Are you a sceptic about hypnotism and mind power? If you are, then let Peter Powers prove you wrong.
The British television personality said while he always believed in magic and mentalism, he fell into the role “accidentally”.
“When I was really young, my brother and I would watch an American hypnotist on TV, and that’s what sparked my interest,” he said.
“When I was really young, my brother and I saw a movie where a man made a girl fall asleep by swinging his pocket watch and saying: ‘look at the watch, your eyes are getting heavier’.
“My father had the exact same pocket watch, so we got it out – which we probably shouldn’t have, because it was the watch he would wear to church on a Sunday – and I copied what I saw on the movie.”
Powers said to his surprise, he made his brother fall asleep, just like in the movie.
“I thought he was pretending because we were playing, but there was something about the expression on his face,” he said. “I clapped my hands loudly and my brother almost jumped out of his skin! He was a little bit disorientated and that’s when I realised there was definitely something there.
It started an obsession.
“The next day I went to the library and devoured a book about hypnotism and practiced all the techniques on my brother.”
Powers will have volunteers live out their wildest fantasies – or their worst fears – when he comes to Cronulla RSL Club on Friday, March 22.
He said hypnotism only works depending on the person’s ability of acceptance to it.
“If the persons state of consciousness is allowed to be altered in such a way, the analytical left-hand side of the brain is turned off, while the non-analytical right-hand side is made alert.
“The conscious control of the mind is inhibited, and the subconscious mind awoken.”
In 2015, Powers featured in his own TV series on Channel 7 called Mesmerised and has been a regular guest on Nine Network’s The Footy Show.
He pushes the boundaries of standard hypnotism and raises the bar with unique and truly whacky routines. All of this is delivered with a somewhat wayward humour in his distinctive, mischievous style.
“At the end of the day it’s a comedy show. Everyone’s there for the laughs,” he said. “It seems like people love to laugh at each other’s expense, and that’s exactly what I give the audience as part of the show.”
Beneath the well publicised image of ‘evil’ and ‘wicked’ Powers tries so hard to portray, there is a certain warmth, playfulness and overwhelming sense of trustworthiness.
“Australia is my favourite place to perform...the people here are mad and push themselves to the edge,” he said.
Catch Peter Powers at the Cronulla RSL Club on Friday, March 22, 8pm.
Tickets: cronullarsl.com.au