Dr.

Q’s Hypnotic Act

Dr. Q’s Hypnotic Act was authored by Ormond McGill and originally published by Thayer as
an inexpensive dealer manuscript. McGill also later published it in his Encyclopedia of Stage
Hypnosis. For those familiar with the subject, this routine falls into the category of “Pseudo
Hypnosis” and utilizes cold cueing to encourage helpers on stage to follow your commands.

In John Calvert’s lecture notes, he states that this routine was written after the author attended one
of his shows. And as anyone who has witnessed him perform can attest, John Calvert is living
proof of the incredible audience impact of this material in the hands of a master showman.

I NTRODUCTION

We wish first to warn the reader not to let the extreme simplicity of Dr. Q’s unique hypnotic
methods scare you from using this sensational act. Give it a try on your very next show, and
we feel sure you will keep it in your act every show. Dr. Q’s hypnotic act has been successfully
performed before every type of audience…its daring audacity being the key to its very brilliance.

O P ENING REMARKS

The good doctor always presented his hypnotic act as an interlude in his magic and mental
program…as such, it is extremely effective preluded with this introduction:

“And now, friends, from the magic of the hands, let us turn for a few moments to the magic of
the mind. The study of hypnotism has claimed human thought for centuries, but it has only been
in comparatively recent years that a real appreciation for its marvels have come to be recognized.
For, as you have undoubtedly read in the many current articles now appearing, hypnotism is
now being practiced in our foremost hospitals and colleges with almost miraculous results both
curatively and psychologically.”

“Tonight, in just a moment, I am going to invite a few volunteers up on this stage to participate in
some demonstrations in this remarkable phenomenon called hypnotism.”

“First, however, I should like to remove the old superstition that to be hypnotized a person must
have a weak will. Such has now been proved by science to be a complete fallacy. Instead, some
of the very best hypnotic subjects have been persons of very high intelligence, and vivid, creative
imaginations. So, tonight, when you volunteer for these demonstrations, you may rest assured
that you are placing yourself among the very best of intellectual company.”

“And furthermore, I want you to realize that I shall treat every person who comes on this stage
with the utmost in courtesy and respect. And, by the same token, I merely ask that you give me
your earnest cooperation and attention.”

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 D R Q ’s H Y P N OT I C AC T | Pa g e 2

“And now, without further ado, I wish to invite a few members of you gentlemen up on this
stage to participate in these demonstrations in hypnotism. Will four or five gentlemen please step
forward? Thank you, sirs.”

You will find that this introduction sells your audience almost instantly on the fact that you know
your subject, and interests them intently in what you are about to do. Also, it places the volunteers
at ease in coming upon the stage, removes them from any later criticism that their will was weak,
and places them in a frame of mind along with you, which point is most important in applying
Dr. Q’s Hypnotic Method.

P R E PA R ING YOUR SUBJECTS

Having secured four or five volunteers on the stage, have them stand in a row about two feet
apart. Go to the one in the left end of the line (as you face them), and turning your back on the
audience deliberately, place your left hand on the back of his neck, at the base of the brain and
squeeze gently, but at the same time, firmly.

In assuming this position, you will be facing the subject squarely, so look him dead in the eye
and earnestly in the eyes, while your free hand makes gentle pass-like gestures in the air, as you
whisper (simply speak in a low, soft voice…this will carry clearly to the subject and not reach the
ears of the spectators in the audience) to him:

“We are going to have some good laughs on the audience and fool them…so when I tell you
do to some funny stuff, do exactly as I secretly tell you, Ok? Great. (Then deliberately wink at
the spectator in a friendly fashion.)

The psychological effects of such a proceeding is to render the man a willing dope to your
ends. Your stance, with the pressure upon his neck puts you in a position of dominance. This
coupled with your position as “Master of the Stage” will render him amenable to do exactly
what you tell him.

Then, too, your words to him are in the form of a “whispered confidence” of producing laughs
on the rest of the spectators in the audience. This volunteer thus begins to feel that he is in on a
secret, and becomes “part of the show!”

