SJHHS’ annual hypnotist show returned to the theatre with Mark Yuzuik, Master Hypnotist, on November 8 as part of the annual Athletics Department fundraisers.
Volunteers from the audience were selected for the performance and placed in a hypnotic trance where they became susceptible to suggestions made by Yuzuik.
Before the start of induction, Yuzuik assured the audience that his suggestions would not compromise the hypnotized student’s moral values. In other words they could not be made to do something against their will.
“It was weird, I knew what I was doing but I couldn’t really control when I started dancing. But there were some parts where I was like, ‘oh, I’m not really hypnotized…’ and he would just snap and tell me to do something and I would just start going. It was like I had no control,” says Jameson Johnson who volunteered for the show.
According to noted hypnotist Dr. Herbert Spiegel, M.D. of Cornell University, about five to ten percent of the population are extremely hypnotizable and most people are in between. Some people are not hypnotizable at all. Yuzuik differentiated between students by selecting an initial round of volunteers to put to the test. Those who showed no sign of being affected, were removed from the premises.
Students volunteered to be manipulated by Yuzuik in front of their peers. Some were asked to perform more embarrassing tasks than others, which is why the show was entertaining.
“The best way I can describe being hypnotized is like trying to put your hand on a hot stove and you take it off, not because you want to, but because it’s a reflex,” said Ryan Kerkow.
None of the students interview by The Express said it was an uncomfortable experience.
“It wasn’t that he took over control. It was that I was so relaxed, I wasn’t afraid to do anything,” said Hank Reuter. The hypnotized students will not easily forget their experience. “My friends were just laughing at me and said I was really embarrassing, they said I was the most embarrassing one…” said Kylee Kerkow.