“Hypnosis gives you… a license to do goofy things that you probably would not have done before.”

— Michael Johns, co-host “Hypnosis Unleashed”

Above, a hypnotized male volunteer shows off his dance moves along side a cast member during Marc Savard’s show at the V Theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Michael Johns

When standing in front of a room full of strangers you probably wouldn’t act out your audition for a role in an adult film, but at a Las Vegas hypnosis show, behavior like this can make you a star.

Hypnosis shows are the only ones in town that encourage audience members to lose their inhibitions on stage. What better place to do this than in Vegas?

“I think inside everybody there’s this person that wants to be in front of people and just wants to cut loose. I think that’s what hypnosis gives you,” said Michael Johns, a comedian and hypnotist who co-hosts “Hypnosis Unleashed” at the Tropicana with Terry Stokes. “It gives you the opportunity to be a part of the show and get up there and have a little fun. It gives you a license to do goofy things that you probably would not have done before.”

There are several hypnosis shows on the Las Vegas Strip, each of them flavored by the unique personalities of their hosts. With Johns’ show, like most of the hypnosis acts in Vegas, he puts his volunteers in a series of outrageous and often adult-oriented scenarios.

“I always like to say we’re going to step over the line in good taste. That’s what we’re going to do in the show, but you’re not going to have to move out of your hometown or anything like that afterwards,” said Johns.

He started his career as a stand-up comedian and then changed his act after seeing a hypnosis show.

“I was the star of the show, and I’m the kind of guy that didn’t believe he could ever be hypnotized so it was amazing to me,” said Johns.

Anthony Cools

Afterwards, he studied under a hypnotherapist in Florida and incorporated his new skills into his comedy routine.

The basic setup for every hypnosis show is the same. The host and hypnotist greets his or her audience and does a brief explanation of hypnosis and the show. During this “pre-talk,” as it’s called in the industry, the hosts are trying to both educate the audience and make them feel trusting enough to volunteer to be hypnotized.

“It’s live performance, and you have to get people to like you in 10 or 15 minutes, get them to trust you to come up on stage. Then you have to hypnotize them, and then you have to choreograph a show out of that,” said Corbin Craft, who co-hosts “Naughty Boys Hypnosis” with Rolan Whitt at Harmon Theater at Planet Hollywood. Hypnotist Anthony Cools, who performs at Paris Las Vegas, agrees.

“You can’t rehearse a hypnosis show because it’s based on audience participation. It’s done on the fly,” said Cools.

Comedy Stage Hypnosis in Las Vegas

While relying on audience participation is always an unpredictable element, Craft explained that it’s one of the main draws of hypnosis shows. People come to Vegas to go crazy and hypnosis shows give them that option.

“This is an excuse for them to let their hair down, it totally is. It’s like ‘ok I’ll let these guys hypnotize me and then whatever I do I can just blame them,’” said Craft.

One of the unique aspects of “Naughty Boys Hypnosis” is that the show incorporates a lot of elaborate and naughty props, a tool Craft and Whitt learned from the original Dr. Naughty, Dean Stirling, Craft’s late father who also performed as a hypnotist in Vegas.

“He’s the one that taught us how to use props and the value of them and how much further you can go with the comedy with a prop and how real it makes the bit, not just to the people that are on stage because they’re hypnotized, but it brings a sense of realism to the people in the audience as well,” said Craft.

Before hosting the show, Craft and Whitt learned how to do hypnosis by working on Dr. Naughty’s show. Whitt used to perform comedy as the opening act, and Craft did sound and lighting. Craft is a certified clinical hypnotist and Whitt is in the process of getting his certification.

While Cools doesn’t use an assortment of props, his show is equally outrageous. It starts with a 3-D movie and bikini-clad female comedians who start the show with a few jokes before Cools performs. Well known as one of the edgiest hypnosis acts on the Strip, Cools explained that sometimes guests are apprehensive about getting on stage.

“I’m definitely at the forefront of the nastier shows in town, and I think people are warned,” said Cools.

Marc Savard

Even if you don’t volunteer to be hypnotized, hypnotist Marc Savard said people like watching hypnosis shows because they can relate to those on stage.

“There’s something about the phenomenon of hypnosis that adds an element of raw laughter and spontaneity. You can go to a comedy club and watch some comics and sometimes you identify with the comic and sometimes you don’t … whereas with hypnosis it’s always the people from the audience and you can identify with them because they’re real people,” said Savard, who performs at V Theater in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood.

