Stage Hypnosis - Oversaturated?

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on December 15, 2008 at 2:09pm

It is only oversaturated if you not the best, and if you aren't wiling to take risk to succeed, and if you lack creativity.

There is always demand for well thought out shows with modern music, hip themes, and astonishing hypnosis.
Add good marketing to it and a person will have no problems.

Now, if you are an average performing, using elevator music as your induction , and doing the same bits in the same manor as everyone has been taught for the past 30 years..... and do esentially the show from the outdated Ormand McGill book.... then yes, you will find the market is overstaturated.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Davis on December 15, 2008 at 3:23pm

I agree that "the cream always rises to the top!" The people who are great performers, study and learn their craft, and strive to be original will always have work. I think the performers who respect their audiences and clients will also leave a great impression and continue to get repeat work.
It's unfortunate that some new/less experienced performers are charging very low prices and leaving a bad impression on people as to what stage hpnosis is by doing a bad show or disrespecting volunteers.

Do you believe we have more stage hypnotists now than 10 years ago? 20 years ago? 30 years ago?

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Permalink Reply by Rusty Z - The HypnotiComic on December 15, 2008 at 3:32pm

It's only oversaturated with bad acts. Your act has so little to do with hypnosis per se, and everything to do with personality.
Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of people (and their attached personalities) who shouldn't be on a stage anywhere ever, are plunking down a couple of thousand bucks so that they can be "certified" show business professionals.
p.s. At least people who do karaoke know that they're amateurs. If they'd paid someone to teach them to sing and given them a "Certified Singer" certificate, I bet they'd refer to themselves as professionals.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Nongard - NLPBoard.com on December 15, 2008 at 3:59pm

I met a busker in Ontario last summer making over 100K (in cash) working only weekends

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Permalink Reply by Jerry Bolduc aka Zoto! on December 15, 2008 at 5:25pm

Over saturated?

I don't think Hypnosis becoming like Karaoke is a bad thing, it would make people less afraid and open the door to more experienced volunteers. How ever I don't think this is true in my area of Mid Michigan.

I am really still just small time. I have done four shows, two of them paying (both referrals from the charity shows) and what a fun way to supplement my therapy work! Eventually as I become tighter and gather all the equipment I want/need I'd like to see my therapy supplementing my stage craft or being to busy to do therapy.

Over saturation? Man there are a ton of good musicians in New Orleans but the best still find work as musicians. The best will always find work. I want to be the best so I guess I will continue to work and train..

Jerry

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Permalink Reply by Marc Savard on December 15, 2008 at 6:51pm

Every business will have people coming in to make a quick buck. It seems that stage hypnosis has more than it's fair share. That might very well be due to the fact that hypnotizing someone is the easy part. Putting on a performance and entertaining are the harder parts.

Same goes with hypnotherapy I guess. I had someone ask me about hypnotherapy as a career and how it is fairing in this poor economy as they are interested in taking my hypnotherapy training at my school. My answer was, talented, dedicated and resourceful hypnotherapist/entreprenuers will do just fine. It is like ANY other business. My dentist has to advertise and be creative. He has a referral program he just launched. My hair stylist, is in the same boat. I go to her because she does a great job and has great customer service. My chiropractor is booming and it is hard to get an appointment, whereas there is one 3 blocks away from him that just put up a going out of business sign.

With any business and the successes that go with it, if you have desire, heart, some talent and hard work for what you lack in talent, and if you can put your ego aside and learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others to improve your craft, you will do fine and survive. Those who cannot will blame the rest of the world for their misfortune. And so then the world continues to go 'round.

That's just my two cents.

Marc

P.S. Remember... the greater the want, the easier the how!

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Permalink Reply by John Cerbone - The Trance-Master on December 15, 2008 at 8:55pm

Yes, I agree, cream will rise to the top.
What however,seems to be doing a number on the market in this area, NYC, are some of the Stage Hypnotists who will do any show, anyplace, for $1.25. (metaphorically speaking). Not only is that seem to me to be an act of desperation, as I am being blunt here, (many of you have told me you respect me for that) but it is sometimes taken to extremes and kills the market completely.

For example, I know of a stage Hypnotist who drove over 4 hours north and slept in his car, for $300 in winter, shivering in his car trying not to freeze to death post show; I know of the job, as I had passed on it earlier.

I had also once seen a Clinical Hypnotist who bought a DVD of someone else's show, watched it a few times, with zero clues on how a show works, do what looked to me to be something less of a Hypnotism show, but rather something between a train wreck and a plane crash. He then called me the next day to tell me that I saw the good show on Saturday, his Sunday show really sucked. My stomach was in knots watching him work. I have had perspective client who call me back and tell me some other Hypnotist will do their show for $250, and I'd drop my price to that number, when we had been talking 4 figures, I could have the gig, after it would take me 2.5 hours to get there.

I realize what the clients sometimes fail to see, there is a difference between hiring Van Halen vs little Jimmy's garage band from around the corner, but the clients don't at times don't get that. There's a new guy around these parts, maybe he's great, who has billed himself as a true entertainer, he's a chiropractor, doing yet something else, with all due respect meant here.

