Comedy hypnotist captivates students
Comedy Hypnotist CJ Johnson performed at Southeastern Louisiana University on Tuesday, Feb. 11 in the Student Union theater.
The show was held by the Campus Activities Board as a part of “I Heart CAB Week” in which the organization held a week of events to celebrate Valentine’s Day on the following Friday.
“This is my first time doing a hypnosis show here,” stated Johnson, adding, “If we get 60 people here we’re going to have a great time, I mean we’re going to have a great time no matter what, but if we get 60 people then this audience is going to be like any other audience I have had in the past.”
But Johnson could not have expected such a large turnout of students and visitors. The Student Union theater housed approximately 85 students, and with a large audience; the show was destined to be a success.
According to Johnson, the show has three phases: an introduction to hypnosis, an audience test in which Johnson will involve the audience in a group activity and the last phase is the rest of the show where volunteers are under hypnosis.
“I will explain to people what hypnosis is and what to expect and what I expect from them when they come on stage,” said Johnson on how he picks his volunteers. “I will say ‘If you want to get hypnotized get up here right now’ and you will notice that I’ll get out the way because I don’t want to get run over.”
Johnson was not wrong. The moment he uttered those words a crowd of students ran to quickly fill up a dozen seats lined up on stage. A total of 18 volunteers were on stage and those who were unaffected by hypnosis were politely brought off stage.
The majority of the show was hypnotized volunteers performing comedic antics commanded by Johnson and the acts were reminiscent of a comedy improv show.
The acts included: a body-building competition, dancing to several decades of music, a Michael Jackson concert, a boy band performance, virtual reality gaming and many more.
Spectators reported the show was a resounding success and Johnson ended the show by thanking the CAB members and showed his support by telling the audience the trouble they had to go through booking the show.
Not too long after he thanked CAB, Johnson had one more trick up his sleeve: he claimed he would make the volunteers forget everything they experienced for three minutes. Once Johnson snapped his fingers and ended the show; the volunteers were dumbfounded as they walked back to their seats.
“It was weird, like how did he wipe my memory,” commented Matthew Jambois, a college student who seemed the most affected by hypnosis.
Jambois was skeptical coming into the show but added he was down for it and wanted to see for himself if it was true. He ultimately changed his views on hypnotism, and like most of the volunteers, left fascinated by what he had just experienced.
For more information on CJ Johnson, visit his website at www.sleepwithcj.com
