MOST of us are pretty familiar with the concept of magic. Thanks to figures like David Copperfield and David Blaine, the idea behind it does not seem too far-fetched. Even if we do not particularly enjoy their tricks, the majority of us are in tune with the nature of their work.
Yet, when one hears of hypnosis, oftentimes, nothing much comes to mind. Thus, this sense of mystery has been an instrumental factor in Cody Tan’s success as a local magician and stage hypnotist.
For the past thirteen years, the Batu Pahat native has successfully been shifting paradigms with sophisticated and entertaining tricks. In fact, Tan has performed in front of over 30,000 people throughout his showbusiness career.
But what sets him apart from other magicians is his speciality in dabbling in both hypnosis and magic. At his shows, Tan not only performs elaborate magic tricks but also delivers compelling hypnotic suggestions to his audiences.
“I would say I specialise in what magicians would call mentalism, which is magic made up of the mind. And the first one essentially is the ability to plant a thought in a person’s mind,” said the country’s first stage hypnotist.
“Then the next one is the ability to plug a thought on the person’s mind. So, it is like two ways – you read minds or you influence minds.”
How did you first get into magic?
“I had a friend back in high school who taught me magic. He showed me this one trick and I learned it. He bought a DVD, which he didn’t study but passed it to me. And I studied the whole DVD and I started performing tricks for my friend.
“But what kept me interested initially was that it made me look cool. This is because I knew something that other people didn’t know. Though I was a quiet person in school, I enjoyed showing off quietly to friends. To show them something that they couldn’t figure out.
“But over time, that developed my love to perform on stage. And so, I started studying showmanship and studying other performers.”
How do you constantly come up with new tricks?
“The fact is I don’t come out with new tricks all the time. But when I do, it’s usually referring to other magicians’ work. And that has been the way since the beginning of my journey.
“Most of it comes from modelling other people. So, I don’t have my own trick per se, but I have my own presentation. I have my own tweaks and outs (magic presentation). Like how I would perform my magic.
“So, for instance, for each trick, I could come up with different stories. This is because I don’t think I am smart enough to invent a magic trick but I love to craft different presentations.”
Is that allowed in the magic world?
“It is. It should be encouraged. Personally, I enjoy the creative part of the presentation and the showmanship. But of course, they are very pure magicians out there who are really focused on inventing and improving new tricks.”
Why did you pick up hypnosis?
“I was involved in a lot of seminar work. Like I train companies, I do team building and I do mindset stuff. But what developed my interest was my curiosity. To know if it is real or not? This is because, with magic, I know it is a trick.
“I know I can buy a secret but if I can hypnotise someone, then that is really magic to me. So, I started learning and fortunately, it was a lot easier for me to pick it up since I have a foundation in psychology, neurolinguistic programming and hypnotherapy.”
Do you infuse both of them a lot in your performance?
“I combine both of them actually. For my hypnosis shows, I usually have a backup plan just in case my hypnosis fails. So, I would have a few magic tricks planned. This is because how it usually works is that we invite 20 people on stage.
“And from there, we filter down to the people who are qualified for it. Sometimes it can be 15 and sometimes only five people who are truly hypnotised. But just in case I have none, I would then go into pseudo hypnosis, where it looks like hypnosis but it’s not. It is just magic tricks and mind mentalism act.”
What kind of audience is the most difficult to entertain?
“Definitely the obedient ones! They’re not noisy at all. In fact, over time, I came to love the noisy ones better. Number one is because they are real with their emotions. They give out genuine reactions.
“Whereas the obedient ones, would come on stage and just play along. Everything is in your control. Like when you crack a joke, they don’t laugh much because they want to be nice and proper. So, they don’t exactly make the show extraordinary. They don’t make it more entertaining.”