you go... not only does this DVD set teach you exhaustively from start to finish how to hypnotize spectators, but also fun magic to perform with them once they go under. And best of all, plenty of outs, one-liners and distinct methods to tell who's really following along with your fun, and who ain't. Plus this is totally unique, no better way of standing out from the crowd like being able to hypnotize people.

If you want to see the bonus video of Chris Harding break dancing at a bar, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn4AwVBgrgc

More videos of Amit and Simon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zi5rv7kD8k

or just visit his channel to see him convince a guy that everybody in the bar is naked, plus other fun things:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LeicesterHypnotist

Keep in mind that you're also getting most of what Anthony offers in his $1,000 course in this DVD set (sans personal instruction, but still):

DAY 1:
In intensive practical sessions everyone will learn a solid but flexible approach to hypnotizing. Training and supervised practice will continue in the afternoon on the street and in bars until late. Intro: Subject selection: Set Up: Set Piece: Inductions: Fractionation: Testing: Re-Induction: Suggestion: Catalepsy: Corpsing: Amnesia

DAY 2:
Further classroom training to cover in depth more specialized knowledge. This will be put into the context of typical magic settings including impromptu, street, walk around, stage and TV. Hypno Forces: Hypno Peeks: Hallucinations: Control: Post Hypnotic Act: Managing reaction: Permanosis: Covert pre-show applications

Complete and total hotsauce. And a bank-robbery-worthy steal at $67.


The official spam:

Whether it is to satisfy a fascination with hypnosis, the desire to mix hypnosis with your magic or you want to be able to perform impromptu hypnotism this DVD is for you.

Aimed at amateur and professional magicians and mentalists, this unique DVD is aimed solely at performance hypnosis. As well as interview-style explanations and training we include footage of taking these skills to the street and public bars. You will gain the confidence, attitude, patter and techniques required to excel including:

* Handshake Induction
* Hypno Force
* Hypno Peek
* Covert Pre-show
* Reverse Mind Reading

Anthony Jacquin has over ten years experience as a hypnotist and is the author of the best-selling book: "Reality is Plastic – The Art of Impromptu Hypnosis" On "The Manchurian Approach" he shares a new genre of magical performance. Mixing his love of mentalism with his hypnotism skills, together with Kev Sheldrake he has created a performance style and technique capable of producing some of the most mind-blowing mental effects.

On this three-disc set you will learn, in detail, Anthony’s approach to impromptu hypnosis – no prior knowledge is required – the first part of this set will guide you through everything you need to know in order to become the hypnotist. The second part takes the format of a discussion forum where Anthony is joined by mad genius, Kev Sheldrake and fellow hypnotist and magician Amit Badiani. In this section you will get a detailed look at some of the principles and applications of the techniques taught to magic and mentalism performances.

Hypno forces and hypno peeks are examples of the covert pre-show techniques that are available to a hypnotizing mentalist. The Reverse Mind Reading effect takes these concepts a step further, producing an unlimited ability to read a mind with the minimum of hypnotic pre-show work.

Concepts

* Become The Hypnotist. Learn an observation/attitude-based hypnosis model.
* Learn how to perform with hypnosis. Apply it to magic and mentalism.
* No history and theory lessons. Just tuition and demonstration
* Mixture of interview-style discussions and public performances.

Contents

Part 1:
Through clear demonstrations you will learn a solid but flexible approach to hypnotizing. This is covered in detail in the following segments:

* Introduction and approaching a group
* Subject selection
* Set Up
* The set piece – magnetic hands, magnetic fingers & the heavy card
* Inductions – eye to hand fixation and the handshake induction
* Fractionation
* Testing
* Re-Induction
* Suggestion
* Catalepsy
* Corpsing
* Amnesia

Part 2:

Further explanation and demonstration to cover in-depth more specialized knowledge and the applications of hypnosis to specific genres of magic and mentalism including:

* Hypno Forces
* Hypno Peeks
* Hallucinations
* Control
* Post-Hypnotic Act
* Managing reaction
* Permanosis
* Covert pre-show applications
* Reverse mind reading

This will be put into the context of typical magic settings including impromptu, street, walk around, stage and TV. Also included are in-depth discussions on how to practice, what to do if it does not seem to be working and important health and safety and performance information and tips.

