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The Manchurian Approach
18th & 19th April 2009, Derby
A review by Chris Harding
A weekend in Derbyshire like no other…on a slightly overcast Friday afternoon I
found myself driving up the motorway on route to attend a two-day course
entitled “The Manchurian Approach.” Although I did not know it at this stage, it
was to be a weekend that I would never forget.
Anthony Jacquin has become well recognised in the magic world over the last
couple of years, following the publication of his fabulous book “Reality is
Plastic: The Art of Impromptu Hypnosis.” Having always had a fascination with
hypnosis I decided to order the book and try and get to grips with this slightly
elusive art. Well, the book arrived along with a free DVD full of instruction
and tips on many of the techniques from the book. The book is an excellent read
and is certainly a “page-turner” in the sense that once you start reading it, it
is very difficult to put down, due to the clear, precise and very understandable
style in which it has been written.
What is also worth mentioning here is the superb correspondence that Anthony
provided after I bought the book. Always on hand to give advice and answer any
questions that one may have regarding any of the techniques set out in the book,
this is indeed very kind and immensely useful. I was very excited by the book
itself and immediately wanted to express my feedback to the author and after a
period of correspondence, the topic of “The Manchurian Approach” came up.
“The Manchurian Approach” is a two-day course aimed solely at magicians and
mentalists. It is an intensive training weekend that runs as follows:
Day one kicks off early with a detailed classroom training session that focuses
on the approach, set piece and very quick induction that will allow you to
literally approach anyone and put them into a hypnotic trance in just a few
short minutes. Having spent a considerable number of hours in the classroom
setting, learning and practising the techniques, it is then time to hit the
streets and the bars to put the newly learnt skills into practise - in the
trenches - so to speak.
Day two starts off with a discussion about the night before and the experiences
that people had as well as some consolidation on the techniques themselves. This
is followed by a detailed examination of the applications of hypnosis to the
world of magic and mentalist performances. With some very specific practical
applications along with countless tips, ideas and brainstorming, the imagination
is pushed to the extreme and opens up a whole new realm of performance
possibilities.
In my opinion, this was one of the most fascinating and worthwhile weekends
ever. Anthony Jacquin is an outstanding teacher and makes the topic of hypnosis,
not only very clear, but also very approachable. Although I had read the book
beforehand, I had not yet been brave enough to try out any of the techniques and
this was part of my motivation for attending the course. So on the first day
myself and a small group of magicians and mentalists were collected from a
nearby hotel by Anthony and driven to the Derbyshire Conference Centre, to begin
the training. What was particularly brilliant was the fact that as the
techniques were being taught, we were all then encouraged to practice on each
other and this was aided by Anthony and his team, all of whom were extremely
helpful and friendly.
I should take this opportunity to mention that along with Anthony himself, were
the following guys, all of whom were tremendously helpful throughout the
learning process. Kev Sheldrake, Amit Badiani and Vince Lynch are all very
accomplished hypnotists and their knowledge and experience was particularly
inspiring as well as being a very valuable resource to answer any queries and
questions that anyone had throughout the course.
So back to day one; having completed the classroom training and feeling
confident with the hypnotic techniques that we had learnt it was time to head
into town for some lunch before hitting the streets to hone the skills. I think
it is fair to say that there was a alight air of nerves and tension as we headed
out to start hypnotising the public. However, with Anthony and the team on
standby for moral support and also to give us some backup it did not take long
before the whole group was hypnotising strangers on the streets of Derbyshire
city centre. What was particularly fascinating to behold was the huge amount of
interest that hypnosis creates from passers-by. It certainly does not take long
for a crowd to assemble.
Having spent some time on the streets hypnotising unsuspecting strangers, we
headed to a popular local bar where we assembled and regrouped, ready to move
onto the evening training. I was particularly excited to learn throughout the
course of the evening that hypnosis does not require a silent, clinical room in
order to be effective. Anthony quickly proved that this was not the case and had
the whole lot of us hypnotising unsuspecting drinkers into varying states of
hypnotic trance. It was a great way to end day one and I think everyone left
that night with much excitement about what was still to come the following day.
So after a few hours sleep, we were back at the conference centre for further
training and some discussion and tutorial on how hypnosis can be weaved into a
magic or mentalist performance, creating a unique type of performance that gives
the character of the performer another, slightly darker but intriguing side.
Anthony set out some fantastic practical applications as well as demo-ing his
brilliant routine, “The mask of Sanity.” Anyone that attended the recent Tabular
Mentis meeting in London will have seen how strong this performance piece is
live. The second day also provided an abundance of opportunities for some
one-to-one discussions with the training team and I think that the fact that the
course is limited to just a small number is great as it really does allow for
that personal advice and feedback, which is invaluable.
I think that everyone got some very valuable skills out of this weekend and I
was genuinely sorry when it wrapped up on Sunday. It had gone by so quickly and
been so enjoyable and I met a great bunch of people, many of whom have become
friends since the course. It has been great to be able to discuss the techniques
with Anthony and his team since the course and I can honestly say that anyone
with even a curiosity about this genre of performance should definitely get
involved in “The Manchurian Approach” when it comes to a city near you. Just be
careful if you decide to shake hands with Anthony or Amit! I will explain…
Some of the more avid readers of the Alakazam Magic mailing list may already
have seen the YouTube video but in case not, then I want to give the link for it
here. For me, a personal highlight of the whole weekend course was being
hypnotised by Anthony himself. I never realised how susceptible I am to being
hypnotised and for your enjoyment, you can check out the video
Here.
Having now watched it back, I draw the conclusion that reality really is plastic
and that Anthony Jacquin is the most dangerous man in Britain!!!!
I wholeheartedly recommend “The Manchurian Approach” to anyone with an interest
in hypnosis and how it can be applied to a magical performance. No prior
knowledge is required and the courses run at various locations across the
country throughout the year. Check out
www.anthonyjacquin.com
for details on up and coming courses. I will definitely be up for doing more in
the future, not only to consolidate what I have already learnt but also because
the guys are great fun to hang out with and the whole weekend is tremendous
value for money.
© Chris Harding, May 2009
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