Stage hypnosis

Stage hypnosis is a live performance in which a hypnotist invites volunteers to respond to suggestions for comic or dramatic effect. It combines hypnotic techniques with theatrical staging and audience entertainment.

Hypnotic suggestion: A verbal or imagined cue intended to shape a person's experience or behavior during hypnosis. Suggestions prompt the actions and experiences presented as the performance's central effects.
Vaudeville: A popular form of theatrical entertainment built from varied short acts, prominent in North America from the late nineteenth century. Vaudeville venues helped establish hypnotic demonstrations as popular stage entertainment.
Clinical hypnosis: The use of hypnosis by a qualified health professional as an adjunct to assessment or treatment. Clinical hypnosis has therapeutic aims, unlike a stage act organized for entertainment.
Informed consent: Voluntary agreement to participate after receiving relevant information about risks and procedures. Volunteer participation raises questions about what people understand before joining a performance.
Hypnotic induction: A procedure intended to establish a state of focused attention and responsiveness to suggestion. Inductions establish the focused setting in which the hypnotist gives stage suggestions.
Music hall: A British form of popular entertainment featuring varied acts in a theatrical venue. Music halls provided a setting for hypnotic acts alongside comedy, music, and spectacle.
Hypnotherapy: A therapeutic practice that uses hypnosis as part of psychological or medical treatment. Its treatment goals and professional setting differ from the comic aims of stage performance.
Agency: The capacity to act intentionally and make choices. Claims that volunteers lose control make agency a central question in interpreting the act.
Hypnotic susceptibility: A person's tendency to respond to hypnotic suggestions under particular conditions. Differences in responsiveness help explain why volunteers react in different ways.
Comedy: A form of performance or storytelling designed to provoke amusement. Comic routines often frame volunteers' suggested actions as the performance's payoff.

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MesmerismBroader topic: Mesmeric demonstrations helped establish public interest in altered states as spectacle.