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Biography
Andrew Newton received a Grammar School education at the Xaverian College in Manchester, England, where he developed an interest in music, the classics and history.
His passion for history continues; he has visited the battlefields of Waterloo, Badajoz, the Somme and Isandlwana. He often uses some of this background to illustrate points in his training courses and seminars as he is particularly knowledgeable about the social conditions of the times and the forces that bind groups of human beings together - and drive them apart. He has become a specialist in the nature of suggestion and it’s relevance to the understanding of group behaviour, authority and hierarchy, something which he maintains is vital to the understanding of Hypnosis, and has become a much sought after speaker on the subject.
In his teenage years Andrew spent much of his free time involved in local amateur music making societies, orchestras and brass bands, not only as a player but on a few occasions as conductor of the semi-professional Manchester Concert Orchestra. To this day he still has a love and respect for great music, something about which he is passionate. He is a dedicated fan of Gilbert & Sullivan, whenever possible attending the annual G & S festival in Buxton.
Before becoming interested in hypnosis and studying psychology, he attended the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. During this period Andrew played professionally with the Halle, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras, as well as the Max Jaffa Orchestra, an experience he found extremely rewarding.
By this time, Andrew was already fascinated by the techniques of persuasion, particularly the ease with which people, their opinions and attitudes are manipulated.
The study of Hypnosis was a natural progression. Starting with impromptu demonstrations at social gatherings, Andrew soon found that there was a demand for his skills; within just twelve months he was selling out major theatres up and down the country, including the 1,500 seat Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool. Andrew performed over 400 shows in Liverpool over a ten year period - his late night ‘Over the Top’ shows were legendary in that city during the 1980’s. The success was repeated in other towns although the ‘late shows’ were exclusive to Liverpool. Several times a year Andrew played all the country's top venues including the Manchester Apollo, Liverpool Empire, Edinburgh Playhouse, Sunderland Empire, Bristol Hippodrome, etc. regularly attracting audiences of more than two and a half thousand. His record of 400 shows in one theatre was equaled at the World Famous City Varieties Theatre in Leeds. He had no manager or agent, everything he accomplished was intuitive and at his own financial risk. The Leeds City Varieties is one of the few places where you can still see Andrew do his Stage Show. He still appears there at least once a year, ‘for old time’s sake’.
Above all things it was a combination of a unique natural ability and a ready, often acerbic, wit which turned stage hypnosis into the phenomena it became. In the 1980’s, he was virtually alone in the business, but his success inspired a host of others.
In 1987, after delicate negotiations with the City of Westminster Council, Andrew became the first hypnotist to appear in London since 1948. He appeared for fourteen weeks at Wyndham’s Theatre in the heart of the West End, the first time a hypnotist had appeared in the capital for nearly forty years.
Worldwide, over three quarters of a million people have seen Andrew perform LIVE, and at least 100 million have seen at least one of his television shows.
Andrew can legitimately claim the largest audience for a hypnotic show; 30,000 people at York Castle on 5th November 1993. To date, he has hypnotised over 60,000 people worldwide, including many famous names in the UK and abroad, and has over 5,500 stage and television performances under his belt.
Apart from his twice yearly tours of the United Kingdom, Andrew has been a regular and welcome visitor to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. In 1987 Andrew presented his show for a sell out three month season at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. He has also appeared in Hong Kong and Singapore where he is known locally as ‘the magic man’. In 1998, he was invited to perform in China and has appeared in India, Sweden and Norway.
In 1997 Andrew moved to Cape Town, South Africa where he now based.
Andrew is a fully qualified pilot who for many years flew his own aircraft. He used it to commute on a weekly basis from Manchester to Jersey in the Channel Islands and from there, flew frequently to France. In 1989 he piloted a light aircraft around New Zealand, stopping in a different town each night to perform in New Zealand's theatres. Always looking for a challenge, he landed the aircraft on Franz Josef Glacier in the South Island, an experience he describes as 'slippery.' He has also flown extensively in Kenya, exploring the game parks and some areas of the country that would normally be inaccessible to most tourists, including Lake Victoria. On one occasion he flew into Tanzania, Rwanda and Zaire, describing the experience as 'hair-raising.' And just so he could say he had done it, he once landed his own plane at London Heathrow Airport, describing that experience as 'expensive.'
In 1992 he flew his own aeroplane from Manchester to Nairobi, a dangerous trip of some 5,000 miles. Flying over France, Italy, Greece, the Mediterranean and following the river Nile south through Egypt, over the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia, then back into Africa via Ethiopia and finally into Nairobi, Kenya. Andrew has also climbed the 19,500ft. Mount Kilimanjaro, tracked Gorillas in Zaire and flown hot air balloons in Kenya's Masai Mara. He survived a plane crash in 1988 and once, after breaking down in the Rift Valley, spent the night in a Masai village, an experience he describes as “a huge eye-opener”.
Andrew still occasionally performs in the UK, returning for just a few weeks at a time. He has a home in Conwy, North Wales, a stunningly pretty medieval town dominated by the castle built in 1289 by Edward I.
He is now in great demand as a speaker, lecturer and teacher.
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Copyright © 2007