Tom DeLuca, hypnotist: WOW!

[tennisets]

I just got back from seeing him here at Northwestern, and all I have to say is that I cannot believe what I just saw. It was completely hilarious but shocking and disturbing at the same time that the mind can be altered in such ways. For those who don't know, Tom DeLuca is a guy who travels the country doing hypnotism shows. He selects random members of the audience to come on stage then hypnotizes them, and makes them do all kinds of crazy stuff.

Has anyone else seen this guy? Going in I wasn't sure I believed in hypnotism, but my friends said I would understand afterward. There is now no doubt in my mind that those people up there were completely under Tom's control. Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. If you ever have a chance to go see him, do it. You won't be dissappointed. He only performs at corporate events and schools though.

 

[saint.panda]

I saw him at my highschool in Virginia and I totally agree, he is absolutely amazing. People were doing the craziest things on stage and there was no way that things could have been set up. We had an extremely timid, female Mexican exchange student, who was told to shout at the people whenever they were laughing at something and tell them to stop laughing. She did her task with such dedication and conviction, it was too hilarious. A must-see!

 

[bobeau]

Same here, believe he's the guy who did our grad night in '94. While the kids going on stage were something else, something pretty disturbing happened.

It was being conducted at like 4am, so everyone was really tired. My friend to the right was following what he was saying a little too closely and all of a sudden flopped over; her head was suddenly resting against my leg. We all giggled since we thought she was making fun of the thing. She had this light twitch going on for a few minutes that eventually turned into what appeared to be a seizure. He had to interrupt his act to come out into the audience as quite a scene was beginning to take place, he whispered into her ear for what seemed like a couple minutes. Finally she woke up, acted like nothing happened.

Anyway that thing really woke up the room and she was the talk of the last couple hours of the grad night...

 

[TenaciousO]

Err...not sure about that. When I was an orientation aid at college one year, they had a hypnotist come and do a similar show. Of course, all the students who were chosen acted completely nuts. One of the students turned out to be in the same dorm as me, and he later admitted that they were all just acting on stage. When we asked him why, he replied that they all felt pressure not to dispell the illusion.

 

[Wodgy]

Some people are more susceptible to hypnosis than others. There is actually a standardized scale developed by scientists to predict a person's susceptibility -- it's called the Stanford Scale.

True hypnotism is real. It's been documented in PET scans, fMRI, and EEG measurements. There's a really interesting study where researchers used hypnotism to convince individuals that objects were a different color than they were, and sure enough, corresponding changes in brain activity were visible in the PET scans.

 

[Febs]

Is it just me, or does this thread remind anyone else of the old Saturday Night Live skit where people go to see a show by a hypnotist, and every one of them comes out with a glassy-eyed look saying, "I loved it. I was better than Cats. I'm going to see it again and again."

 

[Jahn]

I'm actually old enough to remember that skit lol - but I thought it was on the Dave Letterman show? Ah well. I still think Head-fi is better than "Cats."

 

[raisin]

Years ago I took a course/training and became an "accredited" hypnotist, and there's nothing mysterious about it, just one of the many altered states our minds are capable of. If you really want to be wowed, seek out a book called "mindgames; the guide to inner space" (masters & houston), you'll find more than you can imagine.
Tenacious, A good hypnotist would implant that suggestion to help loosen any residual inhibitions.

 

[lan]

Let me try some of my own hypnosis now.

You will not upgrade anymore...
You will be satisfied with what you have...
You will leave head-fi and and delete your bookmarks

Okay. Did it work?

Upgraditis cured!?

 

[Thaddy]

I actually volunteered for this at my high school prom, and it was quite an experience. At the beginning of the act, he passed out pieces of paper and told us they were all $100 bills, and that we had to hide them as fast as possible. Well, after the show was over (about 2 hours worth!), I felt this wierd itching sensation in my pants, and pulled out this piece of paper with a confused look on my face. I didn't remember 1 minute of the whole act, and neither did a few of my friends who were hypnotized as well.

The only way we figured out what happened was by watching the taping of it the next day

If you ever have a chance to get hypnotized and don't mind being embarrassed a tad, go for it!

 

[archosman]

Penn and Teller did a show on this during a recent "Bullsh*t". Even interviewed a well known hypnotist. The final synopsis was rather enlightening...

 

[tennisets]

Quote:

Originally Posted by archosman Penn and Teller did a show on this during a recent "Bullsh*t". Even interviewed a well known hypnotist. The final synopsis was rather enlightening...

And what was the final synopsis? You can't just leave us hanging like that!

 

[perplex]

interesting, i'm going to see a hypnotist show tomorrow (20th). hope its good

 

[mikeg]

I'd like to learn about self hypnosis as a method for improving concentration, performance when studying, relaxation, possibly for music enjoyment, dealing with bad habits such as smoking, etc., etc. Can you suggest a good way to get started? Would it help to have an accredited hypnotist get one started? How do you check on accreditation? Are there groups that have a common interest in this subject? Is there an appropriate internet-based group that's similar to Head-Fi? I'm not interested in the recreational aspects of hypnotism, but solely in the self-improvement aspects. BTW, back about 40 years ago, when I was in college, I read about students using self hypnosis while studying, and while taking exams. This supposedly happened at Columbia University, and these students admitted that use of self hypnosis was the reason that they performed outstandingly on their exams. I think that this article also mentioned that some of their professors knew that they were using self hypnosis while taking exams, and that it was ok with them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raisin Years ago I took a course/training and became an "accredited" hypnotist, and there's nothing mysterious about it, just one of the many altered states our minds are capable of. If you really want to be wowed, seek out a book called "mindgames; the guide to inner space" (masters & houston), you'll find more than you can imagine. Tenacious, A good hypnotist would implant that suggestion to help loosen any residual inhibitions.

 

[archosman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tennisets And what was the final synopsis? You can't just leave us hanging like that!

...

Essentually that it is Bullsh*t. You are up there in front of an entire audience and you basically rationalize and do whatever the "hypnotist" suggests. Sort of like "peer pressure". Even the hypnotist admitted it was bs. I will say that I need to rewatch that episode, and if it's still on InDemand I will tape it and give a better explanation. It was pretty funny though.


Edit: Looks like it's not on ID. If someone else watched it as well and remembers more chime in. I wasn't all that interested in that episode...