Also included are three bonus PDF documents that expand on some of the ideas covered on the DVD’s as well as some further techniques and routines.

With five hours of tuition, live performance and in-depth explanations, this three-disc set is bound to become a definitive classic for a new and exciting genre of performance that blends magic, mentalism and hypnosis. So order your copy of "The Manchurian Approach" today!

That was a great review.

Had possibly my best subject ever last night. He went for everything; invisibility, forgetting his name, the lot. I tested him - after sticking his hands to his head, I proffered the very Jacquinian wager that he could keep the contents of my wallet if he could put a hand to it. And he couldn't. I wasn't entirely sure if he was just playing along up to that point. Only problem was, I did this down my local, and now nobody will look me in the eye, afraid that I possess some sort of hypno-wink. The reverse-pickpocketing bit raised the most debate (if anyone's interested in it, hit me up on the PM system, I'd happily discuss it as it stands) as the subject bumped into somebody and ended up with their watch, wallet and phone (I've also found a way of wording it so they pull the objects out in order of how impossible they were to take - the watch always comes out last). I was careful not to embarrass him though, and to make sure he was alright afterwards (and I got him a pint for being so nice about it all, as is the done thing).

I do have one question after doing a proper invisibility bit though, possibly for the more experienced hypnotists. What do hypnotized people actually see when you tell them you're invisible? I've never been hypnotized, but I just can't imagine what it must be like to see cigarettes floating in mid air. I had more questions for him afterwards than he did for me - he said he genuinely couldn't see me, but he was always aware that I was somewhere nearby, and that if I'd asked him to point at where he thought I was, he said he probably could have done even though his eyes were blocking me out.
I've read Derren's book for the public and this seems in line with what's written down there, but I'm just fascinated to know what this guy went through. I've had good subjects before but never that good.
I'm telling you now, though, if you haven't picked these DVDs up, you need to, pronto. I used to have big worries when I was doing card tricks that it was all a bit trivial - you show people this stuff, and they go away thinking you're the devil. Which, to be honest, is what I want. And after this stuff, you can show people anything you want and they'll question what they see. You could do an ACR with somebody who isn't under and they'll seriously doubt their own eyes.

What happned to the stoners initial few posts?

madvillainy wrote:
I do have one question after doing a proper invisibility bit though, possibly for the more experienced hypnotists. What do hypnotized people actually see when you tell them you're invisible? I've never been hypnotized, but I just can't imagine what it must be like to see cigarettes floating in mid air. I had more questions for him afterwards than he did for me - he said he genuinely couldn't see me, but he was always aware that I was somewhere nearby, and that if I'd asked him to point at where he thought I was, he said he probably could have done even though his eyes were blocking me out.

It depends on what the "subject" thinks they SHOULD see. So you have told them that you will be invisible. So they make sence of this in their own way. They may see a blurry patch where you should be, not able to focus onto you ect. They may not physically be able to look at you, as in put their eyes on you but perhaps see you out the corner of one eye. I had a very good subject that would turn away when i went to stand infront of him..hence.. forcing himself not to see me. Other people will make up an image of what is behind you and replace you with that mental image. Essentially it varies from person to person. I usually give a suggestion that the subjet will see a monkey... some people see chips, gorillaz, small tiny monkeys...one guy saw Curious George the cartoon monkey. It depends on the subject

Personally i though this DVD set was amazing, however i did think that the final disc was unnecessary but thats just me, great work Ant

Thanks for the feedback Phil.

I agree a heavier edit would have negated the need for a fourth disk. Had to put the health and safety stuff somewhere though

By the way I have a new website with some new footage and clips
www.headhacking.com

Let us know what you think.

Anthony