Hypnotist giving brains a fear-free update

Mind-bending showman helping people conquer phobias with visual twist

- ROBERT MITCHELL

A Lanarkshire hypnotist and mind reader who was inspired by Derren Brown to launch a stage career has helped people to cure their fear of exotic spiders and snakes.

Fraser Penman, from East Kilbride, delivers a unique brand of hypnosis, mind reading and comedy despite having impaired vision.

The 30-year-old recently teamed up with Amazonia, Scotland's indoor rainforest that is home to a range of exotic creatures, to perform the unique one-off live event.

Known as 'Penman: The Imaginator,' he used innovative visualisation techniques to help members of the public to face their fears head on.

After spending just a few minutes with them, Penman performed rapid, instant hypnosis inductions to help them handle a royal python called Eva and a Chile rose tarantula named Val — creatures they were convinced they could never face.

The special event held in the Alona Hotel at M&D's Scotland's Theme Park, in Motherwell, was one of a series of high-profile stunts that Penman will be doing around the country, ahead of his headline show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Lewis Thomson, 32, from East Kilbride, who had a fear of snakes, was so excited when his fear disappeared that he said he felt like 'Ace Ventura, the Jim Carey pet detective in the hit Hollywood film. He said: "When I was hypnotised it was so calming, it was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders. You become the best version of yourself, and it gives you a renewed sense of confidence.

"I thought snakes were horrible and the thought of even going near one filled me with dread. I can't believe I had one around my neck."

Wendy Gifford, 56, from Glasgow, was unable to go even a few feet near the tarantula. However, after being hypnotised, she was brave enough to stroke the spider and now wants one as a pet.