Forums Connection Issues How can I hide my IP on IRC?

I used to be able to get some proxies to work, but now every one of them seems to be instantly banned on the server I'm connecting to. What can I do about this? I've also heard about SSL, vhosts, BNCs, bouncers, and shells but I'm unfamiliar with them. How effective would these be in hiding my IP? And where and how could I get access to them?