Stage hypnosis is also known as entertainment hypnosis; many willing participants are brought on stage and given specific instructions and commands which trigger the minds natural hypnotic response. These participants are often given tasks to complete for entertainment purposes only, and then are told to come out of the state, these people may or may or may not remember what went on.
People are susceptible to stage hypnosis because they want to be, these people often volunteer for the opportunity to be hypnotized in front of people. The person performing the stage hypnosis will often employ a rapid trigger method of hypnosis; by giving short direct commands to the individual they are able to access the subconscious mind quickly and with out much resistance, especially since the person volunteered and wants to be hypnotized.
Another factor to consider is the fact that many people are very susceptible to peer-pressure, and as such may feel even more compelled to follow the entertainer’s suggestions as they feel that is what is expected out of them. This can make accessing the subject’s subconscious mind even easier for the entertainer, and is probably why entertainers often like use stage hypnosis in groups.
Magicians often use stage hypnosis to thrill and amaze their audience, they will use the power of suggestion to convince certain audience members to act a certain way or visualize a certain number to make their tricks seem more real. Some magicians are so good at this, that they are able to hypnotize entire rooms of people at once; using subliminal messaging along with the rapid hypnotism technique is one way magicians can achieve this effect.
People have tried to understand hypnotism since the 1700’s, and even at this time stage hypnosis was sometimes used to entertain at parties. Many people think that this kind of stage hypnosis is mind control; this is not true, the person performing the hypnotism has simply accessed the brain on a subconscious level, and has made influential suggestions, which in turn brought about a specific reaction.
The fact that modern society induces hypnosis so often by watching lots of movies and television, may contribute to the success of entertainer’s ability to perform stage hypnosis; as people are accustomed to letting their conscious minds take a side seat to be absorbed in something else that they find entertaining. Meditation and therapeutic hypnosis can also be more easily achieved do to this fact, though many people do find it difficult to relax enough without the focus of a television or book.