A show that combines improv and hypnosis is coming to Vancouver Island this week.
Called Hyprov: Improv under Hypnosis, it’s a show that will see Asad Mecci, a master hypnotist, bring up 20 volunteers to be hypnotized, where the most receptive volunteers will then join Colin Mochrie, from Whose Line Is It Anyway? in improvising on stage.
According to Mecci, the idea came to him while taking improv classes in Toronto.
“Often times, the trainers would say to us new students… get out of your head, you are too much in your head, and what I realized was that they were saying in other words: stop consciously constructing the comedy, stop trying too hard to be funny,” said Mecci.
“So I thought, could I hypnotize somebody with no improv experience and turn them into really good improvisers? The answer has been a resounding yes because the part of the brain that deals with self-reflection becomes disconnected once someone is hypnotized.”
He says that he reached out to Colin through his website, outlining the concepts, leading to them putting together a show at Second City right after the main stage show.
Mecci says they weren’t 100 percent sure that the show would work.
“When somebody is hypnotized, they look at me with riveted attention, which means that all the other variables [are] dropped away and they are just zoned in on me,” said Mecci.
“I wasn’t sure if they were going to pay attention to him, or if they were going to ignore him, so going on stage we weren’t 100 percent sure the concept was going to work, but it ended up working beautifully.”
Since that first show, both Colin and Asad have now toured 80 cities across North America, 70 shows off Broadway, and over 60 shows in Las Vegas.
The show will come to Nanaimo on November 8 at the Port Theatre and Campbell River’s Tidemark theatre on November 9.
A link to buy tickets for Campell River is available here.
A link to buy tickets for Nanaimo can be found here.
