Breathe deeply, relax and prepare to enjoy a superconscious experience with Ty Reveen.
Many people worldwide remember the original Great Reveen, who, beginning in 1955, entranced audiences for more than five decades with his mesmerizing and hilarious hypnotic shows, high-speed memory demonstrations and mystical showmanship.
Reveen was seen by more than six million Canadians and now the legend continues as son Ty continues the tradition, taking his audience to the inner and outer reaches of their imagination.
Ty says his father taught him everything he knew. He performed in Salmon Arm regularly in the 1960s before his career took him to bigger cities and venues.
“It was the most amazing show and it grew in such great popularity,” says Ty, noting the family moved from Australia, travelling widely until they arrived in Canada and fell in love with the country. “I toured with him when I was not in school and performed with him in more than 3,000 shows from 1974 when I joined the production full time, to my father’s last shows in 2011.”
Ty says the power of suggestion was fundamental in his upbringing.
“When I was five, he told me one day I would take over the show and I always knew it was my goal; I always imagined myself taking place in his spotlight,” he says, noting his father also told him he was very creative, a talent he also fed by designing stages for the likes of Dolly Parton, ZZ Top’s “Afterburner” tour and television’s David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. Ty also invented and patented the streamer cannon and confetti cannon.
“I became creative because he told me I was – that’s how the power of suggestion manifests.”
Ty is quick to debunk fallacies about people doing something they don’t want to onstage.
“Hypnotism was a word framed by Hollywood movies back in the ‘60s and ‘70s in which somebody could take over your mind,” he says.
Ty researched the science thoroughly, beginning as a teenager, by reading medical records – including reports about how amputations were successfully performed without pain or anesthesia, using the power of suggestion instead.
“All I was interested in was what the science of applied suggestion is capable of,” says the trained hypnotherapist. “It’s not mystical or some kind of Voodoo spell from some Svengali character. I wanted to break the mould of misconceptions.”
Members of the audience won’t ever say or do anything that is contrary to their moral beliefs, says Reveen, noting his suggestions instead, free people up by eliminating their self-conscious fears.
“We know it’s negative, self-conscious fear that holds people back from doing things, but when you overcome it, you can do things you never thought possible,” Ty says. “Once you’re relaxed and pumped with suggestions, you can do amazing things.”
The new Reveen show is playing to sold-out audiences throughout Canada. The Superconscious Experience allows audience members to become the stars in one of the wildest and funniest shows that has left millions of people crying with laughter all over the world.
To join the experience that takes place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Salmar Classic Theatre, pick up a ticket at Acorn Music or order online at www.salmartheatre.com. Tickets for children under 18 year of age are half price.
Reveen will also take his superconscious show to the Frank Venables Theatre in Oliver at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 14. Tickets for that show are available online at www.venabletheatre.ca or by calling 250-498-1626.