Under Don Barnhart’s tutelage, a night at the comedy club might double as a free therapy session.

There’s often a queue of people hoping to be part of one of the comedic hypnotist’s shows. Some are even what Barnhart calls “hypno-junkies” — his repeat customers.

“People need an excuse to let loose,” Barnhart said from his home in Las Vegas. “We’re so bombarded by limitations, moral compasses and boundaries, whether from family, friends or churches. Under hypnosis, people can tap into their deep psyche and let loose and not feel embarrassed to dance and sing and be crazy, silly and fun for a while.”

Barnhart will do three shows Friday and Saturday at Loonees Comedy Corner.

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The comedian has a long relationship with hypnotism. As a high schooler headed down some negative paths in the ’80s, he started therapy and discovered hypnosis. It saved him and prompted him to eventually get certified as a clinical practitioner at the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in California.

“We can rewrite bad habits and pursue our goals in a fast-track way as opposed to conventional therapy with talking about problems,” he said. “Overnight you can change your thought process. If you have a traumatic experience, you can change your thought process. In deep hypnosis therapy, you can rewrite your inner dialogue.”

After high school, Barnhart itched to do standup, so he got a job as a doorman at a club. To combat his extreme nervousness and “hurling before a show,” he turned to hypnosis to relax.

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Fifteen years ago, while doing standup on cruise ships, he started to see comedy hypnotist shows. They weren’t great, he thought, because most people who do hypnosis aren’t particularly funny at the same time, so he decided to combine both of his skills. The shows were a hit.

Audience members often hit him up with a number of questions about the process, including the common concern they’ll be talked into doing something they’d never do in real life.

“I make sure they know they’re in control,” Barnhart said. “They will never cross moral boundaries. I’m never there to embarrass anybody.”

Depending on the size of the stage, about 10 to 15 people are invited up. During the hypnosis, some are dismissed if they aren’t ready to go under, while others are more somnambulistic — more prone to relaxation and able to be hypnotized. And then the fun begins. He’ll change the environment for those on stage, taking them to Alaska where they experience cold winds, or have them dance, play instruments or speak in a foreign language to those on stage who understand what they’re saying. An adult show might have participants showing off their best exotic dance moves. And sometimes he has them act like they’ve taken drugs or imbibed alcohol, or has them eat a lemon and salivate.

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“The joy for me is watching people lose their stress,” Barnhart said. “I can see them be tense and very rigid and suddenly their stresses and worries start to disappear.”

That’s why some people show up every time he does a show and try to get on stage — they walk away feeling shiny and new.

“Sometimes people come out of a trance realizing they’ve worked on themselves to be better,” he said. “At the end I plant a positive suggestion so they come out feeling better, like they had a good eight-hour nap and a better mindset.”

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