Hypnotize Me

By: Imani-Kai Treadwell 

Engl 336.002

Homecoming week began with a little twist of reality brought by the Hypnotist Gabriel Holmes. Tons of non-believing and curious students gathered in the Lane Center Armah on Monday, October 17 to witness the “powers” of hypnosis. Although hundreds of students were there to watch, only 19 were chosen to be the lucky victims of hypnosis. The students were slowly taken into a trance as Gabriel used his silky, soothing voice to get them all relaxed. “Use your mind and your imagination,” he said, suggesting that hypnosis is merely a figment of one’s imagination. After the people seemed to be under the hypnotic state, Gabriel then began telling them to perform different actions, using their mind and imagination of course.  Gabriel’s first request, to act as if they were driving car, seemed like a test to see who was really under and who was not. The craziness really began as the students began performing other series of task under hypnosis including, canoeing on a lake. One contestant, Magdala Louissaint, was turning and swerving in her chair and seems to have absolutely no control!  The other task included performing dance moves, flexing muscles, becoming a jockey in the Kentucky Derby, farting, laughing at a funny movie, speaking in ancient dialect, and going around saying that their names was “Bond, James Bond." One of the funniest of the night was probably when all of the contestants were told to come down off the stage and pretend to be the late Michael Jackson. Each of them danced as if no one was watching and didn’t stop! Michael Jackson wasn’t the only person they had to impersonate. Justin Beiber, Steve Urwin, oh and the ever famous Harry Potter characters were also included. The show included lots of dancing and craziness.

Many of the contestants could not get sucked into Gabriel’s hypnosis and were asked to leave the stage. There were also many participants who seemed to be faking it, but there were a few who weren’t.  When interviewed after the hypnosis show, Paul Jones, one of the contestants, seemed very relaxed and not phased by anything. His reaction seemed very abnormal since many of the contestants seemed freaked out at the idea of them being sucked into the powerful world of hypnosis. Another student, a woman who asked to be anonymous, actually ran out of the room after snapping out of her hypnotic state. After regaining her composure, she re-entered the room and sat down in the back with her head in her hands. Gabriel may have fooled a couple people, but there still some people who were in disbelief. Taylor Ward said after watching the show, “I think they all were faking.” Aisha Johnson, a participant who was asked to leave the stage after not being sucked into Gabriel’s trance said, “I didn’t know I was supposed to play along with him, I would’ve acted dumb like everybody else.”

This year’s hypnotist show changed the mind of some and twisted the minds of others. Even though the show is over now, there is one question that still remains unclear: is hypnosis real or a figment of our imagination?

Still curious about the hypnotic powers of Gabriel Holmes? Check out his website www.hypnotistgabriel.com for more info.