Matt Hale: Random Acts of Mindness
Comedy hypnotist Matt Hale is back at Fringe World for a fifth year, bringing his trademark fun and fan base along for the ride, with a show that is right up Fringe alley. Renowned for his unique and modern brand of hypno-laughs, Matt hypnotises completely random volunteers from the audience in the blink of an eye in his 60-minute show, RANDOM ACTS OF MINDNESS.
Running until February 16, across five Fringe venues including Yagan Square’s Megamouth, The Big Top at Scarborough’s Sunset Veranda; Joondalup’s Redmond Theatre; the Piazza at Cockburn Gateway Shopping Centre, and three matinee shows at Woodside’s Pleasure Garden, it’s a fabulous night out for the whole family.
Confession time…
It might surprise you to know that this is my first experience with Matt Hale and both hubby (my plus one for this show) and myself were more than a bit apprehensive going into this. Our experience with live comedy hypnosis until now involved hen and buck nights and included a whole heap of embarrassment that follows you around for years to come with VHS evidence. Although not as permanent and scarring as a drunken tattoo escapade. That bad though, that I gave this show a miss the four previous years. FAIL.
After hearing rave reviews and doing a little research, I decided to dip my toes in the back row this year. Hubby, however, took a lot more convincing and a whole lot of bribing for him to join me.
I must confess at this point, the opening dance sequence and full audience participation in the first five minutes did nothing to quash my audience participation anxiety but here’s the thing, hypnosis and entertaining a crowd only really works on willing participants and from what I’m told there are always more than enough people willing to volunteer each night which means you can effectively sit back, relax and enjoy the show. You get to decide if you want to enjoy the show from the stage or the audience.
The night we attended there were that many volunteers eager to participate that a number were turned away from the stage disappointed. There was no need to sit on the edge of our seats in anxiety, fearing the worst. Far from it. In the end, I haven’t seen hubby laugh so hard through a Fringe show since… well never. YES… that much fun!
The other thing with this particular show is the talented and entertaining Matt Hale. Hale doesn’t turn people into chickens or anything worse at any stage during the show and he certainly doesn’t go out of his way to embarrass the shit crap out of anyone. It’s all rather tasteful and entertaining from start to finish. Provided you leave your pre-conceived large-scale stage hypnosis anxieties at the door, you are in for a good night from the get-go. Unlike me, who took a good five minutes to relax into things.
On a final note, I was also impressed with the positive affirmations from Hale towards the end of the set which makes me think his book Mindhacking Happiness just might be worth a casing.
I’m still not convinced I could ever see myself volunteering on stage. I could, however, see myself heading back for seconds given that no two shows are the same. Can’t believe I left it so long to see this fun and fabulous show. The other show I’ve been giving a wide berth to for several years is Puppetry of the Penis. That’s another comedy hypnosis show… right?!
Comedy Hypnotist Matt Hale: Random Acts of Mindness
Now showing at various Fringe World Perth venues until February 16
Tickets from $35 available here
