Growing up in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, Chris Jones spent countless hours with his nose buried in library books, teaching himself magic tricks while dreaming of one day stepping onto a stage.
More than two decades later, those childhood dreams have taken him across the country as a professional hypnotist known simply as “Chrisjones.” Before heading out on a fall tour that will take him to colleges from New York to Georgia, the hometown performer will return to where it all began with a pair of shows at the Beverly Arts Center, sharing the stage with several friends who helped shape his journey.
“It’s a great treat having my friends, family and neighbors in the audience,” Jones said.
Magic first captured his imagination through television specials starring illusionist David Copperfield.
“I liked how Copperfield could make everyone laugh and awe with his illusions,” Jones said. “Then David Blaine came along. He was down to earth but also mysterious.”
Determined to learn, Jones checked out magic books from the library before taking lessons at a magic shop on Chicago’s North Side. His first big performance, however, did not go as planned.
“I bombed at my college talent show,” he said with a laugh.
That experience did not discourage him. Instead, it fueled a career that has continued to grow since he first stepped onstage in college in 2004. He has performed professionally since 2011.
Jones studied sociology and anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse before earning a master’s degree in recreation from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2010. The graduate program gave him an opportunity to combine performance with service, entertaining children in hospitals, community centers and YMCAs, along with participants in Special Olympics and Easter Seals programs.
It was during graduate school that his passion for sleight-of-hand evolved into something different.
“My love of magic tricks turned into a love for hypnosis,” he said.
Today, Jones blends comedy, audience participation and hypnosis into interactive performances where volunteers become part of the show.
“I’m going to take some volunteers at random,” he said. “I’m going to say the right words, at the correct pace and, ‘Snap.’ Some of them and some people in the audience will go under and get hypnotized.”
Jones said every performance is unique because no two audiences respond exactly the same way.
When Jones returns to the Beverly Arts Center on Saturday, July 11, he’ll present two very different shows. “Kid Control,” a family-friendly performance at 5:30 p.m., invites children to “take over” as parents become the stars through comedy hypnosis. Later that evening, “HYPNO Beats,” an 8 p.m. show for teens and adults, combines Jones’ signature hypnosis with the live beatboxing talents of Sung Beats.
The performances will also bring together several longtime friends and fellow entertainers, including guitarist Ryan Solis, Jones’ college roommate; local magician and science teacher Mr. Danny; DJ Double K, who has opened for Ludacris and Snoop Dogg and also performed at Jones’ wedding; beatbox champion Sung Beats, winner of “Showtime at the Apollo”; and comedian and fitness influencer Natasha Pearl Hansen.
“I literally am inviting some of my best friends to perform with me,” Jones said.
Although he has appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and performs across the country, Jones remains humble about his success.
“With complete sincerity, I am always the least talented person on stage at my shows,” he said. “I love seeing what people do when they’re hypnotized. That is why I love what I do.”
Returning to Beverly gives Jones another opportunity to entertain the community that inspired his love of performing, proving that even a magician whose first talent show ended in disappointment can find his greatest audience right back home.