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Just ordered my copy, lets see what I can do with this little gem..

FRK wrote:Just ordered my copy, lets see what I can do with this little gem..

Congratulations! You certainly won't regret it!

Just for the hell of it I thought I'd copy and past over my review that I did on http://www.magicireland.com

What They Say

Reality is Plastic: The Art of Impromptu Hypnosis

Is it possible to walk into a shop and leave with any goods you choose without paying?

Is it possible to become ‘invisible’?

Is it possible to pay people with blank paper rather than cash?

Is it possible to make people collapse with laughter on your command?

Can you get free drinks by convincing bar staff you are a superstar?

The answer to all of these questions and many more is YES. The techniques in this book will show you how.

What I Say

It’s true, buy it now!

Reality is Plastic by Anthony Jacquin is one of maybe three magic related products I have bought that the blurb isn’t either lying, lying by omission or just plain old making s*** up. Everything Anthony claims is perfectly achievable, I have done three of the five and only haven’t done the other two cause I haven’t had the chance!

I will also add a couple of my favorite things to the list:
-Make someone do the funky chicken, for your entertainment.
-Make someone do the YMCA and then forget about it entirely, for your entertainment.
-Make someone do the funky chicken, so funny I mentioned it twice.

The teaching in the book is also excellent. Anthony explains everything concisely with all the relevant suggestions suitably phrased and highlighted. Obviously it’s better to adapt it to you rather than repeat it verbatim but it’s handy to have what a guideline to base your speech on.

The two largest focuses of ‘Reality is Plastic’ are Set Pieces and Inductions.

A Set Piece is a preliminary routine that is designed to convince people of your hypnotic power, they often have an underlying physiological cause which you assist with psychological suggestions. Set Pieces are done on fully conscious subjects and work on 90+% of people, in fact I’ve never had one fail. Ant spends a good deal of time emphasising the importance of set pieces, a utility device dismissed by many for their simplicity and high success with everyone and their grandmother. As a convincer they are excellent and can easily be used as an effect in their own right!

The chapter on inductions is also excellent listing a large number of inductions including the increasingly popular handshake induction (people no longer shake my hand or look my in the eye in my local). There really is a host of other inductions to suit all eventualities.

The, for lack of a better word, routines section of the book matches up to all the previous chapters genius and teaches you the blurb material. It’s all excellent.

While I have been focusing on the purely hypnosis side of things up to this point, I’ll now turn my attention to the two PDFs Anthony sends you if you coyly hint you are a magician.

Ant is also a magician and has written the two outstanding accompanying documents that deal with using hypnosis as a mentalism tool, both are excellent and each one contains an incredibly strong routine as well as a vast number of points and suggestions. All the info is being worked into my act at the moment!!!

And now, I have unfortunately run out of superlatives so I can’t say much more. Of all my purchases ever, this book is the best value for money, the best for content, the most useful and the book that has paid and will continue to pay for itself so many times over. I hate giving anything a numerical score as I feel a single integer value between one and ten is inadequate for explaining the intricacies of a products value, however ‘Reality is Plastic’ is as close to perfection as it comes and any less anal reviewer would give it a ten out of ten without hesitation. And while I’ve still got your attention, I’d like to publically thank Anthony for this awesomely insanely aggravatingly perfect book.

‘Reality is Plastic’ is currently available from Anthony Jacquin’s website for £22.50 + postage (£3.50 will get it here to Ireland)

you know...

-

Make someone do the funky chicken, for your entertainment.
-Make someone do the YMCA and then forget about it entirely, for your entertainment.

countless discos and Karaoke bookings tell me that usualy all it takes to make people do this is 4 pints. Far less if its a woman. Shed do this sober at a wedding... no trouble.



( for your entertainment? Surely its their entertainment thats important isnt it?)

Think you may be a bit older than me Dale, most of the people who I make Dance would be in their early twenties at the latest, not a group that does the funky chicken on a regular basis!!!

And for your entertainment, of course it's for your entertainment!!! The review was written from a more feck around with your mates in the pub perspective than a working prospective, it is however brilliant for that as well!

I finished reading it today, I loved it! Worth every penny and more.

It was all straight to the point, but very well explained. I was very surprised but delighted, of course, at the sheer amount of technique tips and examples that were included. The potential is quite scary actually, and it raised a lot of thoughts and questions. The extra PDFs were awesome too.

