Rarely are parents experienced entertainment buyers, event planners, decorators, event site negotiators, caterers, etc. When a parent is booking a comedy hypnotist for a high school, they are often times choosing the performer they will use pretty blindly.
- Some choose by price.
- Others think, “If the act lives close to us, we should pick them.”
- Others choose by referral, or they check the credits and references.
I don't know why some acts charge more than other acts. I know what I can afford to do a show for, and I need to charge enough to travel to and from that event, regardless where I might actually be coming from or going to at the time, so I can do the event and not lose money.
More often than you might imagine, I find myself...
...driving 2,000 miles and parking my vehicle at an airport so I can...
...fly back home to do a show close to my home, and then...
...fly back to my vehicle to continue down the road to my next event.
About me, Stage Hypnotist Alan Sands - The SandMan
My father was a professional entertainer. He did a magic act and a stage hypnosis show, along with other shows that he developed. When I was a teenager, I watched two of his disciples perform, and we went and watched other hypnotists perform at hotels in the Catskill Mountain resorts, where I grew up.
I began performing stage hypnosis shows in high school but stopped performing them and pursued my magic career until I took it up again seriously in 1993.
I have high school clients I have been performing for since my first year experimenting. I have other clients in my list of credits I have been working with for over a dozen years. High Schools are a major part of my annual tour. I average between 20 and 30 high school events some years. They are called all kinds of names including:
- Safe And Sober Grad Nights
- Bash Events
- Post Prom Parties
- Lock-in Parties
- All Night or All-nite Grad Night Parties
- A lot of events like to spell night as "nite" to stylize the word
I begin doing school shows in March in the Midwest for post-prom parties. In June, I find myself in California’s Bay Area doing the core of my tour for grad nites. States I am in almost every year include Texas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Iowa, Illinois, California, Montana and New York. For the last few years I have had a repeat client in Idaho who uses me at Christmas.
I have watched the statistics and talked to the Montana Highway Department and the police in Sonoma County, California. I believe in these parties—they work. I have never heard of one person who went to one of these parties ending the night tragically. It also seems that the students who do not attend are at least conscious of the possibility because the party is happening, so they are more careful, and by not going they remain safe all the same.
I will mention one exception, however, that did not happen at the all-night party: Napa High School in California, a week before the Graduation, a tragedy happened at a water park when 30+ students all got onto a slide together and the slide collapsed.
My normal fee for my high school show is $1,500.00. I normally ask for a hotel room in addition.
What sets me apart from other stage hypnotists?
I carry sound with me whenever I can ...
I own three professional sound systems. I keep one in Mississippi, one in California’s Bay Area, and one in my vehicle.
I was a college broadcasting major and am 'OCD' about my sound. I like a very clean sounding, professional PA system. When the sound works correctly, no one notices. When the sound does not work correctly, however, it hurts the show by either making it weak or distracting. I also hurts my voice when the sound doesn’t work correctly.
I carry lights a lot of the time ...
In case I need them. It is not a large light tree, but again, if people cannot see everything clearly, it can hurt the show. I avoid setting up the lights when possible as they are high maintenance, but I have them when I need them.
I do my own sound cues ...
I am so 'OCD' about my sound cues being on time and tight that I have devised a wireless system for my iPod so I can do my own sound cues. Music and sound effects add a total other dimension to an act, and my show has over 40 sound cues, not to mention that I do dozens of vocal sound effects into the wireless microphone I carry.
If you’d like to read another short page like this one concerning the sound, lights and stage technical aspects of a hypnosis show, visit the Technical section on this website.
I don’t claim to be the best hypnotist out there. My father always said, “There is no BEST of anything. There are ‘those that are best’ but no single person remains on top forever.”
I am a high quality 'PG-12-1/2' performer, who developed his act doing high schools, colleges, and county-state fairs all over the nation. I have enough edge to keep the high school age group riveted and laughing so hard they cry, without offending priests and nuns at Catholic schools.
I repeat my clients for many years because they know I deliver what I promise.
I am low maintenance.
I would love to come and perform for your group. Please consider Comedy Hypnotist Alan Sands - The SandMan seriously for your next high school event. See the About section on this website for Background/Bio, Credits & References, and Client List. If you’d like additional references you can check, please do not hesitate to ask.
Return to: High Schools & Colleges
