The air in the theatre is usually thick with a specific kind of anxiety before an improv show. It is the smell of unscripted panic. But when you add a master hypnotist to the mix, the tension shifts from the performers to the audience. You can feel the collective breath being held in the third row. This is the world of HYPROV: Improv Under Hypnosis, a high-stakes experiment in human psychology and comedic timing led by the legendary Colin Mochrie and hypnotist Asad Mecci.
The tour is currently cutting a path through Southwestern Ontario, hitting St. Catharines on Jan. 23, Windsor on Jan. 25, Chatham on Jan. 26, Brantford on Jan. 29 and Guelph on Jan. 30. It is a grueling schedule for a show that relies entirely on the unpredictable whims of the subconscious.
I sat down with the duo to dissect the mechanics of a show that shouldn't work, yet somehow thrives on the edge of total collapse. Mecci, the clinical architect of the evening, breaks down the premise with the precision of a surgeon.
"It is improvisation under hypnosis starring Colin Mochrie and myself," Mecci says. "I bring up 20 volunteers as the master hypnotist, hypnotize them, and whittle it down to the best five or six hypnotic subjects. Enter Mr. Colin Mochrie from Whose Line is It Anyway? Colin then improvises with the people who are hypnotized on stage while they’re under hypnosis, April."
The origin story of this partnership is less about a chance meeting and more about a calculated realization. Mecci was already a veteran of the cruise ship circuit, a world where you either entertain or get tossed overboard. He was looking for a way to sharpen the comedic edge of his solo act. He went to The Second City, the hallowed ground of Canadian comedy, and saw a parallel between the "yes, and" of improv and the trance of a subject.
"I was studying at The Second City, and now I’d already been doing cruise ship shows, performing my solo act as a hypnotist doing a comedy hypnosis show," Mecci says. "I wanted to get better at the show and I actually went to The Second City to take some courses. I realized what they were doing. They were trying to get an automatic reaction out of the people that they were training there, a.k.a sort of hypnotizing them, believe it or not. I thought to myself, 'Huh, if I hypnotize somebody, tell them that they’re a great improviser, give them the suggestion that they’re in an environment with Colin and they truly believe it, could they actually become great improvisers?' And the answer has been a resounding yes."
For Mochrie, a man who has spent decades playing off the lightning-fast minds of Ryan Stiles and Wayne Brady, the prospect of performing with a literal blank slate was a professional pivot. It is one thing to trust a peer; it is another to trust a stranger whose prefrontal cortex has been temporarily put on ice.
"Well, no more than any other improv show," Mochrie says when asked about the inherent risks. "I mean, the subject can go in and out of hypnosis and Asad is really good at recognizing that and making sure that they stay the course. And from my end, it’s actually been fascinating. The very first time that we did the show was basically the very first time. It’s not like we could rehearse it. We had hopes for what it would be and those hopes were exceeded. I love the fact that these people who don’t come from an entertainment background, who don’t improvise, become really good improvisers. Because when Asad hypnotizes them, he gets rid of that part of the brain that deals with self-criticism and self-reflection. They are there to accept everything I say and go with it, and that’s basically what improv is."
There is a brutal honesty in Mochrie’s approach. He is a Canadian icon, but he carries himself with the weary pragmatism of a man who has seen every possible audience interaction. He is not here to coddle. He is here to find the comedy in the chaos.
"I don’t enjoy people in real life, but onstage I have a great time with them," Mochrie says. "It’s fun because a part of my career is being outside of my comfort zone and this show takes me so far out of my comfort zone. I’m working with people who I’ve met for the first time on stage. They’re hypnotized. We’re still learning what we can do with them, what we can sort of let them do. I mean, I do push the scene in a certain direction, but I have to change that if they come up with something great. It’s actually been a great improv refresher course for me."
The lack of a safety net is what makes HYPROV feel dangerous. In an era of over-produced, sanitized comedy, this is raw. There are no writers in the wings. There is no plan B.
