Under hypnotist's spell, audience puts on show

The Willkie Quad Auditorium filled with the excited buzz of eager victims Thursday night. The music was pumping and butts wiggled in their seats.

“Like a G6 / Like a, like a G6.” The power of suggestion was already underway.

Hypnotist Chris Jones grinned at the turnout of about 150 people. His smile was all-teeth against what he coins his “Barack beige” skin. He hypnotizes more than 3,000 people a year.

Thursday night 15 went under, then they put on a show for him.

“Hypnosis teaches you to do what comes naturally,” Jones said.

He said hypnosis is just another word for daydreaming. No one can be trapped in a hypnotic state or act against his or her will.

“If you trust me, I will allow you to be hypnotized,” he said.

Jones, 24, explained that it is a wonderful feeling as people do things they normally wouldn’t do, “like dancing to Ke$ha.”

“But seriously, it’s a lot like being drunk,” Jones said. “You’re completely aware of what’s going on, but you just don’t care.”

Jones said he only does college shows because it is the most stressful and rewarding time of students’ lives.

“Who wants to get hypnotized?” he asked the crowd.

The crowd jumped to its feet. Women screamed, “Pick me!” People stood on chairs and waved their arms frantically. One girl did the splits.

“All right, you can come up,” he told her.

Once the 15 had been chosen, the mood changed dramatically. He dimmed the overhead lights, turned on a blue light and like an auctioneer, directed a repetitive, endless stream of dialogue at the group onstage.

“Stay with the sound of my voice, you’re always with the sound of my voice,” he said, counting down from 10 to zero.

Heads dropped gradually. And junior Chris Wells, sitting in the audience, was hypnotized too. It happens all the time, Jones said, and he brought Wells onstage to join the others.

He made them pretend that they are four, five, six years old, in an ice cream licking contest at the State Fair. Then a watermelon eating contest. Then they’re on a roller coaster. The seat belt breaks.

“Three, two, one, scream!”

They shriek, terrified.

They compete in a horse race, and he tells them they’ve won $200,000.

“The reporters want to know what you’re going to buy,” he told them.

They gave their responses.

“More ice cream.”
“Unlimited strippers for me and my boys.”
“A man.”
“200,000 five-piece nuggets from Wendy’s which equals one million nuggets.”
“A giraffe.”
“Oprah.”

He made them think that he was naked, then that the audience was, then that they were. He created a sleep gun and shoots each of them to sleep.

Finally, an hour later, he brought them back.

“Any positive suggestions you can keep with you, any negative suggestions you can throw away ... three, two, one, wake up!”

Chris Wells said he remembered everything.

“It felt like at any point I could have not done something,” he said.

Freshman Jessica Turner said she expected not to react.

“Apparently I don’t remember everything because I want Taco Bell,” she said. “I remember dancing to Ke$ha with the guy that I now know. For some reason, I just wanted to.”