Show: Hypnosis - Altering Consciousness

Last night was supposed to be another Funzing talk, with London Speaks Sessions, LDN Talks @ Night, and London for a Tenner or Less, on The Science of Hypnosis. And then, wouldn't you know it, Henning from the London European Club advertised.. Hypnosis - Altering Consciousness! With Pint of Science. (What was it about yesterday and hypnosis?!) Anyway, I do enjoy events with Henning, and I can cancel Funzing up to 48 hours in advance without penalty. So I did, and booked the other instead.

The venue was the Clapham Grand. Ah now, what a shame this couldn't have happened last year, when I lived literally 10 minutes' walk away from it! Anyway, how soon you forget - I actually had to look up directions. And the plan was to get the 87 from Trafalgar Square to Clapham Junction - the place is just there on the main street.

They weren't joking when they promised a greater visible police presence after Wednesday's attack - the place was dripping with them! (Still is, today.) Charing Cross Road was closed to traffic, southbound - northbound, it was crawling. When I got to Trafalgar Square, it was half closed off, and crammed with people. Seemed that a candlelight vigil had been scheduled. Ah.. I checked. Yes, my bus stop was closed. I was running late by now, so decided to go the fast route - Tube from Charing Cross to Waterloo, train to Clapham Junction. I was unnerved to see the crowds on the Tube train when it pulled in, people squashed at the windows - but then I realised they were all getting off here.

Gee, the nostalgia - how long is it since I traced this route? As I approached Clapham Junction, however, the nostalgia turned to disgust. I lived here at a miserable time in my life, working with some awful people. I still practically shudder at the memory of it, and can still sometimes feel them spying on me. Never mind - back to the matter at hand. With the crowds at the station, I had to take the overbridge, which meant coming out of the wrong exit. Nuts, was I ever going to get there?! Exiting on St. John's Hill, I saw a whole crowd of people peering over the wall at something happening on the street - Lordy, what now? Turned out some driver had been pulled over by police, blocking one whole side of the road! Dunno what it was about, though.

The Grand was just down the road - the entrance roped off, with a bag check. The fellow in front of me had his bottle of water confiscated - oh dear, was my perfume going to go the same way? Nah - I don't think this was for security purposes. Inside, I had my name checked off the list and my hand stamped - in blue, for a change. The main room was incandescent with disco balls, multicoloured lights.. I saw the group sat at a table in the lower section, but it wasn't easy to get a seat near them, so I sat over the side. Rather uncomfortable, folding chairs. There was food over the side, which just consisted of chicken wings (fiddly), and nachos and hummus, which I don't care for. So I stuck to wine - served in a funky, white glass.

The evening was multi-part. First up was an Irish scientist - Eamonn Walsh (pronounced Aymon, BTW) was talking to us about Pavlov's dog, and how human responses could be conditioned. Curious, how my week started with mind control through drugs, and ended with mind control through suggestion.. and a fascinating subject. Sadly, the speaker was quite dull - you can find this with scientists, who don't always have great presentation skills. Anyway, he was followed by a couple of artists, whose work centred on this same idea. One had a conceptual short film to show us. Wow, it was really conceptual.. (read confusing). The other had dotted little artworks about the building for us to find - which I did, when I went to the bathroom - there were teeny little figurines by the tap. Gee, reminded me of when I visited 2 Temple Place, that time.. there was a similar installation.

There were also a couple of poets. The first up was one of these who comes across all poetical, staring at the ceiling as he solemnly intones his oeuvre - and by the time all of the aforementioned were through, I was seriously questioning my decision to come at all. It was an awful hotchpotch of vaguely connected acts, giving the impression that the organisers were just trying to fill up the evening.

And then - the evening was saved by the MC. Also a poet, when he started his bit I braced myself for more of the same. Oh no, this was good.. his poem, written in "hypnotic" language (i.e. mimicking the language used in hypnotic experiments), was designed to hypnotise us into clapping and cheering wildly for him. His deadpan delivery and constant repetition combined to make a ridiculous version of a hypnotic experiment. "You feel happy, and independent. You feel alone. You are lonely. Strong - and lonely. You want to clap.."

Cheered up after that, when I came back from the loo I saw that a seat had opened up beside a friend of mine. Ah cool! So I sat with her for the hypnotism bit. The hypnotist himself was an English bloke, living in Spain - uh-oh, I could just imagine him performing for the expats. What were we in for? Well, he was personable - and when he invited volunteers on stage, he got a flood of them!

What happened next was interesting. Wanting to reduce the number, he first sent them all to sleep, lying on stage - he'd said he had a reputation for sending people off quickly. Well, it was interesting to watch his selection technique - he quickly pared down the crowd on stage, eliminating the people who seemed not to be going under so quickly.

