Improv legend Colin Mochrie and hypnotist Asad Mecci (Mek-key) are bringing their “HYPROV” (Hip-prov) act to the Egyptian Theater this weekend – and it’s sure to be full of laughs.
As Mecci explains, volunteer audience members are brought on stage and he narrows them down to play along with improvisation under hypnosis.
“I'm the hypnotist on the show. I bring up 20 volunteers, I hypnotize them, whittle it down to the most susceptible subjects, and then Colin Mochrie from ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’ comes in and improvises with the people on stage while they're under hypnosis. The show is hilarious. It's fast paced, it's action packed, it's high energy,” Mecci said.
Mochrie confesses that his amazing improvisational skills only happen on stage.
“I've never won an argument with my wife,” he said. “I've never talked my way out of a parking ticket. But onstage for some reason that superpower is activated. I have used my improv skills in real life. I think I'm a better listener than I was before I got into improv. I try to go into situations without having a pre-judged idea of how it will go, so I'm open to whatever happens. My wife actually calls the guy on ‘Whose Line [is it Anyway]’ ‘the other’ because it's nothing like me in real life.”
And that’s what Mecci says makes “HYPROV” so much fun.
“The fascinating part about hyprov, and this show in particular, is the part of the brain that deals with self-reflection, it becomes disconnected,” Mecci said. “So, the person who's hypnotized on stage no longer reflects on their behavior. They just carry on my suggestions without hesitation, without questions, which makes for really good improv.”
Mecci said 20% of the population make solid hypnotic subjects, so that’s why he brings up so many volunteers at first and then whittles them down based on their physiological feedback, or what he calls” trance indicators.” These include a change in respiration rate, skin tone changes as well as facial expressions.
Tickets to “HYPROV” are sold out on Friday night but are available for Saturday and Sunday. For tickets and more information, see the link in the web version of this report at kpcw.org. Parental discretion is advised as there are no guarantees what material may come from the hyprovisors.