I can't think of much more to say apart from it's a great read, it genuinely aims to help which is brilliant, and that I can't wait to try it all out when I find a good opportunity! It's going to be fun!

I don't quite understand how this book seems to have these ethical questions attached to it, people being told they've overstepped the line etc, when the hypnotherapy association website (which I assume is fairly trustworthy, in the world of hypnotism anyway) seems to suggest there's no danger of being out of control or doing stuff you don't want to do

TargetZero wrote:I wish people would stop posting good reviews as they are costing me a fortune!

I am really tempted with this as I already have an interest in Hypnotherapy following a course I recently completed.

May need to do some self-hypnosis to try and resist buying.....

Couldn't agree more...

Farlsborough wrote:I don't quite understand how this book seems to have these ethical questions attached to it, people being told they've overstepped the line etc, when the hypnotherapy association website (which I assume is fairly trustworthy, in the world of hypnotism anyway) seems to suggest there's no danger of being out of control or doing stuff you don't want to do

In my experience there's a little more to it than that, while in the moment (after a drink or five) it mightn't seem to the spectator that doing the funky chicken isn't a bad idea however when the video of them doing it hits youtube two days later they are mortified. Now that's a simplistic example but the point is while the act itself may not be ethically wrong both the context and the reaching effects may be.

If I remember correctly a guy tried to make his wife horny (not arsed looking back through the 30 odd pages), now in the context it was wrong (ish anyway), she probably didn't fully understand what was happening and may begin to doubt genuine feelings of horrnyness towards the poster, however if this was performed on stage that the woman would become incredibly horny and flirt with everything regardless of the number of legs then it would just be funny and anyone who found it ethically wrong must have their head up their hole. Until the videos hit!!!

Farlsborough wrote:I don't quite understand how this book seems to have these ethical questions attached to it, people being told they've overstepped the line etc, when the hypnotherapy association website (which I assume is fairly trustworthy, in the world of hypnotism anyway) seems to suggest there's no danger of being out of control or doing stuff you don't want to do

This is something which gets me quite often and I agree with Harry's view that it's contextual as to whether or not something is ok.
Yeah everyone says that you can't be made to do something you don't want to whilst hypnotised and I'm not here to argue for or against that viewpoint.

My view is that this may be correct - however, how much is there that you really don't want to do?
I assume that you for example Farlsy don't want to kill anyone. I'll say that's a fairly safe assumption unless you become a Shipman with your medicine degree.
That said, someone could probably hypnotise you to kill someone else if you were the sort who could be hypnotised to do "literally anything.
That's because there are reasons we don't want to kill people - fear of consequences, morals etc - but if these were overridden, if someone promised you you would never get found out and they'd give you a pill that would make you forget all about it and feel no remorse etc, I'm fairly sure we could all think of one person we could do away.

I don't want to eat a large onion whole. But if I was hypnotised then the reasons that I don't want to (making me reek of onions all day, the fact that it would taste burny in my mouth and would probably give me a stomach ache) could be removed by careful wording - "the onion will taste big and delicious and wont make you smell at all" - and lets face it, flattery too - "everyone will cheer you if you eat it".

So I think that no, you can't be made to do something against your will - but there are doubtlessly ways to remove the reasons we don't want to do something in the first place.
Now I'm not for making it illegal to hypnotise people without a special licence etc, but I'm pleased to see that such questions of the morals of hypnotism are being asked - it just means there are less arses out there ruining a fun technique for everyone else.

Magic is easy to learn and requires no confidence, stage presence or persona etc - magic is full of tw*ts.

Let's just be thankful that hypnotism requires skills that come with practice and therefore not open to every show-off Jack-in-a-box clown who wants kudos and doesn't really care what he/she is doing!

EckoZero wrote:Yeah everyone says that you can't be made to do something you don't want to... there are reasons we don't want to kill people......I don't want to eat a large onion whole.

You just have to get the wording right - hand someone an onion but tell them it's an apple and will taste like one
- you can quite easily get someone to kill someone else if you dehumanise the object to be stabbed etc. (I can think of several ways to achieve someone stabbing someone else but don't want to reveal them or encourage them or condone in any way)

My point is that you can get anyone to do anything if you word it correctly which is why there are definite ethical and moral considerations behind hypnotism and possibly why books like this shouldn't be easily accessible

Kevin Cann wrote:My point is that you can get anyone to do anything if you word it correctly which is why there are definite ethical and moral considerations behind hypnotism and possibly why books like this shouldn't be easily accessible

Apart from that bit we agree entirely.
As far as I'm aware it is still illegal to hypnotise anyone who has epilepsy or any form of "hysteria". Why? Not because it's bad for them necessarily but because a precedent was set following someone hypnotising an epileptic and making them believe that their chair would be electrified.

