Seward County Community College continued Welcome Week by welcoming Hypnotist, Daniel James, to the Showcase theatre for a show that had the audience falling out of their chairs. James has performed many shows like on America’s Got Talent, The Tonight Show, The Ellen Show and at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. To kick off the night, James invited 15 students from the audience to join him on stage, then slowly put them into hypnosis.

The hypnotist then began by having the victims perform many ridiculous and funny tasks. The audience was filled with curiosity, doubt, and wonder. Did hypnotism really work? Or are we all falling for a con?

Gallery • 2 Photos

Rubi Gallegos

To begin hypnosis and throughout the show, the volunteers were put to sleep after performing a task and before beginning the next segment of the show.

As the show went on, each volunteer was assigned a different task. For one volunteer, the task was to “moo” every time that a cow bell rang. For another, they were told to forget their name. Other tasks included: turning their shirt inside out everytime “car keys” was said; acting like a fireman when “red” was said; feeling like they were being pinched when “lobster” was said; and even completely erasing the number seven from their vocabulary. One volunteer even had to get on all fours and act like a puppy!!

The crowd filled with laughter every time a suggestion came up. The whole show was a big laughing fiasco and every moment was enjoyable and filled with wonder and laughter.

Gallery • 2 Photos

Rubi Gallegos

The hypnotized students were told to believe that members of the audience were in the crowd, completely naked. There were many different reactions like: awe, shock, and even embarrassment.

When concluding the show, James mentioned that volunteers wouldn’t be able to recall their actions until two weeks later. Two weeks. That’s even funnier than the show. What an odd thing and number.

Overall, Hypnotist Daniel James receives a five out of five stars on the Crusader ranking scale. James was very funny and with the help of his volunteers, put on a hysterical show. The volunteers were amusing, and some seemed very confused. The only question left to ask is… were the volunteers actually hypnotized or is the student body at SCCC just full of really great actors?