Mr. Hyppo

In the dimly lit auditorium of a 1920s variety house, the charismatic illusionist Mr. Hyppo—portrayed with sly magnetism by Mark Jones—conjures a spectacle that blurs the line between suggestion and sorcery. He selects a nervous young volunteer, whose trembling hands betray both curiosity and dread, and subjects him to a hypnotic demonstration that promises to unveil the deepest recesses of the human psyche. As the audience watches, entranced, a rival hypnotist, a gaunt figure cloaked in skepticism, engineers a clandestine resonance: a cross‑current of vibrations that ripples through the stage, igniting chaos. The crowd erupts into a riotous uproar, their collective hysteria amplified by the rival’s accusation that Hyppo is a charlatan. Police swarm, handcuffs clang, and Hyppo, ever the escape artist, seizes the moment, clinging to the heavy velvet curtains and disappearing into the darkness, leaving behind a tableau of bewildered spectators and a lingering question about the true nature of power and illusion.