Hypnosis: IUP becomes very 'sleepy'
Opal Gayle
Penn Variety Writer
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Interestingly enough, they are now claiming that they have no recollection of the incident.
You probably wouldn't either if you were a volunteer in Tom DeLuca's Theater of the Imagination, a spectacular performance that had Fisher Auditorium's audience in stitches.
The show began with what appeared to be a stand-up routine with DeLuca decked in black, telling a few jokes and poking fun at how small Indiana is.
After breaking the ice and getting the audience into the realm of laughter, he followed with a trick.
Taped to a chair on stage was a poster with the words "and," "to" and "the." A volunteer from the audience went up and shredded The Penn to pieces as directed by DeLuca. The aim of the trick seemed to be that DeLuca would be able to guess that one of those words would be found on a fingernail-size piece of the paper. Some were disappointed (others pleased) when it was revealed that the remaining word was "path" but seconds later, that was changed into admiration when DeLuca turned over the poster to reveal "path" written on the back.
After the half-hour warm-up, 20 brave volunteers were selected at random from the audience, and so the tomfoolery began.
The next few minutes were spent with DeLuca uttering instructions - which were inaudible to the audience - to the volunteers.
Sophomore physics major Jessica Burns described what followed as "wild and hilarious."
The selected group was hypnotized into believing everything from going fishing, lifting a 100-pound barbell, speeding in an expensive car and that their flies were open.
A hypnotized student told DeLuca that he was a fake and that his show was crappy, only to hug him and heap him with praise seconds later with the snap of a finger. "You da man!" he yelled from his chair, giving a thumbs-up.
An audience favorite included a stunning performance by a student who was led to believe she was Brittany Spears. People had music coming from their shoes, two complete strangers suddenly become a couple dating for three years and one girl's chair told her she had a nice butt.
Two people could not say their names. After desperately trying to say their names and only achieving gibberish after the first syllable, they became more and more frustrated by the uproar of the audience. Another student got really angry when DeLuca tried to eat some fruits. He yanked a banana away insisting it was his friend Pamela. Other friends of his were Sarah and Ryan, an apple and an orange, respectively.
DeLuca himself became the target of one of his tricks as one student who found him "extremely hot" kept asking for his number and insisting on buying him a drink.
The volunteers were given X-ray vision, which allowed them to see the audience in their underwear.
This was reversed when they were made to think that they themselves were naked and while many used it to live out what might be a fantasy, the show curtain became a refuge for others.
The show ended with a dance party with "awakened," hypnotized people letting loose on stage in what seemed like a soul train revival. The volunteers woke up - this time for real - wondering why their shoes were either on the wrong foot or why they were wearing their neighbors'.
"I loved the performance," said junior music education major Erin Wisnewski. "I attended one of his shows before and had to come back for a double dose."
Barbara Goodyear, a visiting parent from Lancaster, Pa., also enjoyed the show.
"It was an excellent performance," she said. "I don't know about skepticism because from where I was sitting, it was so real."
Deluca earned a master's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois. While working as a therapist, he began performing before local civic groups. He then went on to work as a stage performer throughout the Midwest before gaining national prominence.
He has appeared on "Good Morning America," "Dateline NBC" and was featured in Rolling Stone magazine.
In response to Saturday's performance, Deluca said, "I am good at what I do. I do it all the time."