Wayne was born near Liverpool before moving to Carlisle and now works as a doorman at the popular Woodrow Wilson pub in Bottchergate.
While Wayne ensures the locals have a safe night on the town, he also has the ability to enter their minds with his hypnotic powers.
The hypnotist became fascinated with the techniques of inducing hypnosis and deep states of relaxation like dreams as a teenager and has since dedicated his life to the craft, qualifying in hypnotherapy, working as a stage hypnotist and using hypnotic techniques to help his brother Charles, former British, Commonwealth and World Super Featherweight Boxing Champion.
He said: “I read a book about hypnosis when I was 14, which told of a man who was a stage hypnotist who used hypnotism to help children with skin diseases at a children’s hospital in London.
“I got interested in it and started using self-hypnosis. I was a professional boxer at the time and used hypnosis on various people I worked with in boxing, including my brothers Glyn and Charles, who went on to be British, Commonwealth and World champions.
“After boxing I became interested in hypnotherapy and became fascinated and wanted to learn more before starting my degree at Newcastle General Hospital.”
For Wayne, hypnosis isn’t just about putting someone to sleep with the snap of your fingers or convincing a stranger they’re a chicken, it’s about believing in the power of the mind.
This belief is fundamental to him and Wayne is a strong supporter of the idea that anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it.
He said, “If there’s any doubt in your mind that you’re not going to do anything, then you’re not going to do anything.”
“I’ve seen clients change the way they think about things, quit smoking, lose weight, gain confidence and overcome depression.
“It’s a belief system. If you don’t believe it, it won’t work. You have to be open-minded for hypnosis to work.”
Wayne enjoys using his hypnotism to turn skeptics into believers, and he records his impromptu performances on the streets of Carlisle for his YouTube and Facebook pages.
Now Wayne believes there is a resurgence of interest in hypnotism and is considering returning to the stage.
He said: “It all started with a guy asking me to hypnotise him. A few people saw me do it and I took it from there.”
“People come to me and protest that I can’t hypnotize them, but I do it all the time.
“Last weekend I hypnotized a guy who had seen me hypnotize people. He didn’t believe in hypnosis until he was hypnotized himself, but now he’s a believer.
“I think it’s starting to make a comeback. I’d love to get back into stage hypnosis again.”
