Peter Casson was born in Bridlington in 1921 and was arguably the first hypnotist to have a great impact in Variety. The following film was taken from just offstage as a record of one of Casson's shows. The film opens with the hypnotist wearing a suit and bow tie speaking into a microphone. After hypnosis has set in on a number of his audience he puts them in various positions, first making them play imaginary instruments such as the piano, violin, percussion and double bass. Casson...

Peter Casson was born in Bridlington in 1921 and was arguably the first hypnotist to have a great impact in Variety. The following film was taken from just offstage as a record of one of Casson's shows. The film opens with the hypnotist wearing a suit and bow tie speaking into a microphone. After hypnosis has set in on a number of his audience he puts them in various positions, first making them play imaginary instruments such as the piano, violin, percussion and double bass. Casson then makes a man feed a baby doll and put a dummy in its mouth. The audience member then takes off the baby's nappy, bathes it and brushes its head, before shaking it a little vigorously and drying it with a towel. Another woman is made to sit on a chair and cry whilst a man sitting directly next to her is made to laugh uncontrollably. The film comes to an end with the hypnotist lowering his subjects to the floor who wake up in a state of bewilderment. Additional Information: PETER CASSON was born in Bridlington in 1921. He was probably the first hypnotist to have a great impact in Variety. Whilst with the Marines he was able to nurture this talent of hypnotism. After the war he contacted an agent called JACK LISTER and both of them devised an EVENING WITH - the proverbial one-man show. Peter was always keen to set up a clinic in Yorkshire to assist the shell-shocked service men coming out of the army. He lectured all over the world and argued against the mis-use of drugs. In the sixties he became a club proprietor and was one of the many against provincial gaming laws. He died in 1995.