As Lee Darrow mentioned someplace around here, there's a lot of skill and a wide variety of things going on in a Hypnotism show, the best and better of us, make it look easy, as it flows seamlessly, and that comes along with experience gained over time and travel, and skill, both innate and learned, showmanship / showwomanship, and the ability to be a master entertainer, with all the attributes that term entails: being bigger than the audience energetically, playing off the Hypnotized and their responses as well as the audience and their vibes, being OK with yourself in front of an audience, mixing it up routine wise, aiming the show toward entertainment, thinking outide the box, and all attendence are in on the jokes, handling the people in your care with care, being a force of nature on stage, working until you and all that you are, inside and out knows you've done a show.

If you want to relate this to singers, think of old Tom Jones performances, where he was soaked with sweat by shows end, Mick Jagger running up and down a stage in his prime, David Lee Roth jumping around and belting out a song, or your favorite rock band ripping it up!!!

Whatever the budget I am working with, I rip it up with all I have as well as what I can borrow from next week and make the show a powerful experience, and I am not really happy until I am squishy and sweaty by shows end.
I can only remember one show where I wasn't overheated, it was outdoors in Massachusetts in later Winter / early Spring, we started out with 50 degree F temperatures and ended up in the 30 F area, I remember having to put on gloves to hold the mic and kept telling those High School kids they were in Florida, and as I counted them out, the screamed and ran for Hot Chocolate in the warmer in door areas there, LOL.

Anyone can take a class, get a certificate from someone, and call themselves anything they want, BUT a true entertainer and master showman/woman is what is required to bring off a powerful performance, worthy of rightfully being called a Hypnosis Stage Show.

I have met, and spoken to a great many Clinical Hypnotists who tell me they've gotten certified as a Stage Hypnotist, and want to get to a place of working up their nerve to do it someday.
My questions to them usually follow: is there an Entertainer lurking deep within you who is ready to come out and play, and powerfully blow and audience's mind? How hard are you willing to work and what will you put into this?

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Permalink Reply by Josh Tolley on December 31, 2008 at 6:50pm

Perhaps it is oversaturated from the viewpoint of someone in the industry. That would be like being one of three fish in a fish bowl at a pet store in the mall. You would be thinking "man, we are getting yet another fish, that's four fish, it's getting croweded" but if you were a cat walking around in sears on the other end of the mall it would seem like there are no fish anywhere.

In 31 years of life I have never seen a hypnotist at a nightclub, bar, corporate event, school presentation or anything and I have lived or frequent most of the big cities in the country.

Until I started looking into hypnotism I didn't even know stage hypnotists were around anymore and I have managed restaurants, hotels, nightclubs. So now that I know they are out there they should really look at marketing themselves better.

I find the same sort of belief from some magicians. On their blogs they all talk about making money with their magic and everyone of them has a website claiming they are paid magicians. The biggest segment is "restaurant magic", performing for people while they wait for their meal or to be seated.

The same is true with them, I have eaten at probably over 100 restaurants per year for the past ten years, attend dozens of professional conferences and still to this day, with the exception of going to pay to see David Copperfield, I have never seen a "professional" magician out in the market place.

So, to all those who are aspiring stage hypnotists, you can make a fortune in 2009!! If you need some advice or guidence on how to do it, feel free to contact me.

Great topic though Matt!

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Permalink Reply by Mac Stevens on December 31, 2008 at 7:04pm

Good topic Matt.

Nice statement Josh. I was LOOKING for any hypnosis act in my town of over 1 million people. Not one. This is the party season, you think you would find at least one.

Over saturated? We are guppies in an ocean.

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Permalink Reply by Spellbinde on January 3, 2009 at 11:22am

I think the surge is regional. A bunch in the area makes for good competition.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh Cole on January 3, 2009 at 12:41pm

John,
You bring up a very good point. Being a stage hypnotist is about being an entertainer. and giving your all to the audience each night, every night. Many clinical hypnotists find it difficult to make that transition, not because of lack of competence in the hypnosis arena, but from lack of "personality and nerve". But as we have discussed in many threads in the forum, stage skills go a long way toward making clinical work easier ... for those that dare to try them. Personally, I don't do a lot of shows, but I do use everything I have learned about stage in clinical settings and in the public demonstrations that keep my business humming along. With acess to the internet and the ability to watch shows by the other talanted entertainers on this thread it is easy to remain creative in your skits and follow in the footsteps of other folks that have done it before. (Thank you Alex Duvall and others for the rich repository of your work out there)
Oh and John .... about the sweaty squishy stuff more information than I really needed (hehe- tongue firmly in cheek) ...... Wear underArmour shirts like the pro atheletes wear ... works for me anyway ... seriously try it it works.

Hugh Cole...

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Permalink Reply by Emily on January 5, 2009 at 10:09pm

Personally, I'm not a fan of stage hypnosis. I have to explain to nearly every client what stage hypnosis is and why they should take what we're doing seriouslly. I find stage hypnosis to make a mockery of what should be a very serious profession. Again, this is only MHO. I hope that all stage hypnotists take the time to explain the serious benefits of hypnosis to their audience.

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