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Casting a spell

London-based stage hypnotist Martin Taylor dispels myths about the mystic science

PHOTO:S. THANTHONI

TRICKY SUBJECT Martin Taylor

Martin Taylor calls himself a hypnotist who does not use hypnosis. The man destroys traditional ideas about stage hypnosis. He says low, soft and dreamy music, dangling pendulums and bright lights lie beyond what is required or sufficient to hypnotise subjects. According to the London-based stage hypnotist, most performers pretend that these props are absolutely necessary because they invest hypnosis (he calls it a science, not an art) with an air of mystique. This pretence imparts more value to the whole business.

Taylor says stage hypnosis works on the basis of three simple principles — "suggestion, social pressure and obedience".

People are susceptible to suggestion — the subconscious will impel them to believe what is suggested to them. People tend to imitate one another. People generally act in accordance with an authoritative person. Of course, obedience is controlled by cultural factors. "Compared with Indians, more English people would resist a stage hypnotist's suggestions." Taylor made this discovery recently, thanks to his performances in Bangalore and Chennai (made possible through hypnotist and educator Pradeep Aggarwal's initiative).

"Hypnosis works because people think it will work. A woman went to see a hypnotist. She met him in the side-office. With a rather dramatic snap of his fingers, he asked her to wait in his room. The woman coiled and fell in a trance. She believed that the snap was a cue to get hypnotised."

Taylor took his time unlearning traditional notions about hypnosis. For a long time, he relied heavily on swinging watches to influence his subjects. The road to a balanced view of hypnosis was long, because Taylor learnt magic and hypnotism through trial and error. He leant magic as a student of Trinity College, Cambridge. He was introduced to hypnosis when he joined Imperial College, London University for a post graduation in computing. A fellow student, Colin Chave initiated him in the science and he was practising these lessons on a friend. Students would invite Chave to the rooms to perform hypnosis, and Taylor Magic.

Each was content sticking to their specialisations. However, Taylor was pushed into becoming a hypnotist. Due to illness, a famous professor, one Mr. Laithwaite did not turn up for a special lecture (on a technical subject), which had aroused a lot of interest.

Students persuaded Taylor to take Laithwaite's place and give a `lecture' and a demo on hypnosis. The event was a rip-roaring success. Students magazine "Felix" ran a banner headline that cried, "Lecture success, audience falls asleep".

As a hypnotist, Taylor came of age only in 1988. A meeting with Lewis Jones forced him to revise his views about hypnosis. Out went the pendulums. Around the same time, his brother Jeremy Taylor was constantly dinning a suggestion into his ears, "Don't hide your talent under a bushel". And Taylor left the computing field and became a fulltime magician and stage hypnotist. Magic and hypnotism are two hats he wears separately.

He is off the beaten track in his magic as well. He mingles with the crowd, walking into them with his bag of tricks.

"On the stage, disguise is easier because you can use a number of props. When you are up-close, you don't have that advantage." How does Taylor get around this problem? "I perform the tricks by keeping my hand close to the groin. Nobody will feel comfortable looking in that direction."

PRINCE FREDERICK

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