(This reminds me about the old joke about the companies 3M and Goodyear merging to form "MMMGood")
This meet was a lot of fun, and although I didn't quite feel in the mood to go forth and do some zapping myself I did meet a lot of new people, get zapped myself, and pick up lots of new tips.
Heading up through Covent Garden I didn't spot the group until I was practically on top of them. However, I soon spotted Darren and a few other faces I recognised stood out on the street. There were also plenty of new faces too, and it was great to be introduced to a few new people.
I have to say that the style of street hypnosis that was going on, whilst well received by the passing public, was a little more assertive than I have been comfortable in the past, where in fact most of the strangers I have hypnotised have actually asked me to do it. Here the group were approaching passers by and seeking to engage their interest, which in most cases wasn't difficult. I wasn't particularly in the mood for approaching people, so I was happy to just watch.
I learned a heck of a lot from just being there. James showed me how to do a magic trick with a key using "energy" to lift it up on ones hand. I was also wowed by some of the other magic tricks that were demonstrated by other members of the group. I really need to learn some magic!
Someone I met for the first time there was Vince Lynch, a hypnotist I'd heard a lot about. He offered to hypnotise me and I was happy to give it a try. I'm glad I did, because I got a lot out of it.
Vince's induction was quite interesting. He had me place my feet together, close my eyes and do magnetic hands, but this time imagine that my hands were being pushed apart instead. As my hands moved steadily away from each other and around my body he said that they'd reach a point where they couldn't go any further, and when they did I'd let them drop to my sides and go into hypnosis. Once I'd done that he did quite an interesting convincer, which was to imagine myself standing on a boat swaying backward and forward. This was why he'd had me put my feet together and of course it worked beautifully; I was soon swaying backward and forward.
Next Vince did some suggestions with me, such as getting my arms to raise up. I have to say this was the most convincing ideomotor experience I have ever had, my arms seeming to have a purpose of their own, and indeed Vince kept saying "no pretending". Soon enough he had me pretending to play air guitar and piano, my eyes thankfully still closed, the instruction seeming to bypass my mind and my hands obliging of their own accord. I count myself lucky he picked the two instruments I can actually play, as opposed to something crazy like a trombone, violin or timpani.
When he asked me to pretend to be a stripper I wasn't having any of it though, my eyes were open in an instant and I was pointing at him shouting "No! No way!".
"Interesting" he said.
I'm really grateful to Vince for that experience. I learned a lot from his techniques, and his manner and confidence of delivery.
Ben seems to have somehow transformed into some kind of people approaching machine. I felt a bit in awe at his recent loss of inhibitions over walking up to complete strangers, and diving into hypnosis routines, but then he has been going out during his lunch breaks to do it. I wish that my job offered me such opportunities.
I didn't stay too late, as I had been stood up all afternoon and had things to do at home, but this was a really good meetup and I met a lot of fun and interesting new people.
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