Comic/Hypnotist Flip Orley

Flip Orley is a comic hypnotist whose one-man show has set comedy club attendance records across North America. He combines a stand-up set with live hypnosis, putting audience volunteers under and drawing the humor from their subconscious imaginations — meaning no two performances are alike. The Los Angeles Times noted that "the beauty of Orley's show is that most of the humor comes from the volunteers," while the Dallas Morning News described watching him transform well-behaved audience members into a family of trailer-park dwellers from Arkansas, "southern accent and all."

Orley has appeared on "Entertainment Tonight," "The Today Show," "The Martin Short Show," "Comic Strip Live," "The Ricki Lake Show," "Maury Povich," and "Space Ghost Coast To Coast." His two-hour show includes segments where volunteers forget their own names, regress to age 5, or take part in an original version of "The Newlywed Game." Orley is deliberate about not embarrassing his subjects: "I want the audience to laugh with them, not at them. The volunteers are my partners, not my victims."

Orley studied psychology at the University of Arizona with the intention of becoming a clinical hypnotist, before discovering stand-up comedy. He later merged the two disciplines. Beyond performance, he has developed seminars, workshops, and self-help recordings addressing stress management, weight control, quitting smoking, and sleep disorders, and has been called upon by medical professionals for patients unable to use anesthesia.