The Clubnosis Experience: Hypnosis / House Fusion | Every Friday and Saturday Until Feb 18 | ★ ★ ★
Walk through the Noodle Palace (aka the TAFE rooftop after its makeover into an Asian skybar) into the Laksa Lounge to find a smiley bald man on stage with a laptop playing house music.
His name is Matt Hale and he’s the first and only hypnotist DJ I’ve ever heard of. If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably open-minded and ready enough to be hypnotised. As Matt says, “you can’t be hypnotised against your will”.
This isn’t a show, more of a guided experience. If you’re keen for a night of clubbing, I strongly recommend spending your $20 on a ticket to Clubnosis instead of paying cover charge to a regular nightclub. Go in relaxed, eager to participate, with no expectations and if you’re anything like me, you will come out feeling great.
From the Fringe World description: “Exploiting the natural trance-inducing qualities of house music, Hale fuses hypnotic techniques & house beats to guide your imagination & feet from behind the decks.”
Matt uses a blend of recent club hits and old classics, with some deep throbbing in between, which I found pretty easy to space out to after listening for a few minutes with my eyes closed. His enthusiasm is infectious and made me feel eager to make the most out of the hour, despite my doubts that hypnotism couldn’t possibly be this easy.
About 30 people ranging from young adults to sexagenarians occupied the room. They needed little encouragement to stand up, fill the space, shut their eyes and groove around freely, occasionally following directions from Matt. I chatted to several people afterwards and all of them loved it, and like myself, found the hypnosis tricks to have worked to varying degrees. These included:
- feeling alternately light and heavy,
- being unable to lift eyelids,
- sensing your palms come together like magnets,
- getting flashbacks to happy memories when a particular instrument started playing.
If you’re chasing a similar kind of vibe to the Zen you can feel through yoga, meditation, mindfulness and daydreaming, spend an hour with The Clubnotist for some added curious hypnotic activities.
Get tickets for this experience from Fringe World.
Flamey Whinehouse, images by Artist Liaison from 2016 presentation.
