Mind Games is a program that Neon Entertainment books for universities all over the United States. It is a interactive hypnotist show, hosted by Paul Ramsay, who we had the pleasure of talking to for our 5th edition of the Neon Spotlight Series. You can listen to the interview in entirety at the bottom of this article, and don’t forget to check out all of our podcasts on our YouTube channel!
Who is Paul Ramsay?
Paul’s connection with college life actually began long before he was hypnotising students. He has an extensive background in education, having become an English teacher right out of college. He then started working in student affairs at a college, as well as residence life running a dorm building. He told us how working with high school and college students is essentially “effortless” to him, because of how much fun he has doing it.
He spoke on how he loves the optimism and openness that college students exhibit, and their eagerness to try new things. He uses the inspiration he draws from those characteristics and seeks to look for chances to do just that in his own life. College students’ outlook is what reminds him to stay open.
When he started learning and practicing hypnotism back in 2004, he never thought he’d end up creating his own style of hypnotist show. Over the course of the last 13 years, Paul has hypnotized over 15,000 people. How’s that for a friends list? In addition to performing on stage, Paul does have a career as a practicing hypnotist, to help people deal with issues that they face. This is what he had to say about the balance of wanting to entertain, as well as inspire people to educate themselves on the magic of hypnotism.
“My perfect day as an entertainer, is when I can come into a venue, and I can just let people laugh, and have a really novel experience. Whether they choose to come onstage and be hypnotized, or they choose to just sit in the crowd, either way they just have a really cool experience. And when they’re leaving, there’s some kind of impression where maybe the next day or the next week, month, or even a year later, they remember it in a way where they’re like, “you know, maybe I should use hypnotism to quit smoking, or stop chewing my fingernails, or stop procrastinating on my schoolwork. etc”
Learn More About Paul Ramsay On His Website
Mind Games
If you’ve ever been to a hypnotist show, you might have a certain style show in mind. Paul told us how as he began entertaining, he saw the traditional stage show as beneficial to learn from, but couldn’t deny that the majority of hypnotists all used this same approach. Ask for volunteers, bring them up, sit them on stage, and have the audience observe.
After a few years, Paul realized he didn’t want to be like everyone else. How could he be different? The first thing he thought of was, “What if I hypnotize people while their IN THE AUDIENCE?” This is one reason why Mind Games is unlike any other show. It enables volunteers from the audience a chance to try out being hypnotized, AND gives their friends/roommates/BF/GF a chance to witness the magic right up close and personal from their seats.
“That’s what college is all about, right? Trying new things and having new experiences. Why not hypnosis?”
Mind Games always included some sort of interactivity, in the form of paper and golf pencils before the show. Students would write ideas for what they wanted to see happen, and he’d try to look through them and satisfy the wishes. Recognizing how technology could add to the experience, he adapted the show to feature polling software that allows you to see live voting in realtime up on stage. Students boo and cheer as they watch the votes come in. It really gets the energy going. This is another reason how Paul has made his show unlike any other hypnotist show.
Paul is truly one of a kind, and his passion for what he does, in both walks of life -the stage and his office- cannot be understated. He cares so much about people having a chance to experience hypnosis, so it maybe, just maybe, makes their life better.
“How I can come in as an entertainer and make sure people enjoy themselves, and really laugh, and sort of leave their day behind for a little while. It’s a wonderful opportunity to everytime I perform, to INSPIRE people to look into hypnotism more.”
Check out the full interview below, to learn more about what you can expect when you book Mind Games, how to tell if someone’s faking, Paul’s web series and more. For information about booking, just give us a call if you have any questions, or fill out our contact form and we can reach out to you!
