Hyprov review — bizarre hypnosis show gets the audience improvising
Just for Laughs festival, London
Comedian Colin Mochrie and mesmerist Asad Mecci pitch suggestible stooges into sleepy routines - but though the format is promising, the results are uneven.
It’s standard for improvisers to begin by saying, “I have no idea what the hell is going to happen.” This time, it may be truer than usual, as Whose Line Is It Anyway? stalwart Colin Mochrie kickstarts a new format combining improv and hypnotism. The first third finds Toronto mesmerist Asad Mecci casting his spell over audience volunteers. The four most suggestible stooges are then pitched - while half-asleep - into improvised scenes with Mochrie. If you’ve ever watched improv and wished the performers were on quaaludes, this is the show for you.
That’s not to suggest it’s not funny; it sometimes is. But there are significant teething problems. A hefty portion of the show is devoted to Mecci hypnotising his subjects, a process that - because he speaks in meditation-tape cliches; because his weird cadences suggest a Muppet impersonating a robot - I for one found profoundly unrelaxing.
More of a problem is that hypnotised audience members don’t make particularly effective improvisers. There are flashes of comic life: a volunteer expressing surprise, to Mochrie’s mock-horror, that Canada has a military; another getting maudlin when it’s suggested his lame horse be put down. These are the moments the show needs to mainline: the innocence and artlessness are distinctively comic. No one’s trying too hard to be witty.
But - tonight at least - they’re few and far between. More often, the volunteers are docile, obliging Mecci to keep issuing instructions or new ideas from the sidelines. Elsewhere - perhaps wary of seeming exploitative, or concerned the hypnosis might wear off - he brings sketches to an end just as they’re coming to life. That the whole thing stays afloat is down mainly to Mochrie’s amused good cheer, as he engineers opportunities for the stooges to be funny, and sustains a running commentary on the oddity of the event.
It certainly is odd, and may yet work. The theory - that subjects of hypnosis are uniquely open and suggestible, just like the best improvisers - is credible. But tonight, they mainly seem sleepy.
Read more reviews about Hyprov:
• Showscore.com:
https://www.show-score.com/off-broadway-shows/hyprov
• Nytimes.com:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/15/theater/hyprov-comedy.html
• Wsj.com: https://www.wsj.com/articles/hyprov-review-improvunder-hypnosis-asad-mecci-colin-mochrie-jeff-andrews-jo-winiarskirufus-wainwright-stan-zimmerman-11661463122