"There’s absolutely no preparation," Mecci says. "We just walk in and do the show. We have no idea who we’re going to get up on stage. Nothing’s been prearranged. And I have to say, it’s amazing to watch Colin work because sometimes the improvisers are absolutely phenomenal, giving him great offers, entertaining the crowd, just absolute naturals; at times, not so much."
When the "not so much" happens, the show relies on the veteran instincts of its leads. Most performers would panic if a scene stalled, but Mochrie and Mecci treat the failures as part of the texture.
"That’s every night, because there is no game plan, just so we’re clear," Mecci says.
Across the board, we’ve had at least one star of the night, and that’s ranged from an 80-year-old stroke survivor to a technician in a nuclear lab. We had one woman who suffers from social anxiety and she said, 'I really don’t know why I volunteered, but I never felt as good as I did on stage. I felt relaxed. I felt open to everything.' And she was our star that night.
Mochrie agrees. "Yeah. It’s just both of us being open to what’s happening and going with it. We’ve been very fortunate in that. Across the board, we’ve had at least one star of the night, and that’s ranged from an 80-year-old stroke survivor to a technician in a nuclear lab. We had one woman who suffers from social anxiety and she said, 'I really don’t know why I volunteered, but I never felt as good as I did on stage. I felt relaxed. I felt open to everything.' And she was our star that night."
The technical side of the show is where Mecci’s expertise shines. He isn't just looking for people who want to be on stage; he is looking for physiological cues that the subconscious is ready to play. It is a biological screening process.
"I’m constantly looking for changes in rate, location and respiration, so breathing changes; skin colour changes; skin tone changes; lacrimation of the eyes so the eyes start to tear up; vasodilation so the capillaries in the eyes become gorged slow; sluggish movement; muted voice, mask-like facial expression," Mecci says. "There’s a checklist, right? If I see that I’m getting the right response from the people up on stage, I’ll keep them. If I don’t, I’ll remove them. It’s kind of what poker players look for when it comes to tells."
Mochrie, for his part, has to balance the load. He is essentially doing the work of two people, providing the structure while letting the hypnotized subject provide the soul.
"Oh, well, it’s both actually," Mochrie says regarding the difficulty. "I mean, it’s easy in that they’re accepting every idea I give them, which is the basis of good improv. It’s harder in that when I’m working with Brad Sherwood, who I tour with, Ryan Stiles or any of the Whose Line guys, I know they’re going to be doing half of the heavy lifting. I know that they also have all the foundations of improv at their fingertips. And if I’m not feeling on top of it, I know they’ll take the scene and bring in something new that will help. With this, I feel a little more pressure on me, but that might just be me."
Despite the proximity to the craft, Mochrie remains a skeptic of his own suggestibility. Or perhaps he is just the ultimate professional, keeping his subconscious under lock and key.
"Not as far as I know, unless—" Mochrie starts.
"He doesn’t know. He doesn’t know," Mecci interjects.
"Oh damn, I knew it. No, no, I haven’t," Mochrie says.
Mecci’s work extends far beyond the theatre lights. He has carved out a niche in peak performance, working with elite athletes like figure skater Brian Orser to harness the power of the mind. This isn't stage magic; it is cognitive training.
"That’s a good question," Mecci says. "I work with Brian Orser and I work with figure skaters in the area of peak performance, and one of the main techniques that we use is visual motor behaviour rehearsal. What the athlete does is, in their mind’s eye, they imagine their perfect routine. And that actually helps them with increasing timing, motor coordination, strengthens neural pathways, vigilance and also helps with sleep hygiene. A lot of athletes, they’re keyed up before going into an event. Hypnosis just relaxes them and allows them to fall asleep more easily."
The stigma surrounding hypnosis is slowly eroding. It is moving from the world of carnival tents to the world of clinical medicine and forensic investigation.
"I think the consciousness is changing," Mecci says. "South Florida’s largest hospital, Jackson Memorial Hospital, they do hand surgeries with hypnosis as the only anesthetic. And since the 1970s, the LAPD has been using forensic hypnotists in their investigations. Like I mentioned before, I’ve worked with Olympic athletes in the area of peak performance. To kind of answer your question in a roundabout way, I think things are changing and hopefully with a show like Hyprov as we get it out there and as we continued to tour, I think people will have more questions about how hypnosis can help them for confidence and peak performance and stress management and chronic pain and smoking cessation and weight loss."
