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Have you ever been punched in the face on stage? I have.

It’s story time here on the Stage Hypnosis University blog.

You can become a student of stage hypnosis, you can study both therapeutic hypnosis and stage hypnosis. You can rhyme off Ericksonian language patterns and Metaphors like Eminem. You can know everything and experienced everything there is to experience in the world of hypnosis… but nothing, I repeat nothing can prepare you for something like this.

I was in the middle of a show at a University which shall remain nameless. There were about 700 people in the audience and it was going beautifully.

I had just executed a fantastic induction and my volunteers were laying all over the huge stage. I had been here before, it was easy, this was like clockwork… even though working on a clock sounds very difficult to me.

I’m pacing the stage a bit while checking for hypnotic indicators on my volunteers. Suddenly I see something out of my peripheral vision. It turn my head just a little bit and…

WHAMO!

I got punched in the face.

What??? Yes, a student from the audience had run onto the stage and punched me square in the face.

[su_quote cite=”Michael C. Anthony”]What??? Did I just get punched in the face during my show?[/su_quote]

After a second, I realized what was happening and “Oh oh”, he’s coming after me for more. I put my hands up in self defense. I remember thinking to myself, “this dude better not break my teeth.” I was on the first stop of a 24 city tour and needed my pearly whites.

My volunteers were scattered all over the area in front of the chairs and there were also about 10 more behind the chairs. So, we had a fight among a sea of about 30 traced out bodies. Fantastic.

The Karate Kid kept on swinging as I walked backwards. His fists were hitting my arms and shoulders as I kept retreating. I had the sense to know that if I got aggressive and knocked him out of the orbit, (which I could have easily done) then I would get sued.

He’s swinging while I’m backing up.

Oops, I stepped on somebody’s hand… They didn’t move.

He’s still swinging, I’m still backing up.

Oops again! I stepped on a girls chest with my full weight… she didn’t move.

He’s still swinging! I’m still backing up and I’m now behind the row of chairs now

OUCH! I stepped full weight on a guys face. HE WOKE UP.

I feel like I was in another world as the audience is just watching. I later found out they thought this was part of the show. It surely wasn’t.

For me to let people know this isn’t part of the show, I had to respond. So when Fight Club Jr. came in for another punch, I dodged it and pushed him backwards.

Now the sound technician that had worked with me several times before (he was side stage) comes running onto the stage. All 325 lbs of him. He stumbles in his excitement and steps right on a volunteers chest… full weight! He didn’t budge.

The sound tech grabs the kid and threw him off the stage. Some others students subdued him and he was screaming like a cow that just got branded.

So here I was… freshly punched in the face and attacked by The Boy Wonder and his flying fists. What was I to do? I had 30 volunteers on the stage that had no idea this entire situation just took place.

The audience must have been thinking… “this show is over”, “the police are on the way”, “someone is getting sued”.

I needed to control the room. I can’t! The microphone is missing. It must have gotten punched out of my hand.

I quickly searched through the sea of bodies and found it. The room fell dead quiet. What would I say? What’s next?

I brought the mic to my mouth and said…

Go into it even further. As you allow yourself to relax and focus on the sound of my voice you can allow your trance to deepen.

I immediately continued with my induction and the audience went nuts. The show is going on as if nothing happened. You’re darn right the show is continuing.

I made sure I had control of my volunteers which was job #1. After a couple minutes, (for fun) I sat in one of the chairs, looked at the audience and asked, “Did I just get pushed in the face during my show? They laughed and all was great.

The show turned out to be perfect. I got a great story out of it and no teeth were broken. My shoulders were bruised up, but that’s ok. No pain, no gain.

The kid? Turns out he was on some heavy drugs and likely hallucinating. Maybe he thought I was the devil and he had to attack me.

I did find out he was expelled shortly after for another incident.

After all is said and done… everything is unpredictable. Surprises are fun!

 

Are you sure you want to be a Stage Hypnotist? Ha