Comedy stage hypnotist J. Medicine Hat has passed away. See notice from his family on his webpages at http://www.jmedicinehat.com.

In late 1982, J. Medicine Hat attended his first live comedy show in Sioux City, Iowa. Half way through that show, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. While he continued to support his family by working at the local slaughter house, he sought out area comedy clubs and became a regular at their open mic nights. His success soon lead to paying gigs at comedy clubs throughout the Midwest.

By 1987, J said goodbye to the slaughter house, and comedy became his full time job. After being named Showtime’s Funniest Man in Iowa, J. was spotted by a talent scout from Star Search and two weeks later made his television debut. At the Star Search audition, he was signed as an opening act for the Stray Cats’ summer tour. This tour lead to opening gigs for Jerry Seinfield, Dennis Miller, Sam Kinison, Roseanne Barr, The Beach Boys, Fabulous Thunderbirds and the late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn. While not on the road, J had a popular morning radio show in Sioux City.

In 1994, J was booked as an opening act for a hypnotist. Half way through that show, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his comedy life. By merging stand up comedy and hypnosis, J knew he would have something unique to offer audiences. He invested all the money he had in the world into learning the art of stage hypnosis. A mere ten days later, J performed his first hypno comedy show. The success of that very first show, was like pouring gasoline on a fire. J Medicine Hat was unstoppable. College students all over the country flocked to see these “rock-n-roll hypnosis” shows. He also honed his skills performing at corporate evenst and fundraisers. His reputation for exceptional shows, soon opened the door to headlining at A-list comedy clubs.

Sixteen years after transforming his act to hypnotic comedy, J became a top draw in the Funny Bone chain, performing at their clubs throughout the country. He was consistently the top producing performer on the stage in ticket, food and beverage sales. His act produced a loyal following, which allowed him to hold the record for most shows in a single room by one comedian at 1200 shows.

For a taste of his unique brand of hypnotic comedy, here’s a clip of J working a show bit in which he’s hypnotized a woman to believe she is at a fast food restaurant drive through and the guy keeps getting his order wrong:

J was very thankful and grateful for all his blessings, and he was committed to giving back.

He held an annual toy drive for the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which produces donations from clubs all over the country and his family currently asks folks to please donate to the toy drive in lieu of sending flowers (see his site at http://www.jmedicinehat.com for a donation link). He was also in the process of establishing a scholarship to assist Native American students with their college expenses.

If you would like to see other examples of his comedy hypnosis work, there a youtube channels at http://www.youtube.com/user/medicinehatprod and http://www.youtube.com/user/JMedicineHat.

J will be missed.

All the best,
Brian