Along with his adult humor, Savard’s show features showgirls who perform dance numbers and, in some of the scenarios, interact with hypnotized volunteers.

Savard first became fascinated with hypnosis when he attended a show while trying to get into medical school. Afterwards, he started researching it and practiced hypnotizing friends before performing in front of an audience.

When he was 23 he used his skills on himself after being hit by a drunk driver. He suffered a broken back and fractured skull and used his mind to control his pain and make a rapid recovery just six months after the accident. Now he is a certified hypnotherapist and has a school where he teaches stage hypnosis to other up-and-coming hypnotists. Despite his certification, Savard explained that learning to hypnotize people is the easy part of doing stage hypnosis because people are naturally suggestible.

“We think in words. Once you change those words and those ideas, you can cause organic change in the body, and it really comes down to one thing. Where the mind goes, the body and the emotions follow,” said Savard.

Hypnosis is a natural state of consciousness between being awake and sleeping where people are highly suggestible. When you watch a hypnosis show, not only do you get to watch people do something out of the ordinary, but you’re also getting a glimpse of that person when they aren’t feeling restricted by social norms.

“It allows us to be our truest self. It allows our truest personality to come out without consequence,” said Savard.

This is only to a certain extent though, because he explained, that even while hypnotized, people have what’s called a subconscious watchdog that prevents them from doing anything against their morals or beliefs.

Along with getting people to do things for entertainment, being hypnotized can also help people make impacting life changes, explained Dr. Scott Lewis who has a show at Riviera. A former chiropractor, Lewis started doing clinical hypnosis 22 years ago.

“I got interested in hypnosis because I was 41 pounds overweight. I learned how to do hypnosis and lost the weight, and then I started incorporating it into my practice. I’ve been performing for eight years,” said Lewis.

He was featured on “Inside Edition” for a hypno-diet therapy he did with Vegas showgirls who needed to get back in shape after their pregnancies. Aside from his show he continues to do private hypnotherapy sessions. He also performs his show on cruise ships and does seminars on weight loss.

In his show, Lewis both entertains and educates his audience on the power of hypnosis and how it can change people’s lives. His show is more family-friendly than some of the other hypnosis shows on the Strip.

“I like having the clean alternative and just really showing people what else can be done with hypnosis and still have a very funny and entertaining show,” said Lewis.

If you want to be a spectator or you want to be the star, hypnosis shows offer an experience that can’t be compared to any other show in Vegas.

“The show is people. You get to see what people are like when they are not inhibited. You get to see a very charming side of people… It’s just very empowering, and people love seeing people at their best,” said Lewis.

This advertising supplement was written by Caroline Fontein and prepared by the VEGAS.com staff and did not involve the reporting or editing staff of the Los Angeles Times. To reach VEGAS.com, e-mail story@vegas.com. Visit us online at www.lightsvegasaction.com.

Click Here to View the Original Article

See full article on Las Vegas Weekly:
http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/blogs/luxe-life/2008/nov/24/strip-scribbles-motley-crues-world-tour-schedule-k/

The self-described “bad boys of hypnosis,” Michael Johns and Terry Stokes, celebrate a milestone tonight (Thursday) with their 2,000th show — now the longest continually running hypnosis production in Vegas. And for the first time ever, they will put each other “under!” Since landing here in early 2001, Terry and Michael have bounced around at five different venues — but never skipped a night or a show of their Dirty Hypnosis Unleashed.

They began at the Bourbon Street, moved onto the Tuscany Suites & Casino, then the Empire Ballroom, onto the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, then the Stardust before it was blown up, and finally –- and permanently — at the Harmon Theater alongside Planet Hollywood’s Miracle Mile. Now that’s a journey!

Michael told me: “We have been very fortunate to have had such a long and successful run even with all the different showrooms. Now we’re looking forward to another 2,000 shows. Since we’ve been in Vegas, there have been nine other hypnotists over seven years and we’ve outlasted them all! The Harmon Theater is reminiscent of Old Vegas. It’s an intimate theater that lets the audience be a huge part of the show.”

