Stage Hypnosis - History

History

Stage hypnosis evolved out of much older shows conducted by Mesmerists and other performers in the 18th and 19th centuries. Scottish surgeon James Braid developed his technique of hypnotism after witnessing a stage performance by a Swiss Mesmerist called Charles Lafontaine in 1841. Braid recounts similar performances by "electro-biologists" in his day, e.g., the following pamphlet for an "electro-biology" performance by a Mr. Stone which begins by clearly emphasising that a "waking state", as opposed to hypnotic or Mesmeric somnambulism, was being employed.

Persons in a perfectly wakeful state, of well-known character and standing in society, who come forward voluntarily from among the audience, will be experimented upon. They will be deprived of the power of speech, hearing, sight. Their voluntary motions will be completely controlled, so that, they can neither rise up nor sit down, except at the will of the operator; their memory will be taken away, so that they will forget their own name and that of their most intimate friends; they will be made to stammer, and to feel pain in any part of their body at the option of the operator – a walking stick will be made to appear a snake, the taste of water will be changed to vinegar, honey, coffee, milk, brandy, wormwood, lemonade, etc., etc., etc. These extraordinary experiments are really and truly performed without the aid of trick, collusion, or deception, in the slightest possible degree.

These are identical to many of the demonstrations which became central to subsequent "stage hypnosis", in fact it seems that little changes except the name and the introduction of the hypnotic induction, etc. Likewise, the novelist Mark Twain similarly recounts a Mesmeric performance which clearly resembles 20th century stage hypnosis, in his autobiography.

The absence of any reference to "hypnotism" in these early performances, indeed before the term was coined, and the fact that they often lacked anything resembling a modern hypnotic induction is consistent with the skeptical view, that stage hypnosis is primarily the result of ordinary suggestion rather than hypnotic trance. Indeed, early performers often claimed that they were influencing their subjects by means of telepathy and other supernatural powers.

Others, however, were delivering performances that displayed the wide range of hypnotic manifestations to their audiences. In the United States, for example, in the 1890s, there was a small group of highly skilled stage hypnotists, all whom were managed by Thomas F. Adkin, who toured country-wide, playing to packed houses. Adkin's group included Sylvain A. Lee, Mr. and Mrs. Herbert L. Flint, and Professor Xenophon LaMotte Sage.