THE SANDMAN CARRIES ON A FAMILY TRADITION OF MAGIC AND LAUGHTER

Then there's my dad ... That's who this web site is about, Alan Sands. He does a comedy hypnosis show. He used to do a really funny, prop comedy magic act and it took him all over the world, but he wanted to be even funnier so . . .

Now he does this whacky hypnosis show. He prefers doing comedy hypnosis shows because he draws really huge audiences and people come to see him specifically at the events he does. Anyway, enough about my dad. He always gets attention. Besides, he says if he can't remain on top, he'll be my manager.

"People ask me how long I've been performing. 'Since before I was born'," says Sands. "My father was a professional entertainer. He never had a job either". This is partially truth. In reality, Alan first appeared on stage when he was three, assisting his father with many of the routines he does in his own comedy magic show he later performed for over 25 years around the world.

Sands started entertaining seriously, practicing magic with coins and cards, at the age of six; won his first talent contest at age 12; and began performing professionally at 17. While attending high school Alan began honing his skills as a hypnotist at parties. He later worked his way through college, doing balloons and performing magic and comedy at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. There, he polished his act and perfected his talent at making an audience feel comfortable with him from the moment he walks on stage. It's a specific talent, and hard to describe, but accomplished street performers understand that when you begin your show, you have to make your audience love you so they want to stay till the end, then give you money. This talent of making people feel like they are in your living room or back yard at a family event is special to Alan's performance technique, and what makes clients want him back year after year...

Sands graduated from the streets in '86, took his clinical hypnosis training in '97 and became a Certified Stage Hypnotist in '98. He has performed at about 200 county, state and agricultural fairs, exhibitions and festivals, fifty colleges, a dozen casinos, multiple extended runs at amusement parks, about 500 company picnics, dozens of comedy clubs, theaters, conventions and cruise ships along with 25 to 30 high school shows he does annually.

International credits include a three-month theater tour in the Republic of South Africa (1992), Beijing, China including a performance July 4th for the US Ambassador to China and 5,000 Americans (1997), Malaysia (1997), The United Arab Emirate, Dubai (2000) and dozens of trips north to Canada where he performs regularly.

Alan's national credits include over 300 Fortune 500 companies, 10 of the top 100 fairs and exhibitions in the USA and Canada, casino credits including seven weeks at the Tropicana in Atlantic City, The El Dorado in Reno and Bally's Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, colleges, universities and corporate trade show clients.

While his current favorite entertainment medium is hypnosis, the underlying theme is always comedy. He makes people laugh. His sense of humor is often described as a combination of "funny — ha ha" and "funny — strange."

Sands says his sense of humor, which is sometimes dry, often corny, but always funny, has been influenced by a combination of street performing in San Francisco and his Catskill, NY youth. It consists of double-entendres and one-liners that touch on the political, but he admits, "I don't say anything that would offend my mom." However, his mother danced with the Follies Bergiere!

When performing hypnosis, The SandMan brings the subject's subconscious to the movies, through temperature changes and to Mars, animal encounters, arguments in international tongues and creating what Alan likes to call "a three-ring circus of dreams", where every volunteer on stage imagines different fantasies at the same time. One of his great talents is that he can entertain all ages from children to adults and he makes them laugh simultaneously, keep them laughing and to leave them wanting more.

Sands' 60-90 minute comedy hypnosis show is best described as a "situation comedy using audience participation."