Sightings
We’ve gazed into our crystal ball — or was it Cristal bubbles — and foresee a newsy new year in 2006:
1. Biggest parties of the year? Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles show opens in May in the former Siegfried & Roy Theater at The Mirage. Word has it there will be a Yellow Submarine restaurant next door.
Also: the Aladdin’s conversion into Planet Hollywood in December, during the weekend leading into the Radio Music Awards.
And the Playboy Club opens atop the Palms’ Fantasy Tower this spring.
Johns Comedy Can Be Hypnotic
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.
Game of Trance
What: “The Michael Johns Hypnosis Show.”
When: 11 p.m. Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Where: The Showroom at Bourbon Street.
Tickets: $39.95.
Information: 737-7200
(Please keep in mind these are old show dates. View our Show Schedule for our current show dates, times, and locations.)
It’s the same story for Michael Johns as with most comedians. He was the proverbial class clown who eventually realized he could earn a living making others laugh.
Only Johns took it a step further: He decided to include hypnotism in his act.
It’s an experiment that’s paid off for the 35-year-old comedian, as he’s become a fixture on the comedy-club circuit.
After filling in one weekend for another hypnotist, Terry Stokes, at Bourbon Street, Johns was hired to create his own adult-oriented show, which debuted Sept. 6.
“The Michael Johns Hypnosis Show” runs 11 p.m. Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday at the Showroom at the Bourbon Street.
The Las Vegas Sun recently talked to Johns about how he became a hypnotist, how to hypnotize someone and whether he would ever use that ability for his own gain.
Michael Johns – one of the hottest club acts today
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.
Continue reading Michael Johns – one of the hottest club acts today…
Michael Johns: First a Class Clown, Now Headliner
Growing up as a class clown in the Midwest probably meant that life seemed a little slow-paced back then for Michael Johns, but he’s perched in the fast lane now.
The comedian-hypnotist is the star of “The Michael Johns Hypnosis Show,” in which he blends fast-paced, comedy club-style humor with “cutting-edge, hypnosis techniques.” Having presented the show in comedy clubs around the country to rave reviews, he now has found a regular home for the production at the Bourbon Street Hotel & Casino, where it runs Sunday through Thursday nights at 11.
The adults-only show, with audience participation, also features Corie Marks, a Las Vegas actress/model who appeared on “Temptation Island.”
After leaving high school and serving in the U.S. Army, Johns worked a variety of jobs, including bartender, guitarist in an acoustic band with another member named Jerry Garcia (not the chief Deadhead, though) and deejay. The DJ job made him decide to focus on comedy as a career, and after several years of performing at smaller venues and sleeping in his car, he signed with his current management company, Comedy Productions.
One night in Las Vegas, Johns filled in for Terry Stokes in the latter’s “Hypnolarious” show at Bourbon Street, and hotel management took notice of the formers talents. Of course, it wasn’t the first time that talent hunters took notice of Johns: His hypnosis techniques, high energy and twisted sense of humor also are featured in “Spotlight,” a Strip variety show for which he serves as host.
Tickets for “The Michael Johns Hynosis Show”, now at The Harmon Theater, are $39.95 and available for purchase.
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