Red hair, blue mouth – comedy stage hypnotist returns
The controversial comedy stage hypnotist Robert Temple is bringing back his red hair, blue mouth and outrageous show to the North East in October.
Robert, who was born in Sunderland and now lives in Newcastle, will be performing at The Customs House in South Shields on 18 October and Blyth’s Phoenix Theatre on the 26th. 
“It’s always good to be home,” said 31-year-old Robert. “The audiences here are a little less reserved than some places – and that’s just perfect for what I do.”
Robert, who performed at both theatres last year, has hypnotised more than 20,000 people during a career which has taken him all over the world.
For over a decade he delighted and shocked Sunderland University students coming to his fresher week shows and he has just completed a first successful run of performances at the Edinburgh Fringe.
His return to the North East comes towards the end of his second nationwide tour which has seen him travel to all corners of the UK.
His childhood was spent watching performers at the Sunderland Empire, where his dad worked, and – inspired by his hero Paul Daniels – Robert became one of the best young magicians in the country.
“We’d talk at magic conventions and I would e-mail him and he would reply. He didn’t ever come to the North without me seeing his show. Watching him perform was like attending a master class for anybody wanting to be involved in comedy entertainment,” said Robert. 
But when he was a teenager magic lost its appeal. “When somebody shows you a card trick you think it’s clever, but you know it’s a trick. With hypnosis there’s this air of mysticism,” he said.
For the time being he has also turned his back on family entertainment, preferring instead to put on an adults-only show which has seen one council try to ban him.
“The sort of humour I like is edgy and outrageous and when you combine that with hypnotism you get a pretty good idea of where I’m heading,” said Robert.
“The audience knows what’s in store when they buy a ticket and nobody is hypnotised against their will. It’s an evening where people can forget all about their inhibitions – literally.”
Robert Temple appears at The Customs House in South Shields on 18 October and the Phoenix Theatre in Blyth on the 26th.
Details of tickets and his tour can be found at https://roberttemplehypnotist.com/
You can also watch Robert in action – red hair but no blue mouth – in these videos:
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIa0AosJQn0
Backstage Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIgF2-lJ3Io