Terry added: “We’re the only dueling hypnotists show in the world and for the first time tonight we will both hypnotize each other. We’ve never done that before so it will be very interesting to see what happens tonight!” Their show mixes mind-blowing hypnotic antics coupled with hilarious comedy — and the extraordinary and surprising behavior of the real-life audience volunteers who perform some of the wildest — and naughtiest — hi-jinx imaginable.

Here’s our conversation, “before they put me to sleep!”:

Michael & Terry: Everyone can be hypnotized but not always during a stage show. People become hypnotized every day of their lives. They don’t realize it, but they do it when they’re watching a TV show or reading a book. Ever been watching a TV show and someone walks into the room and asks you a question and you answer it, five minutes later after the show ended you say, “Did you say something to me?” A lot of folks call that marriage. But if you think about it part of your mind heard a question, analyzed it, thought up an answer, delivered the answer and you didn’t even have a clear memory of doing it. So everyone can be hypnotized, but during a stage show, no you can’t, we usually get about 80 percent of the audience who can be put right out.

Robin Leach: Looking back over 2,000 shows, and I want to come to the funny bits and the heart break bits in a minute, have you used different methods of hypnosis I think of the man with the dangling watch or stare into my eyes routine. How do you hypnotize somebody?

Michael: You talk to them, Robin; it’s a focused concentration. And to get them to focus enough on just what you’re saying, again going back to the analogy of the TV show, when you’re so focused on one thing that you don’t hear that, surrounding things don’t bother you so the dangling watch is the focal point but basically if you’re standing in front of them and you’re doing it properly you’re their focus point, you are the dangling watch. We don’t have to lower our voices or deliver the words in a softer or more monotone way. It’s just regular conversation.

RL: Is it a miracle to achieve 2,000 continuous shows in Vegas?

Terry: I think so, we’ve been very fortunate, we’ve had some great showrooms and we’ve had a great following for a long, long time. So yeah, I think it’s kind of a miracle and we’re lucky to be where we are.

We’ve also been very careful, you know a lot of shows come into town and they say, you have to have a half a million dollars to get your show launched and well, we didn’t know all that so we went ahead and made a profit our first week. We had not been told to spend this much money. We waited and when we had enough money to buy a billboard, we bought a billboard and so we have never been in panic mode. The shows have always been good and the crowds have always been good. But I see so many shows coming in and they ask, don’t you have to have hundreds of thousands of dollars to do a show, well that’s one way to do it, but for me it’s not the smart way to do it.

RL: You must have had really funny moments, strange moments and even heartbreaking moments?

Michael: I was a standup comic and went for hypnosis to make the act better. But once I’d been helped I saw it as the only form of entertainment I wanted to perform. I used to do fairs and travel all over the country and I had a bit that was basically the talking teddy bear and it’s cute, everybody liked it. I had the prop up on stage one night and decided to try something a little different with it and Robin, it became my signature bit, and the guy would wake up and there would be this teddy bear next to him and he thinks it’s a cute bear and when he looks over a few minutes later the bear is looking up at him, smiling and then the guy who happens to be an expert on the subject of sex decides to instruct the bear in the proper ways to do it. It’s a sick moment but we also average about eight people a night howling on the floor from laughing so hard.

Terry: We had one regular lady come to see she and then us stopped. She was away for a while having heart surgery. She came back to us nightly just to laugh to make her feel better. Her daughter wrote us a beautiful letter saying that her mother had died after being taken ill at one of our shows -– but she died doing exactly what she wanted to do -– laughing and being happy.”

RL: Is it safe to say that the people who come are totally skeptics or are they in the zone to be hypnotized?

Terry: It totally depends on your crowd, but you do get a lot of skeptics up there that say, “I’m going to get up there and I don’t think this is going to work but I’m going to give it a shot.” And they turn out to be the stars of your show 100 percent of the time.

Michael: The people who say they can’t do it, they’re my favorites because a lot of people will come back three and four times to see if you’ve got the same people on stage or if you’re using plants.

RL: So there’s no green house effect on your show with plants?

Michael: People will come back night after night and finally they will say, “Well, hell, if these guys are making enough money that they can hire actors every night, or is it for real, and they end up being the funniest, stars of the show.

Terry: I was a skeptic before I got into this business. I saw a hypnotist on my Spring Break and said he couldn’t be real; so I went onstage and he turned me into a stripper on a pool table. I even made $20, and when I knew it was for real I changed my major to “behavior modification” studies. Now we can use it for entertainment and for teaching. We’ve hypnotized people very successfully and given them good advice to stop smoking, get weight under control and motivate them for success and relieve their stress. So that’s all good.

