Chris and I did something a little out of the norm for us on Saturday night last weekend. We went with some friends to a local comedy club to see a man known for his comedy hypnosis. He is very awarded for his performance nation-wide and highly regarded for his Bob Hope Award for entertaining  the troops over seas. His name is Don Barnhart and you can check him out if you want to see what he’s all about.

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It was, in fact, a very funny show. Lots of hearty laughing was had. I’ll give you the run down of how it went down. As we got seated with our friends, we all very adamantly declared that we would NOT volunteer for hypnosis. Knowing what little I do about it, I felt confident that I wasn’t willing to turn myself over to vulnerability and/ or humiliation in front of my friends and a room full of strangers. So, there you have that. I can speak for all of us perhaps when Don said that the 15 chairs lined up on stage were reserved for those who wanted to volunteer for hypnosis. This was good. People could just go up as they wanted to and there was absolutely no pressure on the rest of us.

Once the 15 people we seated, Don told them to deep breath, close their eyes and let go “deeper and deeper, down down down.” All this was happening as a very relaxing mix of new-age-y music played in the back ground. I even found myself relaxing so much against Chris’s shoulder that they thought I had fallen asleep. I probably could have, who are we kidding, really?

Well, Don was left with 5 people, after kindly asking the other 10 to better enjoy their experience from their seats – meaning, it didn’t work on them.

And then the fun and shenanigans began. Don had these folks reacting to scenarios that included being stuck in the frozen north pole, to melting on a deserted island. They sang their best rendition of Celine Dion at one point and then one person acted as if Don were the worst comedian they had seen in their lives, while the other one loved him! They demonstrated muscle beach and playing instruments. It was a full scale assault on these people’s subconscious! Or was it?

That is what I am left wondering! Do I buy into it? I don’t know! Couldn’t they have just been really good actors and very willing to let down their inhibitions to help contribute to a good time? They really did do everything to the t. When Don told them to sleep again, they just did-all at once-stopping whatever goofiness  they were in the middle of!

So, why might I be skeptical of this? I do believe in the hypnosis that can help people to quit smoking or over come their fears. I once interviewed a professional hypnosis for an article I was writing and he actually volunteered to try it on me to help cure my fear of moths. I should have really took him up on it. Maybe it’s the idea of being out of control that makes me nervous? But, I don’t actually know if that’s what happens!

Nevertheless, it was a very enjoyable performance and Don Barnhart was quite professional, funny and classy. Whether or not I’m 100 percent on board with how real it was doesn’t change the fact that it was what is was and that equaled a night of needed laughs and a good time with friends. And, if those five people laid awake in their beds Saturday night mortified of their performance up on stage or, in fact, in a restful slumber as Don said they would, that remains to never be known by me.

Do you believe its true? Have you ever been hypnotized?