A world renowned hypnotist and improv legend have combined their talents for a unique show that is coming to Stratford.
Master hypnotist Asad Mecci will work his magic on audience volunteers, and Colin Mochrie will lead the comedy improv on stage during Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis.
The hyprov tour includes a Jan. 19 show at the Avon Theatre.
In an interview with StratfordToday, Mochrie said death is preferable over getting on stage for many people, but the hypnosis element takes away the fear, freeing up guests from embarrassment and allowing them to act out scenarios in front of the audience.
"So we end up with pure improvisers, they immediately react to everything you say."
Mochrie said the results are ever changing, every show is impossible to predict and each ends up different from the last.
"I find it fascinating, working with (guests on stage). They make choices that so-called real improvisers wouldn’t make. It truly is completely natural, a spontaneous stream of consciousness that comes out of them."
Mecci picks a group from the audience and they are whittled down to a smaller group (not everyone can be hypnotized). Mochrie then leads the way and guides them along.
"We do have a saying we will never make anyone cluck like a chicken. It’s almost like a social experiment, we want to show people what happens when you take that self critical part away, you can become a really good improviser."
The unlikely duo met at Second City when Mecci was taking some classes. Mecci has captivated live audiences worldwide, and appeared on Entertainment Tonight and MTV. He has performed at Canada's Wonderland and the Just for Laughs comedy festivals.
Mochrie is best known for his role on Whose Line is it Anyway. He starred in the original British version of the improvisational show and the current adaptation featuring Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady. Stiles and Brady have each received Prime Time Emmy nominations for their performances.
The 19th season, with Mochrie again returning to the fold, starts filming in January.
Mochrie said it never fails that people will assume improv is somehow planned out. Both hypnotism and improv have their skeptics, he suggested.
"People will always say...you have scenes for a thousand different suggestions, well no I don’t. That is too much work and not what I enjoy about it. People get hypnotized and then they can improvise. That is the point of the show."
On Whose Line Is It Anyway, the comedians have an eye to where the scene can go and where it can end, but guests at the hyprov show don't have any experience.
"This moment is all that they have, which is fascinating and fun to play with. There is truly no predicting what people are going to do."
Mochrie said he always talk to participants after the show to learn about their experience. Open to all ages, participants getting hypnotized have to be 18 plus.
"I was under so many misconceptions about hypnosis. People remember everything and are listening to everything, even though they are slumped over and looking like they are asleep…they say, yes, I remember everything you said, it sounded like a great idea so I did it."
Mochrie has visited Stratford with his wife and daughter for several decades and loves theatre. The family watched Chicago and Hamlet last season. He has a bunch of friends in the local theatre company and sometimes gets to catch up with them when he's in the city.
Mochrie said anyone who has followed his career knows there is no plan to it, but his work has been steady.
"I am attached to 17 different projects and if one of them comes to fruition I will be very happy."
It's his third time partnering with the Stratford Arts and Culture Collective (SACC) - the previous two shows with long-time comedic partner Brad Sherwood. All proceeds from the hyprov show go towards the collective, an important part of the arts community, Mochrie emphasized.
The SACC is supported by more than 30 Stratford arts and culture organizations and independent artists working together with a goal of making a Stratford Arts and
Culture Centre a reality at the new Copperlight, formerly Knox Church in Stratford.
Tickets: https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/LeasedEvents/Hyprov
