Okay, so maybe Ken Whitener doesn't have control of your mind yet. But he could if you attend his hypnotism/comedy/magic act.
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Times Staff Writer
Published August 5, 2005
Ken Whitener was a third-grader in Amarillo, Texas, when he got his first book about magic.
"That got me interested," he said.
Three years later, he saw a magician perform at the opening of the Firestone building in Dallas, and his interest deepened.
But it was a movie about a hypnotist he saw that same year that sealed his professional fate: "I got an encyclopedia and learned about hypnotism," Whitener said. "I hypnotized a 12-year-old friend at school every day for three weeks."
Now, despite a degree in drama from the University of Dallas and attending the University of Wyoming College of Law, Whitener has spent his life as a hypnotist, motivational speaker, mentalist and a comedian - or all of them rolled into one.
He has circled the world twice performing in Singapore, Malaysia, Bermuda and all over the United States and Canada. He has done more than 6,500 shows and entertained more than 1-million people and is a recurring guest on Nickelodeon television shows.
On Aug. 12, Whitener will do a comedy hypnosis show at the Palace Grand in Spring Hill.
"It's hard to explain hypnosis," Whitener said. It's a place between being asleep and being awake, where people are aware of their surroundings but somehow on another wavelength. The subject feels in control but appears unable to resist doing what the hypnotist says to do.
But subjects will not do something that goes against their basic morals or values, Whitener said, even though they may do something that looks foolish - and things they might not later remember doing.
Whitener is quick to say he doesn't hold "power" over his subjects.
"I don't hypnotize anyone," he said. "They hypnotize themselves." In fact, he adds, "The greatest (hypnotist) of all time is television." The Big Box often puts people into a trance similar to being hypnotized, he said.
During his Palace Grand show, Whitener will bring 10 to 15 people onto the stage and lead them into a hypnotic state.
"The stars of my show are the audience," he said.
Judging by letters from clients who have booked his show, though, Whitener himself is a draw.
"People would see your show and come back the same night and see it again," wrote Dave Wilson, owner of One-Liners Comedy Club in Greenwood, Ind. "Our people loved you and requested we bring you back," wrote Peggy Morris, national director of meetings and conventions for Realty World Corp. "You and your art are completely first class," wrote Ralph C. Daniel of Florida Community College.
As for star power, opening acts for Whitener have included comics Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen and the late Sam Kinison.
Whitener has trained to work with physicians in pain management and conducted smoking cessation sessions. But his focus is comedy clubs, college campuses, corporate conventions, and fairs and rodeos.
The show is between 90 minutes and two hours, with no intermission.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: The Ken Whitener Comedy Hypnosis Show
WHERE: Palace Grand, 275 Della Court, Spring Hill (off U.S. 19 a quarter mile north of County Line Road)
WHEN: Aug. 12. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show 8 p.m.
TICKETS: Admission is $15. Appetizers and beverages at additional cost (two-item minimum). Call (727) 863-7949 in Pasco County or toll-free elsewhere at 1-888-655-7469.
