As the world’s greatest improviser, Colin Mochrie thought he’d seen it all.
And then the star of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and winner of LOL: Last One Laughing Canada went on tour with master hypnotist Asad Mecci.
The pair created the 90-minute show known as HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis in 2016 at Toronto’s Second City.
They bring 20 volunteers up on stage, Mecci hypnotizes them, then they keep people up there who are the most susceptible to being hypnotized. After that, the fun begins when they play improv games with the volunteers.
“What I love about this show is it’s allowed me to focus back to my early days of improv,” Mochrie said in an interview with SooToday to promote their upcoming show at the Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
“I don’t know these people - I’ve never met them before, so I really have to focus on them.
“Whereas when I’m with the Whose Line guys or other improvisers I work with - even though we’re improvising and making it up - I sort of know what they’re going to add to the scene. I can adjust to that,” he said.
“With these people I have none of that. I’m constantly on my toes. They’re not working towards the end of the scene. All they have is this moment in time - the present.
“So that makes it really interesting. It keeps it fresh and fun for me,” Mochrie said, adding that the volunteers constantly surprise him.
“There’s times when I truly don’t know what to say, don’t know what to do. Being the world’s greatest improviser, I find a way to get through it,” he said.
Mecci said he has a lot of fun working with Mochrie and the volunteers.
“First time improvisers would play to the crowd, look nervous, use filler words,” he said.
“These people just follow my instructions without hesitation and without question. They jump into the scenes,” said Mecci, who trained under Mike Mandel, a well-known Canadian hypnotist that toured the country in the 70s, 80s and 90s.
Mecci said HYPROV is hilarious.
“You’ll laugh so hard you’ll cry. If you want to immerse yourself in a show, this is the show to go to. It truly is mesmerizing,” he said.
When Mecci hypnotizes someone, he is essentially disconnecting the part of their brain that deals with self reflection.
“I’m looking for changes in physiological indicators to indicate a trance state: breathing changes, skin colour changes, skin tone changes,” he said.
Mecci makes sure participants remember everything when they come out of the trance.
Unlike other hypnotists who attempt to embarrass participants for laughs, Mochrie and Mecci treat participants like they are part of the team, since they are.
“Obviously a lot of skeptics come to the show,” Mochrie said.
“Although the main thrust is to entertain the masses, I hope we also educate them.”
Mochrie said people are not in a fog and are not doing anything against their will.
“They’re just missing the part of the brain that says you’re going to embarrass yourself.
“They just end up being natural improvisers that would immediately respond to everything Asad and I say,” he said.
Tickets are still available for the show happening this Saturday, Nov. 23, at the Kewadin Casino in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Doors open at 7 p.m. The show will begin at 8 p.m.
