The Wild Side of Sleep
Feb 1st, 2009 | Topic: Show ReviewsSource: Deana Waddell
Terry Stokes’ act depends on putting the audience to sleep. As the host of “Hypnosis Unleashed,” Stokes probably has the best gig on the Strip. He has the power to hypnotize audience members who he then enlists to be the stars of the show, entertaining the other audience members by doing the YMCA dance while believing they are naked, or singing along to a Shania Twain tune.
Depending on the crowd and Stokes’ imagination, Hypnosis Unleashed can turn into a hilarious three-ring circus where men are turned into paranoid bleeders and covered in Band-Aids, and women are turned into admirers of the veteran hypnotist, getting jealous whenever he dances with another woman.
There are no rules in the late-night show and doubters are challenged early on as volunteers are chosen from each table.
When we went, one naysayer got proven wrong when she was put under and became the highlight of the show. She spent the evening believing her forehead was a magnet and was constantly feeling the magnetic pull of various body parts of the hypnotist, chasing him around on stage.
The show is unpredictable and only limited by Stokes’ creativity. One volunteer, clenching hard to what she thought was an abandoned bear, spent the show cleaning up the bear’s constant imaginary mess, while another volunteer developed a case of Tourette’s syndrome, spurting out profanities every time she was signaled.
The evening ends as the volunteers return to their seats. However Stokes keeps them under hypnosis and arms them with one last stash of suggestions. When he mentions Smokey the Bear, a volunteer rushes to find someone with a cigarette in their mouth and scolds them for smoking, while another volunteer, when signaled, tirelessly rubs a bald man’s head while whispering wishes, believing a genie to be inside.
All suggestions are removed at the end of the show, but the nights’ events are captured on videotape should anyone want to see themselves recreating a scene from “Weekend at Bernie’s.”
You’ve got to admire Stokes and his show – who else has the ability to bring an audience member to the point of ecstasy every time they sneeze!