Friday, October 16, 2009

6,000 SWFB Perfomances

Last night in an early snow fall, I performed my 6000th perfomance. The was in Connecticut for the Litchfield Robotics and Lego League Team fundraiser. The snow kept a lot of people away, but we still managed to have a great time. I really appreciated the effort that went into publicising this show; poster in school and around town, radio & tv mentions, newspaper spots and signage outside of school. Still the snow... that early season lousy snow... what are you gonna do? Thanks to the many students and adults you volunteered. You all were TERRIFIC!

Most friends and aquaintances know me as a hypnotist. Many of my older friends also know I perform magic. But most everyone would raise an eyebrow at the other acts I have performed during my many years.
Although Steve Wronker's Funny Business (SWFB) was named in 1987 (that's when I quit my real job and went to work full time as an entertainer), I had been performing since the early 1970's. An early Connecticut perfomance was at Henry Park in Vernon, CT on July 3, 1975. this was a kick off for the BiCentennial. It was my first public appearance as Gobbo the Clown. (I got the name from Shakespeare's 'Merchant of Venice'. I was a huge fan of Shakespeare and consequently named most of my doves after Shakespearian characters). I perfomed magic as a clown and did many typical clown skits. As a clown, this is where I developed my magic act as a magician where everything that could go wrong did. This was a slight take off from magician and actor Carl Ballentine (McHale's Navy).

Magic was predominant as I performed magic as a clown, as a regular act and in night clubs throughout New England. I had developed a dove act for the night clubs as well as my regular comedy magic act. I would perform anywhere and everywhere; from birthday parties to the opening of the Hartford Sheraton Hotel as a headline entertainer. I had always siad, "If the money was right I would perform in the nude!" I won't say anymore about that but remember it was the early 70's. During the late 1970's and thru the early 1990's I developed many other acts. Let me just list them here:


Bingo caller, clowning, disc jockey, emcee for many events, face painter, game show host, hypnosis seminars (stop smoking, stress reduction, etc), a creative thinking program for elemnatry and middle school students called "Imagination... It's All in Your Mind" program (I thought this program would put me on the national map but I couldn't get the right funding), many, many differently themed magic shows and magic workshops. I was a monthly columnist for a national sports collectors' magazine, motivational speaker (I still  do an occasional talk), simon says director, sports memorabilia collecting seminars, stand-up comedian, and believe it or not I did 2 gigs as a singer.

I've feel I've been blessed with the ability to make people laugh, to forget about life's pitfalls for a few minutes and just have my audiences just sit back and enjoy the show. I know how fortunate I have been and I will never take any of this for granted. I have a sign in my office that says "If you do what you love, you will never work a day in your life!" I hope I never have to work for many years to come.

Please allow me to say thank you. Thank you to everyone who took a chance and hired me, never knowing what to expect. Thank you to everyone who sat through any of these 6000 performances and had to listen to my corny jokes. Thank you to the many volunteers that help make my programs very funny. The jokes were never on you. It was all part of the act. And without these brave volunteers I would probably still be selling office supplies somewhere.

Here's hoping I have the pleasure of entertaing you soon... again!

Here's a few photos from my early year's in magic:


 working my magic at Newington Children's Hospital

my signature trick... the clatter box

teaching a rope trick

library summer reading program show

with Lance Burton, Fielding West & Margaret Daily

at the Magic Castle in Hollywood, California

a scary trick

on stage

big night ahead



 a soccer game emcee for WINF radio


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

5,999 performances and counting...

Well, tomorrow night at Litchfield High School, is my 6000th performance. Obviuosly not all these were hypnosis shows. Many were magic show. But you will be really surprised at what else I have done. I'll give you a little taste of what else I have done; would you believe I have been part of 2 singing performances? And I got paid too! I will list many others on this blog on Friday . I am not counting the many photography seminars, lectures or workshops that I did. They are totally seperate. And the best part... I have some photos from the past; like this one of me in the mid 1970's.




See you here on Friday...

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Other uses for hypnosis

I was sent an email from a high school student in Maine. She asked about using hypnosis to help improve her memory while she studied. I had mentioned that with practice hypnosis can indeed help a student to remember things better and give the ability to to concentrate better as well. I passed along some tips and techniques she could use to make her a better student. The number one tip I gave her was that she would have to put in the time to learn the techniques and like a lot of things in life, the more she practiced the better she would get. I believe she has the drive to do so. Good for her. I wished her a lot of success.

I often get asked to help someone with a desire to improve themselves, whether it is the standards like stop smoking, lose weight, stress managemnet or the like. Most people think I have the power to 'make' them do the things they would like to change or that hypnosis itself is a magic bullet. Most often this is never the case. Although on occassions someone has made a change using hypnosis almost immediately. This is the exception, not the rule. Behavior modification takes time. I can never 'make' someone change but can give them the words they most likely want to hear to help them. It is up to them to accept change and be motivated to do so.  Without their willingness to absolutely want to change, most likely hypnosis is not the help you want.

Here are some things hypnosis can help you with:

Hypnosis is a very effective tool to facilitate building of confidence, self esteem, overcoming shyness, attracting romance, improving study habits, sports performance, pain maintenence, and public speaking. Hypnosis can help deal with the symptoms of PMS (premenstrual stress). Hypnosis can also aid in dealing with Bi Polar disorder, ADHD, and schizophrenia. It's also used to overcome sexual issues; performance, frigidity, impotence or simply to overcome hang-ups and enhance the enjoyment of the intimate sexual experience. Hypnosis can be used effectively for dealing with anger, depression, and other emotional issues. And these are only a few of the ways one can use hypnosis to better themselves.

Hypnosis is more that the power of positive thinking. It's the "art of suggestion" to bypass critical thinking so positive thinking can be a reality. And then a change of behavior can take place.

If you want to use hypnosis for change, my immediate suggestion is talk with your family doctor. Yes there are hypnotherapists out there, most of whom are extremely qualified as therapists, psycologists and psychiatrists, but there are alot with no medical qualifications at all. That is why I suggest your doctor is the place to go.