Hypnotist Jason Cyrus excited for Yarmouth show youGO if
Performing at Th’YARC Friday, May 4
If there’s one thing Jason Cyrus prides himself on, it’s the fact his shows are family friendly – so much so that he mentions it multiple times during an interview.
But he doesn’t just want people to imagine what it would be like to go to one of his shows, he wants people to take one in.
They’ll have the chance when the hypnotist comes to Th’YARC in Yarmouth on Friday, May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Performing on stage keeps Cyrus busy. Over the course of a year he estimates he probably does 75 to 80 different events.
“This show has really developed into something,” he says, pointing to a media article in Today Magazine in Niagara Falls that referred to him as ‘ Canada’s Stage Hypnosis King.’
“That was pretty cool,” he says. “I don’t think I’m a king by any means, there’s a lot of good guys out there. But you know what, I’ll take it,” he says laughing. “I’ve been called worse.”
Growing up in New Brunswick, Cyrus played hockey, but he was also impressed with magic.
Later hypnosis came along and well, he was hooked.
So what can people expect when they go to one of his shows?
The first thing he points to is the family friendly nature.
“No one is ever disrespected, or ridiculed or embarrassed on my stage,” he says. “Everybody is treated with respect and one of the big things I really love is when I look out on the audience – and sometimes parents will come up on the stage – and a 10-year-old will be laughing at their parent doing something funny. It’s really nice that people can bring the whole family out.”
Asked if he calls for volunteers to come up on stage and if people are a little apprehensive, he says when he first started out there was hesitation on people’s part. But as his show has grown and become more popular, people know that they’re going to be in good hands when they’re on stage with him, he says. Jason Cyrus says people always have a good time when they come to his show. The laughter is non-stop and when they leave people feel better than when they arrived.
“We have people fill the stage really quickly,” he says, recalling a past trip he made to Yarmouth.
“We had some of the best volunteers that we’ve had,” he says. “What great personalities. At the end of the day everyone had a great time.”
Cyrus has been doing this for 15 years professionally, starting out in the bar scene but now performing at some of the largest theatres and biggest casinos in Canada.
“Our age demographic is honestly five to 100 years old,” he says.
He is an experienced Clinical Hypnotherapist, is certified with The International Hypnother- apy Association and is an active member of the National Guild of Hypnotist. Hypnotherapy is a medically approved, safe and effective way to overcome problems in your life and reach your goals, his website says. It’s about reaching a natural state of awareness that is reachable when you are fully relaxed.
Cyrus says during his show in Yarmouth he’ll likely call up around 20 or 30 volunteers. The show is very theatrical with music and lights and runs about 90 minutes to two hours.
“It’s non- stop laughter,” he says. “As soon as you get in there, even just our pre-show music, everything is set to trigger the unconscious mind.”
Which isn’t so difficult, he suggests, asking, how many times have you been driving in your vehicle and your mind is somewhere else?
“Next thing you know you’ve driven two kilometres down the road and you’re wondering, ‘ Was that light green?’” he says.
He points to electronic devices or watching TV as kind of being examples of what hypnosis or a trance is.
“It’s programming your mind,” he says. “If you watch someone long enough when they start watching TV you’ll see them slouch down in the chair, heart rate changes, breathing changes. I know there’s a lot of skeptics out there but once I give people an explanation of what hypnosis actually is people see we’re pretty much in this state all the time.”
He says at his shows there are different states people will find themselves in.
“There are people that will come off the stage and say, ‘where did that two hours go?’ and then other people will know exactly what’s happening,” he says. “About 80 per cent of people will Tickets are $26 and are available through Th’YARC box office. Call 902-742-8150 or visit the 76 Parade Street location.
For more info visit www.yarcplayhouse.com.
For more info on Jason Cyrus visit: www.hypnotistcyrus.com. retain what happened on stage because you’re not sleeping, that’s the misconception, you’re actually super aware.
“I’m just dealing with the automatic part of the mind, the unconscious part of the mind. It controls everything in our body so I’m basically giving the suggestion to that part of the mind and once the suggestion is taken it becomes reality and it doesn’t know the difference between fact and fiction.”
What hypnosis does, says Cyrus, is relaxes this part of the mind and allows suggestions to bounce back and forth between the conscious and unconscious without being judged or criticized.
Asked, meanwhile, what the one question is that people never ask him about his show that they ought to, he responds, “That’s a good question. I thought I’ve been asked everything.”
“One question I think they ought to ask is just the misconception that it isn’t family friendly. I don’t want people to fear hypnosis because it’s actually an amazing, wonderful state,” he says. “You can ask anyone after the show what it feels like and they’ll feel like they slept eight hours.”
There’s a lot of stress and anxiety in the world today, he says, and this can help with that. He also leaves his volunteers with what he calls powerful suggestions to help them with their selfesteem and confidence or to rid themselves of bad habits.
“People come to the show and they’re like, ‘I’ve never felt so good in my life’ when they’re done.”
Still, you get the skeptics and that’s okay says Cyrus.
“It’s just hard for people to relate to. But it’s actually a person is letting me in and they’re just following my suggestions,” he says.
“People don’t know what hypnosis is. It’s not something that can be seen. When people can’t see it it’s hard to believe but I always say, they believe in gravity.”