By Scott D. Johnston

For Ocean Shores counselor, hypnotist and RN Michael Gershman, a set of job skills that involves helping people deal with serious situations in their lives also provides the basis for a fun evening’s entertainment, when he delivers his 90-minute interactive stage show as “Comedy Hypnotist Mike G.”

He will star in a dinner and show that benefits the Ocean Shores Elks Lodge, 199 Ocean Lake Way in Ocean Shores, on Saturday, Sept. 23. Dinner, featuring chicken with tarragon wine sauce over egg noodles, will be served at 5:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7 p.m.

Seating is limited to 80, and the $15 tickets are available at the Elks Lodge office, their Jolly Corks Lounge, and by phone at 360-289-2581.

Proceeds will go to assist local Elks charity efforts, including the Washington Tall Elks Foundation, which offers free physical therapy, in some cases for many years, to children whose families cannot afford it.

Gershman started doing hypnosis as a teenager, and has been practicing it full-time since 1992. He has also been doing comedy hypnosis since he used the skill to help ease social barriers during his high school years.

His act involves doing group hypnosis to guide up to a dozen volunteers into a hypnotic state. From there, the fun can take many forms as subjects “who are both deep enough (under hypnosis) and willing to follow instructions” often prove to be surprisingly receptive to silly suggestions and situations.

Volunteers in the show are led into “deep hypnosis, but very aware of what’s going on around them,” he said. From there, he will take them into scenarios such as talking to their favorite celebrities, and exchanging selfies, on their cell phones, and improvising alien languages and translations.

The show is “absolutely not R-rated, more like between PG and PG-13,” and appropriate for kids ages 10 and up, Gershman said.

“One of my inspirations for going into professional comedy hypnosis many years ago was Belanté,” who did shows throughout the Northwest from the 1970s to ’90s, he said. The performer can be seen in some You Tube clips.

Gershman said he finds his career of helping people with hypnosis and

counseling to be satisfying work. But he also enjoys having fun with it in a live entertainment setting.

“The audience laughs themselves silly; the volunteers have a fun and really unique experience, and I have a blast,” he exclaimed. “For me, this hour and a half of hilarity is energizing and invigorating!”

Gershman also enjoys offering a free “Hypnosis for Healthy Weight Loss” class at 3 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at the Ocean Shores Public Library.

He started doing this in 2013 and said participants have collectively lost over 1,000 pounds since then.