Stop Collecting, Start Creating
Why Entertainment Hypnotism Needs a Culture Shift
There’s a quiet epidemic in entertainment hypnotism—one that’s been so normalized, most don’t even question it. We call it “inspiration,” “homage,” or “borrowing.” But let’s be honest. Much of what passes for inspiration in our industry is just polished theft.
Hypnotists spend hours scrolling through social media, watching reels, TikToks, and YouTube clips of other hypnotists in action—not to study form, structure, or stagecraft, but to find the next “bit” to add to their own show.
Before the age of smartphones and viral videos, this kind of scouting happened in-person. You’d buy a ticket, take a seat, and watch the show with a mental notepad (or sometimes a literal notepad), quietly deciding which routine could be transplanted into your set with minimal tweaking.
This culture of borrowing isn’t new. But just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s acceptable.
Let’s draw a line in the sand:
There’s a difference between being inspired and being derivative.
Being inspired means seeing a fellow hypnotist captivate a room and asking, “How can I evoke that same emotion in my own way?”
Being derivative means taking their exact setup, swapping the soundtrack, changing a few lines, and convincing yourself you’ve made it your own.
I’ve done it too.
Years ago, I lifted a bit from Jim Spinnato’s show. I tweaked it. I even told people where it came from. I told Jim himself. I thought being transparent and making a few edits gave me moral clearance.
It didn’t.
Jim was angry, and rightfully so. What I didn’t understand then—but fully appreciate now—is that I had preserved the core creative element. The heartbeat of that routine was his, not mine. And no amount of rationalization or cosmetic edits could change that. I stopped performing the bit, and I’ve never forgotten the lesson. When we know better, we must do better.
The pull to imitate is powerful.
We see what works. We see audiences erupt in laughter or gasp in awe. We want that same effect. We want that same magic. But when we lift someone else's creation to manufacture that moment, we’re not innovating—we’re homogenizing. And that makes the entire art form smaller.
If we want to elevate entertainment hypnotism, we have to start treating it like an art. That means respecting intellectual ownership. It means stepping away from the highlight reels and digging deeper into the craft—into structure, psychology, language, pacing, emotion.
We need more creators and fewer collectors.
We need communities that encourage original thinking and creative risk. Workshops where routines are built from scratch. Collaborations that spark something fresh rather than reheat something familiar.
Creating original material is harder. It’s messier. Sometimes it flops. But when it lands—when you own the laugh, the astonishment, the silence—you’ve given something new to the world. And that’s what art is.
It’s time to stop collecting.
Time to start creating.
Our audiences deserve it.
And so do we.
First of all thank you for all you've written here Paul. Will stated, well communicated and very true.
I've had "colleagues" "borrow" huge portions of my show, original material which I personally wrote and whuch had evolved naturally from other shows I've done. Sometimes even very well-known named hypnotists. Some have even claimed they wrote it first. Some also do this to my Inductions, proofs and Ive head my books are being translated into other languages. It's like hyenas fighting over a carcass.
This "borrowing" has happened to me from colleagues all over the North American continent, even from Europe to Australia. This is why I rarely post on YouTube anymore.
What's amazing is how I will occasionally get a message or an email that says, "I just thought I'd use this routine of yours and it didn't work, so what did I do wrong?" Hello! BTW, no video nor other details. Each time this happens, I think, "if you would only come to me and asked me first and gave me credit for the routine, I wouldn't have minded." Some have.
But you take it first and then ask me afterwards, I've always found to be of low integrity and quite insulting. Some of these skits have taken years to evolve.
Others of these skits I see me getting out of bed at 3: 00 in the morning and writing them down.
So, no it is not okay to borrow or in some cases outright steal my work, or anyine else's.
At a large Conference of hypnotists I found out after the show was over there was at least 18 video cameras on tripods shooting the show I was doing without my permission. My camera that night malfunctiined. For the next 3 years, almost all the shows they had used strong elements of mine, including music, and some doing outright impressions of my voice, laughter, mannerisms. A bit creepy.
After one of those shows I was approached by a fellow audience member, Terry Stokes. With a large smile he said, "hey John how did you like the show?" My response was, "Terry quite frankly, I like my show a lot better when I'm doing it myself." He laughed and simply told me "take it as a form of flattery kid because if you don't, it'll drive you crazy. Just remember they only steal from the best in the world. They've been stealing from me for over 50 years."
You're right Paul this needs to stop. Each of us has our own innate creativity, performers need to find that within. To take blatantly the intellectual property of a colleague is not only nasty but does not address the unique creativity and talent each of these colleagues they may inherently possess. It begins to turn each performance into a giant cover band version. It's like copying someone's homework or dissertation.
Each show performed this way creates some lower impact copy and over time like duplicating videos on VHS over and over years ago, those shows entirely degrade not only the performance but the profession as well.
I've heard stories of hypnotists who get down right indignant and had to be ejected from arenas by security because they bought a ticket and felt they were entitled to shoot video of someone else's life's work.
You absolutely correct Paul when you stated it's time that this come to a complete stop. Thank you!