Sword swallower trapped in trance for hours after accidentally hypnotising HIMSELF in a mirror



A circus performer stood locked in a trance for hours after he accidentally hypnotised himself while practising his routine in a mirror.

Sword swallower Hannibal Helmurto, 38, whose real name is Helmut Kichmeier, stood transfixed in front of the mirror for five hours until his wife Joanna found him.

Unable to rouse him, she was forced to phone her husband's mentor, hypnotherapist Dr Ray Roberts, who trained him on an intensive course recently.

Madcap: Hannibal Helmurto marrying wife Joanne, who found him in a trance

Dr Roberts spoke to Helmut over the phone and he slowly came out of the trance. Helmut said a person under hypnosis only responds to a voice of authority.

Joanna, 22, said: 'I was really shocked when I found him, he was just like a zombie starring at himself in the mirror.

‘His pupils had gone really small, which is a sign of someone under hypnosis.'

Helmut, who has performed in the Circus of Horrors for four years, had recently learned how to put himself into a somnambulistic trance - a way of hypnotising yourself - to enable him to swallow multiple swords in the infamous circus.

The performer, who is originally from Germany but now lives in London, said: 'I underestimated the techniques and how powerful they were. I put myself in a very deep state and lost all sense of time around me.'

Risk: Sword swallower Helmut doing his day job. He is only a trainee hypnotist

He said he could not remember anything when he came out of the trance, other than getting up at 10am and starting to practise his hypnosis.



He said he had no idea where the missing five hours had gone.

'It is a very pleasant feeling, sometimes it is so pleasant that you literally forget the things around you and that is what happened to me,' he said.

'Your body is absolutely relaxed. You don't feel a thing. On the one hand your body is relaxed and floating and on the other hand your mind is extremely focused on something.'

The self-taught hypnotherapist has been practising the art for nine years.

He added: 'I have always been interested in hypnosis because I had seen it on TV and thought it was a right big spoof.

‘I started reading and learning about it and it turns out it is not a big spoof at all. I got into it being a total disbeliever.'

It is not the first time Helmut has found himself in a spot of bother whilst performing.

His debut performance in the Circus of Horrors was an unforgettable one for the audience in London after he skewered himself.

He ended up in intensive care after piercing the inside of his respiratory tract when he tried to force a 4ft long sabre down his throat.

He was rushed to hospital following the accident, which happened due to an infection to his larynx.

He was in intensive care for three weeks and was unable to eat or drink. However he made a full recovery and is still performing on the tour.