talkmagic.co.uk

Madam. You appear to be from Yorkshire. It is indeed true that Yorkshire people in addition to talking with funny and usually incomprehensible accents have a tendency to fancy themselves to be down to earth. Therefore it is perfectly possible that you may have a sceptical attitude to hypnosis.

However let me assure you that if this is the case you are in the minority. Most people believe in this tommyrot and it is NOT as obvious to them as it apparently is to you that it is full of bunkum.

However I do feel that this thread is going astray a trifle and perhaps we should direct it back to the enquiry of the gentleman who started this thread.

He wanted to know where to find a good course on hypnosis which does not cost a fortune. I happen to know one that only costs $150 plus $30 postage and handling to the UK. It consists of 3 ninety minute DVDs and a 90 minute audiotape. I believe it to be the best stage hypnosis course out there.

It is described on the magic cafe. Has anyone had a look yet?

queen of clubs wrote:In the next edition, Mark Lewis will be breaking it to us that the grass is green, and the sky is blue.

You do realise, of course, that the grass isn't green and the sky isn't blue, right?

...and Hypnosis is a genuine phenomenon...

Madam. You appear to be from Yorkshire. It is indeed true that Yorkshire people in addition to talking with funny and usually incomprehensible accents have a tendency to fancy themselves to be down to earth. Therefore it is perfectly possible that you may have a sceptical attitude to hypnosis.

I started the post, and cheers for the help, but the above comment, although Im not from Yorkshire is somewhat rude...and If Im not mistaken is stereotyping a person who lives up North!!!! and is simply not on!

I'm from Yorkshire. Mark's comments do not upset me because I know Mark and his oh so funny ways. I think that queen of clubs was actually been quite rude jumping down Mark's throat like that. Perhaps she needs hypnotherapy to help her relax.

Please folks, can we avoid steering this thread off course otherwise feathers will be ruffled and the thread locking keys will have to be brought out!

Many moons ago I saw a stage hypnotist and he did all the usual stuff, making people act like chickens, using keys words to make them say daft things even after returning to their seats etc. It was all very comical and not at all objectionable so we had a great night out. Two days later I was talking to a colleague at work who'd seen the show a day or two before I did and he described exactly the same act, right down to the comments by the subjects and the actions they did under the 'fluence. He also described the clothing and appearance of those people and it matched with the one's I'd seen. Later that day I compared notes with a friend who'd been only the night before and it all matched identically. At the start of the show there were dozens of genuine volunteers on stage but they were whittled down to eight or so who were 'ideal' for hypnosis. Utterly fake and using only the pre-selected stooges all the way but very funny and entertaining! And as for grass being green, our grass round here is sort of brown, dry and 'orrible .

Another memory has surfaced. We saw a cabaret show at one of the UK Holiday Villages back in the 1980s which featured a hypnotist. He was billed as being a practitioner who used also his considerable skills for entertainment purposes - and probably to make a few quid as well.

His show was the same sort of format, although perhaps less comical, but about half an hour after he'd finished his act and returned all volunteers to their 'normal' state there was a small commotion in the audience and apparently one of his subjects was having a bad reaction which mean the hypnotist had to be called out to talk to her and put matters right - in full view of everyone. It now occurs to me that it could all have been additional ballyhoo and designed to anchor the suggestion that what he did was real and extremely powerful even though it probably wasn't!

To add a note of contrast, our recently retired local GP used hypnosis for years, mainly in the area of dealing with weight loss, quitting smoking, fear of flying and so on - he'd been doing this since back in the 1970s and it was claimed to be very successful. Paul McKenna, of course, has made much of this sort of thing yet only became involved in hypnosis when, as a reporter, was asked to check it out for a story. I wonder if Paul offers any teaching in hypnosis?

themagicwand wrote:I'm from Yorkshire. Mark's comments do not upset me because I know Mark and his oh so funny ways. I think that queen of clubs was actually been quite rude jumping down Mark's throat like that. Perhaps she needs hypnotherapy to help her relax.

You're right. He just annoys me immensely and I can never help myself even under such mild provocation.