What: “Dirty: Rock Hard Comedy Hypnosis”
When: 11 p.m. Sundays through Fridays
Where: House of Blues
Tickets: $42.95 to $53.45; 632-7600
(Please keep in mind these are old show dates. View our Show Schedule for our current show dates, times, and locations.)

From clean to dirty, the House of Blues is covering all bases.

While the atmosphere in the magic show is wholesome, bright and untainted by four-letter words, the hypnosis show is laced with profanity, provocative and adult on every level.

“Before we came here our show was very risque,” says Michael Johns, whose co-star, Terry Stokes, was performing out of town. “This show, ‘Dirty,’ has taken that to a whole other level.”

The first 25 minutes of the show – the part where Johns prepares the audience and the volunteers for what to expect – involves a lot of comedy.

“I come from a stand-up background,” Johns says. “In my show you’ve really got to pay attention because I’m always throwing out one-liners.”

He says because of his unusual background the show is a blend of hypnotism and stand-up.

“The combination of the two makes it different from anything else in Vegas,” Johns says.

Also making a difference is Stokes. He isn’t as raunchy as his partner and carries a different air about him – sophisticated to Johns’ streetwise persona.

When Stokes is out of town Johns carries the show. When Stokes is in town the two usually rotate nights. In the past they have sometimes shared the stage, playing off of one another.

“It’s a good partnership,” Johns says. “Sometimes we do a two-man show … we try to outdo each other onstage.”

Johns says adding a live band to the mix has been a big improvement. The group plays several rock numbers while the audience is being seated.

“The energy level in the room is unbelievable,” Johns says.

A dozen or so people are brought to the stage and hypnotized. They simulate smoking pot, watching porn, sitting in vibrating chairs and performing other actions of an adult nature.

“But there’s no nudity,” Johns says. “We don’t humiliate anybody. A lot of shows will get somebody onstage and trash them. We never have and never will, but we do step over the line of good taste.”

Copyright and Published by the Las Vegas Sun on August 2, 2007

Just call it the House of Laughter.

Two comedy shows – one magic, one hypnotic – have taken up residence in the House of Blues, better known for concerts by top blues, jazz and rock artists.

“We’ve never gone in this direction, not totally,” Las Vegas House of Blues General Manager Greg Encinas says. “What we try to do is offer a wide variety of entertainment. But looking at what the consumer wants in the Las Vegas market, I think they want some standard entertainment and also some things with twists and turns.”

Enter “Keep It Funny starring Tim Gabrielson,” a family-friendly afternoon show, and “Dirty: Rock Hard Comedy Hypnosis,” an adults-only late-night show featuring Michael Johns and Terry Stokes.

Gabrielson is a sleight-of-hand magician who blends wholesome humor with magic.

Johns is an X-rated stand-up comic who adopted hypnotism later in his career. He and Stokes, a comedic hypnotist for about 40 years, joined forces more than three years ago.

“What we’ve done here is we have gone after a totally new angle or tack on some existing style of shows in Las Vegas, and I think we’ve put that House of Blues touch to it,” Encinas says.

The venue hasn’t abandoned anything. There are still major concerts. The regular lineup includes the acoustic music show “Unplugged,” hosted by Michael Soli, on Thursday nights; Prince tribute artist Jason Tenner on Sundays; Boogie Knights on Saturdays; and Rockstar Karaoke on Mondays.

But “Dirty” and “Keep” are more like ongoing Las Vegas production shows.

Gabrielson, who began at the House of Blues July 14, was filling in for comic magician Mac King at Harrah’s when Encinas first saw the performance.

“He had that thing you can’t put your finger on,” Encinas says. “He was extraordinarily interactive with the crowd, and they were so warm to him. It was a very good show, entertaining. He did some different things I haven’t seen in magic shows.”

He said Gabrielson’s clean act was perfect for an afternoon show.

“That time of day you have people coming back from the pool that are wanting to relax, stay inside and have a cocktail, looking for something to do,” Encinas says. “This is an opportunity for them to see a show. The interesting demographic is the families. Vegas has opened up for families, and this offers wholesome entertainment for them – and for couples who want to have a margarita, sit back, relax and enjoy a comedy magic show.”