They were fine throughout the show having been "electrified" several times but had a fit later that evening.

Doubtlessly someone like The Sun or The Mail got hold of it and blew it up entirely to the point where prosecution was inevitable and the judge said "Whilst it probably wasn't the hypnotists fault, we better err on the side of caution and not allow epileptics to be hypnotised."

Eh?

Hypnotism is bound to cause a bit of a stir when it's mentioned because people don't understand it properly.

Anthony Jacquin, son of a hypnotherapist and practicing hypnotist of many years does understand it properly.
If he writes at the end of the book all the safety issues to take into consideration when performing then I am inclined to go with his opinion and not the blown up sensationalised view that "Hypnotism may be used for nefarious ends! Let's ban or restrict it!".

People could be strangled by a necktie - should we ban or restrict their use too?

Jacquin wrote:Such good neas Zach. Thanks for posting your progress report.

Look forward to hearing more from you Jjtee.

Also to everyone here who has RIP, I am looking for contributions to 'Reality is Plastic - Proper Mental III'.

This will be given out free only to magicians/mentalists who have RIP and the first two supplements. I would love to include your anecdotes or own interpretation and expression of:

Set Up
Set Piece
Induction
Deepening and
Routine.

I have had a number of contributions already of little twists on the ideas in the book and would love to make this supplement as worthwhile as possible.

So in the spirit of sharing....please send me something to enquiries@anthonyjacquin.com. You will of course be credited.

Anthony

Hey,

I don't know whether it's any use, but I came up with a little set piece routine the other day.

I wanted to see if I could prevent a subject from being able to walk (whilst not in hypnosis). I thought I'd try something out (making it up as I went along) and it worked! I have since tried this out on several people and it's been a success.

I basically perform a modified magnetic hands - putting real focus on that magnetic force - telling the subject how that magnetic energy is just flowing through their body - how they can feel it running through them - through their arms, legs and feet - as though they've got magnets strapped to their hands and their feet/shoes. I tell them to focus that energy on their hands as they become closer and closer and that real or imagined force gets stronger and stronger. I then wait until their hands touch - mentioning how strong that magnetic force is - then pull the hands wide apart - telling the subject how that force is still getting stronger and stronger and those hands are just dying to touch again. I let their hands begin to move toward each other again as I get them to now focus on the magnets in their feet. 'That's it! As those hands continue to pull on each other - getting closer and closer, I want you to focus on the magnets in your feet. As those hands get closer and closer, you're beginning to notice the magnets in your feet pulling your feet, your legs, your whole body toward the floor. As that force gets stronger and stronger, those magnetic feet are being pulled down to the floor. When those hands touch, those feet will feel like they're clamped down - that's it - they're getting pushed down - feeling tighter and tighter, that real or imagined force getting stronger and stronger, becoming clamped to floor, so much so - you can't even walk' I like to step on one of their feet lightly, just so they feel a physical push. 'Those hands getting closer and closer as they begin to touch'. Their hands touch. 'Your feet so tightly pulled to the ground that you can't even move them'. Challenge them to walk forward! To allow them to walk again, simply move their hands apart and tell them that the real or imagined force is beginning to wear off as they can now move their feet and legs.

Note: I have no written script, the above is roughly the sort of thing I will say when performing this technique. I need to test this out some more, but it seems to be working well so far!

Thanks. I love it.

It is simple. It illustrates a point perfetly - associate the thing you want to happen with the thing your subjects/s are experiencing right now or will experience in the near future.

Magnetic feet

A friend of mine does this with a finger click unsticking one foot/one step at a time. It makes their ability to walk rather limited.

It is going in Proper Mental 3, thanks again.

Ant

EckoZero wrote:Many things

I'll tell you what I think, so far - but I'm happy to change my mind.

I think the website sums it up nicely when they say "most people who go to see a hypnotist entertainer want to do silly things!", or words to that effect. I think they're exactly right - and folk might worry because people who aren't going to see a show but are going to see a therapist obviously get scared if they equate hypnotism with being made to cluck like a chicken... amusingly, it's the very fact that people who go to see hypnotism shows expect to be made to cluck like a chicken that it works in the first place!

