Topeka — Faced with the possibility of breaking state law or losing $1,500 from customers who wanted to see a hypnotist at his restaurant, Kansas Walker chose to take his chances. The show had to go on.
The Larned businessman described his near-misdemeanor experience Monday for the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is considering a bill to repeal the statute against hypnotism as entertainment.
Walker said he hired the hypnotist to perform for a sold-out audience at his steakhouse last November, not knowing he was risking a fine of up to $50. In December, shortly before another hypnotist was to perform at the restaurant, local officials told him that Kansas permits hypnosis only for therapeutic and educational purposes.
The December show -- billed as "for educational purposes only" -- went on as scheduled before a smaller-than-expected crowd because of negative publicity. Deputies from the Pawnee County Sheriff's Department were on hand for the show, and no charges resulted.
"Probably the most popular thing we have is the hypnotist show," Walker said.
Walker told the committee that Kansas is the only state that bans hypnotism as entertainment. The statute makes Kansas look foolish to those in the entertainment industry, he said, noting the reaction of comedian Jimmie Walker.
He noted that Jimmie Walker -- star of the former TV sitcom "Good Times" -- is to perform at the steakhouse March 4. Upon learning of the hypnotism law, the comedian asked if black men are allowed on the streets after dark in the state, Kansas Walker said, drawing chuckles from committee members.
The hypnotism ban was instituted in 1903, when legislators made it a misdemeanor to hypnotize anyone under 18. That same year, lawmakers also banned exhibitions in which someone ate or pretended to eat snakes, lizards, scorpions, centipedes, tarantulas or other reptiles.
Lawmakers repealed the reptiles law in 1969, but rewrote the hypnosis statute.
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