After the success of the last meetup in Oxford it is fair to say that I have been under significant pressure from some of those present last time to organise another small gathering.
Once again the meeting place was the Head of the River, and arriving first I was able to bag the same table as we'd sat at the previous meet. I was soon joined by Andy and Ali, and then by Lex and Liz.
As Darren was unable to make it to the meet this time it fell to Andy to become absolutely fascinated by Lex's highly practical uses for his hypnosis skills.
Of course there will be prizes for guessing who had been putting the pressure on me to organise another Oxford meet up. I think it's perhaps the way that the bar staff seem to realise she's arrived and light the candle on the table that endears the place to her. This was, of course, before Lex locked her eyes on the tiny flame making her unable to look away.
With Liz distracted I was able to buy a round without the help of post-hypnotic compulsion.
After a while Rich and Javier joined us and with introductions over we set off in search of something to eat; Chinese this time. Once again we were able to get away with "a table for 7 please, we have no reservation", but of course we were quite early in the evening because we wanted to go on to the Turf Tavern.
On arriving actually found the Turf to be a heck of a lot quieter than it had been on that evening three months ago, which we put down to the poor weather earlier in the evening. We bagged ourselves a table, continued our conversation, and reached that stage of the evening where everyone was agreeing most emphatically that we should approach some students.
"Definitely."
"Absolutely."
"After you..."
I took the opportunity of this impasse to try out a Dr Who psychic paper trick with Liz, and she was amazed as I provided ID cards to prove I work for the CID, FBI, and HM Ministry of ogling, although something made her certain that they were fakes; can't think what. Lex must have taken sympathy on his girlfriend at this point, because he turned my cards into what I presume were compromising photographs of yours truly - I didn't hear the exact suggestion, but that doesn't mean I can't swear revenge.
I also managed to play my favourite double-bluff routine, whereby the hypnotist tells the subject that they'll be able to see a ball, and then actually produces a real ball. Not hypnosis as such, more a kind of cruel teasing. I actually felt quite sorry for Liz when, to compound the confusion I was subjecting her to, everyone else around the table started disputing what colour the ball was.
The most amazing thing about the Turf Tavern during these meets has been the way in which once it becomes clear that we're hypnotists we suddenly find ourselves besieged by students demanding to be hypnotised. Someone did comment to me that my demonstration of a non-verbal Ericksonian handshake on Liz had certainly turned the heads of some guys at the next table, but it wasn't until Rich kicked things off by approaching a nearby table that, as with last time, so much zapping was going on that I completely lost track.
I actually missed the moment when Rich decided to go up to one of the student tables because Ali had expressed an interest in doing some hypnosis and I was quite happy to play subject for her.
Ali used a magnetic hands induction on me, although interestingly she didn't ask me to close my eyes beforehand, which is how that induction is generally done. I found myself concentrating very hard on the space in between my hands, seeing everything blur. When my hands came together I found it completely natural to close my eyes and go completely limp. To tell the truth I was very impressed because straight away I felt that blurry sensation of trance which can often take me a while to reach.
It also made me realise how little practice at going into trance I've had recently.
Ali had some fun sticking one of my hands to the table, then my other hand to my head. Then I was able to remove one hand from my head by placing the other on my head, so that one was always stuck there. It was a nice little waking hypnosis routine similar to the one I'd done with her a month or so before.
Next she got me stuck speaking in a strong Yorkshire dialect, which were bloody marvelous.
It was at this point that I realised that Rich had gone and approached a table of three male students nearby. He had one of them eyes closed and in trance, but one of the others was looking intently in our direction. I decided to go over and have a chat.
The student in question was a skeptic, but insistent that I try hypnotising him. To be honest I really didn't feel mentally prepared for this, so I didn't feel particularly on form. To be honest to the guy he was really up for trying, but nothing seemed to be working with him very quickly, and his patience didn't hold out. After it transpired that he had drunk 7 pints that evening before calling upon my expertise I didn't feel quite so bad and I was at least able to fall back on showing off with the rubber band trick.
The rubber band trick works especially well if one can use a time-stopping freeze suggestion in order to make the rubber bands vanish and reappear in unlikely places, such as the subject's own fingers. Mind you drunk people are also impressed easily, so it wasn't too bad.
Returning to our table, which had subsequently been mobbed by prospective subjects, I soon myself with another keen subject. Once again it seems I was the recipient of the good intentions of my fellow hypnotists.
"Hey Parkey, this guy wants to be hypnotised but he's difficult so we saved him for you."
Thanks guys. I'll take that as a compliment!
As it turned out this guy was quite responsive (well, compared with Mr 7-pints he was!) so I was soon able to float his arm up. In fact I took this opportunity to use the ideomotor induction which Ben has talked about recently, which of course works very well when one has plenty of time and showmanship matters less. This subject did however find the background noise distracting so I wasn't able to achieve much else with him, but he was at least impressed with his floating arm.
I have come to the conclusion that I need to get much more practice at the impromptu side of hypnosis and develop a routine which I can follow. At present I feel too much as though I have been put on the spot when I'm faced with a new subject.
By this time it was getting quite late and in defiance of the hot weather of the last week it was getting a bit cold. We headed indoors, leaving the craziness of indiscriminate zapping behind us and returning to a more conversational setting; soon it would be time to go.
With not long remaining before most of us had to leave to catch our respective buses and trains Andy burst inside and told us that Rich was up to his old tricks again. Sure enough we found him outside hard at work with the full attention of a young lady. Just as Javier wasted no time in getting the attention of a table of 6 nice female students it was time. Reluctantly we left him and Rich to it and went our separate ways. I'm sure they were really disappointed to have all those subjects to themselves!
I must make it absolutely clear that putting attractive women into trance is under no circumstances a motivation for my interest in this hobby. My interests in hypnosis are purely academic, and if attractive women do demand that I hypnotise them, well, I most certainly don't enjoy it. Not at all...
Getting away when we did was a definitely a relief.
*cough*
One day I would like to be the last person to leave at a HypnoMeet.
Still, it was definitely a fun evening.
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