I think hypnotherapy is a blend of relaxation, concentration (or meditation), and Milgram-esque obedience/compliance. I think that, in terms of smoking, or weight loss or whatever, any sort of "practitioner" be they herbalist, aromatherapist, homeopathist or hypnotist who gets the client to relax, to focus and to think positive things about their intent to get better, will make some kind of improvement. The fact that they trust the hypnotist is also important; so I would say it's perhaps a 70% : 30% mix of the above (70% relaxation and concentration, 30% the effect brought about by trusting the practitioner).

In terms of hypnotism as anaesthesia - impressive, and I would say even more about relaxation and concentration.

But hypnotism as entertainment I think is more like 1% : 99%, if that - more like 100% Milgram. I think the hype of the show, the confidence of the performer etc. sets up huge expectation that the person lives up to, and let's face it, they already wanted to anyway, otherwise why would they agree in the first place.
In retrospect they may be annoyed or embarrassed, in the same way anyone is if, in the cold light of day, they're presented with something they did in the heat of the moment. They're also likely to blame it on the hypnotism (or say that they don't remember) in precisely the same way people blame it on alcohol - and pretend they don't remember


So - I don't think it's anything to do with making people believe different things - believing an onion tastes like an apple, or in particular, believing that someone is invisible... because let's be real about this for a second: if your eye is taking in that information (and it is), you'd have to recognise the form of the person in question to then be able to somehow block them out. It's like saying, "when you see me, don't see me."

When you hold someone's hand in front of their face rather than shake it, I don' t think it invokes any weird trance or special confusional suggestible state or whatever, I think their inner monologue is saying, "...what the hell...?! Ok, er, no idea how to react to this... he's doing some hypnotism-type thing... I'll just do what he says otherwise it'll be really embarrassing for all concerned... I can always pretend I just don't quite know what's going on later..." - so yes, on one hand "hypnotism works" because you can make someone do what you tell them in literal terms, but... it doesn't really.

Now, it's fun to watch if you're into that kind of thing (no prizes for guessing I'm not!), and I'm no anti-hypnotism fascist, but what annoys me about it is how amateur hypnotists buy into the whole malarky, rather than just saying "yeah - OK - it's all kinda bullsh*t, but it's entertaining". Talk of powerful inductions and the like... it's like a double Milgram experiment! You've got the punter complying with whoever hypnotises them, but you've also got the "little" hypnotists complying with the "big" hypnotists, believing that it's all somehow real... No, in fact - that means it's not compliance - that means the hypnotist is the one being taken for the ride!

If this was anything near the truth, what you would hope for some sort of confirmation would be someone "near the top" admitting that it is in fact just social manipulation... and that's exactly what has happened, on this forum (I'm not going to point to it, you can look if you're that bothered).

Look at this girl's position. Her head is bent forward, her legs are still gripped together - you try maintaining that position now. It's not comfortable! You wouldn't go into that position if you went to sleep, or even if you started to relax - she's doing it because he practically pushed her head down and shouted "sleep" at her, and that's what she thinks she's supposed to do.

And, just for fun, check out this video. Was this because that boy's particular thought patterns didn't (whatever)? In my opinion no - it's because he was one of the only ones to have the courage to act on his thought, which was "what the ****, this dude's putting his hands on my face - get off me, you jerk!" in the same way that many people will stand and watch an old lady be mugged but only a few will try to do something about it.

To me, hypnotism - particularly entertainment hypnotism - is a bit like the fact that camels store water in their humps. Many people believe it, and in some ways it "functions" (i.e. can the camel go long distances without water because of its hump? Yes!) but it's not true in the sense many believe it to be.

Which brings me circuitously to the ethics; I think that hypnotism falls into exactly the same ethical grey area as the original Milgram experiment itself; perhaps less seriously, because people do kind of know what they're volunteering for. I think it functions as another piece of window dressing, making it seem as if hypnotism is a really powerful thing to be wielded responsibly (despite the fact 13 year olds can buy the book and do it to their mates at school ). But I also think there is a genuine ethical issue because the Milgram experiment showed that in situations of strong manipulation/compliance/social engineering/obedience/whatever - people can be made to do things with which they're uncomfortable.


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