Jason Simmons Lecture
Jason Simmons is a professional hypnotist, mentalist, magician and comedian who has been performing for more than a decade. His work spans comedy hypnosis, mindreading and magic, giving him a particularly useful perspective on the psychological tools that performers can use to shape an audience’s experience.
His lecture, The Hypnotic Edge: Psychological Tools for Magicians, asks a deceptively simple question: what if one of the most important secrets in a magic performance isn’t the trick itself, but what’s happening in the spectator’s mind?
What to Expect:
How principles of suggestion can strengthen a magical effect.
Using authority and confidence to increase belief and impact.
The importance of pacing and how it influences an audience’s experience.
Psychological approaches to audience management.
Practical techniques designed to deepen reactions without having to change your existing material.
Applications for close-up, cabaret and stage performers.
Jason’s background gives the subject some genuine practical grounding. Alongside his magic and mentalism, he performs comedy hypnosis professionally and has spoken at the UK Hypnosis Convention on presentation and performance. His own writing also explores the crossover between magic, influence and hypnosis.
There’s no therapy lecture here. The emphasis is firmly on usable performance tools: ways of increasing impact, control and belief while continuing to perform the magic you already know.
If you’re interested in audience psychology, spectator management or simply getting more from the same tricks, this should offer a rather different perspective from a conventional magic lecture.
Where and When
Thursday 8th October 2026
Nomad Theatre - KT24 6RT
Doors 7:30pm • Lecture 8:00pm • 15-min interval • Finish ~10:00pm
Hosted by the Surrey Society of Magicians.