Hypnotist Joe Boccuti mesmerizes with Trump Marina show

The 33-year-old entertainer, whose "Hypnosterical II" runs through Sept. 5 at Trump Marina, was led to hypnotizing audience members for comedic effect by, of all things, the bad dreams that plagued him as a child.

"A long, long time ago, I started having dreams, and the dreams turned to nightmares," recalled the lifelong Gloucester County resident during a recent lunch interview. "I was very inquisitive, so I started reading dream books. It was the first time I heard the word 'subconscious.' "

The nightmares "eventually stopped," but Boccuti's fascination with the workings of the human mind only intensified as he grew older. By the time he reached his late teens, he was reading all he could about hypnosis and even traveled to Las Vegas, home of multiple hypnosis-based casino shows. While there, he befriended some of the field's leading performers, who became his mentors.

That interaction ultimately led him to become a "critical hypnosis" practitioner, specializing in modifying such behaviors as smoking and overeating. He had a thriving career helping others, but there was a void he needed to fill. "In 2007," he recalled, "I decided I wanted to be onstage."

Show business was not all that foreign to Boccuti, who spent his childhood learning and performing magic. "I was always into magic as a kid," he offered. "You'll find most hypnotists started in magic."

But, he added emphatically, "sleight of hand is just misdirection. Hypnosis is the only true magic."

Boccuti's first showbiz foray was a self-produced, two-show stand at Atlantic City's Dante Hall, a performance space inside a church. Despite the venue, he made a crucial choice about his act's format: He decided to borrow a page from the performers he'd seen in Vegas and serve up a healthy dose of R-rated, sexually suggestive material.

"I figured it's Atlantic City, N.J.," he reasoned. "It's an adult town. It's all about casinos and clubs and letting go."

Two years after that first gig, Boccuti brought his riotous mind-control program, dubbed "Hypnosterical," to Trump Marina. The show was so successful during last summer's maiden voyage that the casino quickly signed him for this year's encore engagement.

The show - off-limits to those under 18 - primarily involves Boccuti's audience volunteers doing his naughty-bawdy bidding by acting out such suggestions as auditioning for a porn movie or reacting as if Boccuti is the sexiest man on earth (the mesmerized men get as hot and bothered as the women).

Not surprisingly, this has led to some rather unexpected moments.

During last year's performance for the local media, a woman began to take her top off during the "porn audition" sequence (Boccuti quickly instructed her to stop). And, he admitted, there's always a danger that a volunteer will divulge his or her theretofore secret sexual orientation.

"Forrest Gump said it best," he said, referring to the iconic film character played by Tom Hanks. "You never know what you're going to get."

The key to any hypnosis exhibition is the speed with which the star can put his subjects into a trance. The longer it takes, the more likely the crowd's attention will wander. But there's little chance of that happening to Boccuti, who, incidentally, insisted he never uses audience "plants."

"I have perfected my craft to the point that I believe I am one of the fastest hypnotists in the world," he said. "If I can't make somebody get in that state of mind in less than 30 seconds, then I don't want to do it."

To make sure the rest of the audience is entertained while he's working with his "victims," Boccuti has added for this summer's run DJ B-Mac, who will play high-energy music and produce appropriate sound effects.

Despite his success as an entertainer, hypnosis is not the end-all and be-all for Boccuti. He quit clinical hypnosis when he entered show business, but he still has a day job as owner of Tyent USA, a Camden County-based importer of "green" products. And that, he noted, will continue to be his priority.

"I would love to see ['Hypnosterical'] come back to the Marina the next 10 years," he said. "I have the desire, but I just don't have the time. I think [Tyent] is really important."

Trump Marina, Huron Avenue and Brigantine Boulevard, 10 tonight and tomorrow, 9 p.m. Sunday and Thursday. Through Sept. 5. $25, 800-736-1420, www.ticketmaster.com.

Atlantic City is hosting two fireworks displays this weekend. Tonight at 9:30, eight casinos are among the sponsors of a pyrotechnics program based outside the Pier Shops at Caesars (on the beach opposite Caesars Atlantic City).

Among the best spots to view the show is from the Surf Deck at the Pier. Free admission is being offered to the first 500 people who ask for a free pass to the deck. They'll be available (limit one per person) beginning at 11 a.m. today at the Pier's guest services desk.

On Sunday, Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa and Harrah's Resort Atlantic City are again teaming up for what is billed as the largest such presentation on the East Coast south of New York City. The fireworks, which begin at 9 p.m., will be set off from a spot between the two casinos.

Thursday will see the beginning of the four-night Tribeca Film Festival @ Caesars, which will screen a quartet of pictures that won awards at the recent Tribeca Film Festival in New York.

The free series, slated for the Caesars beach, kicks off with "The Trotsky," a film about a high schooler who thinks he's the reincarnation of Russian revolutionary hero Leon Trotsky. That will be followed by the romantic comedy "TiMer" (July 9), the British comedy "The Infidel" (July 10) and another rom-com, "My Last Five Girlfriends" (July 11).

I can't speak to the other three, but I recently watched "The Infidel" on pay-per-view. It's about a secular London Muslim (played by British comic Omid Djalili) who discovers - at a most inopportune time - that he's not only adopted, but Jewish. It is the funniest, most entertaining film I've seen in several years, and I strongly recommended.

So there I was one night last November, sitting in a booth in the showroom at the Flamingo casino on the Vegas Strip waiting to see Donny and Marie Osmond perform when a young woman approached, identified herself as a Flamingo employee and asked if I'd mind if the couple with her shared my ringside table.

I didn't, so Nick DiBlasio and his wife, Lucy Malia, joined me. We started talking and I quickly learned they were not only Montgomery County natives (she's from Cheltenham Township, he's from Oreland), but that they front a band called Lefty Lucy that plays regularly at Harrah's Las Vegas.

(Perhaps most remarkable of all was finding out that DiBlasio learned to play guitar as a child from his babysitter, who grew up to be People Paper columnist Ronnie Polaneczky!)

One thing led to another, and the next afternoon, I made my Vegas Strip bass-playing debut sitting in with Lefty Lucy, which is scheduled to play tonight from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. at Bally's Wild Wild West Casino.

These guys are the real deal, whether covering country hits at Toby Keith's restaurant inside Harrah's or ripping through classic rock standards at Carnaval Court, the casino's al fresco nightclub. I strongly suggest you check 'em out if you're in the neighborhood.

A splendid time is guaranteed for all!

and Perez

Two of the boldest of boldface names will be at the Marina District Sunday to help celebrate Uncle Sam's 234th birthday.

The Pool at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City is where rapper-actor-entrepreneur P Diddy's "Red, White & Blue Party" will rage. The festivities, whose soundtrack will be provided by DJ Funkmaster Flex and DJ Prostyle, begin at 10 p.m. and won't end till 4 a.m. Admission is $40. For reservations, call 609-441-5585.

Next door at Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa, cyber-yenta Perez Hilton will preside over his own bacchanalia at the newly redone MIXX disco. He'll get the party started at 10 with the help of DJ Steve Aoki. Admission is $10. For reservations, call 866-692-6742.

Chuck Darrow has been covering Atlantic City and casinos for over 20 years. Read his blog http://go.philly.com/

casinotes. E-mail him at

darrowc@phillynews.com. And listen to his Atlantic City reports Saturdays at 1:45 a.m. with Steve Trevelise on WIP (610-AM) and 4:05 p.m. on Atlantic City's WOND (1400-AM) with Marc Berman.