This is just plain weird . . . truly weird . . . not sure if it’s a good weird or just a plain ol’ everyday "that’s f*cked" kind of weird, but weird it is.
This DVD of the Strange Variety Special is of interested in erotic hypnosis and stage hypnotis and perhaps those interested in very oddball Japanese undergroundish adult television late night entertainment. This was a live broadcast originally and comes off as very over the top and very very amateurish production values all the way. The environment feels as if what one would come up with if a bunch of playful yet technically unskilled university students with sophomoric ideas about sexuality and humor might come up with if they were given some equipment and a time slot to produce a television program with naked ladies.
The hostesses wear street clothes – skirts – with their tops pulled up to expose their breasts the whole time. Every once in awhile one of the girls needs to re-adjust her top as it falls down so she hikes it back up. The rest of their demeanor is straight as if they neither notice nor acknowledge their seminudity, robbing the context of any sensuality . . . which in itself would make an interesting point towards the nature of sexuality but that is not their point as they seem to think nudity alone is enough for erotic response and it’s not.
They have a couple groups of volunteers, women from all walks of life and a variety of ages. The hypnotist comes out and does pretty standard stage induction and some straightforward suggestibility demonstrations. All pretty standard fare except that the is yet another of those goofy hypnotists who don’t want to show their face in the program as they don’t want their vanilla lives to be associated with adult entertainment but really want to be doing the adult work so they wear masks. This isn’t just any mask, he’s wearing one of those hooded affairs that we most powerfully associate with Mexican Professional Wrestling . . . albeit, the hoods have now been imported into the Japanese Professional Wrestling circuit so the local television viewing public no doubt made that connection.
Either way, it’s incredibly silly looking and does not engender awe or respect. It merely trivializes the context . . . which given some of the suggestions may make sense.
As far as hypnotists go, he’s okay, not the greatest I’ve seen and certainly not up to the calibre of some of the better programs of this type. Solid but no particular flair. . . albeit much better than a few of the American programs of this type who some of the fans consider to be strong hypnotists (when really they’re just guys going through the motions with no real skills or knowledge).
Some of the individual girls are interesting and the group bit where the hypnotist suggests that the girls strip and then forget where their clothes are is pretty funny as they rush around looking for clothes they don’t remember taking off.
The Strange Variety Special is an intriguing piece and well worth seeing as long as one keeps in mind the limitations of the program . . . still far ahead of some of the other pieces out there getting good press . . . but . . . keep the caveats in mind and enjoy it for what it is and not for what it could have been . . . for those with an interest in such things as erotica and hypnosis, it is a keeper. Of course, if you want to learn how to do this sort of thing on your own, be sure to sign up for my courses on Couples Hypnosis for Sensuality and Romance in February and the Stage Hypnosis course in June! See http://www.briandavidphillips.com for details!
All the best,
Brian
Practical Approaches to Metaphysical Hypnosis – Feb. 6-10, 2006
Romance and Sensuality Hypnosis – Feb. 13-17, 2006
See "training" at http://www.briandavidphillips.com for details!
Brian David Phillips, PhD, CH [phillips@nccu.edu.tw]Certified Hypnotherapist
Associate Professor, NCCU, Taipei, Taiwan
http://www.briandavidphillips.com
