Hypnotist to perform Nov. 6 at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon

Oct. 29—DIXON — Curious about hypnosis? Join Sauk Valley Community College from 12:30-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, to see a performance by hypnotist and mentalist Brian Imbus.

Imbus has been performing across the country for over 25 years. He said anyone has the ability to be hypnotized, so long as they are open and willing.

"Let's say we bring 20 people on stage," Imbus said. "On average, I'm probably going to keep 12 to 13 of them that actually get hypnotized. The other people that don't get hypnotized, it doesn't necessarily mean that they can't be. It's the same thing as going to sleep at night. If you try too hard, it's not going to happen. However, if you allow me to lead you through the process, it'll work every time."

Although Imbus has been involved with hypnotism and magic since high school, he did not set out to become a practitioner.

"I told my parents I wanted to be an entertainer in high school," Imbus said. "Like any concerned parent, they suggested I come up with a Plan B. So, I went to a nearby recruiting office during my lunch hour and signed up that day to join the Navy after I graduated. It caught my parents of guard when I told them."

However, Imbus never stopped honing his craft of entertaining others.

"Being out at sea for dozens of days at a time was a great opportunity for me to work on my magic, hypnotism and mentalism," Imbus said. "However, I still wasn't planning on making a living from it at that point."

After leaving the Navy, Imbus attended Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, where he got a job waiting tables at a Ruby Tuesdays.

"I became known as the magic guy," Imbus said. "Families would request me to wait on them because I performed magic tricks at my tables. One day, the CEO of a small business came in and asked if I was available for a holiday party he was hosting. That was my first paid gig."

After that, Imbus said he continued working his tech sales job throughout the week and started traveling to do paid shows during the weekend. After a year, he quit his day job.

"I took the thick Chicago phonebook and started calling every business I could find to offer my services," Imbus said. "I slowly started building my business and after a year I was doing 40 to 50 shows. Now, I do about 200 shows and my agency, which also represents other entertainers, books 700 events all across the world."

Imbus said people often mistakenly use hypnotism and mentalism interchangeably, but there is a difference.

"Hypnotism is the entertaining process of inviting people to join you onstage to be hypnotized as you lead them through a journey of imagination," Imbus said. "A mentalist displays the illusion of being able to read someone's thoughts. I don't claim to be a psychic. I don't talk to dead people. I create that illusion and entertain the audience in a funny and spontaneous way that you'll never forget."

The event is free and open to the public. SVCC is located at 173 state Route 2 in Dixon.