BEING ELVIS

Tuesday night and Mansfields Talbot is packed. Free entry, ongoing decent drink prices make it an attractive proposition most nights but tonights treat is something special. Renowned hypnotist Alec Dubens is in town to give belief in something few of us understand. So what is hypnotism? “It’s a tool to enable us to take control of our lives and achieve our goals with remarkable ease”. Dubens speaks with a calm confidence about a subject he has studied and taught for over 20 years. “We all have the power to tap into the far reaches of our mind, to overcome confidence issues, lower stress levels, even loose weight and all without the need for drugs, medicine or chemicals”.

But this show is about comedy and fun. “I’m not here to make people look a fool or strip naked and the people who get on stage will be the stars of the show. They will have X-Ray vision, be orchestra conductors, aliens, Miss World and Elvis”.

I like the sound of it, we all enjoy being Elvis but to truly believe that we are Elvis would be something special. So how does it work? “It is the ability to follow suggestion without conscious intent. When a subject is being Elvis they are even more aware of it than the audience but have a subconscious need to be him if I give the command.”

”So you can make people do anything you want?”

”No, the subject has to want to be Elvis and their Elvis will only be as good as their imagination allows”.

From such a large gathering there are few takers and only three make the grade to centre stage. They begin by sweltering on a beach and shivering in an arctic wasteland. Audience always in some doubt as to whether this is hypnotic state or quality acting, each turn gives evidence that they are experiencing some kind of alternative reality. Perhaps this is the key, the subjects state is the same reality as the audience but viewed from a different perspective.

This is comedy and I’m left in no doubt of the power of hypnosis. The laughs aren’t at those in the trance but at the situations that Dubens put them into. If the truth were known, we all wanted to be Elvis; we just didn’t dare get up when we were asked.

For more information go to www.alecdubens.com