Your bold “OK, Great” implies his automatic acceptance of willingness to follow your instruc-
tions, and your parting WINK cinches the spirit of “good fellowship” between you. Handled
thus, any spectator that happens to come up on the stage quickly becomes “a perfect Hypnotic
subject” for your demonstrations. Dr. Q. is certainly to be commended for developing this
brilliant psychological method of “handling” the subjects.

Proceed next to the second spectator in the row and repeat exactly your instructions. Take the
same stance with him and say the same words, just as you did with the first one. Possibly the
second spectator may have heard a bit of what you whispered to the first person. If so, he will
simply “catch on” that much quicker.

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 D R Q ’s H Y P N OT I C AC T | Pa g e 3

Then go to the third spectator and proceed likewise with him. Just before you leave, however,
whisper, “after I shake your hand and let go, make your palm stick to mine.”

Step a bit to his side, and, as though it were a friendly parting gesture, take his right hand in
yours and shake it. Move the hands around a bit, and then open your fingers and at the same
time, pressing your palm tightly against his. Push your palm up so it forces his arm back. This
tends to “set” your whispered instructions in his mind, so when you pull your hand down, as
though to take it away, he will follow right along with you exactly as if his palm were really
glued to your own.

This is very funny, and in a second’s time, the fun will commence, and the spectator will begin to
get a big kick out of all the laughs he is creating and will really stick to your hand in earnest, just
as though it were actually hypnotically stuck. If you wish, you can even try shaking your hand
free from his, but he will follow right along, stuck tight. The audience will howl! Then suddenly,
give him a tap on the neck (as though snapping him out of the hypnotic influence) and with a
loud “all right” jerk your hand free.

This demonstration, funny as it is in itself, is performed, at this time, for a very important
purpose. It shows the other volunteers the kind of actions that are going to be expected of them,
and thus gets them all expectant waiting to follow your whispered commands.

Then quickly proceed on to your next volunteers and give them the same whispered instructions
to do whatever you tell them. You are now ready to go into the hypnotic routine.

T H E AU D IENCE’S PERSPECTIVE

First, however let us consider for a moment just what has been the audience’s reaction to all of
this. To them, it looks you are hypnotizing the subjects, and since that is what they are expecting
you to be doing, it all passes naturally. The audience sees your stern position as you gaze into the
eyes of the man, the mysterious passes your right hand is making in the air, and even the mumble
of whispers seems to them the expected “hypnotic formula” used in hypnotizing.

Since you are whispering so softly that only the subject you are directly in front of, can clearly
hear your words, the audience has no chance whatsoever of knowing what you are saying…and
since they have no idea as to just what is going to happen, they have no cause for the least bit of
suspicion. Their attitude is one of eager interest, waiting for something amusing to happen.

The whole “hypnotizing” process with the first two subjects takes place so rapidly that it is
completed before anyone has had much chance to give it critical thought. And then, the funny
demonstration with the “stuck hand” is such a big laugh that it covers up the little remainder of
the time it takes to get to the rest of the subjects in the line.

After that first test, the spectators will be more than ever on their toes, eager and expectant, to
see more of your “hypnotism.”

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 D R Q ’s H Y P N OT I C AC T | Pa g e 4

This building of audience acceptance is another ingenious aspect of Doctor’s Hypnotic method…
for not only does it psychologically handle the subjects on the stage, but it also psychologically
handles the audience.

D R . Q ’s HYPNOTIC ROUTINE

Having instructed each of the volunteers secretly, as has been described, Dr. Q next would dash
back to the first spectator in the line and whisper, “when I clap my hand, fall down.” He would
give these quick instructions in a flash without even so much as stopping in front of the party, and
then pass right on to the second spectator in line.

Pausing before this spectator he would raise his hands and clap them and the first spectator would
fall down. While clapping his hand thus, and during the laugh on this unexpected occurrence, he
would whisper to the second spectator, “when I pick him up, you fall down.”

The doctor would then rush over to the first spectator and pick him up from the floor, and the
second spectator falls down. As he picks up the first spectator, he whispered, “when I pick up
the second spectator, you fall down again.” Then picking up the second spectator, the first one
would fall down again.

He would then shout loudly “All right, All right, it is all gone,” and go over to the first spectator
and help him back to his feet. It is impossible to describe how funny this demonstration appears
to the audience. You will just have to try it to appreciate the value. You will find that your
audience will positively howl...and the more they howl, the better your subjects will respond to
your whispered instructions.

