DAZED, BUT NOT CONFUSED

What with the popularity these days of TV shows like “The Mentalist,” it comes as no surprise that Marc Savard’s “Mesmerized” is doing brisk business at the V Theater. Not that he’s a mentalist, he’s a hypnotist – and therein lies a world of difference.

The former competitive water-skier and med student got into hypnosis by accident. He came across it in college and started “practicing” on his friends at first, and then eventually, people started to seek him out and pay him to do this. This “side business” was so successful that he was able to put himself through college with the money he earned, but three years into this and he decided to quit school and pursue this full-time. Savard recalls, “I told my parents and when they regained consciousness, they were far from being pleased. Fifteen years later and they’re my biggest fans.”

Las Vegas is now home for Savard, for almost six years, after averaging “over 200 dates on the road,” and not being able to spend time with his family. He had a stint at the V Theater in early 2007, but left in October of that year to open a hypnosis school, the International Institute of Hypnosis. The school is still open and Savard shares that he still offers courses on hypnotherapy as a career or even shorter self-hypnosis classes, which are really popular. He has however, come full-circle, so to speak, and is back where he started, at the V Theater, performing six nights a week.

“I think the biggest misconception about hypnosis in the theater is the fear of the unknown. It’s just ignorance and that I’m actually controlling their mind. It’s not mind control, it’s not what I do to them, it’s a natural state of consciousness and I just bring it out,” said Savard.

Asked if “plants” are used in the show and Savard is quick to answer, “One, it’s just not cost-effective; and two, it’s not necessary,” adding, “Hypnosis is a natural phenomenon and it happens. I’ve never had a problem with a shortage of volunteers and I’m going to have to turn people away from the stage.”

And to cover one more concern – there’s no pressure for an audience member to volunteer. Savard says that out of a group of 300, he’ll select about 25 or so volunteers, and will whittle this number down to about a dozen people. He admits that the show “gets a little crazy sometimes, with its adult-edge,” but he’s a firm believer that “You don’t have to humiliate or degrade someone in order to be entertaining,” adding, “Are we going to make them do ridiculous things up there? Of course. But everyone has a good time.” According to Savard, there are even some volunteers who keep coming back to the show and coming up on stage. In fact, the biggest ‘complaint’ he receives about his show is regret, and so many people tell him, “That looked like so much fun and I regret not volunteering.”

Savard shares that he’s changed a lot of the routines in the show as compared to his first production, bringing it to a new level since the overhaul. As far as milestones, he hit his 300th show last February.

“I think there’s a high percentage of hypnotists who have the persona of “I’m all-mighty and I can control you,” but that’s not me. I’m like the guy you hang out with in your living room, and will let you ‘do stuff,’ but we’ll all laugh about it.”

-Rachel M. Sugay