Reveen reflects on colourful career
Published Saturday October 25th, 2008
Renowned hypnotist has been packing theatres for decades and won't stop as long as the crowds keep coming
From his early beginnings in the circus sideshows of Australia to the flashy theatres of Las Vegas, Peter Reveen says there is one golden rule that has carried him through a career in show business that has spanned nearly half a century.
"Keep the show clean. You won't have people coming back if you keep throwing filth at them. We've always followed that rule and its never let us down," Reveen said in an interview with the Times & Transcript Thursday night. With his trademark pointed goatee and swept-back black hair, Reveen shows a hint of grey. His piercing dark blue eyes reflect a career under the lights of the stage and a man who has a genuine love and understanding of people.
He is back in Moncton for shows at the Capitol Theatre Sunday and Monday.
Now 74, Reveen says he is in good health but needs his rest to keep up with the physical and mental demands of performing his legendary hypnosis show. Although the show has changed many times over the years, the premise remains basically the same. Through the performance, Reveen brings volunteers from the audience to the stage, gives them a quick test and quickly evaluates their hidden talents. He then hypnotizes them and allows them to search for their own inner hidden talents. It's a scenario he has played out thousands of times over the last 50 years in theatres all over the world, often with some surprising results.
He loves to tell the story of a rough-looking lumberjack who, under hypnosis, discovered an inner talent for ballet dancing. There have also been volunteers who started talking in languages they didn't know, and others who revealed details about their family history they couldn't possibly know. Sometimes he will ask participants to look 10 years into their own future and describe what they see. Other people will sing, tell jokes and perform other talents they thought they never had inside them.
He says people who participate in the show usually walk away feeling refreshed and brimming with a new sense of self-confidence. They often return night after night, year after year and bring their families with them. He has seen generations of fans grow over the years, but always maintained a sense of dignity to the show, never asking the people to do anything lewd or "filthy," unlike some other hypnotists who play to the darker side for a quick laugh.
"We don't make fools of people."
Reveen traces his love for show business to his formative years in his home town of Melbourne, Australia. His father was away fighting the war and relatives would take him to the vaudeville shows to see magicians, comedians, singers and other performers. He observed closely how the performers would lure in the crowds, make their entrance and keep the people interested.
He studied all the tricks of showmanship and tucked them away for use in his own act. After a while, he started working the shows himself, doing magic and memory tricks. He travelled to the county fairs of small Australian towns, billing himself as "Reveen: The Star of Magic." But he changed the name slightly when a friend pointed out that "star is just rats spelled backwards."
After a while, he dropped the magic tricks to focus on hypnosis and memory tricks.
"People didn't want to see me as a magician."
He soon caught the interest of a promoter named Leo Levitt, who wanted to take him the United States. But first he travelled to Hawaii and Fiji, performing for crowds at fairs, theatres and air force bases.
"I was making lots of money but I wasn't getting any of it from Leo," he recalls. One night he had a frank talk with the manager, demanding his share of the money. The manager promised to meet him the next morning and pay him. But the next morning the manager had disappeared, leaving Reveen stuck in Honolulu with only a little cash and an airline ticket good for passage back to Australia. Rather than return home, Reveen traded the airline ticket for a boat ride to San Francisco. When he arrived in the U.S., he bought a ticket for Vancouver where he had friends.
"When I arrived in Vancouver I had maybe 20 or 30 cents left to my name."
He got his act together and started doing shows and building up a fan base, eventually touring across Canada several times in the early 1960s, around the same time as Beatlemania was sweeping North America. Along the way, he met Coral, who became his wife, co-performer and business partner throughout his career. The couple had four children who grew up around the show business lifestyle and became part of the show until they left the nest and went in their own directions.
One of his sons is Tyrone Reveen, who operates Streamer Effects International in Moncton. Tyrone's son Taj is known as the "911 flyboy," who was born with medical problems and had to be airlifted to Toronto for surgery. His airlift aboard the New Brunswick Air Ambulance happened on Sept. 11, 2001, the day all flights in North America were grounded after terrorist attacks in the U.S. The air ambulance got special clearance to fly that day and was the only plane in the air over Canada. Taj recovered well and has become a poster child for the children's hospital.
Reveen says he visited his grandson in the hospital and kept his spirits up with a promise of a trip to Disneyland when he was well enough to travel. Reveen says the promise helped motivate the child during recovery.
Reveen made friends everywhere he went and still has a special fondness for Atlantic Canada and the friendliness of the people.
Many people have gone to Reveen for help over the years. He has helped people lose weight and kick the habits of overeating, drinking and smoking. He had his own private practice in Salt Lake City for a while and caught the attention of doctors who saw a possibility for hypnosis as a medical treatment. He agreed to help the doctors and in return they lobbied politicians and the U.S. government to grant him permanent resident status.
He settled into the lifestyle of Las Vegas and became manager to magician Lance Burton. He also wrote a book explaining his views on hypnotism and the state of "superconsciousness."
He believes his act is more than showmanship and has helped many people over the years find their own inner strengths, talents and self confidence. He says many famous people have credited him for giving their careers a nudge.
"But people were already talented, I just helped them find it within themselves."
He's often been accused of fakery and over-showmanship, but simply points to his track record as proof that his act is genuine.
"People can say whatever they want, but when they come to a show and see their friends up there the stage, they know it is real."
And although he has slowed down his schedule, Reveen won't commit to a full retirement.
"As long as people are willing to keep coming to the shows, I'll be there for them."
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