Hey Guys!

I had a chance to talk with Joshua Seth before he took the stage at Niagara University on Wednesday night. Not only was he one of the nicest guys I've ever met (and a total pool shark), he showed a deep understanding and love of his art and gave great explanations of what exactly goes on during his shows. Here's an extended interview I had with Mr. Seth, and a few more pics from the hypnosis part of his act.

Q: I understand that you began doing a magic act and then got into hypnosis?

A: Well, the kind of magic I used to do is called "mentalism," which, when done poorly, is just a magic trick that isn't done with your mind. But what I did really is done with your mind. It's based on reading body language and using influence and persuasion techniques to get people to do things without realizing them. It basically is hypnosis, but without putting people under.

Q: Could you explain the difference between the mentalist and hypnosis portions of your show?

A: With the mentalism, everyone is awake. I'm applying the same principles [body language, influence, persuasion] and thought projection, while picking up on people's emotional states using intuition- a variety of techniques that are all basically rooted in psychology and listening on a deep level- in order to tell people and get them to think of the things that I am projecting. That's the mentalism- everyone's awake, but I'm using sort of hypnotic procedures in their awake state in order to get that effect. I'm influencing them to make certain decisions and perceive certain things.

When the hypnosis portion of the show takes place, I'm obviously taking volunteers from the audience and actually putting them under trance, which is also called "theta state," which is a brain wave state that basically means you're in a heightened state of sensitivity to suggestion. So when I suggest something in that state, you respond to though it's real- your body believes it's real. You're hallucinating that it's real, and that's what hypnosis is- I do that for comedic effect in the show.

Q: Do you enjoy the touring side of the business?

A: Oh, I love it! I meet all kinds of people and see all kinds of places. I'm traveling the world. It definitely is physically fatiguing, what with all the flights, and short stays in hotel rooms and long trips in rental cars and that sort of thing. But, I am literally seeing the world with all the college shows and cruise ship tours- I've been all over the world in the past few years and I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. And the live audiences, nothing beats that. It's so rare these days that you get hundreds of people packed into a room experiencing an emotional performance, and you'll see that tonight. It's an amazing response- I get energy from doing the shows and the audiences.

Q: Do you prefer cruise ship shows to college campus shows?

A: I like the balance. I like the colleges because I can do whatever I want and let loose. But I like the cruise ships because whenever I get off the ship, if I'm somewhere cool, I stay before the next gig. A few months ago I spent a couple weeks in Thailand. A month before that I spent a few weeks in Paris and the South of France, and that was just in between gigs. I can't imagine a better way to travel the world and do a show in a big thousand seat theater once a week. So that's a lot of fun too, but I like balancing them back and forth.

Q: What do you see in the future for Joshua Seth?

A: I'm a very "in the moment" kind of guy. I enjoy doing this (his act). I really enjoy doing these live shows. As long as they're this much fun and the audiences keep turning out and having a blast and I'm having a blast, I will keep doing it. If that ever stops, then I would stop and do something else. I truly believe in the idea of "carpe diem" or sieze the day, live everyday as if it's your last. Every time I do a show, like the one I'm doing here, I go to bed feeling like I could die a happy man.