The skepticism that greets every performance is actually the show's greatest asset. Once a family member is seen performing on stage, the wall of disbelief crumbles.
"Oh, it always helps because what ends up happening is people who go to the show are always skeptical, right?" Mecci says. "They think, 'Ah, they’re using plants, this, that and the other.' And by the way, we don’t use plants. We don’t know any of the people who come up on stage, but it’s always great when they have their friend or family member up on stage because they absolutely know that those people are not plants. As soon as that happens, then they are absolutely hooked. If they see their wife up on stage on a blind date with Colin and they’re absolutely, completely congruent in that they look 100% like they’re engaged fully in that date, and they sit back in their chair and say, 'Wow, she’s not faking it,' or 'He’s not faking it. He’s absolutely there in the moment on a date with Colin. How can this now help me for smoking, for weight loss, for stress management, for sales?' Immediately, they start thinking about it."
Mochrie’s presence is the anchor. He is a man who can’t even buy milk without being spotted, a level of fame that he handles with a very Canadian sort of shrug.
"I guess. I do all the grocery shopping," Mochrie says. "My wife hasn’t cooked since 1990, so I guess it’s true. People are used to it or they don’t really notice. I mean, not that I am wearing a false nose and mustache, but I have my baseball cap, my glasses on. They always seem surprised at first that, 'Oh, there’s a guy I see on television who’s outside or something.' It’s very weird. But yeah, I do get recognized a bit. People, I have to say 99% of the time, are just great. They just go, 'Hi,' or that’s it."
But Mecci sees a different side of the interaction. To him, Mochrie isn't just a comedian; he’s the head of a secular religion.
"Just so you know, Colin’s being modest," Mecci says. "I’ve toured now with him throughout the world and people are so excited when they see Colin. They say, 'I’ve been watching you for years. We love you.' And Colin’s always so gracious whenever he meets these people. But I have to tell you, Colin has a cult-like following. It’s like he’s a guru of this improv cult. These people are absolutely enamored when they meet him."
Mochrie’s ties to the region are deep. He spent time in Windsor filming *Boys vs. Girls*, a project that allowed him to reconnect with fellow comedy royalty.
"Sure. I’m just trying to think," Mochrie says. "I think I was there for a total of two days, and it was fun. The director was great. Kevin McDonald from Kids in the Hall is also in the movie, and he’s a friend so it was nice catching up with him. I hadn’t seen him for a while. We had a lot of downtime where we just kind of were swapping stories and then working with all these young people. I actually could have fired everyone else that was in that movie. Kevin and I were the oldest by far, but it was a fun experience and it just went by so quickly."
Looking back at a career that spans decades, Mochrie recalls his humble, bizarre beginnings in the 3D flop *Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone*. It is a reminder that even the greats start in the trenches of genre cinema.
"Oh God, yes. Are you kidding?" Mochrie says. "Space Hunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone was a 3D movie. They were hoping to be the next Star Wars. They could not have been more wrong if they had tried. It wasn’t the best... I mean, I had a lot of fun. I think I was on set for like a month. I was one of the extras, then I got upgraded and got into a scene where I capture Molly Ringwald."
The story takes a turn for the surreal, much like a HYPROV set.
"But my favorite all time movie story is from that shoot," Mochrie says. "There’s one point when the heroes Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald go into this cave and they’re supposed to be attacked by fat people. And this was Vancouver in late 70s I guess, so it didn’t have much going in the way of filmmaking. They had to send to LA to get the fat suits, and I was so happy that I was there when they arrived. They opened the crate and they had five crates of fat suits. If you see the movie, you see them going to a cave where there’s fat people hanging upside down. It makes no sense whatsoever, but it’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen in my life."
HYPROV is a testament to the fact that the most interesting things happen when you lose control. Whether it’s fat suits in a cave or a nuclear technician doing improv under a trance, the magic is in the surrender. Catch them while you can; your subconscious might just be the star of the show.
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