Mecci, who had performed a solo hypnosis comedy act on cruise ships, took improvisation classes at The Second City Training Center since he wanted to improve his show.

The experience inspired him to propose creating a show that blended hypnotism and improvisation in a cold email to Mochrie suggesting a collaboration.

Scenes include everyone having lost their belly buttons, proposing to the comedian, singing a duet, and attending a funeral after a pet's death.

Another scene is a murder mystery radio broadcast where one volunteer is told to make incorrect sound effects while another acts out all characters in the story.

Of a 2016 performance, The Times theater critic Dominic Maxwell called it "a celebration of the human imagination" but said there was "a lot of admin for not enough laughs".

The Wall Street Journal theater critic Charles Isherwood penned a positive review, writing, "It's catnip for those who relish the spontaneity and informality that this show and similar ones involve".

[8][9] Wanting to refine his show Hypnohype, he enrolled in an improv course at The Second City Training Center in Toronto in 2015 at the recommendation of a friend.

[8] Through Colin Mochrie's website, Mecci in 2016 sent a cold email proposing that they collaborate on a live stage performance that was a fusion of hypnosis and improv.

[8][12] Mochrie, who had been an improviser for roughly 40 years, liked when there were new ways to do the activity, and said, "I thought, I really can't get farther out of my comfort zone than this, working with people I’ve just met who are in a hypnotic state.

A few weeks after Mecci and Mochrie's meeting, they and Andrews developed the show Hyprov: Improv Under Hypnosis at The Second City in 2016.

[17] Without doing any rehearsals, beginning in November 2015, they performed Hyprov at the end of The Second City's main show, leading people to give positive feedback and to fill the seats.

[11] Mochrie discussed the show in July 2016 at Just for Laughs London, where there was insufficient time for Mecci to do a hypnosis performance.

[6][24] Cody Lassen was the show's executive producer, Stan Zimmerman directed it, and Bob Martin provided creative input.

[16] The New Yorker's Dan Stahl said the lighting and music assist in "ground[ing] the shifting settings" and said Hilsen's keyboard accompaniment is "itself a feat of improvisation".

[25] The Wall Street Journal theater critic Charles Isherwood praised set designer Jo Winiarski for "creat[ing] a sleek environment that could easily be transposed to a television studio".

The Wall Street Journal theater critic Charles Isherwood described the music as "trance-inducing" and containing "Philip Glass-like piano arpeggios, tinkling chimes, humming".

Easily understood scenes include a volunteer having to attend a funeral after a pet's death and needing to make a marriage proposal to Mochrie.

Noting that "there were too many moments in which participants appeared groggy rather than freewheeling", he said that the audience frequently seemed to be experiencing mirth at the expense of the volunteers rather than alongside them.

Maxwell praised a scene in the show where Mochrie eulogized Henry VIII as a volunteer did a sign language interpretation of the speech that was delightfully literal.

[40] In a positive review of the 2022 off Broadway run, The Wall Street Journal theater critic Charles Isherwood said, "It's catnip for those who relish the spontaneity and informality that this show and similar ones involve" and praised improvisational comedian Colin Mochrie for being "a slightly sinister but still audience-engaging presence".

Deeply impressed was he by the volunteers' performance, he initially speculated that they were "plants" who had been chosen before the show, but concluded it was probable for audience members in New York to be adept in improv.

[41] Zachary Stewart of TheaterMania wrote, "they weren't significantly funnier than what you might encounter at the Peoples Improv Theater after finally agreeing to see your co-worker's amateur troupe — at least not on the night I attended.

... Hyprov feels like a 100-minute episode of Whose Line, with tried-and-true games, family-friendly subjects, and nary a word uttered that the FCC might find objectionable.