Dr. Q, during this laughter on the “falling test,” would go to the third subject (the one he had
previously used on the hand sticking) and shake his hand again while whispering, “Make our
hands stick together again.” And the subject’s hand would again become stuck to the Doctor’s.
Dr. Q would then bend over, and placing the subject’s right hand flat to the floor would go the
motions of nailing it to the stage while he whispered, “Make it stuck to the floor.”

The subject would then vainly try to pull his hand free, until the Doctor hit him gently on the
back of the neck as he said loudly, “all right, it’s all right.”

While the subject was trying to pull his hand free from the floor, Dr. Q would go to the next
subject in the line and while standing directly in front of this spectator, request him to open his
mouth wide. He would them whisper for him to keep it open as though it were impossible to get
it closed. Stepping aside, the audience would see the subject with his mouth wide open. Dr. Q
would even tell the subject to try hard to put it closed with both hands.

Few things could be funnier, and the audience howled louder than ever with laughter. During this
laughter, Dr. Q would release the subject trying to free his hand from the stage and rapidly move
on to the last subject in the row. Standing in front of him, he would raise his hand and place his
thumb against the tip of his nose, while he quickly whispered, “Hold it, stuck there.” The subject
would then appear to try in vain to get his thumb away from the tip of his nose.
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 D R Q ’s H Y P N OT I C AC T | Pa g e 5

Quickly, Dr. Q would leave his last subject with his thumb stuck to his nose, and dash over to his
first subject in the row and lead him over to the side of stage to the wall. Placing his hand against
the wall, he would whisper, “keep it stuck.”

By this time, there is so much action heaped each upon the other and the audience is laughing so
loudly that you will find in working the act that you can almost give your instructions out loud.
In fact, your subjects will have caught on so as to what is expected of them, and be having a
swell time in making the audience laugh that they will do anything you suggest at the slightest
provocation. In fact, you can abolish the whispered instructions almost entirely and proceed right
into the role of a hypnotist giving suggestions “open your mouth wide. It is stuck, you cannot
close it.” As you look steadily at the subject while giving such suggestions, give them a wink.

Dr. Q would them go from subject to subject until he had a row on the stage standing with their
mouths wide open. Then going quickly to each one, he would apparently snap them out of it with
a gentle tap and a loud,” all right, it is all gone.” At the same time, he would whisper to them,
“when I clap my hands, fall down.”

Dr. Q then would thank the subjects for volunteering help in the demonstration, and ask them
to return to their seats. As they left the stage, he would watch them carefully, and when some
were in the aisles and others were on the stairs, he’d clap his hands together loudly...and the
subjects would fall down in a heap wherever they were. Thus providing a perfect climax for
a perfect act.

F I NAL THOUGHTS

The foregoing is the exact hypnotic routine as performed by the celebrated Dr. Q. Of course,
the reader can work out his own routine in any number of countless variations, for in applying
this method numerous tests will suggest themselves to you. However, don’t make the mistake of
performing too many demonstrations. Just do a few and let it go at that. Personally, we doubt very
much that Dr. Q’s own routine can be very much improved upon. Performed with showmanship,
it will positively provide the magician with a few minutes of utter amazement and humor that
his audiences will never forget.

Herewith, we have given you all the secret methods and insights to the performing of Dr. Q’s
Great Hypnotic Act. We should like to mention, however, that if the magician prefers, he not need
only present this as a special feature demonstrating hypnotism. In fact, he need not say a single
word about hypnotism. He can simply have a few spectators come up on the stage to assist him in
a magical stunt, and then suddenly slip into this hypnotic routine.

To the average person, a magician and hypnotist are very much one and the same, so your
spectators will quickly catch on to the idea that you are hypnotizing the volunteers, even though
you never so much as say a word to that affect.

In closing, we hope that you will give this great act a try on your next show. It will create an
impression on any audience far more than almost any other trick or illusion. And once you use it,
it will be a “must” for every program you ever do in the future.
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 “I can’t recommend this manuscript highly enough. If you’ve ever

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considered studying and presenting hypnosis THIS IS IT!”

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– MagicWeek.com

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