music blaring out over the speakers. An old man in a turtleneck is playing the
piano, standing up out of his chair to reach the farthest keys. There are flutists,
violinists, and trombone players. One woman is playing the spoons.
I look over at Michelle for a can you believe this? giggle, only to find that
Michelle has been magically spirited away, only to be replaced by a mindless
clone who sits, eyes closed, mutely smashing two cymbals together. I want
to laugh. I want to poke her. I want her to keep going. I want to see what
she ll do.
To be hypnotized, you ve got to be willing, says Reveen. I can t hypnotize
anybody who doesn t want to be hypnotized. You ve got to be relaxed and
comfortable, and you ve got to be sane. Got visions of extra-crazy acid trips?
Forget it. You can t be under the influence of psychedelic drugs.
I was able to prove something to my kids which kept them off the drugs
pretty well, says Reveen. When they used to work with me on the stage, I d
say, Now, see this person? This person s on drugs, you can see it in their
eyes. They think they re super, but you watch their mind will not be worth a
damn when they have to concentrate. And sure enough, they ll fail it every time.
Because one s an artificial, chemically-induced state, the other one requires a
mental conditioning and a discipline.
Reveen and his assistants (who are actually his sons) clear those of us who
haven t been hypnotized off the stage. We go back to our seats and watch the
20 or so people left up there, still playing away in their imaginary band. They
seem to get more and more involved. A woman in a long khaki dress is playing
the violin like a virtuoso. Suddenly, she leaps from her seat and begins to
conduct the band, invisible baton waving, arms flapping, body gyrating, blonde
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Chapter Seven A SUBJECT S PERSPECTIVE
hair flying madly around her, until one of the stage hands guides her back to
her chair.
Finally, Reveen tells them to stop playing and get up and take a bow. He
tells them the crowd loved them. We clap along with the pretense, and they get
up. Some of them are beaming with pride, bowing over and over again.
Reveen tells them we re going to take a break. He says they will walk off the
stage and then dance a merry Irish jig down the aisles. After ten minutes, they ll
return to their seats. But when the signature Reveen music strikes up again,
they ll feel an uncontrollable urge to return to the stage.
Then, with 20 people hypnotized and immobile behind him, he takes the
opportunity to make a plug for his three self-help CDs, designed to help you
relax, gain confidence, or quit smoking. Dressed in a matching tuxedo and
sequined vest, his wife stands beside him, holding up the aforementioned items
like a Price is Right hostess.
Finally, Reveen instructs his captives to walk off the stage. Sure enough,
as soon as they ve gone down the stairs, they break into dance. Suddenly, a
dozen Michael Flatleys and as many of his corkscrewed partners are prancing
down the aisles and out into the lobby. I get up and try to find Michelle, but she s
danced off somewhere. After ten minutes, I see her back in her seat.
She looks dull and dazed, and says she feels weird like she s on drugs.
She doesn t remember anything. The house lights go down again and Reveen
tells his subjects, now all back in the audience, that when his signature music
starts up again, they will return to the stage. However, they won t want him to
notice, so they ll have to sneak up.
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MASTERING HYPNOSIS A Stage Performer s Guide
The music starts, and instantly Michelle gets up quietly and steps past me.
She runs, crouched over, along the bottom of the stage and creeps up to her old
chair. Most of the others return too, as well as one man who managed to get
hypnotized from his seat at the back of the theatre. The old guy who was playing
the piano is the best he bypasses the stairs, pulling himself up on the ledge of
the stage instead, then dropping into a Viet Nam vet roll until he lands crouched
below his chair, then springs up to take his seat.
For the next hour, the scene on stage resembles a drama class in which
every student is a master of comedic improvisation, and no one suffers from the
slightest degree of stage fright or self-doubt. Suddenly, these ordinary people
are survivors of the Titanic, tap dancers, mafioso crime bosses, and ballerinas.
Reveen tells a clean-cut blonde guy dressed all in black that he s the world s
greatest French lover, and he s going to make love to the microphone. Right
on cue, the guy sidles up to the mike, hips thrust forward, eyes intent on the
object of his desire. He grabs it, and with a masterful J aime. Je ne sais, baby, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]