Derren Brown blows the lid on stooges in stage hypnotism

As an entertainer and showman Derren Brown uses his charisma and showmanship to make us think that things we are seeing are really happening in front of our eyes. But, can we really believe what we are seeing with him or with any other performer or mentalist who may well be trying to pull the wool over our eyes?

Well, of course we can’t believe it. That’s part of the reason that it can be so entertaining. If what we see seems impossible, but somehow seems to be happening in front of our eyes then we will have a natural curiosity towards how it’s being achieved.

Although he is of course famous for his television specials on Channel Four, Derren Brown still tours extensively and explains that he loves live work even more than his TV shows.

Get Derren Brown's book Happy from Amazon

Or get the Derren Brown Audiobook for FREE with an Audible Trial

Often in the past we have witnessed him hypnotising people on stage and television and then influencing them in the way that they think. It’s something that I have written about before and how we sometimes need to take things with a pinch of salt. The ITV hypnosis game show “You’re Back in the Room” was a great example of what I describe as people just playing along.

Now that Derren is touring his new show Miracle he has been lifting the lid on how stage hypnotists work and why we shouldn’t believe all that we see.

Speaking to the Argus in Brighton before appearing there, he explained that in this show he was doing no hypnosis on stage at all.

There is no hypnotism in this show. Hypnotism is quite a grey area – of what is and what isn’t hypnotism. It’s a word like magic – a shorthand term for something. You know a magician isn’t doing magic – he’s doing a series of things creating an experience. If you go to see a stage hypnotist you can have people playing along – is that a form of hypnotism? Is a charismatic speaker or someone who helps you give up smoking a form of hypnotism? It’s very difficult to say what it is.

If you see what he is saying he is basically explaining that when you see someone on stage they really are just playing along. It is a chance to do things they would never normally do and have an excuse, because they can say they were hypnotised! What a stage hypnotist is looking for is someone who wants to play along. They need the most outgoing people on stage, especially if those people would not normally do that kind of thing.

If you want to see a master showman at work then I highly recommend his live shows. Just bear in mind that not everything you see can be believed!

You can see some of the secrets of You're Back in the Room in the video below...

 You're Back in the Room 2016 returns to ITV in March

British Airways is starting to use hypnosis on its passengers 

For many people the thought of getting on a plane can cause them to break out in a cold sweat. Of course often these same people turn to hypnotherapy to help them overcome the fear. I certainly see an increase in people who have decided it’s time to let go of their fear of flying as the summer holidays approach.

Now BA have decided to offer hypnotherapy to its passengers during their long haul flights.

For a long time now the entertainment packages available have been getting more sophisticated and now, for the first time you will be able to listen to hypnosis audio recordings as well as watching the latest blockbusters and episode of Mr Bean. The new service starts on the 1st March and bearing in mind that British Airways have 13 million long haul passengers a year it really opens up a world of opportunity for people to understand that hypnosis and all the thoughts and feelings that go along with hypnotic ideas are really not about taking control of your mind like you see on cheesy television shows!

The recordings will help you if you are thinking about quitting smoking, cutting down on your drinking of alcohol or even if you want to eat more vegetables. All in all there will be five different experiences that you can listen to. Each one lasting for 30 minutes. 

As a clinical hypnotherapist myself, I always make sure that I record the work that I do with cients so that they have it ot listen to at home and it really does help to reinforce the work that we do. I'm not sure how well listening to something once whilst on a flight will work. However, even though these can only be generic recordings and not tailored to individual needs, just taking some time out to relax will always be a good idea.

It will certainly be interesting to find out how well listening to a hypnosis CD on a long haul flight will work. You definitely have plenty of time and nowhere else to go, so there will be no issues of someone ringning your phone or doorbell whilst you are trying to listen!

If you want to listen to a relaxation MP3 for yourself to find out just how calming it can feel to switch off for a few moments, then just click the link at the top of this page.