Apr 29, 2022 6 min read

By Mark Hofmann

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

A mix of improvisational comedy and hypnosis will be on display May 6 in “HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis” at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown.

The show begins with 20 audience volunteers being placed under hypnosis (more information below on how to become one!) by master hypnotist Asad Mecci, who whittles those 20 down the five whose inhibitions have most evaporated.

At that point, one of the world’s leading comedic improvisers, Colin Mochrie, takes the stage, and those five become the show, performing improv with Mochrie.

Mecci, who has performed live hypnosis shows in front of over 1.5 million people across the globe, wanted to be better at his craft and decided to take improv classes at The Second City in 2015.

He found the instructors often telling him to get out of his head.

“What I realized was they don’t want to you to consciously construct comedy,” Mecci said. “They wanted it to be unconscious, they wanted it to be a knee-jerk reaction.”

That’s when he wondered if it were possible to hypnotize people with no comedic improv experience, and turn them into great improvisers.

“The answer is a resounding yes,” he said.

Mecci then found Mochrie, a fellow Canadian is best known for the hit television show “Whose Line is it Anyway?,” and pitched the idea.

“I’ve been improvising for about 40 years now, and I enjoy when people come up with variations on how to do it,” Mochrie said, adding he especially enjoys a variation that takes him a little out of his comfort zone. “I thought, I really can’t get farther out of my comfort zone than this, working with people I’ve just met who are in a hypnotic state.”

Mochrie also loved the idea that neither he nor Mecci had any idea of what each show would be. With five strangers rounding out the cast each time they did it, there was no way to rehearse.

In 2016, the duo went on tour with the show, selling out theaters in North America and Europe.

Mecci said while he didn’t find the show to have any extraordinary challenges for him, he did find that he was extremely nervous during that first show.

“Then we hit our stride, and the show took on a life of its own,” Mecci said, adding that working with someone as skilled as Mochrie, he has a front row seat to the best comedy in the world. “It’s a comedy high-wire act.”

In the hypnosis part of the show, participants are disconnected from the self-reflective parts of their minds. In essence, they don’t worry if they’ll be judged for what they say. Mochrie said that removing that fear makes it as though he is working with already experienced improvisers.

“When these people are hypnotized, they become true improvisers – they react immediately to anything Asad and I give to them,” he said. “The only thing I don’t have with them is that I don’t know them. So I have to have that instant trust and that everything is going to work out.”

The two said things have certainly worked out as they receive positive feedback after each show, which involves anything from Mochrie and an audience member singing a duet to Mecci having someone in the audience believe they’re in love with Mochrie.

“The proposal scene is always so interesting,” Mochrie said. “It’s great to see the amount of love coming from someone’s eyes, and I have almost been manhandled in a good way.”

One woman told the two after a show that she suffers from crippling anxiety, and didn’t know why she volunteered to go on stage. She became one of the five, and while under hypnosis, was told she was a pop star. The woman ultimately told them that being on stage was the best hour of her life, and it inspired her to take improv classes.

“I hope she went with it and is doing well,” Mochrie said. “It feels good that this goofy show we do has a beneficial side effect.”

“It’s incredible to see ordinary people do extraordinary things on stage,” Mecci said. “It’s phenomenal to watch that metamorphosis.”

To be hypnotized, Mecci said the only thing a participant needs to be is an honest and willing subject who wants to have a great time and a good experience.

He said around 20% of the population is susceptible to hypnosis in a non-clinical environment like a stage show, which is why the show starts with 20 audience members and ends up with five.

Mecci also wants to shatter any misconceptions about hypnosis that people may have.

One of the most common is that he will have total mind control over someone.

“The reality is you can’t make someone do anything that’s against their morals or cultural values,” he said. “I can make people do what they normally wouldn’t do, but I can’t make people do what they don’t want to do.”

Mecci also said that people cannot get stuck in hypnotic state.

Another misconception is that only weak-minded people can be hypnotized.

“(Hypnosis is) basically getting into a willing state of mind and getting caught up in what they’re doing,” Mecci said, providing an example of watching a horror movie where the viewer knows it’s not real, but feels the tension and feels their heart racing and becomes afraid.

Mochrie said even though only those 18 or older can be hypnotized, their show is family-friendly as children are routinely in the audience and have a lot of fun with it.

“It’s fast-paced, action-packed, high-energy and, above all else, hilarious,” Mecci said.

“HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis” will be at the State Theatre Center for the Arts in Uniontown at 8 p.m. May 6.

Thirty volunteers are needed to fill 20 stage seats. Those interested in participating in the interactive show must sign-up in advance through the venue by calling the box office to sign up at 724-439-1360. Volunteers must present proof of full vaccination to participate on stage or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the show.

Tickets are $25, $36 and $40 each and can be purchased at the theatre by visiting www.statetheatre.info or calling 724-439-1360.