Stripnosis: the one place where having a dirty mind is not frowned upon, but encouraged. International award winning hypnotist, Anthony Laffan is launching the wildest hypnotism show on the planet at the 2017 Brisbane Comedy Festival. Make your way to the Brisbane Powerhouse this March to witness some natural, bare-all talent that is sure to give you and your friends a night of non-stop laughter.
This week we uncover all the details of Stripnosis with creator and performer, Anthony Laffan.
Anthony some of our readers might not be aware of Stripnosis. Without giving too much away can you tell us what people can expect?
People can expect to laugh so much their sides will hurt. Spectators often tell me after the show that even a little bit of pee came out. It is an audience participation, cheeky comedy hypnosis show. I call it ‘Reality TV Live’ where the average person gets a ‘Trance to be the Star of the Show’. The show has plenty of adult sexual innuendo with adult ‘toys’ used as funny props in a way not necessarily for what they were intended. Basically, it will be the most fun they’ve ever had with their clothes on. It’s a show for adults with a good sense of humour who are looking for a different, fun night full of laughs.
What creative processes came together for the show?
The creative process first comes from my raunchy twisted mind of what I think is good clean dirty fun. We all have that dark side deep within – I just let mine surface occasionally. Then I walk around Sex Toy Shops looking at all the different items to see how I can turn them into a comedy prop for a hypnosis skit and use them in a way they weren’t intended for – and that’s where the innocent cutting edge humour comes into play.
I have been performing hypnotic erotic shows at SEXPO for the past several years so I have been able to perfect skits and routines that are perfect for an over 18 Adult Comedy Hypnosis Show such as ‘Stripnosis’.
Audience involvement is a big part of the show, how does this affect your preparation and rehearsals?It is 100% Audience involvement. If I don’t get enough volunteers I tell them that it will be the shortest show they have ever seen. Fortunately, that has never happened and I get more people volunteering than I need. I’ve been performing for over 20 years so thinking on my feet and adapting to all types of situations that you can’t rehearse comes as second nature and is part of the tightrope thrill between success and failure. No two shows are ever the same due to what the volunteer’s imagination leads them to do.
Have you always been in the creative industries… what lead you to this career?
Yes, I know nothing else apart from entertainment. I joke I am unskilled labourer as I have never done anything else. I’ve never been for a job interview. I started my career as a professional magic clown (Casey the Clown at Dreamworld). I developed my skills in magic and became Australia’s No1 Illusionist creating a million-dollar illusion show with a custom-built theatre, a cast of dancers and a Tiger ‘Shamana’. I was the first Australian to be Awarded an International Merlin Award, considered the magic equivalent of the Academy Awards. Other recipients include David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. I was voted Twice Qld Entertainer of the Year and 5 Times Qld Sight Act of the Year. I have also been a TV magician appearing each week on Agro’s Cartoon Connection performing and teaching children magic.
I always need to challenge myself and I always seem to set new goals as life is too short. Over the last 10 years, I studied and made the transition to become a Clinical and Comedy Stage Hypnotist and Mentalist.
What do you hope people will take away from the show?
I want people to leave the show having had a great night that they will talk about and remember for the rest of their lives. I love engaging and connecting with an audience by creating laughter and flooding their bodies with the feel good natural drug endorphins in everyone. I want people to experience hypnosis live and tick ‘being hypnotised’ off their bucket list. As it is primarily a comedy show, if people are laughing and walking away feeling good about, well, that’s the greatest compliment of them all and the thing I love most about my job. Once seen never forgotten, always remembered … Trust me! I’m a hypnotist.
