Let your friends entertain you
Whether you believe in hypnotism or not, Andre the Hilarious Hypnotist promises a night of great entertainment at his latest show at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre, where he is performing nightly until August 21. Andre chats to JOLENE MARRIAH about how he
Q: WHO is Andre the Hilarious Hypnotist?
Andre is a 40-something hypnotist who makes his living by allowing other people to take part in various strange and hilarious events on stage. Andre has perfected the art of hypnosis after being mentored by the late Max Collie, a hypnotist still fondly spoken about today.
Q: For those who’ve never been to your show before, what is it about?
A: This show is comedy in action, it is home-grown entertainment in which your neighbour, the person down the street or your best friend becomes the star, giving “five minutes of fame” a completely new meaning.
Q: Were you specially trained in this field?
A: I did a mentorship under the guidance of the late Max Collie. In the 90s when I started doing hypnosis shows, hypnosis in itself was still frowned upon and had not been accepted by mainstream medicine. Today, training is offered in a far more controlled environment.
Q: What do hypnotism and comedy have in common?
A: Hypnosis and comedy are one and the same. Comedians tell jokes in order to raise a laugh from the audience, I use my skills in hypnosis to create the very same result – laughter. It does not matter if you laugh with someone or laugh at the situation they find themselves in. My training is based on drama and theatre and not specifically hypnosis. I pride myself on being a comedian and a performer using hypnosis as the tool with which I raise laughter.
Q: What makes your show different to other sorts of theatre or comedy shows?
A: Unlike other shows, no two of my shows are ever the same. Neither I nor the audience know what to expect. In a way, I walk on stage with a blank slate and have to create an evening’s entertainment from nothing, I have no idea how people will react, what they will do, or in which way they will be doing it.
Q: What can audiences expect and why should they attend?
A: Laughter, laughter and more laughter – this is entertainment born out of your city or town, with your community providing the entertainment. It’s candid camera on stage, where your best friend, aunt, uncle or brother provides the entertainment.
Q: Do you get a lot of cynics coming to the show, and how do you deal with that sort of reaction?
A: People are often quick to say that the show is staged or that I pay for the volunteers to make “fools” of themselves. The mistake lies in the fact that people watch the show for the wrong reasons. My aim is not to prove that hypnosis is or is not real, but rather to have people in stitches of laughter using hypnosis. It’s up to the audience to decide if what they have been watching is indeed real. Q: Tell us about yourself. A: I was born in Durban but raised in Johannesburg, and it was a foregone conclusion that the stage would be my home. Having trained in drama and theatre from the age of 12, it was a matter of finding the medium that would determine the direction of my career. During the (South African border) war, I performed to troops in Angola as part of their entertainment, and my reputation as hypnotist developed from there. Q: Is this a full-time job? A: This has been my fulltime job for the past 22 years. Q: Hobbies or interests? A: When I’m not on tour, most of my time is spent between seahorse keeping and cave exploration (speleology).
To win tickets visit the POST Facebook page for details.