Joshua Seth performs in Russell House Ballroom Wednesday
Joshua Seth does not like to label himself as a hypnotist.
“I call myself a psychological illusionist,” Seth said. “Hypnosis is one of the things I do.”
Seth, who performed for a packed Russell House Ballroom at Wednesday’s Carolina Productions show, learned hypnosis as a child.
“My parents are both psychologists and my dad is a hypnotherapist, so I learned how to hypnotize at a rather young age, initially for myself for accelerated learning techniques for personal improvement, but later on to be funny and entertaining,” Seth said. “Unlike other hypnotists, I also do mentalism and reading body language and persuasion — stuff with your eyes open and not just with your eyes closed.”
Seth has been touring colleges and theaters for about six years. Prior to traveling with his act, the performer worked as a voice actor, most notably playing Tai on the animated series and movie “Digimon” and Tetsuo in the anime film “Akira.” Seth incorporates the skills he acquired as a voice actor into his live shows.
“I think that a live performer should know mic technique. As a voice actor, my ears are very sensitive and hopefully as an audience member, you will be attuned to that as well. When I’m speaking on mic, it’s not just a harsh, grating, forceful tone that’s coming through, but there are peaks and valleys and personality coming through vocally,” Seth said. “I know how to infuse the voice with a lot of feeling.”
While he enjoyed his time as a voice actor, he has turned down many recent opportunities in favor of going on the road.
“I’ve always wanted to tour,” Seth said. “And I really love it. This is all I want to do now. The touring lifestyle is definitely not for everyone. It’s very exhausting. It’s a lot of late nights and early morning flights, but there’s nothing like the roar of a live crowd, especially a college crowd. It’s a lot of fun.”
Seth said college audiences are his favorite.
“People turn out in droves. They’re ready to party. I don’t have to pull any punches,” Seth said. “College is all about finding out who you are and where your place is in the world, and I think part of that exploration can be achieved through this kind of live entertainment, and it has been for me, too.”
And they did indeed come in droves. The line to enter the show stretched through the second-floor dining room. More than 100 students lined the ballroom walls, standing or sitting on the floor because there were not enough seats to accommodate the large crowd.
Seth explained his process of hypnosis to The Daily Gamecock.
“I have, I think, a pretty unique style of induction because I’ve done a lot of shows and TV around the world with non-English speaking audiences, so a lot of my induction involves glottal clicks, tapping you on acupuncture points and sort of a magnetic personality,” Seth said. “It’s less about the words and more about the magnetism of the personality in that moment. I think that’s part of what makes the show strong and unique.”
While everyone in the audience did not have a chance to come on stage, Seth hypnotized the crowd at the beginning of the show as they marveled at how their index fingers magnetically touched after being separated. The performer also led the crowd through guided visualization as they thought of the same number he was imagining.
Eighteen student volunteers were brought onto the stage to be hypnotized. Seth used various accents throughout his act, including a French and Spanish accent as well as a voice resembling Borat’s. The hypnotized volunteers experienced several bizarre situations, including playing in a world famous orchestra, losing the ability to speak English, becoming some of the world’s first pregnant men and competing in a Japanese rap competition.
To learn more about Seth’s act, visit him online at facebook.com/therealjoshuaseth, @JoshuaSeth on Twitter or on joshuaseth.com.