The flip side of the coin is the adult show put on by Johns.

“In Las Vegas I think there are about, if I’m not mistaken, about 13 hypnotist shows in town,” Encinas says. “This one is pretty good. It’s entertaining and it’s edgy.”

Perfect for the late-night adult crowd.

Encinas added the House of Blues touch to the late show with a four-piece band, led by Bonnie Mizell. The house band plays a couple of opening numbers and then plays music cues during the show – a departure from canned music.

“I thought that would be a perfect marriage – an adult show with live rock ‘n’ roll music built around it,” Encinas says. “It’s become a rock ‘n’ roll hypnotist show.”

Copyright and Published by the Las Vegas Sun on August 2, 2007

“It wouldn’t have been so bad if it had been a showgirl,” said Johns, whose show is built on such audience participation.

Snippit published on Monday, March 26, 2007 by John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Sun in his original article titled “John Katsilometes reports on a unique wedding ceremony for a similarly unique couple in the downtown arts districts.”

Michael states, “I come from a stand-up background, so there’s a lot of comedy in my show, off-the-cuff stuff. In my show I never try to embarrass anybody. There’s a line I refuse to cross. Nobody is going to walk off my stage and feel ashamed!”

What is also great about this show is Michael is having as much fun as the audience! Go, have a fun night and watch suggestions become reality right before your very “laughing” eyes!

by Robin Roth, The Blonde from The Blonde and The Maven
Contributing Writer for South Florida’s Entertainment News & Views Magazine
View Full Article: http://www.entnews.com/Archives/February2006/newtravel.html

These days they’re serving up laughter, not meals, at the Stardust’s new Hypnotic Lounge.

Once a Mexican restaurant and then a dinner theater, the venue is now home to hypnotists Michael Johns, Terry Stokes and Michelle Van Ree.

“It’s a nice, intimate theater that seats about 200,” Johns said.

That’s almost twice the seating capacity of Johns’ former showroom, a cubbyhole at the defunct Bourbon Street.

Johns and Stokes worked at Bourbon Street until it was bought by Harrah’s, which then closed the property a couple of months ago.

It didn’t take long for the hypnotists to find a new location, the Stardust’s former Ba-Da-Bing Theater.

Ree is the star of the theater’s early show, “Hypnolarious,” at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays.

Johns and Stokes rotate as hosts of the adult “Hypnolarious XXX — Hypnosis Gone Wild,” a late show that begins at 10 nightly.

“We switch back and forth,” Johns said. “When one of us is on the road performing, the other does the show at the Stardust. That way we’re open seven nights a week. We never go dark.

“If both of us are in town at the same time, sometimes we’re a two-man tag team with one trying to outdo the other.”

Johns, a native of Bolivar, Mo., started out as a stand-up comic noted for his adult humor.

“It’s always been on the adult side,” he said. “A lot of comedians out there say they need to work clean. I don’t care if it’s clean or dirty, as long as it’s funny.

He’s been in Las Vegas, off-and-on, for 10 years.

“The first time I came here was on vacation,” he said. “I didn’t know what the place was all about — I thought it was just gambling and drinking.

“But then I saw the names of some big headliners on the Strip, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is someplace I’d like to be.’ “

Fate led him to merging comedy with hypnotism.

“I was doing one-nighters at comedy clubs all over the country, performing as a headliner,” he said. “One night a club overbooked — it had two headliners, myself and a hypnotist.”

He says he opened for the hypnotist.

“I wasn’t happy, I was a headliner too,” Johns said.

Johns watched the hypnotists call for volunteers and put them under and make them do peculiar things.

“I didn’t believe it was real,” he said. “I thought it was all plants.”

Johns joined in the act to try and make it funnier.

“I woke up an hour later with my shoes off and my shirt off,” he said.

Deciding there was something to hypnotism, he searched for someone to teach him the skill.

“I found a guy in Miami, Gerald Kein, one of the best in the world,” Johns said. “He’s brilliant.”

Johns has been a comedic hypnotist for more than five years.

Some have compared him to the raunchy hypnotist Anthony Cools, who is moving his over-the-top act from Paris Las Vegas to the Excalibur in December.

Johns says there are differences.