I won't derail people's threads in future. I'll be a good girl. But I really don't buy hypnosis or hypnotherapy - I think it's all just snake oil and a very subtle and advanced social compliance placebo. Or maybe that's the whole point... Now my brain is starting to hurt.

i just cant believe that its nothing and just about social compliance....i mean some research has been done to see if it could be used as a viable alternative to anestheiology....my head hurts too

I think it's all just snake oil and a very subtle and advanced social compliance placebo

I dont care if it is still bloody fun........

When youve seen a woman give birth with no drugs and the use of a Hypnotist...then your mind does wonder!

Hypnosis courses (which funnily enough always seem to be way overpriced) always seemed to have more than a mild scent of BS about them.

My guess would be that if you enrolled on a course called "make money with hypnotism", what you would get is a load of pseudo-psycho-babble, you would leave none the wiser or more able to manipulate people's minds, but the realisation would dawn on you that you could indeed make money... by flogging exactly the same snake oil on to other people. So you set up your own overpriced course, "How I made millions with hypnotism" - of course, you haven't made millions yet, but when your courses have filled up...

This is just an opinion so I'm not trying to stamp on anyone's toes, but I equate hypnotism with NLP - flimflam. Although I have no problem with people using the idea in magical presentations etc, I personally avoid it for fear that after a convincing mentalism trick, someone will go away and give their good money to a charletan claiming to make them irresistable to women, wildly successful or whatever other promises are up on the banner.

Understandably it doesn't happen much, but I personally find it refreshing to hear a highly respected practitioner of hypnotism secretly confirm what many have suspected all along. I have no problem with this honest approach - "it's bullsh*t but it sells."

Edit: plenty of women give birth without drugs anyway mate! If they want to clutch some magic stones, or listen to whale music, or use a hypnotherapist, go for it...

Yes I have found that they are a bit BS like when it comes to pricing it does make you wonder...a 5day course is around 4 grand!

Im getting in plenty of reading but its still nice to go see sumone A.perform or B.show you better methods!

I am delighted to see that the magic cafe has had one of its usual convulsions and is now inoperative until they get it going again. I therefore had better inform you who is the author of the hypnosis course I referred to.

Me.

I have no idea what the rather impertinent young lady from Yorkshire is getting excited about since she appears to be in agreement with me about hypnosis. Naturally I would know more about it than she since I am a professional in these matters and she isn't. However if she pays attention to what I have to say then no doubt she will be able to add to her education in these matters.

In actual fact Mandrake may not have been watching stooges since stage hypnotists use them very rarely. What may have happened is that the same subjects came up again and again at subsequent performances. This often happens if the hypnotist is appearing at the same venue for an extended period. The best subjects come out of the woodwork and enjoy themselves so much on stage that they want to do it again and again. There are a lot of exhibitionists out there and they would be the ones who volunteer repeatedly.

The bad reaction recounted by Mandrake may well have been a real one. There are a lot of incompetent hypnotists out there. Just because I don't believe in "hypnosis" it doesn't mean to say that people on stage don't delude themselves that they have been "hypnotised" If you want to argue that this self delusion is in and of itself hypnotism be my guest.

People con themselves into bad reactions if the hypnotist is not on the ball and a master of his craft.

Safety is important in hypnosis shows. The public think about mental safety but physical injury is much more prevalent than any mental disturbances. Broken necks on stage look somewhat bad.

The best (and possibly the only) book on the sceptical point of view regarding hypnosis is entitled "They call it hypnosis" by Robert Baker and he deals with such matters as why people under hypnosis can be operated on without anaesthetics.

I've never really done a lot of digging into hypnosis, so don't want to jump to conclusions either way, however if it is a load of "bunkum" and all practitioners know that, then this is one strange story:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/sussex/7355569.stm

Richard

As I have already stated the book by Robert Baker will explain how operations can occur with "hypnosis"

Ive read loads of laws on it, but am confused, as to if its fine for me to do it at a gig, if Im not "certified" or whatever I have to be...

say im in a pub, and i wanted to hypnotise sumone with their consent? is that against the law?