Article from
Las Vegas Sun
by Columnist Jerry Fink

Tranz embraces brand X 

Chances are, you aren't going to see local hypnotist Justin Tranz in his reality TV show, "Extreme Truth."

It airs at 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Sundays on the Playboy Channel.

The channel is not, shall we say, mainstream entertainment.

"X-rated," Tranz said. "Yes. It's X-rated."

The show's premise is for Tranz to hypnotize a couple who are in a committed relationship (married or dating) and to get them to tell secrets, reveal fantasies or actual desires.

"Playboy re-creates the fantasies with naked actors," Tranz said. "But the couples I work with are real. Nothing is set up. What you see is what you get."

Sometimes you see couples breaking up.

"The main thing you'll hear is that people are actually cheating," Tranz said. "They admit to it. That's the real thing that comes out a lot, that someone is cheating or planning to cheat or someone wants to have a threesome -- oh, yes. We get breakups, and sometimes, after hearing the truth, it brings them closer together. They begin to talk."

Tranz is beginning his second season as host of "Extreme Truth."

He tapes the entire season of 13 episodes in seven weeks at Playboy's studio in Los Angeles. The rest of the time, he performs his live show in Vegas. But he says he doesn't think he is taken seriously here.

"The only way I'm ever going to be taken seriously is through TV," he said. "If I have a hit series, then Vegas will take me seriously."

Tranz has headlined here for seven years, five at O'Sheas.

Earlier this year he made a brief stop of two months at the Sahara.

"All I will say about the Sahara is they chose to go a different way," Tranz said. "They gave me a shot, I did it and I was getting the numbers, but for some reason it didn't work for them and they chose to go a different way."

He took six months off to write material for a couple of more hypnosis-based television series that are being negotiated, but now he is back performing onstage in what he says could be considered "an R-rated show."

He can be seen at 10:30 p.m. Thursdays through Tuesdays at the Lady Luck's Ovation Theatre.

"It's a little more difficult getting people downtown," Tranz said. "I'm glad to be here, but somehow we've got to market this thing better. I'm used to being on the Strip -- even at O'Sheas I could pack them in. But it's a little harder downtown. There's a negative connotation. But tourists will go anywhere you push them."

Regardless of where he performs, Tranz says Vegas is tough for hypnotists.

"It's the hardest place in the world to do a hypnotist show," he said. "People who come to Vegas are very skeptical. They're cynical -- 'Show me. Prove it to me.'

"Whereas, if you go to a normal city, everyone goes to a comedy club to have fun on a Friday or Saturday night and they are not as cynical about hypnotists."

Tranz says his job is made even tougher by fake hypnotists who only add to the cynicism of fans.

"Some hypnotists use plants, stooges, friends, so people tend to think hypnosis is fake. It has gotten a bad air, but there really are hypnotists out there who do it for real.

"I actually walked away from a very lucrative contract with a major network because they wanted me to use stooges."

Thursdays through Tuesdays at the Lady Luck's Ovation Theatre. 
10:30 PM Shoe  Dark Wednesdays  See Ad

Article from
Las Vegas Sun
by Columnist Jerry Fink

Tranz steps up to Sahara

Hypnotist Justin Tranz needs to pinch himself to make sure he's awake.

After five years of preparation at a tiny showroom on the Strip, his dreams
are finally being realized -- he has a TV series ("Extreme Truth" on the
Playboy Channel) and a room that will more than triple the potential size of his
audiences.

The Philadelphia native debuted in 1999 at the 150-seat showroom at O'Sheas
(next to the Flamingo). He ended that engagement in May to star in the TV show,
which taped a year's worth of shows in six weeks.

After he wrapped up the taping he signed an agreement with the Sahara to
perform in the 550-seat Congo Room at 10 p.m. Thursdays through Tuesdays. He began Thursday.

"What happened is, I had been down the street at O'Sheas for the last five
years," the jubilant hypnotist said. "That was a wonderful experience for me. It
gave me the opportunity to hone my craft."

But while honing, he was planning.

"What I've learned in five years is that you have to have exposure," Tranz
said. "What makes people really come to your shows, if you are not widely known,
is TV appearances -- Carrot Top is wonderful and talented, but what made him
was his commercials for AT&T.

