Comedian Armelie (and a bunch of ladies) fall under the spell of Daniel Huguet

Spanish hypnotists seem to get the best subjects, but no one does inductions like the French. There is someting about hypnotists in France that sets them apart from the rest: their attention for detail, their taste for keeping their craft as something mysterious and mystifying, instead of just plain and dumb; their strong personalities and trust in themselves, best expressed in the classic saying usually related to hypnotism in France: dormez, je le veux! ("sleep, I want you to"). Everything is as if hypnotists in France had never heard about hypnotherapy and were still living in 1962, in the days of great masters like Dominique Webb and Michel de la Vega.

Daniel Huguet is definitely one of these. He puts a lot of effort in making his induction process something entertaining and worth seeing, as we had reported on a previous ocassion when he filled the whole floor of a TV studio with the bodies of hypnotized audience members in the show "La soirée de L'étrange" (the night of mistery). Recently he was back in the show, to make a new demonstation of his abilities.

In the two videos you are about to see, Daniel works first with a small selected group of four volunteers, including two very nice young ladies, and later he moves forward to put under trance a big group of audience members. It is in the first video, however, when his plans apparently change unexpectedly: during the induction one of the guest celebrities in the show starts falling under the effect of his suggestions. She is comedienne and actress Armelie, on of the guests of the show "Camera Café". He wakes her up and invites her to join the rest of volunteers for his second appearance in the show. I will not tell much about it, but let just say that Armelie redefines the meaning of "going out like a light". Daniel doesn't really do much more with her and the rest of subjects, but with inductions like these you don't really need to prove anything...

To see Monsieur Huguet's appearance on the first video, go to 08:30.

The hypnotic arts of Dmitry Dombrovsky

There is a theory we have had at the Hypnotic Society HQ for quite a long time; let us know what you think. There must be a great hypnosis scene in Russia, but we are just not hearing about it. There are few better historical precedents to have than Rasputin, and it makes sense somehow in cultural terms; hypnosis just fits too well with slavic XIX-XX century aesthetics, and the women are just too beautiful. The language, however, is a very strong barrier to cross and search results are always scarce. But the little we have seen, we like it very much. Here's an example.

Dmitry Dombrovsky is one of the few Russian hypnotist with a strong online pressence, although his website is quite a frustrating experience. He must be one of the premier stage hypnotists in the country, judging from the following video snippets that seem to come from his own TV special. We would love to see the whole thing, but we have only about 12 minutes to scan.

Dombrovsky seems to have a talent to handle physically his subjects, specially the ladies. He gently makes them move from one place of the stage to the other, pulling them softly and commanding their bodies. You will enjoy his skills if you like gentle touches on the foreheads of entranced girls.

There are very nice things in these three files: two very attractive subjects getting body parts frozen, needles stuck, and watches stolen, while many more remain asleep in the backgound at all times. He creates an interesting atmosphere, mystical and a bit distant from comedy, something we particularly appreciate.

If you happen to be in Russia or read Russian and would like to contribute with links or videos to the Hypnotic Society Archives, please drop us a line.