James Szeles's Page

Beta, alpha, theta, delta are not just something to set your alarm by, but varying states of consciousness which bridge the unconscious mind. Pacifican James Szeles knows all about these altered states. He is a stage hypnotist; in the business for over 30 years.

"I started when I was 5," he laughed.

Originally from Detroit, Szeles' first off-the-beaten-path interest was magic.

"My cousin was into magic (his cousin is the magician/comic The Amazing Johnathan) and he and a friend came over with a vanishing' cane. I thought that was the coolest thing I ever saw in my life."

In 1974, Szeles headed to Los Angeles and a job at a second floor magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard. He worked for Ralph Lane, an old vaudevillian magician whose shop was next store to the vampire museum.

"He had a picture of Harry Houdini on the wall and it was signed: "Ralph, I told you I'd come back!" Harry."

Szeles said he was interested in magic because he thought it was real. But he learned that performance magic is all sleight of hand. For Szeles, the real magic is the magic of the mind.

Szeles, who some might remember as the "Rainmaker" at Pier 39 in its early days, decided in the late '70s that he would branch into stand-up comedy. But back then he just wasn't comfortable with it. Serendipitously, a friend gave Szeles an audio course on self-hypnosis and Szeles also happened to catch "The Hip" hypnotist Pat Collins on television. He thought, "Wow! I can do that."

James picked up a book on hypnosis, studied it and then hypnotized his best friend. "I told him, when I wake you up, you will take your shoe off and walk outside," said Szeles. "And so he did!"

After graduating from The Clement School of Hypnotherapy in San Francisco, Szeles began his career. And with his stage hypnotist career, came a natural affinity for comedy. From corporations, to colleges, high schools and comedy clubs and even to a City of Pacifica employee dinner, Szeles dazzles his clients into a state of relaxation.

"I walk into a group of victims, people, and give them a speech on hypnosis and how it works. Then I ask for 20 volunteers to come onstage and I do a group induction to see, who goes under and who doesn't. Then I'll take the best out of the twenty and have them do funny little things like act like first graders and I'm their teacher."

A visit to Szeles website (www.szeles.com) reveals spectacular short clips of entertaining feats. In one short, Szeles convinces a female audience member that he is Brad Pitt and asks her to marry him. She says, "Yes!" and then runs to show the audience her stunning, and invisible, 5-carat diamond engagement ring. In another clip, Szeles gets a male member of the audience to call his mother and let her know that he has changed his name to "Jenny" because it's a very pretty name and he just loves it.
Szeles explained that hypnosis is essentially self-hypnosis. "Anybody who can hold a thought and use their imagination can be hypnotized," said Szeles.