Kevin Hurley, a hypnotist and magician, is slated to perform tonight in the Union Ballroom.
Audience participation in a comedy show is usually limited to a few people heckling the performer or being heckled by him.
Kevin Hurley will take audience participation to a whole new level at 8 p.m. tonight in the Union Ballroom. Hurley has made a career out of traveling the college circuit; this will be his second visit to the University of Wyoming.
Because audience participation is a large part of Hurley’s show, he said it was important that the people on stage actually want to be there. “When I choose the people for my show, I want people who want to be hypnotized,” Hurley said.
“Anybody can be hypnotized as long as they are open-minded to the situation,” he said. If a person is able to relax and follow some simple directions, he or she can be hypnotized.
“When you’re hypnotized you are more motivated to take action,” he said. “Hypnosis is more about motivation. The biggest difference between me and someone who helps people quit smoking is that I am an entertainer.”
“He was kind of a mentor to me,” Hurley said. He has been performing for about 10 years since receiving his training.
Hurley encouraged people to come out and see his show if they are skeptical and invited any proof that he coaches participants ahead of time.
“I try to pull people from all over — from the back, the middle and the front. People tend to believe it more when they can relate, so if it’s one of their friends up on stage, it becomes more real for them,” he said.
Hurley usually starts his show with a few sleight of hand tricks or some ESP experiments.
“It kind of breaks the ice and loosens people up. It shows them that there is a contrast between magic and hypnosis,” he said.
Hurley said he was impressed with the facilities on campus and that there was a lot of great energy and varied demographics here. “I really like coming to Wyoming,” Hurley said. “I think the landscape is beautiful.”
