Show requires negative test, proof of vaccination

The usually random audience members who take the stage to undergo hypnosis during an entertainment show will have to sign up in advance and show their COVID-19 vaccination card as well as a negative test.

Improvisational performer Colin Mochrie and hypnotist Asad Mecci will perform their show “Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis” Jan. 14 at the Sandy Springs Performing Arts Center.

Normally, at least two dozen volunteers are brought on stage to undergo hypnosis and take part in the fun of the show. But because of the ongoing pandemic and the rise of the omicron variant, volunteers who want to participate onstage must present both proof of their full vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of the show date, according to Hannah Stember, public relations consultant for the entertainers.

The volunteers who want to take part onstage must sign up beforehand through the Performing Arts Center box office, Stember said.

Everyone onstage will be masked, Stember said. Mecci will call 30 volunteers to the stage to place under hypnosis. The number of people is whittled down to fill 20 stage seats and then reduced to four or five as Mecci and Mochrie prompt the participants to do funny things through their suggestions, Stember said.

The show will take place in the Byer’s Theatre, which seats 1,070 people.

Ticket prices range from $45 to $55.

Mecci and Mochrie, an actor and improvisational comedian, created their show in 2016 at The Second City Toronto, Stember said. Since 2019, the duo has performed the show in 50 cities, she added.

“When we tried this for the first time onstage, I was absolutely petrified,” Mochrie said in a statement. “… Adding in the element of hypnosis to improv really allows people to let their guard down and have fun in a scene. They’re certainly the most interesting stage partners I’ve ever had.”