May 19, 2014

People sometimes ask me, "Hey Rusty Z, are you a comedian or a hypnotist? Or both? Seriously, how do you describe yourself?"

Comedian first hypnotist second. I will always be a comedian first.  

I believe nearly anyone can learn to be a hypnotist.  I also believe hardly anyone can learn to be a comedian.  Hypnosis is a skill that, while very useful in the psychotherapy field, can also be transferred to group and stage settings.  Nearly anyone can learn to hypnotize, and most people can learn fairly quickly.  And hypnotizing one person isn't much different than hypnotizing ten people.

Comedy, on the other hand, can maybe sorta be learned.  But, I believe funny people are born funny, and their life experiences make them think funny, and those that can transfer that innate funniness to a performance art, are comedians.  (Most people can be funny sometimes, some people can be funny most times, but being funny on demand; that takes a comedian.)

The reason I will always be a comedian first is, well, it's part of my DNA.  Besides that, though, I believe being a comedian makes me a better hypnotist. Both in one on one and group or stage situations.  Successful hypnosis requires rapport between the hypnotist and hypnotee, and not many things build rapport more quickly than sharing a laugh.  As Victor Borge said, "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people" and I believe that applies to 2, 200, or 2000 people.

One day I decided to add hypnosis to my comedy act.  I took hypnotherapy classes from some of the best in the business.  Luckily the comedy was already there.  A combination of the two, for my act (and in my opinion), is exponentially better than either comedy or hypnosis alone.

Comedy First + Hypnosis Second = Comedian Hypnotist Rusty Z

 

 

 

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