This is news to me . . . good news! From the AP, 14 Sept. 2004, hypnotism ban lifted, fairgoers are spellbound. This is very good news as the old law was based upon prejudice and misconceptions that are just plain ridiculous . . . they were allowing hypnotherapy and recreational hypnosis but not stage or entertainment hypnosis.

The statute barring public entertainment with hypnosis dates from 1903. It was put in place during a time of misunderstanding and misaprehension. Of course, some of the folks touring at the time didn’t help matters with their claims of paranormal and exceptional powers. Hypnosis is much better understood today . . . rather, much better misunderstood in some sectors.

Hypnotism ban lifted, fairgoers are spellbound
Associated Press

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The repeal of a century-old ban on public hypnotism has had visitors to the Kansas State Fair taking dancing lessons from a stuffed-sock monkey, hammering imaginary nails with their shoes and screaming at the sight of nonexistent rats. “Probably by the end of the week, you’ll see the Spice Girls show up here,” said Ron Diamond, the hypnotist making his first appearance here. “Or you’ll see the first pregnant man in history to give birth on a stage.” Earlier this year, state lawmakers repealed a 1903 statue barring public entertainment by way of hypnosis shows. The rewritten rules allowed for Diamond’s twice-daily shows, which have become a hit among fairgoers. “As we get older, society says to us that it’s not OK to play and have a good time,” said Diamond. “What hypnotism does is it opens up that childhood again.” In the course of a show, audience members see friends and relatives transformed to servants to Diamond’s commands. A grown man forgets how to pronounce his own name. A stageful of volunteers, overcome with itchiness, can’t stop scratching themselves. And one group reverts to third grade, making faces when the hypnotist turns his back. “You’re just so relaxed you want to do what he says,” said 27-year-old Heather Nichols of El Dorado, who was convinced her finger was stuck in her ear. Not everyone succumbs to Diamond’s spell so easily. He estimates about 40 percent of those he calls onstage are able to fall into a hypnotic state. Diamond says he performs at more than 250 shows a year, hypnotizing about 6,500 people. He’s found a lot of fans here in Hutchinson. “The crowd has been unbelievable,” said Denny Stoecklein, the state fair manager. “People were lined up to participate.”

The weird thing is that I didn’t see any announcement on this ban lift from the NGH which usually has a pretty good information arm for things like this.

For those who don’t know, I am from Kansas. I grew up in the small town of Abilene (yes, the place all those cowboy shootout movies are set in and also the boyhood home of President Eisenhower). As I am also a hypnotist (Certified Hypnotherapist and Board Certified Hypnotist with a particular love of entertainment and stage hypnosis, BA and MA in Theatre and a PhD dissertation in interactive drama), the ban on performance hypnosis in Kansas has been quite the conundrum for me and has always struck me as beyond backwards . . . Kansas City is really interesting as across the river in Missouri there are working stage hypnotists who have had to be careful not to cross the bridge. It looks like we finally have some positive changes.

Of course, this does not mean that stage hypnotists are now free to control their willing subjects, despite the language of the article above, we don’t put people under a spell and we don’t have complete control over them . . . if we did, we’d not be exhibiting in on public stages but pulling strings from behind the scenes and we’d all have big boats and castles and we certainly wouldn’t be offering to teach others our tricks of the trade.

However, be that as it may, there are some things commonly performed as part of some stage hypnosis shows which are not legitimate demonstrations of hypnosis and are in fact harmful . . . such as the human bridge where someone is suspended between chairs and then stood upon . . . while impressive, this is more a demonstration of physics than trance phenomenon and it can be harmful to the back when done improperly or with someone with a weak back . . . before the controls were put in place in England in the 50’s there were certain back conditions commonly associated with such performances that doctors were calling them “Stage Hypnosis Syndrome” . . . this is not a good idea. Folks who put pins through others as part of a performance are also doing a disservice to the profession and to the participants.

However, when done well and with the best interests of the volunteers in mind, stage hypnosis is a wonderful experience.

One final note, the illustration I am using here is not of a stage hypnotist . . . looks like a performance . . . but that’s Charcot doing a demonstration of medical hypnosis for a slew of doctors. Yes, she is topless under there but I don’t know why although it seems like a good idea to me despite the interesting consideration that Charcot’s approach to and understanding of hypnosis was concentrated in hysteria. His demonstration would have been legal under the former Kansas statute . . . prior to the lifting of the ban, most demonstrational hypnosis was carried out as informative or educational . . . while Charcot was certainly legitimate, I know of a few folks who worked the Kansas circuit who were less so and who were certainly more exploitative of their audiences and subjects than any performer I have heard of (and I have heard of some pretty lousy performers in addition to some wonderful ones).

BTW, if you are in Taipei and would like to book a stage hypnosis show or demonstrational event (the good kinds, of course) or attend a workshop on that or other hypnosis-related subjects, feel free to contact me.