6. Stage Hypnosis and Will
Written on Jan 14, 2026
Why do stage hypnosis volunteers often feel under the complete control of the hypnotist?
In my last 'Reflections on Hypnosis' I noted that the high level of compliance of hypnotic subjects that can be demonstrated in the psychological laboratory is typical of that of volunteers in experimental research generally and hence is not a property of hypnosis per se. But what about contexts such as psychotherapy, medical and dental treatment, or the stage? Can we generalise our explanation of high compliance in the laboratory to that observed in these other contexts, and thus rule out hypnosis as being responsible for this? Here I shall consider stage hypnosis.
Although many stage hypnosis volunteers report that during the performance they retained self-control and could choose whether to follow the hypnotist's instructions, others will firmly maintain that they were under his or her control and would have done anything this person commanded. They, and the audience, usually attribute this to their being 'hypnotised' or 'in a hypnotic trance'.
Over the years when I was practising, I occasionally acted as an expert witness in civil cases where complainants were alleging psychological or medical injury due to participating in stage hypnosis. Although hyper-obedience was never a central issue (the complaint usually concerned enduring psychological problems in the aftermath) I always felt it important to address the business of loss of will-power during the performance to clear up any misunderstandings (whether I succeeded is another matter).
To cut a long story short, in my opinion there is no reason why the essential findings of laboratory studies on hypnosis and compliance should not generalise to hypnosis used as stage entertainment. However, as I keep stressing, context is all-important for determining the nature of the participants' experiences and behaviour and how the participants account for such.
(What follows is an abridged version of accounts I have previously provided in the academic literature, some of which may be found on my website.)
Consider the difference in the quality of the responses of stage participants and that of experimental volunteers. For example, when experimental volunteers are given suggestions that they are feeling tired and sleepy, they exhibit relatively little outward change, whereas stage participants slump in their chairs, drape themselves over one another, and even slide to the floor as though in a stupor. In the laboratory, when it suggested that they are a child again, participants generally remain relatively unchanged in their demeanour, though occasionally they may speak in a soft voice, more child-like than usual; stage participants on the other hand fidget, giggle, jump off their chairs and run around, fight with one another, and so on.
There are many examples one can provide of the striking differences on the responses of hypnotic participants in research and those on the stage. We have no reason to suppose that these differences arise because the stage participants are 'in a deeper trance' or are 'more deeply hypnotised' than their counterparts in the laboratory. In both scenarios above and other examples we may choose, in laboratory participants, despite minimal overt changes, may report having profound and vivid experiences of the imagined or suggested effects. Clearly the differences arise because the expectations and demands for the stage participants are that they must be immediately responsive and give a highly visible and flamboyant performance for the entertainment of the audience. Such is decidedly not the case in the laboratory.
I believe, therefore, that we can state with confidence that the salient determining factors in the behaviour and experiences of the participants at a stage hypnosis show are their own skills, attributes, and commitment to the task, the very definite expectations concerning how they should respond, the effect of audience pressure, the demands on the stage hypnotist, and the effects of being amongst a group of participants.
Enough of stage hypnosis for the time being. Now what about the clinical and psychotherapeutic context?
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