Comedy Hypnotist Matt Hale’s Feelgood Factory @ Megamouth, Yagan Square
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
As promised, Comedy Hypnotist Matt Hale’s Feelgood Factory, is really all about happiness: even if it is only experienced for just 60 minutes of the show’s duration and an hour or two post-show. As a hypnotist show first-timer, I was genuinely sceptical about Hale’s ability to leave me ‘ridiculously happy’ (as promised in his show description) after a fairly stressful day but can honestly attest that at one point during the show, I found myself with tears in my eyes from laughing too hard.
The strength of the show lies in Hale’s ease at guiding the willing hypnosis subjects to let go of their inhibitions, resulting in sheer entertainment. He demonstrated strong showmanship throughout the hour, never missing a beat, showing genuine amusement at the unexpected and creative ways that a hypnotised subject would respond to his promptings; while he energetically guided the audience to let down their guard and enjoy the ride.
Notably chicken and swinging watch-free, Hale masterfully hypnotised serious-looking individuals to act ridiculously with some hilarious results. Rather than laughing at the hypnotised subjects, the audience raucously laughed along with them, amused at how easy it was for Hale to put them under a ‘spell’. It is highly commendable that he exhibited authority and expertise in hypnosis while also showing respect for those who were being hypnotised.
Hale helped to demystify hypnosis and explained that it is not ‘control’ as participants are willing and able to refuse to be hypnotised. He states that hypnosis is basically “focusing on your thoughts so much that they become real.” These explanations at the beginning of the show were helpful for the audience and helped to increase their trust of Hale.
The flow of the show was sometimes slightly interrupted by Hale’s plugs of other Fringe artists and promotions, and while I understand this is necessary, it sometimes distracted from the overall performance. Smoother segues may be called for, or perhaps condensed and reserved for the end or beginning so that these plugs do not interrupt the overall flow of Hale’s Feelgood Factory.
Despite these very minor distractions, Hale had the audience ‘eating out of the palm of his hand’ with laughter and Comedy Hypnotist Matt Hale’s Feelgood Factory is a great FRINGE WORLD offering for those who are in dire need of some good clean humour as well as happy feelings, and really, who isn’t these days?
CHERYL LIM
