Hyprov

Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis
Hyprov logo
Genre	Hypnotism and improvisation
Show type	Resident
Date of premiere	June 10, 2023 (2023-06-10)
Location	Harrah's Las Vegas, Las Vegas Strip
Creative team
Hypnotist	Asad Mecci
Improvisational comedian	Colin Mochrie
Co-creator	Jeff Andrews
Other information
Producer	Sarah Power[1]
Official website

Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis (pronounced "hip-rawv"^[2][3]) is a comedy show that is a fusion of stage hypnosis and improvisation. It was created by hypnotist Asad Mecci, improvisational comedian Colin Mochrie, and Mochrie's manager Jeff Andrews.

Mecci, who had performed a solo hypnosis comedy act on cruise ships, took improvisation classes at The Second City Training Center since he wanted to improve his show. His instructors taught him that instead of purposefully trying to generate funny scenes, he should let the scenes happen. The experience inspired him to propose creating a show that blended hypnotism and improvisation in a cold email to Mochrie suggesting a collaboration. Mecci and Mochrie workshopped the show, Hyprov, in 2015 at The Second City, where they did their first performance. After receiving enthusiastic reviews, they performed the show at the Just for Laughs Montreal festival and in 2016 at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. After doing a 50-city tour in North America in 2019, they temporarily stopped owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mecci and Mochrie resumed doing shows in September 2021 and had their off-Broadway debut in August 2022 at the Daryl Roth Theatre, where they performed 70 shows. Hyprov started its residency at Harrah's Las Vegas in June 2023.

At the beginning of the show, Mecci asks for 20 volunteers to join him on stage. He attempts to hypnotize them and whittles the number down to four or five based on how receptive they are to hypnosis. The improvisational comedian—either Mochrie or another of a rotating group of celebrities—leads the scenes with the volunteers. Scenes include everyone having lost their belly buttons, proposing to the comedian, singing a duet, and attending a funeral after a pet's death. Another scene is a murder mystery radio broadcast where one volunteer is told to make incorrect sound effects while another acts out all characters in the story. The show received mostly positive reviews from critics. Of a 2016 performance, The Times theater critic Dominic Maxwell called it "a celebration of the human imagination" but said there was "a lot of admin for not enough laughs". The Wall Street Journal theater critic Charles Isherwood penned a positive review, writing, "It's catnip for those who relish the spontaneity and informality that this show and similar ones involve".