“I come from a stand-up background, so there’s a lot of comedy in mine, off-the-cuff stuff,” he said. “And in my show, I never try to embarrass anybody — there’s a line I refuse to cross. Nobody is going to walk off my stage and feel ashamed.”

Copyright and Published by Las Vegas Sun on Sunday, December 4, 2005.
Author, Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.

Head of Unbelievable Enterprises, the Vermont native is producing two shows at Bourbon Street “Spotlight,” a variety show that includes singers, dancers, escape artists and magicians, and “Mostly Magic Matinee,” a show that features … well, mostly magic.

“Spotlight” is co-produced by Roya (who also performs in the production and runs the box office) and comedian-hypnotist Michael Johns (who hosts the show but does not perform his adult-themed comedy for the family-oriented audiences).

“Mostly Magic Matinee” features magician Nick Comis and escape artist Tyas Frantz.

The shows are produced in a dark, close, 120-seat theater whose low ceiling is a challenge to Roya the juggler and any other performer who needs more than a few inches of space above his or her head.

There won’t be any high-wire acts at Bourbon Street, a somewhat modest venue on East Flamingo Road at the intersection of Audrie Street.

A few hundred yards west of the threadbare hotel-casino is the ever-bustling Strip and in between the two is the Barbary Coast.

While the Barbary Coast sits in quiet, understated elegance, Bourbon Street stands in the shadows, sort of a trailer park in a high-rent district that seems to try to avoid drawing attention to itself.

Roya, the realistic producer and magician, has no illusions about the property or the theater, which he leases.

“I have financial backers, so I could get a better room,” Roya said. “But I won’t do it if the numbers don’t pan out.”

He said Bourbon Street gave him a fair deal.

“The others want a ridiculous amount of money for rent,” Roya said. “Which is why shows open and close so fast.

“This is not the best property in town, but it is an opportunity. A place to start.”

In addition to majoring in theater at the University of Vermont, he minored in business. And for now, Bourbon Street, no matter how un-spectacular, makes good business sense.

“It is what it is,” Roya said. “For the money, this show is the best value in town with the dinner package and free karaoke after the show and a free drink.

“You can’t beat the price, and we’re just a five-minute walk off the Strip.”

Roya says fans are flocking to the bargain-basement production, filling the seats for most performances. He says it has been so busy they added the matinee to meet the demand for good, inexpensive entertainment close to the Strip.

“There is no other show like ours that can come close in price range, unless they go to an afternoon show,” Roya said.

“We have a good product to offer we can’t compete with the big hotels, but for the price and what we have to work with in the venue, it can’t be beat.”

The low price draws a lot of families into the showroom, Roya said. Because mostly families attend, Roya stresses that it is a show suitable for all ages. The tap dancers and other performers won’t offend anyone.

“I, personally, would rather do a family show,” Roya said. “I like performing for all ages.”

That could be because when he began performing professionally in high school, working mostly at children’s parties. When he brought his wholesome act to Vegas, he settled in for a year or so at the New Frontier, co-starring in and producing “Illusions & Beyond.” The reviews were good, though not raves.

Roya, always enthusiastic about his projects, hawked tickets on the streets, encouraging everyone he encountered to come in and see the show. He put his home up for collateral to pay for the rent at the New
Frontier.

“Four-walling is not fair,” he said. “But that’s the way it is in corporate circles these days — it’s not good for the Vegas image for all the shows to open and close so quickly.

“I have a proven track record. All my shows have lasted at least half a year or longer.”

When “Illusions & Beyond” closed before his lease at the New Frontier ran out, he produced “Victor and Diamond, The Soul of Magic.”

He also became involved in the production of hypnotist Terry Stokes’ “Hypnolarious” at Bourbon Street and a Neil Diamond tribute show at the Riviera.

He and Johns are working on creating a production to make use of Johns’ comedic and hypnotic talents.

“Michael Johns is one of the hottest club acts today,” Roya said.

Meanwhile, Roya is looking at a number of other productions, including an adult variety show.

“It would be like ‘Spotlight,’ only topless,” he said.

Roya doesn’t believe he’s being unrealistic when he sees bigger things in his future.

“I want to be the next Cirque du Soleil,” he said. “I would like to produce big shows in big venues, including in my own casino. That’s my long-term goal.

“I have the drive, and with people like Michael Johns as my partner and friends willing to stand by me, I can do it.”

Copyright and Published by the Las Vegas Sun on August 9, 2004