On slow night the bartender might casually mention that during his college psychology, days he learned to hypnotize people. With a little prompting he is sure to find a willing male candidate. (for reasons that will become obvious later). 

    Disappearing for a few minutes he reappears with a towel around his head and becomes 'Barnac The Magnificent' (with apologies to Johnny Carson). He is holding two dinner plates, one of which has been held over a candle to blacken the bottom.

    Barnac has the candidate sit in a chair facing him. The crowd is behind Barnac and there should be no bright lights behind the dupe. The candidate is instructed to stare into Barnac's eyes and to do and say exactly as Barnac does.

    Barnac holds his dinner plate close to his chest with the bottom of the plate facing out, and places the blackened plate in the other mans left hand in the same fashion but being careful that the blackened bottom isn't seen by the dupe.

    He then begins by saying: 'I can be hypnotized' which is repeated by the dupe. Barnac can recite any hypnotism gibberish that comes to mind. He then begins rubbing the side of the plate that is facing the candidate. Then he starts to rub his hand across his forehead, then rub circles on the plate and rub his hand on his cheeks.

    The dupe is usually too caught up in the hypnosis to wonder why people are laughing as he blackens his face. Hence the necessity of a male subject, Women don't find cleaning up in the bathroom of a bar that funny.

  I did this one night and an hour later a patron suggested that we do it again. It took fifteen minutes to explain to this boob that everybody in the room already knew the trick.