A HYPNOTIST who is credited with teaching Paul McKenna his skills will be appearing in Cumbria next month.

Andrew Newton made his return to Barrow last year after more than 20 years, and is back by popular demand on Thursday November 3.

Having appeared in the town at least 50 times during the 80s and 90s, he went on to perform across the world and has appeared on numerous TV shows over the decades.

He says: "I used to do lots of shows in Barrow in the 1980s and early 90s but I hadn't been back for years, mainly because I had been seduced by the delights of touring Australia and New Zealand.

"I also spent a few years living in Cape Town and touring South Africa - I scored a TV series there and that persuaded me to stay.

"I've always enjoyed Barrow - it was one of the first gigs I did when I started out.

"The last visit to Barrow went really well and it turned out to be a fantastic show - there were lots of very positive comments afterwards and a whole new generation to see it. It would have been rude not to return."

In the 1980s, Newton became the first hypnotist to appear on stage in London for almost 40 years, performing for 14 weeks at Wyndham’s Theatre in the heart of the West End. It was during this time he met Paul McKenna, then a DJ on a local radio station, and spent many hours and days teaching Paul the art of hypnosis.

He was the first hypnotist to appear on British TV in 1992, and his 22-part series, The Andrew Newton Hypnotic Experience, was shown all over the world, from Australia to Zimbabwe.

"It's been nearly 25 years since my show was on Sky 1 and we were not allowed to show the actual process of hypnosis - Sky was terrified they'd get sued if anyone at home was affected.

"People do have preconceived ideas about hypnosis anyway, but this has always been the case. I like to give audiences something better than they expected.

"I didn't want to do You're back in the Room - ITV earlier this year - because I sensed it was just going to be silly. It was the right decision. My live show is much more cutting edge and a lot closer to the line but I'm always conscious there are families in the audience.

"There are always people who want to give it a go but mainly I think people come because it's such a good side-splitting laugh. The audience is often on the edge of their seats wondering what's going to happen next."

The show on Thursday November 3 starts at 7.30pm, and tickets are available from The Forum box office.