"So for the last five years I've been trying to get my own series. If you
have a television show, Vegas will take you much more seriously."

Tranz's perseverance paid off.

Playboy (a pay-per-view channel) held auditions for "Extreme Truth" to
replace the hypnotist who starred in the year-old program.

"I auditioned with 30-plus hypnotists and was chosen," Tranz said. "We shot
13 episodes between May 8 and June 12."

The show airs at 11 p.m. Saturdays. Tranz says Playboy wants to sign him to a
two-year contract.

The premise of the show is Tranz hypnotizing a couple in separate rooms -- a
male and female in a relationship (married or otherwise).

"Under hypnosis they tell me what they're really thinking and feeling -- I
get them to tell me their darkest secrets," he said.

The couple are then brought onstage and interviewed as they watch the tapes.

When he returned to Vegas, Tranz began shopping for a new room to accommodate all the fans he expects as a result of his television exposure.

"The Sahara is giving me the opportunity," Tranz said. "At O'Sheas I was
turning away anywhere from 50 to 200 people a night. I needed a new room."

He noted that he will be able to draw from the Sahara's hotel guests as well
as monorail riders.

"O'Sheas doesn't have a hotel to market to -- the Sahara does, and it is a
monorail stop."

Tranz says his new room also has allowed him to make a few minor changes in
the show.

"I have three or four dancers in the show now, who give it more of a Vegas
production feel," he said.

General admission is $39.95; VIP is $49.95. The price of both shows includes
a buffet.

Tranz says his live performance has nothing to do with the Playboy series.

"It's my own comedy show," he said.

Now that his career seems to have jumped into high gear, Tranz isn't resting
on his recent successes.

"I'm negotiating with several networks and cable channels to do my own
reality TV series," Tranz said.

Justin Tranz is back on the Strip at the Sahara Hotel. 
This is a fun show. Show times are at 10 p.m.

Article from
Las Vegas Sun
by Joe Delaney

Hypnotist Tranz-ports
receptive audience at O'Shea's

    Justin Tranz appearing in the O'Shea's Comedy Theatre and performing 7pm and 10pm, Tuesday through Saturday, bills himself as an "Outrageous, Uncensored Comedy Hypnotist".

     The show title is "Hip-Nosis: Playin' With Your Head". In its third week, attendance has been spotty, especially recently during Comdex.

    A goodly crowd was on hand Tuesday night in the intimate 200-seat showroom on the casino's second floor. Tranz, a Philadelphia native in his mid 30's, is an imposing figure. On the night he was resplendent in a red suit with a full-cut jacket and black shirt. The show started with a spinning disk on the screen as Tranz did a voice-over, setting a mood.

    As with most hypnosis acts, the first 20 minutes was for set-up, explanation and evaluation of the audience. His delivery and voice control were outstanding. There was an early segment with two back-to-back chairs, a man straddling each chair, two more men, all from the audience, and a woman invited onstage.

    The woman was hypnotized, made to appear stiff as a board, and placed with her head on one chair and her feet on the other. Tranz stepped on a chair, then stood on her rigid body for a brief moment before alighting and returning all the assistants to their seats. There was more monologue before he called for volunteers from the audience. There were 10 chairs onstage, and he wound up with five men and five women.

    What followed was traditional fare with him putting those who were willing into a hypnotic trance and excused those who were not willing. The remaining six were told they were typing, and they simulated doing so with exaggerated motions. Then they were "turned" into washing machines and followed this by becoming jackhammers. Occasionally they were told to sleep and did so.

    Four were selected to be members of the "Big Butt Band" while two were fans of the band. The band turned their backs to the audience as their backsides were supposed to be the band instruments. The show was building to its climax and the audience was having a great time, rooting for those onstage who had come with various groups in the audience.

    At this point, Tranz's handling of the remaining sextet became borderline bad taste as each was supposed to simulate having an orgasm. The audience found this segment the most hysterical. I did not.

    Tranz has great potential for comedy. His hypnosis credentials are considerable on the serious side as well. If he can sustain through the National Finals Rodeo and Christmas, then go into the new millennium with strength, he may make a success for the first time of that warm upstairs room at O'Shea's.