He definitely seems to believe what he's at - apparently, he has a sideline of hypnotically curing people of phobias and such. But just as interesting to me was watching the people on stage who were patently pretending to be hypnotised, so they could continue with the fun. (Quick peek to see what everyone else is doing and mimic it.) Still - you know, by the end, he had eliminated most of the time-wasters, and even with the eight he had left on stage, he split them into more- and less- hypnotised. And.. I do think that some of them were hypnotised, at least part of the time. I still don't think it would work on me, and I know there was a lot of nonsense. But it was, as I say, interesting.

Bus back to Trafalgar Square - en route, we passed through Parliament Square, dark and deserted now, except for yet another reporter doing a piece to camera. And there was actually a stop open on Trafalgar Square! I could have walked from there - but with the freezing cold, and the mayor's Hopper fare that meant I wouldn't have to pay extra for a second bus - I decided to wait for one. The 24 or the 29 would take me to Goodge Street - and despite the length of time it took it to come, and the traffic moving slow as treacle.. I was glad I'd taken the bus.

This evening, it's back to Ireland for the weekend again.. Not sure what I'm doing next week, as someone in our team at work is visiting from another office, and we might be doing something with her. However, last I heard she'd only be free on Thursday and Friday.. if so, I'll be free to go to a film on Monday. Top of the list, I'm excited to see, is Get Out - a psychological horror, and I'm delighted to see it holding its position so well. What's more, it's showing in Odeon Tottenham Court Road! Awesome - my closest cinema to home, just five minutes' walk away. And with two showings that evening, I should be able to manage one.

On Tuesday, Helen is coming to a concert at the O2. The Mavericks - not my thing. However, I've said I'll head out there - after my evening meeting - and have dinner with her beforehand.

On Wednesday - assuming I'm free - I've booked my first event with a new Meetup group. Spooky London Pubs has a talk on Rosalie the Ghost Girl! It's at the College of Psychic Studies. This is cool - the case was investigated by Harry Price, and I've just finished reading a book about him.

On Thursday, I'm booked for a Crick Crack Club event - the Grand Annual Lying Contest is at Rich Mix. I just hope I can make it - will continue to try to persuade my team members to go with me!

Next Friday, London Dramatic Arts (LDAM) is off to see The Goat - or Who Is Sylvia? with Damian Lewis, at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. I managed to get a cheaper ticket - however, my odds of going at all seem to have diminished - I suspect we'll be taking out our team member that night, and I doubt this will appeal.

Never mind - April starts with the Man with the Hat (long time no see!). Both London for Less Than a Tenner and Let's Do London - for less! are off to see the ballet Jewels at the Royal Opera House. Really looking forward to the show, and seeing old friends.

On the 2nd, I'm on a guided walk through Islington - Between the Wars - with London for a Tenner or Less. Funzing, so I can cancel, provided I do it in time.

On the 3rd, I'm back with the Crick Crack Club - at Soho Theatre this time, for an evening of Greek mythology entitled Atalanta, brought to us by the able Ben Haggerty. You know, now that I'm a Westminster resident, I have a Westminster card, which - among other things -entitles me to £1 off at this theatre! Pity I didn't yet have it when I booked this..

On the 4th, Let's Do London - for less! is back at the Opera House, for Madama Butterfly. I'm in the slips, as usual.

On the 5th - why, it must be summer! Welcome back, London Literary Walks - good to see you. We're on The Composers' Walk - apparently a repeat. And yay, we're meeting in Caffe Nero - I can have a chocolate Milano.

On the 6th, I'm with the World Music Meetup, for a free concert of Iranian music at the Brunei Gallery. It's been a while for me, with both group and venue.. Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend again, and a meeting with my birth and adoptive mothers at Greene's on the 8th.

On the 10th, I'm back at the Wanamaker Playhouse - always a favourite - for The White Devil, a Jacobean tale.

On the 11th, I got a cheap ticket to the Caine and Kane comedy show, in Brixton.

On the 12th, I'm with LDAM to see Don Juan in Soho, with David Tennant, in Wyndham's. Just down Charing Cross Road - nice! I passed the theatre last night, in fact.

Then I'm back to Ireland for Easter - on Good Friday, my (adoptive) mother and I are off to La Bohème, at the University Concert Hall.

On the 18th, back in London, and back with Funzing - the same three groups, for a talk on the Science of Paranormal Activity. Unless I get a better offer, in time - it'd have to be a good one, I'm interested in this!

On the 19th, London Literary Walks is off down Brick Lane - and so am I.

On the 20th, I have my usual placeholder of free comedy in Hammersmith - courtesy of Free Comedy Nights in Hammersmith Wimbledon and Greenwich, and London Live Comedy. Of course - much like Funzing - I usually end up cancelling these, when something better comes up.

Ditto the 21st - or I may go to the cinema that day. As usual, watch this space..!