Way back in 1992 I became hopelessly fascinated with hypnosis because I saw Mike Mandel perform at my university. The people on stage did things that even a skilled actor would probably struggle to do. And these were just university kids, not skilled actors and actresses. This fired my convincer strategy. I knew what I was seeing was real, not a bunch of plants setup in advance to fake the show.
I didn’t actually understand the STRUCTURE of Mike’s hypnosis show until I studied with him. I took his live class back in the early 2000s and the next time I saw his live show I immediately understood what he was doing, and how he was creating trance in a bunch of volunteers without seemingly doing anything. After all, most people look at the show setup and think he’s just talking to the volunteers and telling jokes.
Last week, after 42 straight years of Mike Mandel performing at the University of Western Ontario in London, somebody in the audience recorded the entire show and was awesome enough to post it to YouTube. I’ve included them below (It’s broken into 2 parts).
Most people might skip the first 10 minutes because that’s the “boring” part. But to a hypnosis student that’s actually where ALL of the magic is happening. I encourage you to watch that part and study it. Then, if you really want to go further check out our online hypnosis training, the Mike Mandel Hypnosis Academy.
Hypnotists: Pay special attention to Part 2 at about the 8:30 mark. A young woman gets injured from a flying elbow and Mike takes her through an incredible transformation … from sobbing and very visibly upset to happy and totally back to normal in a matter of seconds. See if you can spot what he did. Hint: This is part of what we call “emergency hypnosis”.
Here’s the full show for your enjoyment …
Part 1 of the show
Part 2 of the show
Learn hypnosis: Our online hypnosis training is the best way to get started unless you’re able to get yourself to Toronto for one of our live trainings, which always sell out months in advance.