Product Details

• Actors: John Cerbone
• Directors: Richard K. Nongard
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Studio: Peachtree Professional Education, Inc.
• DVD Release Date: October 15, 2007
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000X9PT2C
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,180 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars High Hopes, But Disappointed, November 15, 2008

By 

Walter Stoneburner (Ashburn, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Speed Trance: Instant Hypnotic Inductions for Stage, Street and Clinical Hypnosis (DVD)

First a little context. I know neither John, nor Richard, so my review isn't going to biased in favor of making them more sales. Recognizing their professional status and having done more stage shows than I, this set a level of expectation about the material on the disc. To that end, here's what an unbiased third-party take is about this product and its contents.

I don't normally address the product or production quality in my reviews, preferring to stick to content; but the purchaser should be aware that there were quite a number of points on Disc 1 that caused my DVD player to seize. Obviously, I suspected dust, dirt, and scratches, and what I found was the media itself was actually good. After closer technical inspection it appeared to be mastered with Pinnacle Systems software, and the encoded video had some rather unforgiving points. Disc 2 suffers no such physical problems.

Production wise, it appears to be done in a house or apartment with a static camera pointing at a wall. What single zoom shot there was painful. The volume is often off, and there's a big microphone in the middle blocking the view of cheap flip pad of paper used as talking points. It had a very cheap feel to it all, including cheesy transitional graphics that were thankfully used very rarely. Quality could have been drastically improved by using a third person to run the camera.

Example footage from a "show" was provided, but the horrific re-use of clips made it come across more as filler to lengthen play time. Both John and Richard seemed to overplay the actual reactions that occurred in post discussion; my subjects are far more animated, interacting, and unaware they're under. This leads me to believe perhaps I witnessing merely compliance than hypnosis. (Hypnosis gets compliance, but it the reverse isn't always true.) So, it may be enough to do a stage act. Sadly, the subjects have more of a "what do you want me to do" and "how should I be reacting" look to them, rather than being amazed at their own reactions or being so bought into the suggestion. Casual observation suggest maybe they're reading more into reactions than is really there. I know uncontrollable hysterical laughter when I see it, and I'm sorry, that wasn't it; my subjects often are laughing so hard they're crying. You won't see that here.

The first hour of the tape is mostly self ego-stroking, but I can understand that as wanting to build credibility for the material that's forthcoming. We hear perhaps the worst Arnold Schwarzenegger impression over and over, and while John knows his stuff, the nasally voice doesn't work. It would have been nice to have his material presented by a trained presenter. Ironically, Richard seems to have enough charisma to pull that off, but the DVD is clearly about John. It gets amusing when Richard frequently interrupts John with non-sequiturs, or even contradicting information, and John shuts him down by saying "So..." and going back to whatever it was he was talking about. A simple script would have solved this problem. John, you need to look into the camera more (he does on disc 2).

In the intro, we are promised a four-six second induction with a third-party volunteer. Turns out we never get anyone but John and Richard, so we don't see it in action other than the "show" that was taped in a bar or something, but then again, you get much better reaction with social pressure being on stage. Them putting each other under seems more like acting, especially when watching frame by frame. I'd argue, however, that each has been under before and that they're simply going back to that state when the other is explaining, rather than the technique doing the work. It's a hard line to analyze.

Turns out there's a lot of prep work prior to starting the clock on that four second timer. So I don't know that I can honestly say I was really witnessing a speed trance, or if I was, it didn't look all that deep. Getting people to bend over in a chair is easy. But this was less about deepening, so I'll let that pass. What is billed as re-induction (which I take to mean starting all over from a fresh conscious state) is, to me at least, nothing more than a deepening experience, by bringing them up and putting them out. All the invented techniques seem merely just different hand gestures to trigger a previously anchored state. I'm certain John and Richard would tell me I just didn't get it... but I think most viewers will walk away with the same impression.

Foundationally speaking, they seem to be on the mark for theory and practice. Although the presentation feels more what than how or why.

All in all, here's the whole DVD in a nutshell, confuse the subject with touch, visual, and audio stimulus, then startle them while throwing off their equilibrium; if they have expectations and belief that they'll go under when you do this... they will. All stuff you can get from other resources on Amazon. Cheaper. And with more detail.

Sorry, content is valid, and content is shallow; presentation is weak. I was disappointed, as it's clear both gentlemen are capable of a lot more than shown.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Real Work, November 17, 2007

By 

sebastian casselano (west nyack, ny United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Speed Trance: Instant Hypnotic Inductions for Stage, Street and Clinical Hypnosis (DVD)

I am a certified Hypnotherapist and I also perform on stage.
I found the information on this set to be of value in both clarity and quality of information.
The instructors have a genuine love of hypnosis and it is apparent when watching the video.
I was able to perform this technique immediately after viewing the material because of the in depth and clear explanations.
I found the time spent viewing these to be enjoyable and time well spent.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hypno-tastic!, November 17, 2007

By 

Natalie R. Toney "delyria s. lee" (st. louis) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Speed Trance: Instant Hypnotic Inductions for Stage, Street and Clinical Hypnosis (DVD)

Having learned a variety of techniques from previous DVD's and books that Richard K. Nongard has released in the past, I was excited to receive the new "Speed Trance Instant Hypnotic Inductions For Stage, Street, and Clinical Hypnosis". Richard and John (Cerbone) certainly did not disappoint with the amount of information, techniques, and overall clarity of form throughout the DVD. I have already been able to use what I have learned in both my clinical practice and for performance purposes, with positive response. The friendly atmosphere present during the demonstrations appeal to those involved in all aspects of hypnosis regardless of what level they are in their career. I highly recommend this DVD to anyone looking for effective speed inductions to use in their clinical and/or performance hypnosis.